AFL Fremantle v Carlton 2022: Corey McKernan says ruckmen must stop using knees as battering rams

Two ruckmen suffered serious knee injuries in Round 6 and several ruck greats fear a major rule change has caused the issue of centre-bounce battering rams.

PERTH, AUSTRALIA – APRIL 23: Lachie Schultz of the Dockers celebrates a goal during the round six AFL match between the Fremantle Dockers and the Carlton Blues at Optus Stadium on April 23, 2022 in Perth, Australia. (Photo by Paul Kane/Getty Images)

Dual premiership great Corey McKernan says ruckmen are being allowed to use their knees as battering rams as the Blues sweat on injuries to crucial key-position talls Marc Pittonet and Harry McKay.

Carlton on Sunday was still unsure of the extent of the knee injury to first ruck Pittonet amid fears scans on Monday could reveal a posterior cruciate ligament strain.

Blues coach Michael Voss said on Saturday night Pittonet might have only suffered a deep cork to his knee after a collision with Fremantle’s Sean Darcy.

McKay had his knee heavily strapped and he was kept to only three possessions and 1.1 in the Blues’ loss.

Stream every match of every round of the 2022 Toyota AFL Premiership Season Live & Ad-Break Free In-Play on Kayo. New to Kayo? Try 14-Days Free Now >

Marc Pittonet had to be assisted from the field after injuring his left knee against the Dockers. Picture: Getty Images.

He would take on North Melbourne and brother Ben as a likely match-up as Carlton attempts to bounce back from the loss to Fremantle.

McKernan told the Herald Sun too many ruckmen were being injured when rivals took their eyes off the ball in the same manner he injured his PCL in the 1996 preliminary final.

Neither of Darcy or Pittonet were looking at the ball when they collided.

“(Football boss) Adrian Anderson got us all in and put in a centre circle and it didn’t change anything,” McKernan said.

“If Pittonet has a PCL he has to lead with his knee so it’s a problem. Guys are using them as a battering ram.

Marc Pittonet has been subbed out following this incident in the first term.#AFLFreoBluespic.twitter.com/0oefeIew6Z

— AFL (@AFL) April 23, 2022

“I am not going to say the art of ruck work is gone, but it is in the centre bounce. I have spoken to Simon Madden about this and he and Sam Newman would jump early and put themselves between the ball and their opponent and it was legitimate ruck work but now that’s a block.

“Matthew Clark took his eyes off the ball and jumped straight into me. It only increases the probability of hurting yourself when the ruckmen takes his eyes off the ball.

“Once upon a time in the centre bounce if you took your eyes off the ball it was called crapping yourself but now they all do it.”

Voss said the club was hopeful on Pittonet, with Tom De Koning likely to take over as first ruck if he needs time on the sidelines.

Matt Kennedy (sore) and Jack Silvagni (ankle) will return next week.

Matthew Kennedy should return next week. Picture: Russell Freeman/AFL Photos via Getty Images

“We’ll get (Pittonet) assessed on Monday, but we feel it’s a significant corkie at this stage. We tried to get him going but he just wasn’t able to run. It’s on the front of his knee, so he wasn’t able to get going. Really hoping we’ve dodged further damage there,” Voss said.

The Blues coach is hopeful McKay will be able to take on the Roos but it would be the perfect chance to rest the star forward.

“McKay had a grumble. We’ll have a look at that. I am not sure what that actually is. It was certainly affecting some of his movement tonight & his ability to get up and down the ground. He got through & hope whatever is affecting him is quite minor.”

Injury double whammy compounds Carlton struggle

— Brad Elborough

When Carlton has been at its best this season, it has been able to heap pressure on its opposition across the ground.

The ability for the Blues to keep the ball in their forward line and find ways to score, has allowed them to kick away to matchwinning leads.

But on Saturday night, coach Michael Voss admits it was Fremantle that was able to find goals when the game was in a bit of an arm-wrestle.

And he admits his star-packed midfield lowered its colours due to the pressure piled on by the Dockers, who won by 35 points.

After a promising start to the season, the Blues are now hanging on to their place in the top eight. They face a challenge against North Melbourne next weekend, with key forward Harry McKay and ruckman Marc Pittonet likely to be sidelined.

Harry McKay copped a knock early and played on, but was clearly impacted. Picture: Getty Images.

“We had periods in each quarter (against the Dockers) we could get the game in our favour and a lot of times the game was in an arm-wrestle,” Voss said.

“We couldn’t keep the ball in our half long enough to build pressure. And when it was our turn to defend, when we needed to and hold on, they were able to find a goal.”

The result came despite the top five possession-winners on the ground all wearing Carlton jumpers.

Sam Walsh topped the list with 36 touches, and between him, Adam Cerra, Patrick Cripps, Sam Docherty and George Hewitt, they had 162 possessions.

Andrew Brayshaw and Will Brodie led Dockers ball winners with 27 touches apiece.

The Blues led in contested possessions for most of the night before the Dockers raised the ante and almost finished square in that area.

Carlton won the centre clearances and clearances around the ground, even with Pittonet off the ground injured from the eight-minute mark of the opening term.

But Carlton managed only 38 entries into its attacking 50m area, when it is averaging almost 55 entries a game this season.

That provided little chance for Charlie Curnow and McKay to impact in the game.

Curnow booted two goals, while McKay kicked one and copped a knock in the first term and was clearly impacted. He had just three possessions for the game and didn’t take a mark.

McKay and Pittonet will need scans this week, but must be in doubt for the Blues clash against the Kangaroos.

“McKay had a grumble. We’ll have a look at that,” Voss said.

“I am not sure what that is. It was certainly affecting some of his movement and his ability to get up and down the ground.

“He finished the game; we’ll assess it. He got through and we hope whatever is effecting him is quite minor.

“We’ll get Pitto assessed on Monday, but we feel it’s a significant cork at this stage.

“We tried to get him going but he wasn’t able to run. It’s on the front of his knee, so he wasn’t able to get going.

“We are really hoping we have dodged further damage there.

“Pitto is an important person for us and gives our mids a good look. When Tom (de Koning) was in the ruck he was competing really well against a really good ruckman (Sean Darcy), but we had to find other ways to fill that.”

There could be some good news for the Blues this week though, with Adam Kennedy and Jack Silvagni both likely to return to face North.

BLUES’ RECURRING ISSUE EXPOSED AS RECRUIT COPS BOOS

Opposition teams being able to get a run-on in scoring against Carlton is becoming one of those listed certainties of life; you know, like death, taxes, etc.

On Saturday night, it was Fremantle’s turn.

After almost getting to quarter-time without kicking a goal, the Dockers booted nine of the next 11 goals to set up a 35-point win at Optus Stadium.

Five of those nine goals were kicked unanswered during an impressive second term.

Patrick Cripps celebrates one of his three goals. Picture: Paul Kane/Getty Images

Having led by 10 points late in the opening term, the Blues gave up all momentum and trailed by 19 points at halftime.

And then came the third quarter, which is now a massive issue for the Blues.

Before Saturday night, Carlton had lost all five third terms by a total of 104 points.

Only two goals from the boot of Patrick Cripps stopped the Dockers reaching that average of 21 points kicked against the Blues in third terms. They still won it by 13.

Fremantle’s hold on second spot on the AFL ladder was being questioned this week, considering none of the four teams it had beaten to get there had won more than one game. None of them had finished any of the opening five rounds inside the top eight.

While Carlton had beaten an improving Hawthorn and two of the last four teams standing in 2021 – Port Adelaide and the Western Bulldogs.

But the 14.13 (97) to 9.8 (62) result leaves the Dockers sitting impressively among the top few on the table and the Blues spot in the eight sitting on tenterhooks.

"An absolute gem, an absolute BEAUTY!" 💎

Blake Acres take a bow 👏#AFLFreoBluespic.twitter.com/9EMjKPdB13

— AFL (@AFL) April 23, 2022

WE’VE SEEN IT BEFORE

The Blues bleeding goals is not something knew; it’s something coach Michael Voss inherited.

In the early stages of this season though, the Blues were able to hold off their knockers by winning some close games.

This time, they couldn’t.

And this time, there was no seven or eight-goal lead before the bleeding started.

The loss of ruckman Marc Pittonet to a knee injury early in the opening term didn’t help their set-up, Tom De Koning was forced to do a lot of ruckwork against Fremantle star Sean Darcy.

Marc Pittonet was subbed out of the match with a knee injury. Picture: Paul Kane/Getty Images.

Darcy had a very good night before he copped a head knock early in the final term and had to be subbed out of the game.

With him sidelined, Carlton was able to rally in the final term, again sparked by Cripps.

While Dockers fans would have nightmares about past come-from-behind Blues victories at Optus Stadium, too much damage had been done. The margin got only back to 21 points before the Dockers kicked away again.

Cripps gets a goal back for the Blues 💪#AFLFreoBluespic.twitter.com/6A6EkqqlaF

— AFL (@AFL) April 23, 2022

WELCOME BACK ADAM

The juicy midfield battle loomed as being a highlight of this clash and, of course, important to the outcome of this clash.

At halftime, three of the four highest possession getters on the ground were Carlton players.

Cripps proved there is a category of hamstring injury that only needs one week on the sidelines to mend.

He had 15 touches in the first two quarters and finished with 32 touches and kicked three goals.

To work out how many disposals Adam Cerra had, you only needed to count how many times he was booed.

That count was at 17 in the opening half; the Fremantle crowd making it quite clear what they think of him leaving the Dockers at the end of last season. He also finished with 32.

Carlton had the five highest possession winners on the ground; Sam Walsh beating allcomers with 36.

Andrew Brayshaw stood with Cerra at stoppages for a lot of the game and was able to continue his outstanding early-season form.

He finished with 27 possessions, but stamped his impact on the game with eight tackled and seven clearances.

While the Blues big men up forward struggled, Rory Lobb chimed in with three goals. The two goals from Lachie Schultz in the second quarter is what turned the momentum in the Dockers favour.

Adam Cerra copped boos from Dockers fans but won plenty of the footy. Picture: Paul Kane/Getty Images

SCOREBOARD

DOCKERS 1.4 7.6 11.9 14.13 (97)

BLUES 2.2 4.5 6.7 9.8 (62)

ELBOROUGH’S BEST
Dockers: Brayshaw, Schultz, Darcy, Ryan, Lobb, Cox.
Blues: Cripps, Walsh, Hewitt, Cerra, Saad, Docherty.

GOALS
Dockers: Lobb 3, Schultz 3; Walters 2, Switkowski 2; Acres, Brodie, Darcy, Taberner.
Blues: Cripps 3; Curnow 2; Martin, McKay, Owies, Young.

INJURIES
Dockers: Darcy (concussion), Taberner (head).
Blues: Pittonet (knee), McKay (knee).

UMPIRES: Stevic, Hosking, Pell.

VENUE 42,302 at Optus Stadium

PLAYER OF THE YEAR

BRAD ELBOROUGH’S VOTES

3 Brayshaw (DOCKERS)

2 Cripps (BLUES)

1 Schultz (DOCKERS)