AFL Round 5 Carlton v Adelaide: Are the Blues ready for their ‘big-boy month’ after illogical loss to Crows?

The Blues came from nowhere to steal victory from Freo at Gather Round, against the Crows it was the opposite, so what changed? Michael Voss addresses what went wrong late.

Dane Heverin and Sam Landsberger

5 min read

April 14, 2024 - 7:46AM

News Corp Australia Sports Newsroom

MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA – APRIL 13: Michael Voss, Senior Coach of the Blues is seen during the 2024 AFL Round 05 match between the Carlton Blues and the Adelaide Crows at Marvel Stadium on April 13, 2024 in Melbourne, Australia. (Photo by Dylan Burns/AFL Photos via Getty Images)

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Sam Walsh returned, he was best on ground and Carlton got the better of the clearance battle but it did not convert to four points as they coughed up a 16 point final quarter lead to lose to the Adelaide Crows by two points.

Carlton’s first loss of the year ended a nine game streak of winning matches decided by ten points or less and it was the first time they were on the wrong side of a nailbiter since their heartbreaking final round loss to Collingwood in 2022 to fall out of the top eight.

Three of those close victories have come this year and the fact they were bested in the midfield in those games proved a big talking point ahead of Walsh’s comeback from a back injury.

Coach Michael Voss was “bitterly disappointed” in the result post game and took little solace in the statistics improvement of his on ball brigade.

The Blues lost both Adam Saad and Mitch McGovern to injury. (Photo by Dylan Burns/AFL Photos via Getty Images)

“We certainly got enough drive out of there to maximise our opportunities. I don’t get lost too much on did we win stoppages. The reality is today we won stoppages and we lost,” Voss said.

Voss lamented his side’s defence as they gave up 18 marks inside 50 and allowed the Crows to have superb looks at goal which resulted in them kicking 16.4.

Adam Saad was subbed off with a hamstring injury in the second quarter, while Mitch McGovern was off the ground for the final five minutes of the contest with a hamstring issue of his own.

It forced Voss to shuffle the magnets with Matthew Kennedy moving back when Saad’s day ended and the Blues were unable to fill the gaping hole left by the dashing defender.

“When you get to the end of the game and defence needs to be the thing to stand up, it wasn’t as robust as it needed to be in the moment,” Voss said.

“Last week we half snatched it and got our last five minutes right. This week we got it wrong. The moments that you need to be able to win those sorts of games – we had two or three, four that we’d like back.

“I didn’t think we defended well enough across the night. Which is interesting because last week I thought we defended extremely well.”

The Blues suffered their first loss of 2024 in stunning fashion. (Photo by Quinn Rooney/Getty Images)

Carlton now faces a thrilling five game stretch that will test their September ambitions as they face the GWS Giants (Marvel Stadium), Geelong (MCG), Collingwood (MCG), Melbourne (MCG) and Sydney (SCG).

The likely absences of Saad and McGovern are significant, while Adam Cerra also has a hamstring issue that he picked up at training on Thursday which made him a late withdrawal from the side.

The run ahead will therefore test the Blues depth but Voss saw a silver lining in their defeat in which they kicked 6.12 after half time.

“In terms of a more balanced profile in the way that we played, it was better. It was much better. In terms of the contest, clearance and trying to get a forward centre game,” Voss said.

“But if I had to take a bigger picture of the game, I don’t think we defended as well as we could have.”

ARE BLOCKBUSTER BLUES REALLY READY FOR THEIR ‘BIG-BOY MONTH’?

- Sam Landsberger

Coaching great Damien Hardwick once labelled July “big-boy month”.

“It’s when the contenders step up and the pretenders step away,” Hardwick said.

It might only be April, but, boy, a big month for the Blues begins now.

Their fairytale run of heart-stopping victories ended against the previously winless Adelaide on Saturday and they also lost Adam Cerra (pre-game) and Adam Saad to hamstring injuries.

They host an undefeated Greater Western Sydney on Saturday before battles against Geelong, Collingwood and Melbourne at the MCG.

Oh, and then it is off to the SCG to face Sydney.

It was about this time 12 months ago the season ran off the rails. There will be a touch of nervousness about the Bluebaggers for the first time in a long time.

It was almost an illogical result. Matthew Owies could’ve sealed a victory with a dribbler and then Charlie Curnow looked like he might have saved it with a defensive spoil.

But Sam Berry had the last laugh with the winning goal. The substitute was superb. In the last quarter, he had nine disposals and four score involvements as the Crows kicked the last three goals.

Adelaide skipper Jordan Dawson and Mark Keane celebrate on the final siren. Picture: Michael Klein

The Blues are 4-1 when for all money they looked set to go home uncorking champagne bottles at 5-0.

But regardless of the bitter result, they are officially the Blockbuster Blues. In fact, they are too big for their own house now.

On Saturday, 46,283 packed Marvel Stadium for this epic contest.

In 2022, the Blues belted Adelaide in front of just 25,376 at Marvel Stadium. In 2017, only 17,000 turned up to watch these teams play under the roof.

Saturday’s crowd was almost double 2022 and close to triple the crowd in 2017.

Football’s longest sleeping giant awoke late last year and suddenly securing tickets to watch this premiership contender is becoming a little like a Taylor Swift concert.

The full house sign went up at Carlton’s opening round, round 1, round 3 and round 4 matches and limited standing room tickets were available hours before the bounce against the Crows.

It is little wonder that the Blues have signed 16,547 new members who have paid up for the first time. They are set to crash through the 100,000 membership barrier this year and have already broken their club record with 95,278 on-board.

The calm leadership of Brian Cook cannot be underestimated. The rockiest of runs season last season sent tremors through the supporter base.

But Cook and president Luke Sayers stayed steady and stability has been this club’s greatest strength ever since.

Sam Walsh starred in his return. Picture: Dylan Burns/AFL Photos

The fans packed Marvel Stadium to see the Blockbuster Blue. Picture: Dylan Burns/AFL Photos

It is no secret the Blues want to reverse their 6-5 split of home games between Marvel and the MCG.

St Kilda was forced to pay a $100,000 break fee to relocate Spud’s Game from under the roof to the ‘G.

Perhaps it is time for the AFL to review their tenancy contract at the venue it owns.

Next week’s clash against the Giants looms as a belter. The dose of good luck for Carlton is that Sam Taylor and Stephen Coniglio won’t be there.

For the Giants there was no worse timing for Taylor to suffer a concussion as the threat of Harry McKay and Curnow looms large.

There is also little chance of ticket sales dropping off because of Saturday’s loss. The return of superstar Sam Walsh was worth the price of admission alone.

Walsh had 34 disposals, 13 tackles and seven clearances (four centre clearances) in his first sighting since he won the Gary Ayres Medal as player of last year’s finals series.

It was a stunning return even if the seesawing scoreboard stopped on the wrong side for Sam.