Collingwood v Carlton: Follow all the latest news before the blockbuster clash

Liam Jones says it’s taken some time for Carlton’s back six to gel, but last week’s performance under big pressure was a sign things are improving.

It’s the stat Carlton defender Liam Jones had never encountered before and it’s one that played a part in pre-game planning at Ikon Park leading into Thursday’s clash with Collingwood.

The Blues had to defend an extraordinary 75 Richmond inside 50s last week, which left Jones and his fellow defenders working overtime to try and stem the flow.

The tally was only eight short of the AFL record, and the third highest recorded against the Blues.

Jones and Carlton coach David Teague stressed it was a focus point for the entire group this week, as they looked at ways to tighten up against old rivals Collingwood.

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Liam Jones and the Blues’ backline was under siege against the Tigers. Picture: Getty Images

“That’s the most I have had to defend in a game,” Jones told the Herald Sun about the Tigers’ 75 inside 50s.

“It was tough … we expected Richmond to be hard to beat because we know they are such a good side. But there were some things in our review that we can do better as a team and some things we can do better as a backline.

“We need to tidy up a few things so that we don’t have to defend as many inside 50s.”

In a way, it was a credit to the Blues’ backline — including the ever-improving Jones, John Nicholls medallist Jacob Weitering, new addition Adam Saad and co-captain Sam Docherty – they were able to keep Richmond to 14 goals from 75 entries.

Collectively, the Blues are determined not to allow that to happen against the Magpies.

“They (Collingwood) have got some hardworking talls in (Brody) Mihocek and (Mason) Cox … I will get one of them,” Jones said.

“They create a contest and if they are not marking them, they have small forwards at ground level with speed at the ball.”

Jacob Weitering continues to improve. Picture: AFL Photos/Getty Images

Carlton’s ever-evolving backline has been one of its success stories in recent seasons, and Jones has played a significant role in that.

Off the field, he was moved into the leadership group at the start of 2020 and thrived, and on it, he enjoyed a very strong 2020, despite the difficulties players encountered in the hub.

He finished fifth in the best and fairest after playing every game, taking his overall games tally to 143 across 12 seasons. He also led the AFL in one percenters.

Five of the Blues’ top 10 in the 2020 best and fairest came from the defence, including first-time winner Weitering, with whom Jones shares a great relationship.

“We look out for one another,” the 30-year-old said of the friendships forged in the back half.

“I feel like my move back there (in 2017) and the development of the backline has married up a bit; we’ve all grown together,” he said.

“As much as ‘Weiters’ is a lot younger than me, he was playing in defence before me.

“His development has been really impressive.

“He was in All-Australian form last year and just missed out (on the team). He has raised the bar for us and we want to get to his level.”

Liam Jones has been a rock for the Blues. Picture: Michael Klein

Jones had two key moments in his career at the Blues – the first coming with his move to defence, and the second in overcoming serious concussion after-effects in 2019.

“It was touch and go there,” he said of his fears that doctors would not allow him to play again.

“Now to be healthy and able to play each week is something I don’t take for granted.”

That’s why he endorses the AFL’s new protocols where players must not play until at least 12 days after a concussion.

“Personally, the club and the AFL handled my situation really well; I felt safe,” he said.

“But I think the best thing they have done is with the new protocols … it protects players from themselves.”

The dream driving Jones and the rest of the group is qualifying one day for the finals, something that has so far been denied him in 77 games with Carlton and 66 games with the Bulldogs.

“I’ve never really been close to playing finals,” he said, stressing there was plenty of hard work ahead.

“We’ve worked really hard … we have the players now and the depth. I think we are working towards something special. ”

The Magpies will welcome back the start midfielder. Picture: Getty Images

PIES NEED MORE THAN SIDEBOTTOM RETURN

Collingwood star Steele Sidebottom will return against Carlton on Thursday night but coach Nathan Buckley ruled out making “wholesale” changes in a bid to avoid a 0-2 start to the season.

Sidebottom (calf) missed Round 1’s loss to the Western Bulldogs, but the Magpies’ vice-captain trained well at the Holden Centre on Monday.

Buckley confirmed Sidebottom would face the Blues, but said it would take more than the Collingwood veteran to arrest his side’s lacklustre Round 1 showing.

“He’s had over a week of solid training now so he’s upright and in our best side, so expect him to be back in,” Buckley said.

“He’s an elite player so it’s good to have him back, but looking at our performance last week and what we’re looking for on Thursday night, it’s not going to be the addition of Steele that makes the difference.

Steele Sidebottom will return for Collingwood this week. Picture: Getty Images

“We need to get going around the ball and we were shown up there by the Dogs and it’s going to be a key part of Thursday night’s game.

“Carlton are really strong in that area and I suppose it’s not really about the opposition, it’s about us and we need to share the load in there.”

The Magpies lost the territory battle against the Bulldogs and struggled to hit the scoreboard, but Buckley ruled out mass changes for Thursday night,

“We picked the 22 (for Round 1) that had been the best performed through the pre-season and had earned their opportunity,” he said.

“So six days later we need to weigh up how we mitigate or assess that performance and whether we give everyone a chance to back up.

“I think there’ll be a couple of changes but there won’t be wholesale.

“We believe we’re a lot better than what we showed, so we’ve got to let our actions do the talking in that regard.”

Jordan De Goey was ineffective against the Bulldogs playing in a split role between the midfield and forward line.

He broke away to train with the forwards late in Monday’s session, but Buckley said his role would not change on Thursday night.

“We want him to be able to help us in the mids and we need him forward of the ball as well, so we’ll just keep that balance quite even and make decisions in games where we feel we can utilise him best,” he said.

“He, like the rest of us, was quiet last week so we’ve got some wrongs to right and he’ll be part of that.”

Buckley admitted his side was struggling to kick a winning score most weeks.

“We’re just not scoring enough,” he said.

“We can take that as a one-week sample and add the last sort of 18 months if we wish.

“What we saw from the first round is that the ground’s pretty open and there looks like there’s some space.

“Whether it’s the man on the mark rule or the attitude to offence, I think it’s a bit of both.

“But we need to find ways of hitting the scoreboard more.

“We were able to do that with system and personnel in 2018.

“That was a couple of years ago now, but we haven’t scored as freely and defences have been able to quell our offence so we just need to continue to find ways to do that.

“But it won’t just be all on Jordy; we need to find ways to be more effective and efficient.”