By Roy Ward
Carlton coach Michael Voss has defended his club’s handling of Harry McKay after the key forward took a knock to the head late in the third term of Sunday’s win over North Melbourne.
McKay appeared to bump the front of his head into the back of North player Eddie Ford’s head during a marking contest and was prone on the ground before slowly getting to his feet.
Carlton’s Harry McKay on all fours after copping a knock in the third quarter against North Melbourne.Credit: Getty Images
The 26-year-old played on immediately after the incident, kicking a goal late in the term before being ordered off for a head-injury assessment.
McKay was cleared to return late in the final term and kicked another goal.
Voss said he couldn’t speak to whether there was a delay in taking McKay from the ground, but he was confident his club followed all instructions once told McKay needed to be assessed.
“What I do know is that the protocol is there, and we were notified that we needed to get him off the ground, so we got him off the ground, and he went into those protocols,” Voss said.
“Fortunately, he was able to respond, he was OK and he was able to keep the game going.”
McKay said post-game that he was fine.
“It was nice to get a 10-minute break and then come back on. I was fine,” McKay told Fox Footy.
“It’s not uncommon to get a few knocks on your shoulders or the back of your head, but I was fine. I kicked a goal straight away.”
McKay is helped to his feet by teammate Charlie Curnow.Credit: Getty Images
Voss said the Blues held off on bringing substitute David Cuningham into the game for a different player in case McKay couldn’t return. They ended up subbing Blake Acres off in the final 10 minutes.
“The downside to that was that we had to hold our tactical sub to work out if we needed to take Harry off or not,” Voss said.
“But that is a discussion for another time.
“I feel like we followed what we needed to and Harry got the care he needed.”
The Blues face a dreaded five-day turnaround before their match against fellow finals contenders Port Adelaide at Marvel Stadium on Friday night.
Voss admitted his medical staff would be busy, with ruckman Tom De Koning (foot) and star midfielder Sam Walsh (back) taking painful knocks during the game.
Sam Durdin and Acres both were sore but played on, or in Acres’ case, he played on until he was subbed out.
“We have a few we need to assess,” Voss said.
“TDK (De Koning) with a foot, Walshy with his back, he got kneed there, so we just have to see how that settles but he got through the game.
“Walsh has had a direct knock there – as far as I am aware, that is all it currently is.”
North Melbourne gave the Blues a scare, but they responded to take hold of second spot heading into round 20.
Blues superstar Charlie Curnow kicked three of his four goals in the third term after his side found themselves well beaten in the first half and trailing by 11 points.
Charlie Curnow of the Blues celebrates a goal Credit: Getty Images
But in the second half the Blues lifted their pressure and their urgency, then they built momentum from a miskick by Roos defender Griffin Logue – in his first game of 2024 after turning from injury – turning it into a five-goal run into a 19-point victory.
The Blues have a keen eye for weakness, one quite likely developed from the way teams picked at their shortcomings in their developing years.
Patrick Cripps (29 disposals) was again unrelenting in his work around the contests, Adam Saad gave them plenty of run from half-back and Walsh and Lachie Fogarty had plenty of good moments, too.
The Roos threatened again in the last term, with Harry Sheezel’s second goal – added to a game-high 34 disposals – bringing them close, but the Blues pushed away with late goals from Saad and McKay making sure of the win.
Patrick Cripps of the Blues and Harry Sheezel of the Kangaroos compete for the ball.Credit: AFL Photos via Getty Images
North will be disappointed, but their second term provided real proof of concept of how their team is building.
Sheezel, George Wardlaw, Luke Davies-Uniacke, Bailey Scott and Colby McKercher linked up repeatedly in chains of ball movement that finished with surprise forward Charlie Comben, who moved forward after Logue’s return, kicking three goals for the half.
Comben told Fox Footy at half-time that Roos coach Alistair Clarkson spoke to him “a couple of months ago” about testing him as a forward partner for Nick Larkey.
Both Comben and Larkey were starved of chances in the second half, but they looked a promising duo while back-up big man Bryn Teakle made it a tall trio up front at times.
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