AS the Blues head north ready to face the Suns on the Gold Coast this weekend, Carlton leader Ed Curnow says his teammates and coaches remain a united, tight-knit group.

The importance of building strong relationships is not lost on the midfielder, who says when situations get challenging, you need to have a resilient support network around you.

“It’s a good group we’ve got and the guys get on really well. We’re tight-knit and united, so while we haven’t got the wins we’re building good relationships among the group,” Curnow told the Marngrook Footy Show.

The 28-year-old says staying motivated and positive week-to-week when on-field results aren’t falling your way require players to “fall back” on these relationships.

“When times are tough you need those good people around you,” Curnow said.

“You have that feeling of deflation and disappointment after the weekend because we’re proud people and you want to win, we’re desperate to win.

“When that doesn’t happen, you have an early-week review and then you reset, and you build those strong bonds during the week and you go back and train hard.

“I can tell you the group is optimistic and full of belief going into the next game, we all love playing footy and we want to win.”

Curnow, who has played 16 games this season, is currently ranked No.1 at the Club for tackles and third in the overall competition, averaging nearly seven per game. The hard-nut is also ranked No.2 at the Blues for contested possessions, narrowly trailing Patrick Cripps who is ranked No.1 at Carlton and in the AFL.

Playing alongside ‘Crippa’ since he arrived at the Club, Curnow said the recently re-signed vice-captain was playing a key role developing the Club’s younger players.

“Paddy’s a great bloke from country WA and he’s been at the Club for five or six years now,” Curnow said.

“The work he puts into his game to make him the player he is today probably started with his mentor relationship with ‘Juddy’ – and now he’s the one bringing along the younger players.

“He has worked a lot with Sam Petrevski-Seton and Zac Fisher to help their development this year and he’s highly respected by the group, so we’re rapt to have him.”

Carlton take on the Gold Coast Suns at Metricon Stadium this Saturday night, with the action kicking off at 7:25pm.