Port Adelaide captain Tom Jonas reckons it's a good thing most of his AFL teammates have memories like a goldfish.
"We're not the sharpest tools in the shed, us footballers." Jonas told reporters on Wednesday.
"We like to get out there and chase the footy and have a bit of fun ... and when it comes to game time, you just go about your business.
"You could say at times we have the memory of a goldfish."
Jonas doesn't fit that bill, having completed a Bachelor of Law.
But he believed the stereotype has helped Port collectively move on from last year's preliminary final humiliation.
The red-hot favourites, Port copped a 71-point drubbing from the Western Bulldogs - the second year in a row the Power had lost a home preliminary final, after being pipped by Richmond by six points in 2020.
"With a really young untainted group we're just keen to improve as individuals and as a team and I think that is going to hold us in good stead," Jonas said.
"It was very disappointing. But at the same time, I have had moments in my own career which have been just as challenging.
"I have acknowledged them, looked at what went wrong, what went right, what I could do better given another opportunity and moved on.
"I am still here today so obviously I am not doing it all wrong, there must be something going right.
"As a playing group, we have adopted that same mentality.
"We acknowledge it. This (the Bulldogs) is one of the teams we are most likely going to come up against again this year if we want to make finals and go deep into finals.
"They have got a certain game style that works and that is the team we are going to have beat. So let's look at how we're going to do that."
How so?
"Our game style has just been tweaked a little bit, no wholesale changes," Jonas said.
"We will look to probably run and carry and score a little bit more.
"In your head and on paper, you have got your game plan that you expect to execute perfectly every time.
"But you play 22 blokes who have got a different plan as well so you have got to adjust that.
"All in all, it will remain pretty similar. We will just try and be a bit more exciting with the football."
