Carlton young guns stand tall in encouraging win over the Western Bulldogs
So much has been made of Carlton’s ‘green shoots’. It’s not quite time to get the hedge trimmer, but the Blues’ backyard is finally beginning to branch out. And the wins, like the one over the Bulldogs, will keep coming.
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The green shoots are gaining strength.
Something substantial is taking root for Brendon Bolton and his young Carlton crew. It’s not quite time to get the hedge trimmer out, but the Blues’ backyard is finally beginning to branch out.
Sunday’s breakthrough win against the Western Bulldogs will serve as the fertiliser they’ve been yearning for.
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No. 1 pick Sam Walsh fittingly splashed on an extra dose on the final siren.
Walsh’s goal with the last kick of the day booted Carlton over the 100-point barrier for the first time in 60 games.
Another unwanted streak sacrificed on a day where hope was resurrected.
After a week where Carlton’s development was questioned, tree trunk Harry McKay again showed he might have the best mitts in the game.
The full-forward pulled in another five contested marks as he exploited the undersized Zaine Cordy in the first half.
McKay even had a shot at a Buddy Franklin-esque piece of magic with a four-bounce sprint down the wing that ended in a tired and sprayed kick at goal.
But McKay’s fourth goal kicked in the final term secured Carlton’s fourth win in 37 games, and its first in 2019.
Levi Casboult’s putting game has never been a strength, but he teed off with three goals — two from his preferred driving range of 50m — after a late call-up for Charlie Curnow (knee).
McKay and Casboult were the finishing men but it was a performance built by the midfield.
On Easter Sunday the Bulldogs on-ballers were made to look like bunnies as Patrick Cripps and Sam Petrevski-Seton yinged and yanged to the delight of a previously frustrated faithful.
The Blues must’ve skipped a morning binge on chocolate eggs, because their appetite was fierce.
Cripps and ‘SPS’ shared 71 disposals and 18 clearances — that is a lot of brute and burst from the centre square.
Petrevsski-Seton’s 35 disposals was nine more than his previous career-best. He wasn’t alone.
Michael Gibbons enjoyed his finest outing, Walsh (26 disposals) was prolific and Liam Jones was again unstoppable as the deepest defender.
When that blunt Bulldog midfield combined with a forward line that had about as much wallop as the tooth fairy it was always going to be a dirty day.
A return of seven goals under the roof at Marvel Stadium was desperately disappointing, particularly given there were another 54 entries — six more than the Blues.
They’ve ranked in the bottom four for goalkicking accuracy the past four years and even the sublime Marcus Bontempelli is guilty in front of the sticks.
The Bont has 1.9 for the season while Josh Dunkley’s set-shot record sits at 11.22 in his career.
That’s three-straight defeats for the Dogs, two against a 2018 bottom pair deemed so uncompetitive they were rewarded special draft assistance by the AFL.
Former Melbourne coach Paul Roos cited percentage as the key indicator of the Dees’ improvement as they slowly climbed out of hell and that reads favourably for Bolton.
They’ve jumped from 59 per cent last season to 93.4 per cent and the improvement runs deep despite the 0-4 start to the season.
The challenge for Bolton now is to get the Blues’ backyard looking like a seldom maintained holiday house by season’s end.
BOLTON CHALLENGES BLUES TO BACK UP BREAKTHROUGH WIN
Brendon Bolton has dared his baby Carlton team to replicate the “maturity and resolve” that sparked today’s watershed victory against the Western Bulldogs.
The Blues won every quarter for the first time Bolton’s 71-game tenure and snapped an eight-match losing streak after captain Patrick Cripps challenged his teammates in a scathing review of last week’s disastrous finish against Gold Coast.
“Assertive is the only way to describe how (Cripps) dealt with that,” Bolton said.
“He will feel as good today not about his own performance but about the numbers that the other mids produced, because he has given to them. That’s leadership.”
Cripps led the way with 36 disposals as the Blues celebrated just their third win in 610 days, restricting the dysfunctional Dogs to just 57 points.
Bolton admitted he thought Liam Jones’ career was finished but the serial stopper is suddenly one of the best defenders in the AFL.
“When (he was) moved down back I thought his career was over,” Bolton said.
“I thought it was all over. The one thing I did know is he’s incredibly hard, and I mean tough, like he’s a brutal player. And he has good power.
“Last year it didn’t matter who was playing back, the ball was coming at them at 200 miles per hour.
“Now we’re defending better and he comes back into the game. He played sore today too.”
Jones has conceded just three goals this year.
The Blues should regain Charlie Curnow (knee) for Sunday’s clash against Hawthorn in Launceston.
A loss would’ve consigned the Blues to just their third 0-5 start in the past 120 seasons, and second in a row under Bolton.
“That’s a good summary – (it was) a mature response,” Bolton said.
“We’ve been building towards this. Our effort indicators, even the scoreline, we’ve been in games and really close to getting a result in the last four weeks.
“Easily you could lose morale and sync but they were out training and we had to slow them down from doing their extras.
“To the Bluebaggers and supporters I probably need to say Happy Easter. “
Bolton heaped praise on assistant coaches John Barker, Cameron Bruce and Dale Amos as the Blues won clearances 42-26.
“Cripps is at the top of the chain with possessions but (Sam) Walsh, (Zac) Fisher, (Marc) Murphy, Samo (Sam Petrevski-Seton) and (Michael) Gibbons to a degree, they did it together as a group,” Bolton said.
“It wasn’t just Patrick Cripps or Marc Murphy.”
No.1 pick Walsh is the first player in AFL history to record 24 disposals or more in his first five games.
Carlton took 16 marks inside 50m as Harry McKay clunked another five contested grabs.
McKay’s 22 contested marks for the season is No.1 in the AFL and seven-clear of the next best, Fremantle’s Matt Taberner.
KEEPING UP WITH THE JONES
Liam Jones’ ride at Carlton is already so volatile you could suffer whiplash just thinking about it. Imagine if the next milestone is All-Australian full-back Liam Jones? You would’ve been committed for suggesting that a few years ago as Jones struggled in a VFL attack. The super spoiler — who has explosive closing speed and a sharp leap — has given up three goals in about nine hours of footy this year. On Sunday Jones kept teenager Aaron Naughton goalless, with the Bulldog joining Jack Riewoldt, Paddy Ryder, Buddy Franklin and Chris Burgess as scalps this season. Last week Burgess had just two disposals in 55 minutes on Jones and on Sunday Naughton finished with four disposals from 83 minutes spent on Jones.
AUSTIN-POWER’S PICKS LOOKING GROOVY, BABY
Dogs recruiter Nick Austin and list manager Sam Power (Austin-Power) had reason to smile with the new pairing’s first draft haul the shining lights. No. 7 pick Bailey Smith’s composure is growing by the week and his repeat efforts should provide infectious energy to his teammates. Debutants Will Hayes (pick 78) and Lachie Young (rookie) showed gallons and glimpses respectively. Hayes, the son of Hall of Fame horse trainer David Hayes, galloped around as a natural ball winner (21 disposals) while Young and his man bun bookended his game with a soaring grab and a desperate tackle on Casboult at full-back.
LIBBA TOO LATE ATTACKS THE MIDDLE
Tom Liberatore started forward and the problem was the ball didn’t get there. The Blues won the first six clearances and jumped the Dogs with two early goals. Then, Libba went in the guts, won the next two clearances himself and the Dogs bit back to level the scores. They lacked bite in the middle without Libba and were exposed by an undersized backline. If mongrel man Jackson Trengove can’t get a game at the moment the future might be bleak for a man signed on about $1.5 million.
BEST
WESTERN BULLDOGS: Daniel, Bontempelli, Johannisen, Liberatore, Hayes, Macrae
CARLTON: Cripps, McKay, Petrevksi-Seton, Jones, Walsh, Murphy, Fisher, Kreuzer, Gibbons, Casboult, Newman
VOTES
3. Patrick Cripps (Carl)
2. Harry McKay (Carl)
1. Sam Petrevski-Seton
Originally published as Carlton young guns stand tall in encouraging win over the Western Bulldogs
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