David Teague’s halftime spray spurs gritty Blues win

He’s known for his relaxed demeanour in front of the camera but David Teague cut a very different figure at halftime on Saturday afternoon.

Teague’s Blues notched their fourth win of the year on Saturday. (Photo by Dylan Burns/AFL Photos via Getty Images)

Carlton coach David Teague delivered what he said was the biggest blast of his coaching career to his players at halftime at the MCG on Saturday when too many Blues “weren’t getting the job done”.

Teague conceded he wasn’t sure how the team-wide spray would go but saw the results he was hoping for as Carlton outlasted Hawthorn to win by 23-points.

Three Hawthorn goals late in the second-quarter, to bridge the gap to three points at halftime, moved Teague to deliver the “team message” which zeroed in on defenders unwilling to commit to crucial contests.

Teague said the game “wasn’t a classic” but hoped the will of his players to reset after the break and then run away again could be a “great learning moment”.

“I think they scored quite a few of their goals just from long kicks in and winning it at ground level. It was as hard as I have ever gone at them and I wasn’t sure how it would go,” Teague said of the halftime spray.

“It was a team message. It wasn’t one or two individual players, it was just too many of us.

“You are going to have times when the ball goes in there and one guy can’t get the job done on his guy.

“But there was one we showed at half time, there were four of us out there and had a chance to defend with serious intent and we chose not to. Until we do that, we are not going to be a great side.

“We need to get better in that era, and to the player’s credit, in the second half, we did it, and it shows, we protected the scoreboard.

“Hopefully it’s a great learning moment for our group, to get the win, it wasn’t pretty, but these games hurt even more when you don’t win.”

It wasn’t always pretty, but Carlton got the job done on Saturday. (Photo by Quinn Rooney/Getty Images)

Teague gave credit to big-money recruit Zac Williams, who was one of those players in the gun at halftime, after which he responded, finishing with 26 disposals and a goal.

Williams and Adam Saad provided the right amount of run and carry for the Blues, but Teague said it was the defensive aspects of their game which eventually came to the fore.

“I thought (Williams) was part of a group that didn’t defend hard enough at the end of the second (quarter),” Teague said.

“We got beat at the fall of the ball and some of the decisions were made by guys who are some of my more experienced leaders in the group and he was a part of that group.

“On the flipside, his ability to win some important contests after halftime was strong.

“We need to make sure if you are going to have that flair you have to have that defensive intent and purpose and full credit to them after halftime they brought a bit of both.”

Teague said he “can’t explain” the poor kicking from his men, but conceded it was an area they would need to address.

“I thought our ball us particular in the first half wasn’t at the standard we have done in the past,” he said “

“I just thought some of the field kicking and decision making throughout the game wasn’t at the level we need to be at, so there’s room for improvement for us.”