Dashing Carlton defender Adam Saad has opened up on his club squandering an "amazing" chance to take on Collingwood in this year's Grand Final.
After scraping past the Sydney Swans and Melbourne in respective September thrillers, the Blues -- after a promising fast start -- fell to the Brisbane Lions in a preliminary final, while the Magpies cemented their spot in the decider by narrowly beating GWS.
"You always hope (to win the premiership)," Saad told The Age.
"You play footy to win grand finals. It would be special. There is a process in place for us – we just need to keep sticking to that.
"Having a good pre-season, building connection, working hard, and we'll see where that takes us."
Saad and the spirited Blues fell agonisingly short at the Gabba on the penultimate weekend of the season; putting to bed the tantalising possibility of a Carlton-Collingwood big dance to close an enthralling 2023 campaign.
"That would have been one of the biggest games of the modern era," declared Saad.
"A Collingwood and Carlton grand final, there, obviously, would have been over 100,000 (fans) there. It would have been amazing.
"We learnt from that game (losing to Brisbane). It's going to make us better and stronger."
Speaking on the Blues' mid-season resurgence, Saad claimed it centred on the playing group's belief in their game plan.
"There is just a belief that if we play our way, we are hard to beat. The contest, that pressure … we are just going to keep building synergy out on the ground, and keep strengthening our game plan, which is what we are doing at the moment," Saad said.
"Even when we lost six [games] in a row, the belief was there, we were united as a whole club. We just had the honest conversations, nailed down contest and pressure, kept it simple, and we just got on a roll."
Having completed its pre-Christmas training block, Carlton will next convene in the new year to cap its pre-season preparations.
The Blues are scheduled to return to the scene of their heartbreak when they play the Lions in the AFL's newly-minted Opening Round at the Gabba, before returning to the MCG in 'Round 1' to face Richmond in their traditional season-opening meeting.