Alastair Clarkson says Blues, protege Bolton, ‘on the right track’
FOUR-TIME premiership coach Alastair Clarkson has backed the direction of Carlton despite another heavy loss filled with potentially serious injuries as the Hawks sweat on the MRO.
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FOUR-TIME premiership coach Alastair Clarkson has backed the direction of Carlton despite another heavy loss filled with potentially serious injuries.
The Blues lost by 72 points to the Hawks at Etihad Stadium as Zac Fisher went down with a possible broken leg and Liam Jones limped off with a knee injury.
Coach Brendon Bolton said he feared Fisher had suffered a fractured leg, with Jones cleared of ACL damage but likely out for some time.
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The Blues relentlessly coughed up the ball early, with a scoreless first term the first in 28 years dating back to a Western Oval clash in Round 18, 1990.
They only scored their second goal 19 minutes into the third term but eventually fought out the match with six second-half goals.
Good mates Clarkson and Bolton spent time together on Friday, with the Hawks coach adamant the Blues are making progress, despite a one-win season.
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“They are on the right track as a footy club. It’s just really hard yards. It is easy to dig the boots in but we were in a similar position in 2005 and what you need is to be really strong internally,” Clarkson said.
“I spent some times with Bolts as recently as Friday night and we didn’t talk much footy but he is on the right path. As long as clubs stay tight internally... where Carlton have been at with that is strong.”
Bolton said scans would uncover the extent of Fisher’s issues after a first-half collision.
“Fisher had a really heavy knock to his leg. He was hit really hard there. I am a little nervous about that one. He might have a fracture in there but we don’t know yet,” Bolton said.
“Jones has a really heavy knock to his knee, we will scan it and see where that is. I don’t think it’s an ACL but it could be any of the others.
“He is really tough, it takes a lot to get him off the ground. If you don’t play a game out with Fisher or Jones, you get pretty nervous they are going to miss some games.”
He said the Blues had tried 17 players in defence this year, with Dale Thomas the latest injury after missing the game with a lacerated knee.
Clarkson says percentage will play a critical role in his club’s finals fortunes after they leapfrogged Geelong.
The Hawks kicked seven last-term goals to gain five percentage points.
Tagger Daniel Howe will likely miss two weeks for an off-the-ball punch on Carlton star Patrick Cripps, the strike hitting him in the neck and bottom of his jaw.
Howe could also be in strife for tripping Carlton’s Zac Fisher in the incident that has the Blues fearing the livewire midfielder has broken his leg.
But the Hawks will regain Shaun Burgoyne for the trip to Perth to take on Fremantle next week after a sparkling Saturday morning training session.
Clarkson said he hadn’t seen the incident involving Howe and Cripps so hadn’t felt the need to counsel him on its impact.
“I didn’t see it and I didn’t speak to him about it either. I thought it was another one of those belly punched but the league will look at it and what will be will be. So we will see how that unfolds.”
Jaeger O’Meara was a late out with hip soreness yesterday and yet will return to a side that showed it bats deeper than many believed.
“We are hoping it’s just a week. He irritated the hip through the course of the week so we had known he would be under a cloud,’’ he said.
“He just didn’t get there so we are pleased in a way. We were a little bit fearful because he was one of our shining lights last week with not too much else to get out of the game.
“Burgoyne has missed his four (games) now so if it had been mid-career he would have played this week. He trained strongly through the course of the week.”
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