Carlton finals fallout: The Blues who enhanced and damaged their reputations on the big stage

Charlie Curnow arrived at the Gabba with Blues fan hoping for a goal explosion. Unfortunately he left the detonator back in Melbourne. Now he has a summer to think about his finals.

Charlie Curnow managed just one goal in the preliminary final. Picture: Getty Images

Michael Voss wants it to sit in the guts of his players and burn for a while.

“What I hope it turns into is we’re a hungry football club and a hungry football team,” the Carlton coach said after the 16-point preliminary final loss to Brisbane.

While he was talking generally, Voss would be hoping that message sinks into his best player more than anyone.

Charlie Curnow came to Brisbane with every Blues fan saying: “He’s due”. The expectation was that the Coleman Medallist was ready to explode in September.

Unfortunately he left the detonator back in Melbourne.

One goal from eight possessions and a bad miss at a crucial time in the third quarter was the tale of Curnow’s preliminary final.

It continued an average finals series.

He kicked one goal against Sydney in the elimination final and then his opponent, Melbourne’s All-Australian Steven May, was close to best-on-ground in the semi-final where he managed just one goal from nine touches.

Against the Lions he had a very favourable match-up given Darcy Gardiner, who had come in as a replacement for the injured Jack Payne, was playing just his third game for the season.

At half-time Curnow had touched the ball twice, at least one of those was a goal.

Charlie Curnow was unable to have big impact in the preliminary final. Picture: Getty Images

Things didn’t get much better in the second half as the Lions surged with the Blues centre half-forward finishing with just eight possessions.

His partner in crime, Harry McKay, was a lot better with 2.2 goals from 10 touches which included four contested marks.

Curnow kicked 78 goals – 14 more than last year – to win his second consecutive Coleman Medal but he’ll know – and his coach will hope he knows – that means jack when your September is more fizzle than sizzle.

REPUTATION ENHANCED

While Curnow was left with an asterisk next to his name, Sam Walsh has done the opposite.

His three finals performances have raised his stature in the game significantly. He was already a very good player, now he’s in that elite bracket of players who rise to the occasion.

Walsh averaged over 32 possessions and six tackles in the finals and in a losing preliminary final side he had a game-high 34 disposals which included 15 contested possessions, eight inside 50s, seven score involvements, five intercepts, three clearances and 650 metres gained.

Where others ran out of steam or a willingness for the fight, the Carlton vice-captain kept putting himself into every contest as if his life depended on it.

Remember Walsh didn’t have a pre-season after back surgery in December and then missed a month at the end of the season with a hamstring strain.

The past two seasons he’s had interrupted summers so imagine what he might be capable of with a full pre-season. Hmmm … checking 2024 Brownlow Medal odds as we speak.

Sam Walsh enhanced his reputation on the big stage. Picture: Michael Klein

REPUTATION DAMAGED

Even when Carlton was flying in the first quarter and the ball was pinging all over the Gabba, one Blue was standing out for the wrong reason.

Patrick Cripps seemed to be that half-step off and then when the speed of the game even went up another level as Brisbane surged in the second quarter, he was left in no-man’s land.

The Blues skipper had just six possessions at half-time which normally he’d pick up in 10 minutes. His opponent, Josh Dunkley, had 17 touches at the main break.

Cripps finished with 13 possessions – including two goals – which was the lowest he’d recorded since Round 4 last year against the Gold Coast but that was only because he came off after injuring his hamstring in the first quarter.

He had that look of a couple of years ago where he seemed to be playing hurt all the time.

Adding to the problem was there was no-one other than Walsh who was willing to pick up the captain’s slack.

Adam Cerra was recruited to do just that but he had a fairly forgettable 20-possession night and also blew an easy shot at goal at a crucial time in the third quarter.

Patrick Cripps leads his side off the ground after a quiet preliminary final. Picture: Michael Klein

BOTTOM END

Finals is the place where your list can get exposed.

Generally how your bottom four players shape up can have just as much bearing as how your stars play in September.

If the bottom end gets exposed it can then add more pressure to the bigger names which often doesn’t work out well for you.

Carlton had a reminder that they’re not quite a complete unit across-the-board just yet.

Alex Cincotta, Matthew Cottrell, Lachie Fogarty and Jesse Motlp all had eight or less possessions against the Lions.

They all had different roles but there was no hiding the fact they hadn’t lived up to the standard of performance they’d shown in patches earlier in the finals series.

Originally published as Carlton finals fallout: The Blues who enhanced and damaged their reputations on the big stage