Carlton Football Club: The Round Eighteen Review

Us blues supporters can finally wipe the sweat off our foreheads and breathe a sigh of relief. The boys as expected by most, successfully accounted for the troubled Gold Coast Suns at home and recorded back to back victories for the fist time since round 13 of the 2017 premiership season. It counts as another win worth celebrating and one which adds towards David Teague's chances of making the coaching role permanent. However, it wasn't by any means a success to remember. Carlton unsurprisingly made the job harder than it looked. The umpires weren't so friendly and a couple of the more reliable players failed to really make a proper impact. This is taking nothing away from the suns, who were very much expected to respond after consecutive thrashings by the hands of Richmond and Adelaide. But if the blues were to deliver a similar performance to this for their remaining games, then they're to expect nothing but extremely unpleasant results.

MARGIN

(Predicted : Real)

+35 points : +24 points

Difference: - 11

From a personal point of view, seeing a win was fine for me. But I still found myself a tad frustrated at times during the match. There were moments when Carlton's pressure around the ball wasn't good enough. A few players were missing easy shots for goal. Other players were not learning from their mistakes. And for the whole team to not register any score for fifteen minutes was dull viewing. Then there was the umpiring. Unlike most general footy fans, I rarely see this as an issue for any game my team participates in. However, this time around was a little different. I noticed the umpires miss some obvious free kicks for Carlton. They were paying Gold Coast ones they refused to pay the blues. A couple of these included holding the ball and illegal disposal. An umpire's job is understandably hard as they do have to cover a lot of the ground and observe things from a reasonable distance without obstructing play. Here though, their efforts did get a little on my nerves. Nevertheless, the game is done and dusted and the 'W' is ours.

First Quarter

Although winning the quarter on the scoreboard by three goals, it remained an irksome quarter to some extent as the blues were destroyed in the clearances. Much of the work was left to the Carlton defense instigating play from the intercepts. Darcy MacPherson got the suns off to a good start with the opening goal of the game within the first three minutes. Will Setterfield answered back with the first for the blues two minutes later. Michael Rischitelli tried to keep things going for Gold Coast with the next. But from then onward, many of his teammates had a hard time hitting targets. The blues took advantage of the poor kicking efficiency and converted it into a few majors. Both Matthew Kennedy and Darcy Lang ensured their free kicks didn't go to waste. Following them were some nice pieces of play including a team effort from half back leading to an easy Zac Fisher goal. Lochie O'Brien also found some space between opponents during play to register one of his own.

Second Quarter
The suns kept in touch in most of the stats, but once again failed in kicking efficiency with a percentage below 50. Partly because of this, Carlton were able to outscore them by one goal. The blues dominated the uncontested ball around the outside but now and then had difficulty overcoming the pressure applied by Gold Coast. Marc Murphy was the third blue gifted a shot on goal via a free kick and he made no mistake. Sean Lemmens and Alex Sexton helped bring the margin back down to thirteen points, though it wouldn't last very long. Levi Casboult furthering his resurgence, delivered an sweet seventh goal since the bye while Matthew Kennedy took another step towards a great day with his second major. Liam Jones proved to be a huge contributor in this term, with six intercept possessions including a courageous mark running back with the flight of the ball. Jacob Weitering and the heavily lambasted Lachie Plowman also stepped in here and there to help their impressive teammate down back.

Third Quarter
This was the quarter when the tables had turn. Carlton up until the 16 minute mark, were looking to put the game to rest after kicking three of the first four goals. Gold Coast however would turn the switch on, kicking five of the last six to poke their heads above the blues in the term and bring the margin back to 18 points. Dale Thomas provided Carlton debutant Josh Deluca his first genuine set shot and he just managed to sneak it in. Patrick Cripps also made sure his game wasn't completely forgettable by winning a forward 50 stoppage, evading tacklers and almost running a full 360 to snap a beautiful goal on his favoured boot. His new partner in crime Sam Walsh further cemented his chances at rising star, tried stemming the flow towards the end with a nice measured kick to Michael Gibbons which assisted in a late major. Chris Burgess though pulled a rabbit out of the hat before the final minute of play, answering back with a fortuitous mongrel from just inside the 50 metre arc. Having lost the term by one straight kick, it was a slightly disappointing showing from the blues.

Fourth Quarter

A quiet term goal-wise and scoring ceased around the halfway mark. For much of the remaining minutes, it was both sides dawdling with the ball. There were very few highlights as a result of this. Carlton though still managed to come out as the victors for both the quarter and the game, kicking two goals to one. Lang had an early chance for his second in attack with a brilliant chase-down tackle on Jacob Dawson, but he had no luck in the set shot. Fisher with a splendid hard ball get, weaved through traffic and reached Setterfield who allowed for Kennedy to kick his fourth and provide more breathing space. O'Brien with a kick out on the full from inside the back pocket, granted Gold Coast another entry which shortly led to Sexton hurrying the only major in for the suns in the term. Harry McKay answered a minute later, snapping the last goal of the game off two steps in congestion and getting the favourable bounce. The blues were stuck on 99 points and finished on exactly that after failing to register any score for triple figures during the final ten minutes of play.

PLUSES / MINUSES

1. Ed Curnow leading the way and making up for his skipper's low impact.

2. Eleven individual goal scorers.
3. It was an alright debut from mid-season rookie Josh Deluca. Both his pace and strength in the contest look very promising. However, I do think his work was fairly minimal. Needs to prove his strong work rate with another game or two.
4. The contested work from Liam Jones was outstanding.
5. Matthew Kennedy was resourceful with his bag of four goals.
6. Carlton's ability to run forward and attack in droves. Players were assisting in passages of play when others were under immense pressure.
7. Sam Walsh is so damn consistent.

1. Patrick Cripps not looking quite fit right now.
2. Losing the centre clearances by 11. The first quarter in particular when it came to this was painful viewing.
3. Kreuzer was ineffective.
4. The defensive pressure around the ball was dodgy, as it opened up many chances for Gold Coast to score.
5. Allowing the suns many smooth runs through the corridor.
6. The umpiring was poor and occasionally one-sided. There may have been the slightest possibility that this was intentional to ensure Gold Coast remained competitive. Conspiracy? Perhaps!

SCORES

1. ED CURNOW 20

2. Harry McKay 10
3. Levi Casboult 9

4. Nic Newman 8

5. Jacob Weitering 7
6. Kade Simpson 6

7. Sam Walsh 5

8. Sam Petrevski-Seton 4

9. Liam Jones 3

10. Jack Silvagni 2

11 = Dale Thomas 0.5

11 = Michael Gibbons 0.5

13. Zac Fisher -1

14. Lachie Plowman -2
15. Darcy Lang -3
16. Marc Murphy -4
16. Will Setterfield -5
18. Matthew Kennedy -6
19. Lochie O'Brien -7
20. Patrick Cripps -8
21. Matthew Kreuzer -9

22. Josh Deluca -10

TOTAL

1. Patrick Cripps 145.5
2. Sam Walsh 130.5
3. Nic Newman 127
4. Ed Curnow 116.5
5. Marc Murphy 78
6. Sam Petrevski-Seton 73
7. Dale Thomas 61
8. Matthew Kreuzer 51
9. Andrew Phillips 20.5
10 = Charlie Curnow 20
10 = Kade Simpson 20

12. David Cuningham 13.5
13. Zac Fisher 9
14. Levi Casboult 8
15. Harry McKay 3.5
16. Will Setterfield 2.5
17. Matthew Lobbe -2
18. Jack Silvagni -5
19 = Josh Deluca -10
19 = Hugh Goddard -10
19 = Harrison Macreadie -10
22. Tom Williamson -13.5
23. Jarrod Garlett -14
24. Darcy Lang -16
25. Lachie Plowman -19
26. Alex Fasolo -25
27. Michael Gibbons -25.5
28. Cameron Polson -26
29. Caleb Marchbank -28.5
30. Liam Stocker -30
31. Matthew Kennedy -31.5
32 = Paddy Dow -46
32 = Jacob Weitering -46
34. Lochie O'Brien -52

35. Liam Jones -63
36. Mitch McGovern -66.5

THOSE WHO IMPRESSED ME

Ed Curnow

When much of the midfield disappeared, this man hung around with his usual work rate. The somewhat limited yet reliable two-way runner has made good on his return to the centre in recent weeks. This time saw him walk off with 32 disposals, 15 contested possessions, 9 marks, 6 clearances, 5 tackles and 4 inside 50's. Although reasonably overshadowed by his sturdy teammates down back on the weekend, Ed still quietly got his job done and has been one of the key factors in Carlton's enjoyable period under David Teague. The move back into the engine room, allowed us to see what we sorely missed. Curnow is nearly just as much of a machine as his captain and is absolutely hard to take down. He always manages to break his arms free and dispose of the ball legally in congestion. His clearance work is outstanding, along with his tackle numbers. And while he may not be a regular scorer, he sure can assist with it in passages of play. There are no question as about it. Ed is still vital to the club's plans of rising once again.

Matthew Kennedy
I'm just not sure how to see this kid at the moment with his up and down game. However, I must go by the week and give plaudits to those that deserve them. Matthew Kennedy just happens to be one of them with his career-best four goals. The country boy who was slowly looking like another invested failure by the much criticised list manager Stephen Silvagni, is on the verge of finding his home in attack. Kennedy's performance wasn't one friendly on the stat sheet, but it was an incredibly sweet sight on the field. What was most impressive about his four goals was that they were spread across all four quarters and none of them were from a forward 50 mark. Three of them were during play. Two of the three were on the back of some clever work from teammates in traffic while the other one was delivered under great pressure. It proved that Kennedy could make good out of very few opportunities here. A fantastic game for sure. I just hope this isn't going to become a constant thing where Kennedy is in the red one week then in the green the next. Consider his next step being the search for consistency.

Liam Jones

I'm sure plenty of us were questioning whether a three-year contract extension for Liam Jones was a little too much. Well it wouldn't take long for the revitalised defender to put an end to the discussions. One would think this guy was to be a little more cautious after a lengthy stint on the sidelines after a brutal head knock. However, there was no sacrificing the courage to put the body on the line. He may have been a joke of the footy world three years ago, but Liam Jones is now a professional to praise. His name is getting thrown around for All-Australian contention, especially after his dominant display against the struggling suns. With 19 disposals, 11 contested possessions, 10 one percenters and a game high 5 contested marks (3 more than the next best), Jones had a day out and almost schooled the Gold Coast forward line. His hard efforts also took pressure off the back of his fellow defenders, with most of them too named among the best for the blues. Baed on what we've seen him do to date, Liam is nothing short of phenomenal.

Honourable Mentions

Levi Casboult, Michael Gibbons, Nic Newman, Sam Petrevski-Seton, Kade Simpson, Sam Walsh, Jacob Weitering

THOSE WHO DISAPPOINTED ME

Patrick Cripps

Suppose we can say it's a good thing the reliance on our captain to deliver the results has been somewhat reduced. But I still believe Carlton can have it's cake and eat it too in this situation. While the stats don't look all that terrible, much of what I saw from Patrick Cripps wasn't very convincing or supportive to his Brownlow chances. Although it can be argued the treatment from the umpires wasn't quite in his favour, there were many moments where he just didn't have the strength on him. He couldn't break away and create the damage he was known for. Now and then he would even go on to fumble when trying for the ground ball. Is it possible that Cripps isn't in great shape at the moment? I mean he was still getting that ankle strapped during the game. If so, the club shouldn't be taking such risks with their greatest jewel. I'm sure every Carlton fan would have been willing to wait at least another week if the skipper isn't entirely up to the task. We'd rather have him fit and firing over being just a sight for sore eyes.

Matthew Kreuzer

This would comfortably be considered as Kreuzer's worst performance so far this year. He got absolutely destroyed by Jarrod Witts in the ruck contest. His presence around the ground as well was very little, with a season low in both disposals and hitouts. And when Levi stepped into the middle, there was barely any sight of him in the forward line. Kreuzer also spent a significant amount of time getting checked on the bench towards the end after copping a heavy knock in a marking contest. Despite passing the assessment and playing out the game, he had no impact whatsoever. All in all, it was a day to forget for Kreuzer when it came to his own efforts. However, there is just no disliking the guy. The blues are more likely to succeed whenever he is delivering. Even with the age and cruel run of injuries, there remains no regrets with the decision to persist with him in 2020. Everybody down at Ikon Park knows he can make up for his poor days.

Lochie O'Brien

The kid certainly has got a leg on him, and I can't deny the improvement in his work load ever since Teague took over the reigns. But seriously, what is with his fascination of kicking the ball out on the full? O'Brien once again did exactly this two or three times, which seems to be the average amount for him lately. That is simply two or three too many. Sure one of them involved him being under duress, but there was another kick out on the full a minute or two afterwards without much pressure at all. I believe this deficiency of his is hurting the image quite a bit. If the coaches train players individually on areas of their game and have the time to do so, then this one should be high on the list. The power of O'Brien is currently showing, but the poise remains a work in progress. He needs to focus heavily on measuring his kicks a little more. Perhaps when along the wing, he should try finding targets little more towards the corridor and less along the boundary line.

Dishonourable mentions
Josh Deluca

OTHER NOTES

- What is the point of these pointless reviews? How about this? If the player does not claim to have touched the ball before it passes the goal line, then just call it a goal. Quit wasting everybody's time!
- Kade Simpson tackles a Gold Coast player with ball in hand who had prior opportunity. No free is paid. Seconds later, Marc Murphy gets tackled by Gold Coast player a couple of seconds after picking up the ball. Free kick is paid against him. Apparently the 'holding the ball' rule didn't apply to the suns.
- Also there was that one moment in the first term when both Murphy and Cripps were being held by their opponents, but apparently that wasn't important. What was important was the umpire waiting for Cripps to dispose of the ball and then penalise him for a throw. Textual face palm.
- Surely the discussion about who wins rising star is no more. There are plenty of future stars in this crop, some with higher ceilings than others. But based on the body of work over the course of 2019, the winner just has to be Sam Walsh. Anything else will be nothing short of a farce. Only injury can stop this young man now. The award means very little, but it can go on to mean absolutely NOTHING if Walsh does not win it. That's why for the sake of the award's value, just give it to the kid.

NEXT WEEK

It's the much anticipated clash between two sides death-riding each other after the history making live pick swap last year. Carlton here have a genuine opportunity on home soil to make it three in a row whilst Adelaide currently experience a rough patch and point fingers. If the blues want win number six, they most certainly have to dish up a better game than that against the suns. Despite Adelaide's one-paced midfield, ageing list and out of form players, they remain no easy opposition. Regardless, Carlton continuing to play to their strengths and going into this match with the new day mentality will surely see the chances of victory increase. That being said, I must persist with my preseason prediction of a ten-goal loss. Doesn't seem likely given the recent performances from both sides, but anything can happen. Best that I can do is cross my fingers and hope it isn't the case. It's up to all the blue boys to remain level-headed and give it their all.

PREDICTED LINE-UP

IN - David Cuningham
OUT - Darcy Lang (Omitted)

FB - Liam Jones - Jacob Weitering - Nic Newman
HB - Kade Simpson - Lachie Plowman - Sam Petrevski-Seton
C - Sam Walsh - Ed Curnow - Dale Thomas
HF - Michael Gibbons - Harry McKay - Matthew Kennedy
FF - Zac Fisher - Matthew Kreuzer - David Cuningham
R - Levi Casboult - Patrick Cripps - Marc Murphy
I - Will Setterfield - Josh Deluca - Lochie O'Brien - Jack Silvagni

E - Tom De Koning - Angus Schumacher - Paddy Dow - Alex Fasolo

Adelaide Crows by 60 points

Travis "TJ" James