Patrick Cripps was outstanding but Sydney too good for Carlton as Swans record first win of 2019
Patrick Cripps dominated and No.1 draft pick Sam Walsh set new running records, but that ultimately wasn’t enough as Isaac Heeney helped lead Sydney to its first win of the season against the Blues. MATCH REPORT, COACHES
Patrick Dangerfield had one piece of advice regarding the new 6-6-6 rule at this year’s AFL Players’ Association season launch.
“Put money on ‘Crippa’ for the Brownlow,” Dangerfield said.
It might’ve been a hot tip. After Round 3 Cripps might well have polled in three losing teams with Saturday’s performance in a 19-point loss to Sydney his finest.
Rarely has a football team been built so exclusively around one player. Cripps isn’t just the heartbeat at Carlton, he’s the entire aorta and the lungs as well.
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Carlton coach Brendon Bolton lauded captain Cripps’ pre-game plea to his young teammates that: “You can forever wait to be good … but you’re ready now”.
But a cold patch in the second and third quarters where the Blues booted 1.6 from 24 entries consigned them to a 0-3 start for the sixth time in the past seven seasons.
They are 3-32 in their past 35 games and have now travelled 58 games without scoring 100 points.
No.1 draft pick Sam Walsh (28 disposals) ran an extraordinary 16.2km (No.1 on the ground) in just his third game.
SCROLL DOWN TO SEE WHAT THE COACHES SAID
Bolton revealed the Blues had made a conscious effort not to over-coach Walsh.
“That’s huge (GPS) numbers. Incredible — no other way to describe it,” Bolton said.
“We haven’t over-coached Walshy. It can be a real trap where you get a young guy in with a real free mind and spirit. It’s so important he keeps playing with the freedom and run he does.”
The problem for Cripps — and perhaps Walsh — is that’s where the superstar talent ends. They was helpless to stop Sydney squashing a wasteful Carlton at Marvel Stadium.
Cripps won eight of his 13 clearances bursting out of the centre. The next best was third-gamer Sam Walsh with three centre clearances.
Cripps laid eight tackles, three more than every other teammate. Boy, how he must yearn for some midfield mates.
He has a bestie in Walsh but would’ve looked at several of his ineffective teammates with frustration.
What impact on the game did Michael Gibbons or Cam Polson have? Will top-10 picks Lochie O’Brien or Will Setterfield enjoy their review? Where was Levi Casboult after an early contested mark on the wing?
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The Blues have now started 0-3 in six out of seven seasons and will feel an opportunity missed on Saturday.
In the first quarter Harry McKay missed a set-shot from 5m while Paddy Dow scored 0.1 from two shots charging towards the sticks.
Ed Curnow thought he was Peter Daicos as he snapped left-foot and right-foot goals, one mercurial one from the boundary, but the scoring pizzazz quickly dried up.
At quarter-time the Blues had kicked five goals from 11 shots (45 per cent) while the Swans had six goals from seven shots (85 per cent).
McKay’s mitts and Dow’s speed are mighty impressive. In fact, McKay has set a new record for contested marks after Round 3.
But until they add that lick of polish they’ll continue to rue missed opportunities.
“I CAN’T WATCH THIS” UMPIRING MESS
Last week the overzealous crackdown on off-the-ball niggling had the football world fuming. James Sicily couldn’t sneeze without the umpire blowing his whistle. Yet in the first five minutes on Saturday Lance Franklin and Liam Jones kept swinging arms into each other as if they were trying to crack open piñatas. Umpire Jacob Mollison counselled them both individually but kept the whistle away. Then, Buddy was awarded a soft free kick and slotted the game’s first goal. “I can’t watch this,” Wayne Carey said on Triple M. “That is crap. We’ve got to get vision of that because that (early niggle) was 10 free kicks last week”. The free kick awarded for a push to Isaac Heeney to seal the game was just as confusing.
IS THE RISING STAR RACE OVER?
Sam Walsh is odds-on to be named the Round 3 Rising Star nominee on Monday night. In five months Walsh is a firming favourite to become Carlton’s first overall winner. On Saturday Walsh recorded a team-high 28 disposals and ran 16.2km, at least 800m more than every other player on the ground. Cripps is on his own level, but outside of that it is hard to argue there are a heap of Blues far better than Walsh. In just three games the No.1 pick has overtaken a pile of his teammates. He just never seems overawed and does every little thing immaculately. In the first quarter Walsh marked running back with the flight and coolly drilled the set-shot to give Carlton its fifth goal and an eight-point lead. From there the Blues buckled but Walsh stayed strong.
JONES TAKES POINTS
The Jones-Franklin match-up was enthralling. Franklin finished with 2.1 but Jones took the points, using his natural attacking flair to out-mark Franklin in the second quarter and dance past him in a critical contest in the last quarter. Jones and Franklin stood side-by-side for 109 out of 114 minutes and there was so much body contact between them Jesinta Franklin might’ve felt a touch jealous in the stands. Franklin’s 32-year-old body now has just five days to recover for a Thursday night clash against Melbourne … off a limited pre-season.
TOM DRAWS LEVEL WITH PADDY
Tom McCartin the defender has one over older brother Paddy. Saturday’s win was Tom’s 10th at AFL level — equalling the amount Paddy has played in. The difference? Tom has played 19 fewer games and been on a list for three fewer seasons. McCartin was swung from the forward line to the backline on Saturday and looks a serious prospect. Fingers crossed his older brother is ready to go after concussion concerns soon.
SAM LANDSBERGER’S BEST
Carlton: Cripps, E. Curnow, Jones, Walsh, Murphy, McKay
Sydney: Heeney, Kennedy, Jones, Lloyd, Parker, Sinclair, Mills
BRENDON BOLTON: WE’RE TALKING ABOUT THE POSITIVES
Carlton coach Brendon Bolton and his players shared a “nearly awkward silence” after the 19-point loss.
Bolton lauded captain Patrick Cripps’ pre-game plea to his young teammates that: “You can forever wait to be good … but you’re ready now”.
But a cold patch in the second and third quarters where the Blues booted 1.6 from 24 entries consigned them to a 0-3 start for the sixth time in the past seven seasons.
They are 3-32 in their past 35 games and have now travelled 58 games without scoring 100 points.
No.1 draft pick Sam Walsh (28 disposals) ran an extraordinary 16.2km (No.1 on the ground) in just his third game.
Bolton revealed the Blues had made a conscious effort not to over-coach Walsh.
“That’s huge (GPS) numbers. Incredible — no other way to describe it,” Bolton said.
“We haven’t over-coached Walshy. It can be a real trap where you get a young guy in with a real free mind and spirit. It’s so important he keeps playing with the freedom and run he does.”
An insightful Bolton said Liam Jones was “fantastic” on Buddy Franklin and detailed several of his key learnings post-match.
“For periods of the game we didn’t get enough uncontested marks. So when they’ve got a run on we needed to control the ball a little bit more,” Bolton said.
“Our ability to adjust in-game was a conversation. Another conversation was we had an extra scoring shot, but in set-shots we kicked 4.6. There’s a set of fundamentals that add up.
“We talk about the last quarter the way in which we squeezed the ground up and had 19 inside 50s to five and we love that you never gave up.
“They’re all layers as to why you have moments in games in your favour or not.”
Key forward Harry McKay’s six contested marks gave him 15 for the year — a record after Round 3 this century.
Only Matthew Lloyd (17 in 1999) has taken more with McKay overtaking Matthew Richardson (14 in 2001).
But McKay finished with 1.3, including a shocking miss from close-range in the first quarter.
No.3 pick Paddy Dow’s blistering pace stood out although he was also undone by wayward goalkicking.
“I don’t want (Dow) to overthink it, I want him to keep backing himself,” Bolton said.
“Take the game on — you see grass in front of you run and explode and just keep practising your finish.”
Mitch McGovern (hamstring tightness) is in doubt for next week’s trip to face Gold Coast.
“We’re chasing a win as hard as anything,” Bolton said.
“There’s so many examples of teams in the past where (they’re) so close, so close, so close and when it cracks it opens up and goes in their favour.”
LONGMIRE: WE’RE PREPARING FOR NEW FACES
Sydney must replace Jarrad McVeigh (quad) and Will Hayward (broken jaw) for Thursday night’s clash against winless Melbourne at the SCG.
“Jeremy Laidler, our reserves coach, was mindful (we needed players to come in) and he would’ve eased the load off a few of them in the last quarter, mindful of that five-day break,” Longmire said.
Franklin received a dubious free kick for off-the-ball niggle early in the first quarter and Longmire — who didn’t see that tangle — warned against the recent crackdown.
“I just think we’ve got to be careful. We don’t want to do anything silly off the ball but it’s also a contact sport and we’ve got to be mindful a goal either way is a big penalty.”
Longmire was wary of the Dees despite their sluggish start.
“I saw they kicked seven goals straight in the second quarter (against Essendon). They looked all right then. They were able to hit the scoreboard and be damaging.”
Originally published as Patrick Cripps was outstanding but Sydney too good for Carlton as Swans record first win of 2019
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