One thing Carlton has yet to prove as tough test against Brisbane at the Gabba awaits
Carlton has shown plenty in their finals charge, but interested onlooker Chris Fagan would have walked away from their latest win knowing he has one advantage ahead of the preliminary final.
AFL News
Don't miss out on the headlines from AFL News. Followed categories will be added to My News.
Before the MCG started shaking in the final moments of a classic semi-final, a curious onlooker was shown on the broadcast watching from the stands on Friday night.
Brisbane Lions coach Chris Fagan kept a good poker face as he cast his eye over Carlton’s thrilling two-point triumph but he would have walked away knowing he has one advantage ahead of the preliminary final.
The Blues have proven plenty in the past fortnight – they have shown genuine toughness, grit and mental resilience.
They have shown they stop opposition attacks in their tracks and behind Jacob Weitering, they can defend under the biggest heat.
But Carlton hasn’t shown it can score.
No team in the AFL era had won consecutive finals while scoring under 80 points in both games until these Blues.
In two tense and tight finals wins that will be cherished forever by an incredibly loud Carlton fan base, the Blues twice had less scoring shots and might have just got a little lucky.
And in both games, the Blues have been near identical in front of the ball: in the elimination final win over Sydney, Carlton kicked 11.8 from 56 inside-50s and against Melbourne, the Blues kicked 11.7 from 53 entries.
It was enough to squeeze past two inaccurate teams but Fagan’s high-powered and in-form forward half presents a whole other challenge.
Since Fagan’s Lions turned a corner in 2019, they have won 51 of 59 games at the Gabba.
The best way to beat Brisbane at home is to outscore the Lions — in five of the eight losses in that time, the visiting side has scored more than 100 points.
The good news for Carlton’s hopes of rolling on is that Michael Voss knows the challenge ahead.
Before the game, assistant coach Aaron Hamill said “we did spend some time on (forward) entry and we know what we are coming up against”, but the problem wasn’t fully solved.
Rightly so, the Blues rooms were jumping after the siren on Friday night.
Even as the MCG mistakenly flashed out to the world that Melbourne was through to a preliminary final, the Blues friends and family crushed into the rooms and enjoyed a memorable win.
But Voss knew as he took a breath, that there was work to be done before a Gabba date on Saturday.
“We were making it hard for ourselves in that game at times,” he said post-match.
“Contest, defence were keeping us in it but our ball movement needs some work. Clearly when we were going forward, we weren’t connecting enough. It felt like we were sort of playing the right way enough and the skill level was there but we lacked a bit of connection.”
Blues fans will hope that comes down to personnel.
Harry McKay has missed almost all of the last six quarters due to concussion and doesn’t Charlie Curnow miss him.
Any doubt about whether McKay is in Carlton’s best team is surely now tucked up in bed now with a warm milo.
As Steven May threatened to close the door on the season and Jake Lever shrugged off a forward-tag from Matt Kennedy on Friday, Curnow appeared out of confidence for the first time this season under a May avalanche.
Amid all the kerfuffle of Tuesday’s suspension drama, Carlton fans ignored Brayden Maynard and waited up late for a massive win when Jack Martin’s suspension was downgraded to a one-match ban.
The returning pair are forward class the Blues will need for a smash and grab win at the Gabba.
“Clearly having ‘H’ up there with Charlie helps us a lot,” Voss said.
“One thing I can guarantee you is if Harry is available, we will be playing him.”
Carlton fans woke up on Saturday still on top of the world but the Blues are in a scoring funk: they have not hit 100 points since round 19 and have scored less than 80 in five of their last six games.
Carlton’s average score in that period of 74 points would have ranked 15th in the AFL this year if carried out over a full season, just squeaking in above Hawthorn (73.3 points per game).
The Blues need to hit the scoreboard to put up a fight against Fagan’s Lions, after Brisbane piled on 19 goals to crush Port Adelaide last week.
Or maybe the python Blues can squeeze another team into a September exit.
One stat does work in the defensive Blues’ favour: the three times Brisbane has been beaten at the Gabba by a team scoring less than 100 points since the start of 2019 have all been in knockout finals.
BANGED-UP HEROES
The odds would have been long when the paperwork was filed on the first day of the trade period last year that Blake Acres would become a Carlton legend.
Thrown to Carlton for a future third-round pick, Acres was thrust to his third club and on his last chance.
But the Blues targeted him for the non-stop run he provides and his defensive nous.
Acres’ fingers saved the day in the elimination final before he booted the final goal.
And again in the semi-final he bobbed up in the goalsquare to kick the winner and create a roar perhaps never matched at a Carlton game.
“He has been big for us, he has added to our defensive integrity,” Voss said.
“We felt like we needed a real power runner on the outside and he values defence first and coincidentally, it was actually the two goals he kicked that helped us.
“He has been an incredible addition to our team. He brings great energy and the boys love playing with him.”
Acres has not only bobbed up in the right spots but he has been clearly laboured, wearing a thick guard of padding on top of a heavily strapped left shoulder, one he could barely raise at times on Friday night.
It’s the stuff of folklore and he is not alone.
Voss made a beeline to Sam Docherty at half-time on Friday and asked what the determined veteran could give him, and Docherty said he would give him everything his could.
Carrying his own bung left shoulder, Docherty kicked the ball to Acres to beat the Demons. There was no whinging about the sore shoulder – midfielder George Hewett had to be told by callers on SEN after the match that he was carrying the injury.
“I didn’t know that … he just keeps backing up and fronting up, he is a weapon,” Hewett responded.
Earlier, Patrick Cripps was where Patrick Cripps always is, getting smashed in and around the ball.
His rib guard can only be getting bigger, but the captain shows no sign of pain.
Voss said he wasn’t aware of any injury to Weitering’s hand, but the fullback had commentators speculating he had a broken finger when he grabbed at his hand early in the game.
Every team playing at this time of the year is banged up, but these Blues heroes are writing their own glorious stories as we speak.
More will be revealed when Carlton’s season ends – whether that is next week or the week after – about further injuries.
It’s a story Voss knows well, with his 2003 Brisbane side famously banged up but never slowed down on the scoreboard.
The coach can only hope to have a happy end to the season to look back on like that year.
AFL Rich 100: The biggest boom and bust contracts revealed
It’s all about finding value where you can, and while some clubs are doing that well, others are struggling, paying high-price for little reward. Check out the AFL’s biggest boom and bust deals.
AFL star facing surgery for fractured skull
The Geelong veteran requires surgery for a scary fractured skull after sustaining the injury competing in the VFL on Saturday.