AFL 2022 Carlton v Hawthorn: All the news, results and stats
Carlton almost blew a 41-point lead against Hawthorn but Michael Voss says the fans should enjoy their first 3-0 start to a season in a decade.
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Michael Voss isn’t taking the excitement away for delirious Carlton fans after the club’s best start to a season for a decade.
There is no talk of lids by the new Blues coach, who is embracing the 3-0 start and urging the supporters to do the same after his side survived a major scare against Hawthorn.
Finals tickets were being booked at quarter-time when Carlton kicked seven goals to one, but just as Blues fans were getting ahead of themselves, the footy gods struck back and in the end the Navy Blues were lucky to hold on for a one-point victory.
Voss says he is always a half-full guy so the best start to a season since 2012 – Carlton ended up not making the finals that year – is being embraced.
“I’m not here to take the excitement away from our supporters,” he said.
“You only have to listen to that noise out there and realise just how much passion is in there, we are not going to take that excitement away.
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“What we have to do is understand what’s real and what’s not real, for us the work starts again on Tuesday.
“We go about not trying to fluctuate in our emotions and read into it too much. We have to turn up again, we have to get the job done, we’ve got to prepare well and get another opponent next week.
“We come out of this game feeling great, and we should feel great that we’ve got the four points.
“I said to the boys in there, celebrate the wins, this game is really hard, wins are really hard and we shouldn’t treat it as anything other than being able to enjoy it.
“But at the same time when we get back to work on Tuesday we put our head down, we look at it, we review it and we move on.”
Jack Silvagni knows more about Carlton fans getting ahead of themselves than most given his family’s history at Ikon Park.
He was one of the heroes against the Hawks, kicking three goals as the perfect foil for the twin towers of Harry McKay and Charlie Curnow.
“I know how hard it has been for Carlton over the last few years, probably 20-plus years,” he said. “For us to repay their faith for sticking by us for so long, that sort of drives me and is something I play for certainly.”
Silvagni, 24, has been asked to play numerous roles all over the ground, even in the ruck, throughout his 81-game career but has found his niche as the third wheel in the shadow of the Harry and Charlie Show.
“When they’re up and about it’s great, I just sit at the front and get knees in my back, it’s awesome,” he joked.
“But seriously, Harry is a star, Charlie was a star before he got injured and I’m really happy to see Charlie playing with confidence again. That is awesome and they compliment each other really well.
“Where do I fit into the mix? I slide in and be the third wheel which I don’t mind at all.”
Blues keep streak alive – just
– Ronny Lerner
After blowing a 41-point lead early in the final quarter, Carlton fought back late to pinch a thrilling one-point win against Hawthorn to continue their undefeated start to 2022.
The Hawks had one last roll of the dice with 43 seconds left in the game when Jaeger O’Meara hacked a kick to their 50m arc, but Jacob Weitering was there to save the day for the Blues, backing back with the flight of the ball to take a courageous mark.
It proved to be the matchwinning play as Carlton hung on, 11.8 (74) to 11.7 (73), and the result fittingly capped off a difficult weekend for Hawthorn which was rocked by allegations of cultural insensitivity, and even racism, from estranged indigenous club legend Cyril Rioli during his time at Waverley Park.
It’s the first time Carlton has started a season 3-0 in 10 years, and while the Blues didn’t make the finals in 2012, it would be a brave punter to suggest they won’t figure in September this year, based on the way they’re travelling at the moment.
Carlton’s aerial power up forward had an early impact with big overhead marks from Harry McKay, Charlie Curnow, Patrick Cripps and Jack Silvagni, most of which were contested, all leading to goals.
If the Hawks were going to be any chance, they were going to need to at least break even in the midfield, to try and exploit Carlton’s undermanned defence which was missing Mitch McGovern, Adam Saad and Oscar McDonald.
But the Blues midfield had other ideas early, getting right on top and overwhelming Hawthorn in every facet, winning the centre clearances 7-2 in the opening term, and playing a key role in their team kicking seven majors in a row to open up a 41-point lead early in the second quarter.
Things got worse for Hawthorn’s backline when in-form defender Jack Scrimshaw was subbed out at quarter-time due to an injured shoulder blade.
However, the Hawks were able to halt Carlton’s momentum by evening things up around the contest and stoppages, while also burning the Blues with their transition from defence, to cut the margin back to 17 points at three-quarter time.
After being so clean in the first half, the Blues began making errors in the second half. And while the Hawks continued to make their share of skill errors too, the difference was they were taking the game on.
Hawthorn’s defence, led brilliantly by Changkuoth Jiath, James Sicily, Will Day and Sam Frost, were enormous in the second half and were a huge reason why the Hawks almost pinched the win despite having 18 fewer inside-50s (46-64).
The Hawks’ attacking flair, intensity and bold ball use continued in the final quarter and, coupled with Carlton’s chronic stagnant play, Hawthorn grabbed a one-point lead after kicking six goals in a row.
Against the run of play, the tired Blues found one last burst of energy and Jack Silvagni put them back in front with a clever checkside kick from the pocket. Jack Gunston got the Hawks back within a point late, but his opposite number Weitering proved to be the hero of the day for the Blues at the death.
BLUES ONBALLERS DO IT AGAIN
Carlton’s powerful onball division produced the goods again with Sam Walsh (32 touches), Patrick Cripps (31), Matthew Kennedy (30) and George Hewett (27) all having a big influence on the result, while Sam Docherty continued his incredible resurgence with a game-high 33 disposals.
FISHER TOO UNSELFISH
Carlton could’ve probably sealed the result much earlier had Zac Fisher not opted against having a shot on goal from 35m out late in the third quarter and decided to unsuccessfully pass it to Harry McKay. Shortly after, Chad Wingard banged one home from the goalsquare for Hawthorn to make it an 18-point margin when it should’ve been a 30-point difference.
JIATH JUMPSTARTS HAWKS
When the chips were really down for the Hawks as they slumped to seven goals in arrears, Jiath was the instigator behind their exhilarating resurgence. He began taking the game on at all costs, and his teammates followed. It almost resulted in a memorable comeback win. The emerging star finished with 27 disposals, eight marks and 10 intercept possessions to shine brightly for his team.
SCOREBOARD
BLUES 7.1, 9.5, 10.6, 11.8 (74)
HAWKS 1.3, 4.5, 7.7, 11.7 (73)
LERNER’S BEST
Blues: Cripps, Walsh, Docherty, Weitering, Kennedy, Silvagni, Hewett.
Hawks: Jiath, Sicily, Frost, Moore, Day, Breust.
GOALS
Blues: C.Curnow 3, Silvagni 3, McKay 2, Cripps, Owies, Durdin.
Hawks: Moore 2, Breust 2, Gunston 2, Lewis, Macdonald, Wingard, Mitchell, Morrison.
INJURIES
Blues: Pittonet (back). Hawks: Scrimshaw (shoulder blade).
Umpires: Fisher, Stevic, Heffernan
Venue: MCG
PLAYER OF THE YEAR
LERNER’S VOTES
3 C. Jiath (Haw)
2 P. Cripps (Carl)
1 S. Walsh (Carl)
The story behind Patrick Cripps’ rebirth
– Scott Gullan
It’s always been about the running for Patrick Cripps. And not always in a good way.
The stories from his draft year all centred around the way the tall kid from WA moved.
Former Collingwood coach Nathan Buckley recalled a story this week about what Pies recruiter Matthew Rendell said when the Blues took Cripps at No. 13 in the 2013 national draft.
“I’m on a table with Matty Rendell and he said ‘Oh God they’ve stuffed that one up, that bloke can’t run’,” Buckley said.
Even the Blues hierarchy were scratching their head with then chief executive Greg Swann asking questions after watching Cripps struggle in the three-kilometre time trial at the AFL draft camp.
“Are you sure you want to draft that fat bloke?” he asked Blues recruiter Shane Rogers. He replied simply: ”Yep.”
Cripps has previously acknowledged how he wasn‘t AFL-ready at the age of 18 because of poor dietary habits, describing his time trial efforts as “shocking”.
All of this was soon forgotten when he won Carlton‘s best and fairest in his second year and then quickly established himself as one of the league’s best midfielders with All-Australian selection in 2018 and 2019.
But the noise about the running returned again in recent times. Over the past two seasons as the Blues struggled Cripps was getting beaten up.
His shoulders were cooked and then he suffered a fractured back but pride prevented him from taking time out to heal, instead he fronted up every week which just added fuel to the fire of his critics who were keen to say his time as a star of the competition was over.
The reasoning? His running.
How uni tartan track revealed Cripps’ intent
It’s the first week of November and Carlton football manager Brad Lloyd wanders over to Melbourne University to watch the Blues first to four-year players do a two-kilometre time trial on the athletics track.
There is a buzz around the place with new coach Michael Voss and Lloyd isn‘t surprised to see a number of senior players returning early for pre-season training.
One of them is Patrick Cripps.
What happens in the next seven or so minutes leaves the Blues footy boss smiling. There is always a pecking order at football clubs when it comes to time trials, usually there are two or three who are considered elite and then there‘s the rest.
At Carlton it‘s no surprise to hear that Sam Walsh is out in front along with rookies Lochie O’Brien and Matthew Cottrell with a gap to the next bunch which historically isn’t a place you’d find the skipper.
But there he is. The towering 195cm frame of Cripps is holding his own, moving smoothly around the tartan track.
“He‘s had some challenges, the last pre-season in particular,” Lloyd said. ”This year it stands in my mind the first time-trial where he was right up there among that strong group of running mids.
“He came back early with the young players and he was running really, really strongly right from the first time trial. He had a really good off-season and he obviously trained reasonably hard when he was back home in that break.
“He just came back really mentally refreshed and really focused.”
Asked if he thought Cripps came back wanting to prove a point, Lloyd points to the 27-year-old‘s desperation for club success.
“He‘s proud but he’s just desperate for the club to do well,” he said. ”He’s desperate, more than anyone I have seen he’s desperate for his teammates to do well.
“He‘s just craving the whole football club to perform and enjoy some success together.
“He‘s been able to get a fair bit of work in training wise, he’s now in his mid-20s so he’s really matured in his leadership.”
The return of Tim Clarke as an assistant coach is seen as another significant part of the Cripps rebirth.
Clarke, who played 96 games with Hawthorn, was the Blues midfielder coach during Brendon Bolton‘s reign from 2015 to 2018 before joining the Gold Coast Suns.
“He (Cripps) was a strong advocate for Tim when he was at the club previously, he rates him really highly and they have a great relationship,” Lloyd said.
The recruitment of George Hewitt from Sydney and Adam Cerra from Fremantle has obviously added much-needed depth to the Blues midfield which has also helped shed some of the burden off the skipper.
Cripps has wound back the clock in the opening two rounds starting with a three-goal 30 possession game against Richmond in Round 1 and then following it up with 35 touches and two goals against the Western Bulldogs.
That performance against last year‘s grand finalists was the first time he’d had 30 plus disposals, 20 plus contested possessions and 10 plus clearances in a game since 2019.
It has seen his price for the Brownlow Medal smashed with Cripps now the $6 equal favourite with Melbourne‘s Christian Petracca.
The reasoning? His running.
“He‘s certainly moving as good as I have ever seen him,” Lloyd declares.
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Originally published as AFL 2022 Carlton v Hawthorn: All the news, results and stats
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