Carlton hang on to overcome North Melbourne in wet conditions
After shouldering much of Carlton’s midfield load for years, Patrick Cripps has a host of willing allies — led by Matthew Kennedy and Will Setterfield. How far can the improving Blues go?
Carlton
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Carlton coach David Teague has questioned whether players can be Covid-tested earlier in the week after a delay in Harry McKay’s result forced him to train on his own and he injured his knee which saw him miss Saturday’s win over North Melbourne.
The Blues were tested on Wednesday but McKay’s initial result showed neither a positive or negative finding, and he was ordered back to the hotel while the group had its main training session on Thursday.
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After eventually being given the all-clear, McKay was doing skills work with one coach at the hotel when he hyperextended his knee but Teague is not clear on how it happened or how serious it is.
“The decision (for him not to play) was made today, he was a bit sore yesterday (Friday) but we wanted to give him 24 hours to see if he’s right and this morning they said he wasn’t, but hopefully that means he’ll be closer next week,” Teague said.
“We don’t have vision of it so we’re not exactly sure … he had one coach with him doing some skill work.
“The rest of the guys were training and he went back to the hotel and had to wait until he got the all-clear from the medicos and then he trained once the guys were at a different ground.
“No one means to do it (delay the test result) it’s not ideal, we want our players training together and again we don’t have any vision of it.
“It’s not ideal, it wasn’t on purpose, it happened, I think maybe we just need to get tested a little earlier so it’s not an issue because every other player came back clear so it was just an abnormality in his test, not positive or negative, there was no result (initially).”
Teague said he was pleased the Blues were able to close out the game out against North Melbourne after coughing up the lead to Port Adelaide in the dying moments last week.
“Any close game you want to get the win and I thought the players adapted really well in the last couple of minutes when North kicked that goal, in terms of structure and what we wanted around the ball,” he said.
“We talked about it (last week) and used it as a learning opportunity and we showed we can do it before so it wasn’t anything new, it was a reminder and the players nailed it pretty well in the last three or four minutes.”
Patrick Cripps dominated the first quarter and was forced into the rooms at three-quarter-time after a Jed Anderson kick to the ribs however returned to play out the game, but Mitch McGovern felt tightness in his hamstring in the second quarter and sat out the rest of the game as a precaution.
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Teague praised midfielder Matthew Kennedy who was Carlton’s best with 20 disposals and two goals after waiting for an opportunity early in the season.
“It’s a great story, he missed out early in the year and when we came back from isolation he was up there with one of our better trainers,” Teague said.
“He missed the first few weeks and kept going back to our reserves games and kept playing well, and it got to a stage where we just had to play him on form, he was playing too well.
“He’s a natural inside midfielder and we moved a couple of players around to give him an opportunity and he was really strong … it’s a great story for all our players who aren’t quite getting a game at the moment you can keep getting better.”
ROO’S BRAIN FADE PROVES COSTLY IN DEFEAT
North Melbourne defender Jasper Pittard was spoken to about his brain fade on the three-quarter-time siren which cost Jared Polec a certain goal and the chance to put his side in front against Carlton on Saturday.
Polec out-marked Marc Murphy 20m from goal directly in front with seconds remaining before the final change and a goal would have put the Roos up by a point.
But Pittard, who has been playing forward the past two games, rushed in and knocked Murphy over which saw the free kick overturned on the siren.
Will Jasper Pittard be left regretting this decision in one quarters time? #AFLNorthBlues pic.twitter.com/tdRiYm5l0b
— AFL (@AFL) July 25, 2020
“I consider us a really hard working side and really disciplined, but that just shows a lack of discipline in that moment and it’s cost us,” Kangaroos coach Rhyce Shaw said.
“Obviously I reckon we take a bit of momentum if we get in front there but it didn’t happen. We took a bit of momentum anyway into that last quarter, I thought our second and third quarters were really good and we got the ball rolling but it (goal) would have helped.
“He (Pittard) knows, he’s a leader, he understands that, and he was spoken to. I’ll just leave it at that, we needed to get on with the game, we were still behind so we needed to win the game.”
After their slow start in which they trailed by five goals early in the second quarter, Shaw was encouraged by his side’s effort to almost win the game in the final term but said simple skill errors cost them.
“When you’re in a situation like this (losing six games in a row) and I’ve been in a lot where those little errors just seem to keep happening to you and it compounds what happens throughout the game,” Shaw said.
“It’s obviously disappointing, I’m not too concerned about what’s happened previously but today we showed for periods what we’re all about.
“The start wasn’t fantastic and again we got jumped, but in saying that I was proud that the guys got back on the horse and had a crack.
“In the second and third quarter I think we showed what we are about and how we want to play footy … all three facets of the game, defence, offence and contested footy.”
Shaw said the decision to move Jared Polec off Patrick Cripps at quarter-time was made because the Blues superstar was dominating and he thought Jed Anderson did a good job after that.
“He (Cripps) got away from us and dominated that first quarter, and we had to make a change really quickly when they kicked five goals to one, we have to make change.
“We did that, the boys adapted and I thought Jed Anderson did a fantastic job changing the momentum and a few others jumped on board and we got going.”
Shaw praised the performance of Nick Larkey inside 50m, Bailey Scott’s three goals, Cam Zurhaar’s efforts and Kyron Hayden’s job on Eddie Betts.
“Kyron showed his great commitment to the club last week and he did it again to keep Eddie to five touches. I know Eddie’s an old man now but he’s still a really dangerous player and we made sure Ronny was right on the ball,” he said.
“It’s something to build on and we have to take that into next week.”
BLUES DIG DEEP TO GET THE JOB DONE
It took a fair dose of heartache but Carlton avoided a repeat of last week’s Robbie Gray nightmare by digging deep to beat North Melbourne by seven points at the Gabba on Saturday.
The Kangaroos posed a serious threat when they closed to within five points at three-quarter-time but Carlton did enough in the heavy rain in the final quarter to beat North Melbourne for the first time in six years and remain in the finals race.
It was North Melbourne’s sixth consecutive loss but at least the injury-hit Roos showed some fight after trailing by five goals in the second term.
They had the chance to hit the front after the three-quarter-time siren but Jared Polec’s set shot was reversed when teammate Jasper Pittard rushed in and bowled Marc Murphy over.
The Blues meanwhile won without key forward Harry McKay – who was a late withdrawal after hyper-extending his knee when forced to train on his own because of a delayed Covid test result midweek – Mitch McGovern who hurt his hamstring in the first half and Levi Casboult who had no impact.
HAS YOUNG GUN ARRIVED?
Has Matthew Kennedy finally arrived at Carlton?
The former Giant has been very good since coming into the side in Round 6.
Kennedy had to bide his time to get into the Blues’ senior side this year before his form in the scratch matches was too hard to ignore.
He had 20 disposals in the win over the Bulldogs and 15 against Port Adelaide last weekend before 20 and two goals against North Melbourne on Saturday.
Kennedy led hard to provide a link-up option in the middle of the ground, created scoring opportunities with his pressure and kicked a set shot in the first term when the game was hot. His second goal came courtesy of a 50m penalty and he had spurts on the ball including starting at centre bounce in the last quarter.
"It's not over yet!"#ColesGoals | #AFLNorthBlues pic.twitter.com/zCkIQIbFkE
— AFL (@AFL) July 25, 2020
CHANGE OF PLANS FOR POLEC
Jared Polec was given the job of tagging Patrick Cripps early but his influence on the game grew when he was moved back to his familiar post on the wing in the second quarter.
Cripps was proving too strong for him in the air and at stoppage which saw Rhyce Shaw switch Jed Anderson onto the Carlton superstar.
That released Polec and he had a game-high 25 disposals, including 16 contested and kicked a goal in a strong day out.
He provided his trademark run through the middle and his creativity and pressure led to a goal to Bailey Scott in the second quarter.
Anderson ran with Cripps for the rest of the day and forced him into the rooms at three-quarter-time with a foot to the chest but Cripps re-emerged to finish with 16 disposals.
BROWN’S HORROR FORM CONTUNUES
Ben Brown is no closer to breaking out of his funk but Bailey Scott was North’s most dangerous forward on Saturday.
Brown kicked his first set shot and pumped his fist with emotion that had been missing in recent weeks, particularly last game when he struggled in front of goal with 0.3.
He also smashed into the back of Jack Newnes with a strong attack on the ball but he was well beaten by Jacob Weitering after that with the Carlton defender out-positioning him in the air.
Scott stepped up however with three goals including two in the third quarter when the Roos made their move.
Todd Goldstein took a mark in front of goal but missed from the top of the square and was beaten by Marc Pittonet who was better around the ground.
The audacity of that bounce...@DrinkWiseAus | #AFLNorthBlues pic.twitter.com/l07x3FdPT2
— AFL (@AFL) July 25, 2020
CARLTON 5.1 7.2 8.7 9.10 (64)
NORTH MELBOURNE 1.2 5.2 8.2 9.3 (57)
BEST
Carlton: Kennedy, Walsh, Weitering, Murphy, Setterfield, Pittonet, Curnow.
North Melbourne: Polec, Higgins, Scott, Dumont, Hayden, Anderson.
GOALS
Carlton: Kennedy, Newnes, Cuningham 2, Gibbons, Casboult, Walsh.
North Melbourne: Scott 3, Larkey 2, Brown, Pittard, Polec, Hall.
INJURIES
Carlton: McGovern (hamstring).
VOTES
3: Matthew Kennedy (Carlton) 2: Jared Polec (North Melbourne) 1: Sam Walsh (Carlton).
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