The enigmatic forward was explaining why he had signed a new three-year deal with the Blues to a packed media conference at Princes Park.

Fevola said the benefits of keeping the nucleus of the side together were obvious when it came to pushing for finals action.

"It's massive – you've seen what Geelong can do when their list stays together," he said.

"For the last two or three years we've been building for that time to play in September, and I don't think it's far away.

"In my first year – 1999 – we played in a grand final here, and I was lucky enough to be a part of the training squad, and to see this ground half-full at training in grand final week was unbelievable.

"I've played five now, but the next three years I reckon we'll be up there playing finals footy – and hopefully this year.

"Our last five games, four [opponents] are in the top eight, so if we can knock a few of those teams off and maybe play some finals this year, it would just be great for our footy club and great for our young group.

"It's a massive lure, to play finals, and to play in a grand final would be the ultimate."

The 27-year-old said the Blues had the leadership and the youth to succeed.

"We've got a great leadership group in place – you've got Chris Judd, who's probably one of the greatest captains, alongside [interim president Stephen Kernahan], he just leads the team so well.

"You've got Nick Stevens, his leadership is amazing as well, and you look at a Bryce Gibbs as well, and Marc Murphy, they've just got great heads on their shoulders.