Brendon Bolton says the former No.1 draft pick is overthinking the game

BLUES coach Brendon Bolton says Jacob Weitering has got “real clarity” and will start in defence against Collingwood on Friday night, with Matthew Kreuzer and Matthew Kennedy to return.

Coach of the Carlton Blues Brendon Bolton is seen during training at Ikon Park in Melbourne, Thursday, April 5, 2018. Carlton play Collingwood on Friday night in round three of the AFL. (AAP Image/Julian Smith) NO ARCHIVING

CARLTON coach Brendon Bolton is standing by under-fire defender Jacob Weitering as the former No.1 draft pick battles the first serious form slump of his career.

Weitering burst onto the scene in 2016 and played every game in a solid 2017 season, but his quiet start to the year has drawn attention, with Paul Roos declaring he may need to spend time in the VFL.

Bolton said Weitering was losing the mental battle as opposed to the physical one.

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“He can overthink it at times and that’s quite normal for a young guy. That’s what happens,” Bolton said.

“Form is never permanently down or permanently up ... they don’t lose their body or their ability, it’s just the way they’re thinking about things.

“I think he played a really good game in the JLT against Hawthorn and in the last few weeks Jacob will admit he’s been a little bit down and it just shows the power of the mind.”

Jacob Weitering has had a slow start to 2018. Pic: AAP

Matthew Kreuzer will tackle the Pies. Pic: AAP

Bolton said he had spent the week largely simplying things for the 20-year-old, who will start in defence against rivals Collingwood on Friday night.

“He’s got real clarity this week on his role down back and focusing on that. It’s just typical of a young guy in his third year, making sure their thoughts dictate their actions and that’s a learn behaviour, a mindset,” he said.

“We’re backing ‘Weiters’ in. That’s the main point out of today, we’re backing him in and he’s really clear on what he needs to do and we’ll see how it goes.”

Matthew Kreuzer (groin) and Matthew Kennedy (ankle) will both make their returns against the Pies, but Jack Silvagni will spend at least another week in the VFL, despite kicking three goals for the Northern Blues at the weekend. Ciaran Byrne will miss up to a month with a strained quad.

Bolton said fullback Liam Jones would need to make minor changes to his game, with his trademark eagerness backfiring spectacularly against the Gold Coast and Tom Lynch, who kicked eight goals.

“That’s what’s made him step up, his attack on the footy and going and not hesitating,” he said.

“Liam, a little bit like our group, is just learning to find the balance between offence and defence and they’ll work through that and I think it will get tighter and better week by week.”

Bolton described the fumble-fest loss to the Suns as “random” and “out of the box” given the Blues still had 67 inside 50s.

Brendon Bolton is backing in young defender Jacob Weitering. Pic: AAP

Carlton and Collingwood meet with both clubs searching for their first win of the year under a Friday night spotlight he said provided “a fantastic learning opportunity” for his side.

“Pressure is part of the landscape. Every week there’s an element of pressure,” Bolton said.

“Our players, this whole year is going to stay the same. We’ve got to build synergy and chemistry because they haven’t been together a lot. We’re still learning and building.”

“I’m not here to talk about ‘Bucks’ (Nathan Buckley), but it’s only Round 2. We can quickly ... catastrophise things. Pressure is something that can be manufactured very quickly and we’ve just got to temper that a little bit, I would have thought.”

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