News, analysis and highlights from Carlton’s win over Essendon at the MCG

Carlton did what they needed to do against an injury-hit Essendon. But the performance wouldn’t have given their faithful much confidence 2025 will amount to anything special.

Carlton chose not to “overhaul” things during its mid-season break.

“It’s about repetition, reinforcement,” coach Michael Voss said last week.

“There’s a real clarity on what we’re trying to achieve, and everyone’s role within that.”

There was certainly some familiarity and “repetition” about the first game back from the break as what looms as a wasted 2025 season drags on.

The Blues did enough to beat a young, inexperienced and injury-hit Essendon by eight points at the MCG on Sunday night, securing their fifth win of the campaign.

But there was nothing convincing about it, with an ugly win being about as much as fans of the Navy Blue can ask for at the present time.

Carlton won, but it wasn’t very impressive. Picture: Getty Images

Voss would have breathed a sigh of relief in the coaches’ box that his side was able to hold strong in the last quarter and get over the line.

If they hadn’t, the coach would have spent the week in the spotlight once again.

The same old problems continue to linger for Carlton, which is trying to evolve its game but — for whatever reason — cannot seem to do that for more than 30 or 40 minutes at a time.

Sam Durham's bump on Adam Cerra

At quarter-time on Sunday night, you could have sworn that Voss had waved a magic wand over his side during the break, for the ball movement and entries going inside-50 were spellbinding.

Carlton went into the first break with 6.4 (40) on the scoreboard — marking its third-highest scoring term of the season and its best quarter of football outside of a Good Friday clash against a battling North Melbourne in April.

The Blues had gone into the game with a mantra to make the ground big and use the ball better by foot rather than bombing it long down the line — and it showed.

The ball use in the first term was beautiful, both when transitioning out of defence and when searching for targets inside-50.

Players found and worked into pockets of space and more often than not the first option was taken further afield to move the Sherrin down the field at speed.

Carlton entered the clash having averaged 26.8 points per game from its defensive half chains.

By the quarter time siren, it had scored 4.2 (26) from its back half.

The third-worst team for converting inside-50s to scores this season, the Blues also scored at 77 per cent efficiency going inside 50 in the opening quarter.

They registered 10 scores from only 13 entries as Zach Williams nailed dart passes to teammates inside the arc.

By the time Orazio Fantasia kicked a goal at the 10-minute mark of the second quarter, Voss’ men had booted seven of the first eight goals of the game and led by 38 points.

Then old habits crept back in as the magic dust quickly dissolved.

Essendon challenged Carlton after the first term. Picture: Getty Images

When Essendon awoke and lifted its pressure in the second quarter, the game flipped.

The Blues went back into their shells as their sexy ball movement from the first quarter disappeared in favour of slow and predictable play.

The run from Carlton completely dried up, a litany of skill errors by foot pursued and the ball lived inside Essendon’s forward half for long periods of time.

The Bombers also used handball to create some end-to-end scoring chains of their own, catching out the Blues’ normally rock-solid defence at times as they kicked 10 of the last 14 goals of the game.

At the other end, Carlton recorded 43 inside-50s for only 13 scores after quarter-time — its efficiency dropping through the floor to only 30 per cent.

It was a completely different ball game to the first quarter.

Credit where credit is due — the Blues did hang on to claim the four points.

Voss’ side won clearances 13-1 in the last quarter, including going 4-1 from centre clearances.

Midfielder Sam Walsh racked up 11 disposals and two clearances for the term, while a defence led by the returning Jack Silvagni held firm under the heat.

But the fact that Essendon was able to whittle away the margin to just six points during time-on in the last term was far from an ideal scenario, even if Voss took the glass half-full approach post-game.

“We’re not going to go from 0-100 in 5.8 seconds here. We’ve got to take it a step at a time,” the coach said of his side’s progression.

“It’s a good problem to have if you’re in front by that much and you’re getting that many opportunities. It’s a good problem to try and solve. The harder one to solve is you’re behind all the time, you get no opportunities and you’re trying to win your game from a completely negative base.”

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The old saying goes: One swallow doesn’t make a summer.

The Blues haven’t yet learnt that one quarter doesn’t make a game.

They know what their best ball movement looks like, which was on show in the first quarter against Essendon and was also evident in the opening term of a Friday night clash against the Western Bulldogs back in March.

The question is: Can the Blues bring their best across four quarters in the second half of this season?

If that can’t be established, the longer break of the off-season at the end of the year will be intriguing.

Because if Sunday night taught us anything, it was that there is still much work to do — even if that does not involve a full-scale “overhaul” right now.

Originally published as News, analysis and highlights from Carlton’s win over Essendon at the MCG