Close Cats continue to chase the dream
For Mark Blicavs and Cam Guthrie the path they are treading is very familiar
Since round six, 2007, the Cats' win-loss record is a remarkable 144-34, and Guthrie can boast 35 victories from his 50 games in the famous hoops.
And even most of the rare losses have been close-run affairs.
So how did they cope with conceding 22 goals to the all-conquering Swans in a 110-point thumping last week?
"I haven't been on the end of too many losses in my time at the club," the hard-running midfielder said.
"But I never take it for granted because the club has a great record and it's something we want to continue.
"We looked to get over the Sydney game as soon as possible.
"We did a thorough review, looked at where we went wrong.
"We're aiming to come out this week and redeem ourselves and put in a really strong performance."
Which is hardly good news for a struggling Carlton outfit, sitting in 12th place with a 4-6 win-loss record and which as lost all 11 of its previous clashes against the Cats at Etihad Stadium.
In recent matches Guthrie has mainly played on one of the Blues' dangerous small forwards such as Jeff Garlett or the departed Eddie Betts.
Since moving into the midfield he has proved equally adept at locking down a dangerous opponent in the role of a latter-day Cameron Ling, while also racking up plenty of possessions.
It's a role well suited to one of the best runners at the club, although even someone as fit as Guthrie sometimes has to sit back and marvel at the aerobic capacity of his childhood mate Blicavs.
The pair grew up playing sport together in Sunbury in Melbourne's northern outskirts.
Guthrie stuck with Australian football while Blicavs changed tack in his early teens to focus on athletics before being lured back by Geelong after coming up short in his bid to contest the 3000m steeplechase at the London Olympics.
"He is an absolute running machine," said Guthrie of Blicavs, who could play either as a running ruckman or a key defender against Carlton.
"In the pre-season he wins everything.
"If we do time trials, if we do repeat 400s, he's always up the front and some of his GPS data is just insane.
"We grew up together so I knew what a talented all-round sportsman he was and he was a very good footballer back in the under-14s."
According to Guthrie they didn't lose many games back then either.