AFL 2023: Harry Mckay suspended for one match, set to miss Gather Round clash with Crows
Carlton are likely to be missing one of their Coleman Medal stars when they face the Crows on Thursday night. Should Harry have been suspended? See all the details here and have your say.
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Carlton is set to be without Harry McKay for its clash with Adelaide on Thursday night after the key forward was offered a shock one-match suspension.
McKay was cited for striking North Melbourne’s Harry Sheezel during the fourth quarter of the Good Friday match.
Sheezel had just kicked the ball when a chasing McKay ran into him, collecting the young Kangaroos with a high forearm to his head.
McKay’s momentum appeared to carry him through the contest, with no malice in his action.
He immediately raised his arms to acknowledge he was sorry and commentators at the time believed he had nothing to answer for.
“I don’t think there’s anything to worry about there,” former Essendon champion Jobe Watson said on the broadcast.
However, AFL match review officer Michael Christian graded the incident as careless contact, with medium impact and high contact, resulting in a one-match ban.
Sheezel bounced straight back up from the knock and played on.
The suspension comes as the AFL cracks down on head-high bumps amid increasing awareness of concussion and legal proceedings from former players.
McKay had kicked four goals in a 23-point win over the Kangaroos, combining well in tandem with Charlie Curnow (six goals).
BLUES GOOD START
They were the moves which reignited the Blues.
One month into the new season, Carlton has banked three-and-a-half wins to sit firmly inside the top-four with superstar midfielder Sam Walsh set to rejoin the team this week.
It’s an encouraging spot for a club which is yet to fully hit its straps after a power-packed third-term helped put away a brave North Melbourne on Good Friday at Marvel Stadium.
Even the Blues would admit they have been travelling mostly in second and third gear so far in 2023, but some subtle changes from the coach’s box helped make the difference in the 23-point win over North.
Carlton was losing the midfield battle in the first half as the Kangaroos held sway by five in the clearance count and nine for contested possessions.
But coach Michael Voss and his assistants swung Sam Docherty into the middle after a quiet eight-possession first-half in defence to help provide some of the run and spread which had been missing earlier.
North’s legs in the middle were clearly a threat, but hard-nut George Hewett- who was also a bit down with nine first-half touches – was swapped into the backline.
Young ruckman Sam De Koning was also given the reins in the ruck, taking over the lion’s share from Marc Pittonet.
And Ed Curnow was moved onto red-hot Roos’ midfielder Luke Davies-Uniacke after a 17-possession first half to help quell the North star onballer’s influence, helping swing the momentum Carlton’s way as big gun goal kickers Harry McKay and Charlie Curnow began to run riot.
With a rejigged engine room, Voss urged the Blues to go more direct and put more speed on the Sherrin.
To go for it.
The superstar key forward duo McKay and Curnow were clearly paired up against an undersized defence, but there is no doubt their marking power and mobility remains a significant trump card in the premiership race.
By the final change, Carlton was in control up by 25 points.
And at the other end of the ground Mitch McGovern had his best game of the season despite a corked hamstring concern, gathering 27 disposals, 11 intercept possessions, seven score involvements and six marks.
Jacob Weitering did the job on Nick Larkey who was the game’s equal leading goal kicker before he suffered a corked hip in a first-term marking contest.
The Blues had been talking about shifting Docherty into the middle all summer, and the big move worked to kickstart the third term, before Walsh’s arrival this week against Adelaide Crows on Thursday night.
It begins a softer run for Voss’s men who tackle non-finalists Adelaide, St Kilda and West Coast over the next three weeks.
If it goes to plan, the Blues should be 6.5 wins from seven games, with Walsh, Matt Kennedy and Jack Martin to return.
Voss was happy the Blues responded, but said things needed to change in the middle at half time.
“They well and truly did a number on us around the ball at stages in the first half, and we weren’t really getting our hands on it,” Voss said.
“It really challenged us in a lot of areas, so we had a chat at halftime and put it on us around our contest.
“And we were playing too safe. We needed to light up the ball a little bit more.
“And give our forwards more looks (at the footy) and we were able to do that and corrected that in the third quarter.”
Jet defender Adam Saad, who continued his excellent start to the season, said the problem was at the source.
“We needed to get a bit tougher in the contest and going forward giving our talls a chance,” Saad said.
“We needed to go back to basics which I think we did in the end.”
Captain Patrick Cripps was another who had a big impact after an 11-possession first half to finish with 29, while fullback Lewis Young laid an inspirational tackle on Jaidyn Stephenson to cause the turnover which set up the Jesse Motlop running goal from the boundary.
But Saad said the unbeaten Blues were nowhere near their peak. Not yet.
“We have a lot to work on,” Saad said.
“Playing our way for the120 minutes. We are having patches where we have gone away from that.
“So it’s about playing our brand for longer.
“It is good that we are banking these wins but it is a big challenge this week against Adelaide.
“Even though we are not playing our best footy, we are still getting the wins.
“To bank them early and build the consistency is something we are really going to strive for.”
But the Blues were unhappy about the fourth term as Voss kept his charges in for a longer team meeting after the game.
Carlton could have enjoyed a commanding victory, but the final-term was soft.
“The last quarter we certainly didn’t play the way we wanted to play,” he said.
“I spoke to the boys about it because I found the last quarter really disappointing.
“There is a way we want to play and that is really important to us – the style of footy we want to play we just didn’t hold that up for four quarters.
“That is something we have still got to work on.”
Why Clarko subbed fan favourite as rookie shatters record
– Ronny Lerner
North Melbourne coach Alastair Clarkson admitted it was “hard” subbing out club champion Ben Cunnington during the third quarter of their Good Friday loss to Carlton at Marvel Stadium.
Cunnington had a day he would rather forget, racking up just 10 disposals and failing to register a clearance against the Blues, and Clarkson insisted he was the right man to exit the game.
“He’s a clearance beast and we need him to be getting clearances for our side and he’d had none to halfway through the third quarter so he’d be disappointed in that,” Clarkson said.
“‘Cunners’ just didn’t have a great day so we just can’t keep blokes on the field if they’re not playing their role to their capability, then we need to make a change.
“But he took in the right manner.
“It’s hard when they’re strong, experienced players like that who are so proud and they can turn it around themselves quite often.”
At the other end of the experience spectrum, No. 3 pick Harry Sheezel starred again for the Kangaroos, racking up a game-high 37 disposals.
The performance saw him break the all-time record for most disposals after four games (127), eclipsing Geelong star Mark Bairstow’s 36-year-old mark (121).
“He’s a special talent,” Clarkson said.
“Harry’s so polished … his start to his career has been first class to be fair, but we’d like another couple of him.”
And while North probably won’t be able to clone another Sheezel in their Arden Street lab in time for this season, they could get the next best thing in No. 4 pick George Wardlaw who is close to making his senior debut in “the next few weeks”.
“There’s such a temptation to say, ‘Listen, he’s a high draft pick get him in’, but you want to set these kids up to have success when they do come into the side,” Clarkson said.
North will welcome back the suspended Griffin Logue next week for their clash with the Brisbane Lions, and he could be joined down back by Ben McKay (foot).
Meanwhile, Clarkson was optimistic that key forward Nick Larkey would be available after battling a hip complaint against Carlton.
Blues on top as spearheads expose vulnerable Roos
Carlton twin towers Harry McKay and Charlie Curnow have ruthlessly overpowered North Melbourne’s undermanned defence to combine for 10 goals and guide the Blues to a 23-point win over the Kangaroos in the annual Good Friday clash.
After regularly getting in each other’s way last week, Curnow and McKay worked together as well as they have done all year, with the latter playing his best match of 2023, as Carlton successfully marked their debut on this public holiday fixture 16.11 (107) to 11.18 (84)
Curnow finished with 16 touches, nine marks and six goals while McKay registered four majors, a career-high 14 marks and 16 touches.
In defence, Lewis Young, Mitch McGovern, Adam Saad and Jacob Weitering produced a fantastic combined effort.
Without the suspended Griffin Logue and Ben McKay (foot), the Marvel Stadium clash always loomed as a big challenge for North’s backline, but they still managed to make life tough for Curnow and McKay for a large portion, as the Blues only took a total of two marks inside 50 in the first half — they finished the game with 12.
In front of 49,062 fans – the biggest Good Friday crowd in the fixture’s short history – the Kangaroos’ relentless pressure and intensity further afield helped their defenders enormously too, as it cut down space and time on Carlton’s ball users, leading to numerous Blues skill errors.
North’s lead stretched to 10 points early in the third period after Cam Zurhaar kicked his second goal, but Carlton responded with the next seven majors, including two each to McKay and Curnow, to crack open the contest before their lead grew to 46 points in the final quarter.
The Blues turned the game around after they sped up the pace of the game, emphatically wrested the ascendancy in contested possessions, dominated the inside 50s and forced the Kangaroos into multiple turnovers.
The result ensured Carlton have made their best start to a season since 1995 – the last time they won the premiership.
The result was soured for Carlton with McGovern seemingly picking up yet another hamstring injury, albeit apparently a corkie, while North forward Nick Larkey copped an early hit to his hip and while he managed to play out the game, he was clearly hampered and struggled to have an impact.
Harry Sheezel was the standout for North Melbourne, the rookie continuing his stellar start to his debut year with a game high 37 touches.
Sheezel has now broken the all-time record for most disposals after four games (127), eclipsing Geelong star Mark Bairstow’s 36-year-old record (121).
NORTH START PROMISINGLY
Carlton dominated territory early, but failed to translate it onto the scoreboard and the Kangaroos made them pay by grabbing a seven-point lead late in the first quarter. North’s tackle pressure lifted considerably from their last game against Hawthorn and was a big factor behind them booting three of the period’s last four goals. The dour arm wrestle continued into the second term, but after five lead changes, and three instances of tied scores, the Kangaroos headed into the main break with a slender two-point advantage.
Strength and composure.
— AFL (@AFL) April 7, 2023
Cam Zurhaar everybody 🤩#AFLNorthBluespic.twitter.com/lWCoVu0qLb
CURNOW FORTUITOUS
Goals were hard to come by in the first half, so North Melbourne fans were incensed when Charlie Curnow was paid a pair of fairly soft free kicks in the second quarter close to goal, which led to a couple of gimme six-pointers for the Blues. In the first instance, Aiden Bonar appeared to make minimal contact with Curnow’s shoulder, while in the second, Aidan Corr was penalised for holding Curnow in the goalsquare, despite the fact that both players were grabbing a hold of each other.
All under control, Harry? 😅#AFLNorthBluespic.twitter.com/3vKyfDz9gA
— AFL (@AFL) April 7, 2023
MCKAY RECOVERS
In the first quarter, McKay turned from villain to hero in a matter of seconds. After taking the mark all by himself deep in attack, he looked further afield and saw Tom De Koning on his lonesome in the goalsquare. McKay initially wanted to do the unselfish thing by passing it to De Koning, but he didn’t see Corr closing in on him, forcing him to drop the ball and abandon his plans of hitting up De Koning. But after collecting his own spillage, McKay executed a brilliant banana from 35m out while under pressure from Bonar to split the big sticks.
HARRY HORROR
McKay should have finished with five goals, but in shades of former Geelong star Cameron Ling’s miss in 2000, the big Carlton spearhead ran to the goal line late in the final quarter, and as he was about to kick the ball, he was tackled at the last minute, which incredibly saw him kick it across the face, sending it out on the full from a metre out.
SCOREBOARD
ROOS 3.4, 5.8, 6.12, 11.18 (84)
BLUES 2.4, 5.6, 11.7, 16.11 (107)
LERNER’S BEST
Roos: Sheezel, Zurhaar, Davies-Uniacke, Ziebell, Simpkin.
Blues: McKay, C.Curnow, Young, McGovern, Saad, Fisher, Weitering.
GOALS
Roos: Zurhaar 3, Stephenson 3, Taylor, Phillips, Powell, Simpkin, Curtis.
Blues: C.Curnow 6, McKay 4, Motlop 2, C.Durdin, De Koning, Silvagni, Honey.
INJURIES Roos: Larkey (hip). Blues: McGovern (corked hamstring).
LATE CHANGE Miller Bergman (illness) replaced in North Melbourne’s selected side by Daniel Howe.
UMPIRES Donlon, Howorth, Wallace, Rodger
VENUE Marvel Stadium
PLAYER OF THE YEAR
LERNER’S VOTES
3 Charlie Curnow (Carl)
2 Harry McKay (Carl)
1 Harry Sheezel (NM)
BLUES READY TO EMBRACE FANS’ FINALS FERVOUR
Ronny Lerner
It might only be Round 4, but the famous cafes and pizzerias along Lygon Street are already abuzz with talk of a premiership.
After beating North Melbourne on Friday, Carlton have made their best start to a season since 1995 – the last time the success-starved Blues won a flag.
And Carlton coach Michael Voss has no qualms with his club embracing the hype from their excited fans.
“If we’ve got a supporter base that connects into that and they love the way that we’re going about it, that’s a great thing,” Voss said post-match.
“And if it means that we get to play every week in front of 50,000 (or) 60,000 fans, I mean how exciting is that for us? That makes us really unique and different to a lot of teams in the competition.
“We look forward to that but at the same time what we are focused on is making sure we enjoy that journey along the way and we just stay totally present to each game we play.”
After losing three games by under a goal last year, including a pair of heartbreakers to Melbourne and Collingwood in the final two rounds which deprived them a spot in the top eight by 0.6 per cent, Voss was pleased that his team was able “to learn winning” so far this year as they head into Saturday atop the ladder undefeated despite being outplayed in large parts of their four games so far.
And the news keeps getting better for the Blues with superstar midfielder Sam Walsh officially cleared to play his first game of 2023 against the Crows on Thursday night in the Gather Round opener at Adelaide Oval after ticking off the final boxes in his recovery from a back injury.
He will almost certainly be joined in the line-up by returning duo Matthew Kennedy (calf) and Blake Acres (suspension), while defender Sam Durdin (hamstring) will also be available.
Voss also insisted that key backman Mitch McGovern was OK after being subbed out late against North Melbourne with a tight and corked hamstring/thigh.
McGovern’s exit from the Good Friday clash was purely a “preventive measure”.
Charlie Curnow and Harry McKay combined for 10 goals against the Kangaroos, prompting Voss to dismiss criticism during the week that they struggled to play together in the same forward line following their performance against GWS last week.
“I understand there was a bit of dialogue last week and some clever terminologies used but it was a bit of a hot take,” Voss said.
Meanwhile, after Carlton and North set a new record crowd for the Good Friday match (49,062), Voss was hopeful that the Blues would become the Kangaroos’ permanent opponent for the annual clash.
“We’ll put up our hand all the time,” he said.
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Originally published as AFL 2023: Harry Mckay suspended for one match, set to miss Gather Round clash with Crows
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