David Swallow
Growing up in Western Australia I always loved derby week.
No matter what the ladder said there was always likely to be a great contest. And it wasn't confined to the players, the whole town joined in the rivalry.
How the Q Clash evolves is still a bit of an unknown but I know there is already a feeling among the players that we want to have the upper hand over Brisbane. And I'm sure they feel the same.
To be honest, it was like that from the start, there was certainly a bit of feeling in the very first game.
If we hope to replicate the result of the first clash with our rivals we have to bring the intensity we showed last week against Essendon. And we must sustain it for four quarters.
Once we've got the footy we have a lot of pace outside. Matt Shaw showed what he can do last week, we've got Harley Bennell up forward and Trent McKenzie coming into some fitness.
That is an area we think we have an advantage.
And of course we've got Gaz, Campbell Brown has come back into the side and Karmichael is showing the whole league how hard at the ball he is. I think the balance there is right.
What we have to improve is the balance between offence and defence and I think we're moving in the right direction there too.
It is an exciting time, especially for me now that I have re-signed with the club until the end of 2014.
A few of the younger guys have done as well and it is great to know we will improving as footballers together and hopefully working towards some success.
I remember as a kid in local footy we used to dominate and we won a few premierships and I guess at times it is frustrating when you lose that winning feeling.
But we have got to keep working towards it. I don't see why it can't be this week, next week or some time soon.
I was talking to Gaz the other day and he mentioned that he, James Kelly, Jimmy Bartel and Steve Johnson all arrived at Geelong in the same draft.
They developed together and helped the Cats become one of the greatest teams of all time.
That is what we hope to achieve here.
