AFL 2022: Jack Silvagni sidelined for Fremantle game as coach predicts Patrick Cripps will play
A key Carlton forward has missed the flight to Perth after suffering an injury on the training track as coach Michael Voss gave an update on the possible return of Patrick Cripps.
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Carlton forward Jack Silvagni will miss Saturday night’s clash with Fremantle in Perth after suffering an ankle injury at training on Thursday.
Scans have shown no significant damage and Silvagni underwent a fitness test at Ikon Park on Friday morning before to the team’s flight to Perth.
It was decided Silvagni would miss this weekend, but the club said he was likely to return next round.
Tom De Koning has now come into the Blues’ 22 with Lachie Plowman added to the emergencies.
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“He just tweaked it at training and we were hoping it was going to be minor enough that he could come up, but we tested him this morning and decided not to bring him over,” Carlton coach Michael Voss said.
“Certainly it’s very much on the minor end of the scale, but given it only happened yesterday we expect it’ll probably settle down over the next few days.
“But we’ll probably have a further look at it in the next few days.”
Captain Patrick Cripps has been named to return after missing one week with a hamstring tweak, and Voss declared he was right to go.
“We’re pretty confident,” Voss said.
“We were also early on, but we also had to be patient just to find out what the damage might be and how long it would take to settle down.
“He just overstretched it and it was really on the minor end, but you’re never too sure how these things go.
“He was able to get out yesterday and train and he trained really well and did everything he needed to in order to play this game.”
The Blues are 4-1 but gave up a 49-point lead over Port Adelaide last weekend to prevail by just three points.
The Carlton coach said he was confident the group would overcome the recent fade outs with some “sustained intensity”.
“It is certainly something we had a really good chat around that earlier in the week when we debriefed the game,” he said.
“I don’t think we can shy away from (the fact) we need to become a little bit more consistent throughout the course of games.
“The good thing is we’re really clear on what it looks like and we sort of understand that we’ve still got a bit of work to do as a footy team.”
Inside story: The people and planning behind Blues’ rise
What does Charlie Curnow’s best look like?
Not even Carlton really knows, by its own admission.
“I’m not sure what Charlie’s 100 per cent looks like just yet, but I think he’s treading in the right direction after not playing a lot of footy,” Blues assistant and forwards coach Ash Hansen said.
“That’s exciting for the group and I think he’s still creating that belief in his game and learning how to play his part in our system.”
After almost two years on the sidelines with injury, the Blues spearhead is starting to string some performances together and has been instrumental in Carlton’s 4-1 start to the season under new coach Michael Voss.
The Blues’ twin towers up forward in Harry McKay and Curnow are the envy of most in the competition.
Curnow’s kicked 14 goals in five games and McKay has 12, but what about the Blues’ small forwards such as Zac Fisher, Jack Martin, Jack Silvagni and Matthew Owies?
The Blues need to get more out of them, but Hansen said they were just waiting for their chance to step up.
“I think they’re all playing their role, and when those big guys are taking the marks that they are at the moment, there’s not much on offer for the small forwards,” he said.
“But the pressure and the work rate and the balance they’re giving our side is really important, so we know there going to be weeks when probably Charlie and Harry are attracting a bit of attention and that’s when the smalls will come into it like they did in round one.
“At the moment those two guys are playing really well and the smalls are supporting them.”
THE MIDFIELD
The Blues appear to have found one of the recruits of the year in former Swan George Hewett.
Carlton targeted the shutdown half-back flanker at Sydney to play a full-time midfield role, and he hasn’t let them down.
Against Port Adelaide at the MCG last weekend, he had 33 possessions, 19 contested possessions, 13 clearances and 10 score involvements.
He hasn’t had less than 28 disposals in a game in his first five appearances in a Blues jumper, and the Blues are understandably thrilled.
“He got recruited here to play midfield and we saw those traits in him,” Blues midfield coach Tim Clarke said.
“Sydney did too, but they just chose to play him in other areas.
“What we really loved about George is his character.
“He is a very good footballer and has been for a long time, but his character and the amount of time he invests in his teammates and others is what we really love about him.
“He continues to deliver at the moment.”
Hewett’s impact has helped cover the recent loss of skipper Patrick Cripps, who missed last week’s win over Port Adelaide with hamstring tightness.
Clarke said there has been a silver lining in Cripps’ absence.
“His leadership has been terrific so there is a void, but I feel it created an opportunity for leadership and it allowed Sam Walsh and Jacob Weitering to step up in leadership roles,” Clarke said.
“It also allowed players to play more minutes inside, and that’s Adam Cerra, Matty Kennedy, George Hewett.
“These guys can spend more minutes inside and that opportunity allows them to play good football.”
Clarke said he has been pleased with his midfield brigade, with the exception of the loss to Gold Coast, and was adamant his side’s fade-outs would soon be a thing of the past.
“The main takeaway from the Port game would be when we play our brand of football, we know it stacks up against really good opposition,” he said.
“I know Port haven’t won a game yet but this year but they’re a good opposition and they’re going to win games of footy.
“The brand of footy we showed we can play both in the first half and then late in the game stands up against that.
“What we need to keep doing is growing our game to be able to sustain it for longer.”
BACKLINE
Matt Taberner.
It is the name at the top of Blues’ backline coach Aaron Hamill’s whiteboard this week after the Dockers forward booted seven goals in his last outing.
The performance included four goals in a quarter, and Hamill is naturally concerned ahead of Saturday night’s clash in the west.
“We’ll certainly have a plan (for him) and it’s a significant test, there’s no doubt about that,” he said.
Star defender Jacob Weitering will no doubt be a big part of Hamill’s plan.
He looms as the match-up for the in-form Docker, as the Blues prepare for Fremantle to try and limit Weitering influence.
Last weekend, the Power successfully drew Weitering away from the play in their second half comeback and funnelled it around him to great effect.
The Blues are awake to it and are trying to counter it.
“Teams are probably making the ground a little bit bigger then what they have in the past against us, and they’re testing weaknesses and vulnerabilities in your system and your team defence,” Hamill said.
“You have to keep reacting and adjusting on the fly to try to stay ahead of the curve.”
Weitering is the star down back, while there is also plenty of attacking flair around him in the likes of Adam Saad, Nic Newman, Zac Williams and Jordan Boyd.
Then there is the steadying influence of former co-captain Sam Docherty, whose return from a second bout of cancer this year is a continuing source of inspiration for his teammates.
Hamill said he’d loved working with Weitering and Docherty since joining the Blues’ coaching staff at the end of last season.
“I’ve only had the pressure of working with them for five or six months and it’s been a pleasure watching them up close and seeing them in their relentless pursuit to get better,” he said.
“They don’t leave any stone unturned.”
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