The Gold Coast Suns will play host to the Lions at the Gabba in the inaugural clash between the two Queensland teams in season proper, with both sides desperate to take away the four points.
“It is all about the here and now... ultimately, it’s what we do out on the field that matters and I am sure the result will look after itself if we get that right,” Voss said.
Emotions have been heighted in the lead up to the game that sees ex-Lions players Michael Rischitelli and Jared Brennan donning the gold and red guernsey, but Voss warns they should be prepared for a physical contest around the ball.
“I’d hope [to see] a physical contest from 21 / 22 Brisbane Lions players. I would hope we approach each contest exactly the same,” he said, “...it’s about the contest, the clashes, the individual battles, that is what we want to be talking about by the end of this game.”
“It’s important that even though it might be a little bit personal you don’t treat it that way and you don’t do silly things.
“The aggression has always been at the ball and we still have to make that our object. You can’t be distracted by all the other noise that is going on, there is a game to play.”
The winless start to the season haunting the Lions has seen three games where they have remained in the mix until the final siren, giving hope that a win is on the horizon.
In their most recent outing, the Lions looked competitive against Richmond but were unable to hold on for the whole four quarters.
The Suns were handed their biggest challenge last week against a solid Essendon outfit which saw the Gold Coast team red faced, trailing by 93 points at the end of the first term.
The young team tried to work their way back into the game, winning the second quarter but were unable to close the margin which blew out to 139 points by the final siren.
Voss will not bank on another large loss from the Suns when approaching Saturday night’s game.
“Four weeks in a row I feel like I’ve stood here and said that it really doesn’t matter what the opposition have had happen previously, it really doesn’t matter,” he said.
Josh Drummond is a solid inclusion for the Lions defensive stocks in his first game back from injury, while debutante Bryce Retzlaff will replace Aaron Cornelius in the lineup to work in tandem with ruckmen Mitch Clark and Matthew Leuenberger.
Retzlaff, an emerging key position player, has been given the call up this week to try to fill the void left by injured key forward Jonathon Brown, providing more opportunities up forward while rotating through the ruck.
“We haven’t been able to get our marks inside 50, [Retzlaff] is more of a lead up player, he presents more at the footy and hopefully can generate some marks,” Voss said.
“It is pretty important Bryce comes in with that opportunity because we are looking for those types of players.
“He is an emerging player and he is presenting himself really well the last couple of weeks in the reserves, we are hoping he can translate that into the AFL.”
Voss hopes the QClash will develop into a blockbuster game for both sides, giving fans the chance to witness the talent and development of AFL in Queensland.
“All it’s been at the moment has just been words, that’s all we have had the chance or opportunity do because we haven’t had the games yet. Let’s hope the games are the ones that do the talking,” he said.
The Lions are calling on all of their fans to be a part of history when the QClash kicks off at 7:10pm local time on Saturday night.
