Believe it or not this is the match day preview of the game tonight in the HUN, Carlton are playing someone tonight but you’d never know who! Literally not one word about Richmond:
CARLTON’S HIGH VIEW
EXPECTATIONS FOR A CARLTON FINALS TILT ARE RISING – AGAIN
Rebecca WilliamsChris Cavanagh
CARLTON supporters begin another season with one pressing question – can the Blues finally make finals?
Carlton missed a finals berth by the skin of a Sherrin last year, but there are higher expectations in coach Michael Voss’ second season in charge.
Now armed with the reigning Brownlow and Coleman medallists, the spotlight is on the Blues to end a 10-year finals drought.
These are some of the key talking points for the Blues ahead of their 2023 campaign.
NEXT STEP
WHERE does improvement come from this season?
Voss said this week that the Blues were “still growing” and consistency and performing under pressure would be keys to taking the next step in “sustainably playing finals”.
“We are still trying to increase our capacity in all areas, whether that is running, whether that is contested ball, whether that is playing offence, defence, we are still trying to add capacity into our group,” Voss told AFL 360.
“The main thing for us last year was our consistency. Any time we felt that we lost our way was because we just didn’t stick to the roles we were given and we just didn’t stick to the system that we are trying to implement.
“There are a lot of reasons for that, some of it is in our infancy in our first year (together).
“What we are about is not necessarily changing anything, what we need to do is make it stronger and we have to do it under pressure.”
Carlton midfielder Matt Kennedy said the Blues had the belief their best was good enough, but growth would come from more consistency.
“We’ve spoken a lot about raising our floor and just being more consistent with our habits,” Kennedy said.
“That’s day to day with the way that we train and professional habits.
“So I think that’s where we’ll get a lot of growth. We know and we believe our best is good enough, but it’s just consistency at times that got us last year.“
Carlton great Mark Maclure said he was confident the Blues could crack the top-eight this season. He said they would have been stung – and learned – from last year’s late-season fall.
“I watched them last year and saw some great improvement,” Maclure said.
“The biggest problem they had was they just failed in the last two games. They would be upset with (that).
“You have got to have some character and you have got to stand up and you have got to do all those little things that make a difference and they just rushed everything instead of doing it properly and all being on the same page. I’m sure that Vossy would have been able to give them a workout in that.”
FORWARD FORCE
LAST season, Carlton fans finally got a look at how good Charlie Curnow and his forward partnership with Harry McKay could be.
After three injury-hit seasons, Curnow propelled himself to the top of the goalkicking table to claim the Coleman Medal with his 64 goals alongside McKay’s 45.
Given he had played a combined total of 15 games in the previous three seasons, Curnow’s rise pushed him right to the top of Herald Sun chief football reporter Mark Robinson’s pre-season predictive top 50.
Maclure said 26-year-old Curnow’s true talent remained “untapped” and his partnership with McKay was every bit as strong as the Tom Hawkins and Jeremy Cameron double act.
But he said the next step for Curnow was backing it up.
“He has got so much talent, you have got no idea, he is untapped at this stage, still,” Maclure said.
“He would be a nightmare to play. He is quick, he is tall, he jumps, I’ve seen him do some things that I have never seen anyone do – kicking goals from the boundary on the turn and you go ‘What? Can’t be done’.
“So he has got a really good highlight reel but it’s about consistency and getting it done all the time.”
Voss said humility would be the key to Curnow taking the next step in his game.
“For him to be able to do what he did last year after the footy that he had missed, in some ways it was quite extraordinary,” Voss said.
“He is an excitement machine and he ignites the crowd. He is obviously a very important player to us.
“For Charlie, the thing that will get him through this year in some ways is just humility, the reality is that it can be taken off you in a heartbeat. He should know that more than anybody.
“If he stays with that humble approach, and he knows that tomorrow ‘I can get beaten’, he will be a fantastic footballer as long as he maintains that mindset.”
BROWNLOW BEAST
IF there was ever any doubt over Carlton captain Patrick Cripps’ standing as one of the best midfielders in the AFL, it was shattered when he claimed the league’s highest individual honour last year.
After one of the most dominant starts to a season in recent memory, Cripps also cemented his status as the top Blue with his fourth club best-and-fairest award.
Returning to his best as a clearance animal, Cripps averaged an elite 7.7 clearances and 28 disposals.
But Maclure is confident 27-year-old Cripps can still elevate his game.
“I think he is getting better,” Maclure said. “I just think he has actually worked out how to play and how to do it properly and that there is an art in playing in the midfield and winning the ball.
“Don’t forget he is 6’5, he is not a small midfielder.”
RUCK N ROLL
THERE is set to be plenty of discussion around the off-contract Tom De Koning this season.
The exciting 23-year-old 201cm ruck-forward looms as a sought-after signature in the AFL market.
Marc Pittonet, 26, is expected to be the Blues’ starting ruckman this season, but Maclure backed De Koning to take over his post as the No. 1 ruck this year.
“De Koning – he’ll play in the ruck I reckon,” Maclure said. “Pittonet is there to be used, but he is not a dynamic force. He tries his best.
“Tell me who is the greatest ruckman in the competition? Max Gawn. So he gets kicks all around the ground and all that sort of stuff. De Koning can do that, but he’s not quite up to that standard as yet with his age and size and weight.
“He might have grown again and I’m sure he would have put some weight on this year and I reckon in the next couple of years you’ll see a really good player. If you give him the top spot, I don’t think he wants to go anywhere.”
NEW LAYERS
THE Blues added former Dockers wingman Blake Acres in the trade period and the impact he can have in the midfield will be crucial early in the season with young gun Sam Walsh (back) sidelined.
Maclure said the early-season absence of Walsh was a “huge” loss for the Blues, but said the acquisition of the 193cm Acres was a positive.
“It will be a good test for someone else to come in and take a role,” Maclure said.
“They have got Blake Acres who will help. Acres is a good pick-up, another tall midfielder so that will help.
“You must have a powerful midfield if you are going to win a premiership.”
Carlton has wasted little time in bringing fresh blood into the team, naming the club’s first two picks in last year’s draft – Ollie Hollands and Lachie Cowan – to make their debuts in round 1 against Richmond.
Kennedy said the pair “definitely deserve” their early call-up.
“Ollie will bring that running game to us. He’s an extremely talented runner and is also tough when he needs to be so he’ll add a lot to our wing stocks,” Kennedy said.
“Big ‘Cow’ is a very competitive guy and he’s been one of the most consistent performers out on the track.
“They know they just have to play their role. They don’t need to do anything special but they’re cogs in the chain.”
