We are excited but not nervous about this weekend's game against Collingwood at the MCG. We're excited because our trips to the home of footy are limited at the moment.

We played once there last year against Melbourne and I was also lucky enough to be involved in a couple of games there as a junior. But the majority of my memories of the G are the same as most other peoples, being in a heaving crowd watching my heroes running around.

We need to savor the experience and the opportunity to play in front of big crowds and take away as much as we can so when we begin to play in finals there we are prepared.

And we're excited about the challenge of playing the Magpies.

It doesn't really matter who we are playing against, the thing we have to concentrate on first is our own attitude. And that should be the same each week.

There's no doubt the Pies are in red-hot form, but we aren't intimidated. Instead we are concentrating on factors we think can be to our advantage. For starters, one of Collingwood's great strengths is they are so predictable to each other. They are so well drilled in their structures and zones that is no secret to the rest of the competition. So we have been preparing ourselves for what we will encounter.

Our opposition coach Brett Munro has been really helpful this week briefing every player on what their opponent is likely to do. It is one of the fascinating things about the step-up from junior footy to the AFL. When I was younger I didn't really ever take notice of how opponents played but when I got drafted I realised there was a lot to be learned from the players you take on each week.

In recent weeks I've learned a lot from the power running of Docker Stephen Hill, Essendon's captain Jobe Watson who is so smart and strong over the ball and Saint Lenny Hayes who has an incredible workrate and never gives up.

The other factor about playing on the G that we think works for us is the dimensions. It is a bigger ground than Metricon Stadium and there is a lot of space to be found for a young and enthusiastic side that is prepared to run.