SEARCHING for 120 minutes.

Harry McKay and Carlton know where the shortcomings have been this season... but the key part is executing on game day, for the entirety of the contest.

In their four games so far this season, the Blues have led for nearly 78 per cent of game time, ranked No.4 in the competition - however, the win-loss record sees the Blues at 1-3, with lapses at the end of games costing them valuable points from winnable scenarios. 

Here's what Harry McKay had to say at a Gather Round press conference, alongside Adelaide's Taylor Walker.

On opening Gather Round:

"Really excited. It’s an amazing weekend for the AFL and Adelaide, and a privilege for Carlton to open it against the Crows on Thursday night. We did it a few years ago.

"It’s a really cool experience to open the round of footy, and you can already feel the buzz in the state. Fans will be everywhere, all the clubs in one place - I can’t wait."

On improvements across the board:

"As forwards, you always want the ball movement to be a bit better. Win-loss wise, it hasn’t been the greatest start. We’ve been playing really good footy for long patches of games, but we haven’t been able to finish it off. In a win-loss industry, that’s paramount.

"I feel we’re actually playing some good footy, but being able to play that for 120 minutes is the challenge for every team. We’re really confident that if we can fix that last 10 or 20 per cent, that win-loss ledger will change.

"Inside the four walls, it’s still been really positive and I feel like we’re in a good spot as a collective club. A few more wins would be nice - I can’t wait for Thursday night, playing against a pretty good opposition on their home deck."

On how he's finding a new-look forward line:

"It was always going to be a bit different without Charlie… I’ve loved the new dynamic in the forward line, we’ve brought some awesome players and people in.

"It’ll take a bit of time to fully flower as a forward line, but I’m really enjoying those new guys. Benny Ainsworth and Will Hayward have been fantastic, it’s a more dynamic line. If we can adjust a bit of stuff up the ground and get a few more entries, we'll be able to fix that last 20 per cent in games."

On playing four quarters of football:

"It’s well-documented that our second halves haven’t been fantastic. We’ve done a lot of work in the last few weeks to identify a few moments where we can be better.

"Even on the weekend, our third quarter was really strong and probably our best quarter. It’s not something that will necessarily change overnight, but we took some steps forward. Like any game, it’s capitalising on moments: in the North Melbourne game, we played a pretty strong 110 minutes, but there were moments late that we’d like back.

"I think it’s going in the right direction: we’d rather be playing strong footy for 110 minutes and fix that last 10 per cent than not playing good footy at all. We’re keeping it really positive."

On Michael Voss:

"‘Vossy’ has been fantastic, I can’t speak more highly of him and how he’s gone about it. He’s much-loved.

"What he’s been able to do not only in the last month but the last six months, we’ve had a lot of change at the footy club. He’s coaching fantastically and the way he’s brought together a new coaching staff and a lot of a new group… on-field, a lot of it is player-based stuff but it goes to the coach. That’s the industry.

"We have full support for ‘Vossy’ and absolutely love him."