By Marc McGowan
Carlton’s drought-busting finals victory over Sydney has come at a cost, with key forward Harry McKay suffering a concussion and Jack Martin facing an anxious match review wait.
The Blues had not won a final in a decade before Friday night’s thrilling six-point elimination final triumph at a heaving MCG capped their unlikely revival from the bottom four after 13 rounds. They had dropped six straight games at that stage and critics were baying for blood, including even coach Michael Voss’ job.
Carlton resurrected what looked like a wasted season with an extraordinary nine victories on the trot – and it could yet end in a fairytale flag. They will be back at the MCG next week, probably on Friday night again, to take on 2021 premiers Melbourne, who they edged out by four points in round 22, for a preliminary final spot.
However, Voss confirmed after the Blues hung on that McKay, who came off second-best in an aerial contest with Tom McCartin late in the third term, would not be available against the Demons.
McKay had his usual interesting night, missing two sitters – one a dribbling attempt from inside the goal square, then a second from a 15-metre set shot directly in front – that could have been costly.
“He won’t be right for next week,” Voss said.
“He wasn’t in a great way at the end of the game so he’s in concussion protocols and that makes him unavailable for next week. We’ll have to look at what mix looks like.”
Chris Judd, Marc Murphy and Bryce Gibbs combined for 78 disposals as the Mick Malthouse-coached Blues beat Richmond by 20 points in a 2013 elimination final the last time Carlton saluted at this end of the season.
John Barker, Brendon Bolton and David Teague followed Malthouse without any being able to turn the Blues around until Brisbane Lions great Voss took over, in his second chance as a senior coach.
There was heartbreak last season when they stumbled in the final round, but they are playing as well as anyone 12 months on and can dare to dream.
“There have been 10 years [between playing finals], and it felt like a bit of a celebration that we’d made finals,” Voss said. “It was really important to acknowledge that, yeah, we’ve made that important milestone as a club, but we’ve still got more in us.
“It wasn’t based off anything other than there was capacity in this football team to do more, and we would be settling for less to do otherwise. But we also have to acknowledge that it’s been a fair journey for our supporters.
“It’s been a long wait, and we’re just really pleased to look across the fences and see smiles on the faces. I love seeing our past players and how proud they are of our team now, in the way that we play. I love that they’re really proud of how tough we play football, and I hope they walk away with a few other things tonight.”
Martin earned rich praise from Voss for the way he stood up in the tense final moments, including taking a pair of intercept marks in his defensive 50, but he, too, could miss the Melbourne rematch.
He made contact with Nick Blakey’s face with a swinging arm in the opening term that match review officer Michael Christian is certain to closely scrutinise. Blakey sat out the rest of that quarter but passed a concussion test before playing a key second-half role as the Swans desperately tried to keep their season alive.
Carlton set up the win with a four-goal-to-one second term that gave them a deserved 29-point half-time lead, and they seemed on their way to a comfortable victory.
They monstered Sydney in contested ball to that stage (85-65), and were stout with their pressure across the ground, as well as being dominant in the air down back, thanks mostly to Mitch McGovern, Caleb Marchbank and Brodie Kemp.
But Blake Acres’ goal from point-blank range in the last five minutes – after a diving Martin dished a handball – ended up being just enough to hold the dogged Swans off.
Sydney still had chances after that, with Sam Wicks and Justin McInerney missing gettable chances, before Hayden McLean’s last-minute goal presented the chance for one last twist.
That left fewer than 30 seconds for the Swans to try to draw the game and send it to extra time, or somehow pinch victory. But Carlton managed to soak up valuable seconds before a Nic Newman intercept mark in the middle of the ground sealed the result.
Sam Walsh (29 disposals, 17 contested possessions) was outstanding from the outset, but had great support from ex-Dockers Acres (26) and Adam Cerra (24), while skipper Patrick Cripps (21) warmed into the contest and kicked an important goal in the third term.
The unlikely hero was Matt Cottrell, who helped set the win up with two first-half goals before running down Errol Gulden late in the third quarter as he prepared to kick Sydney inside 50, after they had already kicked back-to-back goals.
There was also an extended score review in the fourth term on a Gulden shot that could have slashed Carlton’s lead to three points but was instead called a behind, with Acres insisting he touched the Sherrin.
Gulden (23, two goals) was one of the instigators for the Swans, but McLean (12 marks) and Luke Parker (two goals) – who went forward in the second half – were also important. Tom Papley (seven clearances) was influential in his return, and Tom McCartin (12 intercept possessions) kept dual Coleman medallist Charlie Curnow to one goal.
Sydney failed to capitalise on their territory dominance in the fourth term, kicking only 2.5 to the Blues’ 1.2 to continue a wasteful night that coach John Longmire bemoaned afterwards.
“After a finals loss, you’re disappointed for everybody – it’s just what it is. Finals footy, cut-throat elimination finals; you need to put your best foot forward, and I thought for three quarters we probably did,” Longmire said.
“The first quarter, I thought we played some good footy – we just didn’t kick straight, it was 1.5, and 9.14 for the game – but I thought the first quarter was pretty much an even arm wrestle.
“The second quarter, we didn’t play very well ... I don’t know what the scoring shots were in the second half, but we finished off really strongly. To the players’ credit, they kept on having a crack, and that’s all you can ask. Sometimes you’re going to be good enough, sometimes you’re not.”
CARLTON 3.2 7.5 10.6 11.8 (74)
SYDNEY SWANS 1.5 2.6 7.9 9.14 (68)
GOALS - Carlton: Martin 2, Cottrell 2, Acres, Cripps, Docherty, Cuningham, Curnow, Owies, Cerra
Sydney Swans: McDonald 2, Gulden 2, Parker 2, Amartey, McLean, Hayward
BEST - Carlton: Walsh, Acres, Hewett, Cottrell, Cerra, Martin, Saad, Newman. Sydney: Gulden, McCartin, Parker, McLean, Papley, Blakey.
INJURIES - Carlton: McKay (concussion). Sydney: None.
UMPIRES - Nicholls, Broadbent, Findlay, Mollison
CROWD - 92,026 at MCG
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