AFL Carlton Deep Dive: Blues win six games in a row to rocket into finals contention

The Blues have now won six games in a row - their longest winning streak in 23 years. It’s a turn around that began 19 quarters ago, at quarter time against the Suns.

Michael Voss had a big win on Friday night. Picture: Getty Images

Michael Voss received a phone call after round 8 or 9.

One of his new players wanted to ask the Carlton coach: ‘Are you OK?’

“I called him, just to check in,” wingman Blake Acres told this masthead.

“You hear stuff in the media and I was a bit worried for him. I was calling him to make sure he was all right.

“He’s a really good guy. You can have those conversations with him, which I love.”

“But he was fine. He said, ‘Mate, I’m sweet. I’ve got no problems at all, I know where the group is going and I know where we’re going to get to’.”

Acres had another reason for picking up the phone. The former St Kilda and Fremantle runner also wanted to know if he was OK.

“I wasn’t playing that well, so I was trying to make sure that I was all right to be honest,” Acres said.

Michael Voss stuck fat with the Blues’ direction even when they were heading towards the bottom earlier in the season. Picture: Dylan Burns/AFL Photos via Getty Images

“He said, ‘It’s fine, mate’. He wasn’t worried and that gave me the belief that he knows where we’re going and to get back to work.”

It has been a rollercoaster ride for Acres. Early this season the Bluebaggers were merely baggers, getting stuck into one of their own.

“I copped a few boos from the home crowd early on, but they’re a very passionate group and I love playing in front of them,” Acres said.

“They’re just passionate, which is what makes this club so great. It’s the fans. They keep rocking up for us … they’re a great fan base.

“I’m loving it now.”

Who isn’t? Carlton’s six-match winning stretch is its longest since 2000.

On paper it looks like the burst that has blown off the lid – as well as the door to September – started 19 quarters ago.

The Blues trailed Gold Coast by eight points at the MCG before a second-quarter run of 9.3 (57) to three behinds, mostly scored straight out of the centre square, at the MCG.

But Acres said this been building before that. But it had been masked by inaccuracy. They kicked 6.15 against Sydney, 7.15 against Collingwood and 6.16 against Essendon in wasteful losses.

“We hadn’t got results, but we were seeing glimpses of what we could do,” Acres said.

“We never really lost belief, to be honest. The coaches were really levelled, we never really got worried even when we were losing games.

“The boys just kept rocking up and getting to work and then the coaches simplified it for us and now we just play freely.”

Blake Acres has become a journeyman player but enjoys playing his role on the wing. Picture: Dylan Burns/AFL Photos via Getty Images

Truth be told, Voss was worried. Of course he was … they had lost eight out of nine matches. He would hardly be human otherwise.

“We were looking at a stage there where we didn’t know where our next win was going to come from,” Voss said.

“There’s always doubt, there were some tough days and lots of really tough conversations.

“It was tough conversations from the leaders to the players, there were some tough conversations amongst us as coaches.

“And clearly there was a lot of tough conversations between coaches and players and the leadership group.

“I had to have a few tough ones about where they saw themselves as leaders, and they accepted it – no one blinked – and I think that says a lot about them.

“They didn’t know quite how to go about it at that point in time, but they’ve learned how to do that over the last little while, and we’ll just be stronger for the experience that we had.

“It was tough to get through, we’re not at the end of it, but we’re certainly getting plenty of rewards at the moment which is pleasing to see.”

“We were in a pretty bad place in terms of trying to get our game together and players were just lacking an enormous amount of confidence.”

Blues boss Brian Cook said pre-game their form was stronger than the 8-2 start to last season. Cook said it was a “much more finals style” with a stronger defensive system.

By 10.30pm it was obvious. They had kept the premiership favourites to 10 goals two weeks after restricting No.2 seed Port Adelaide to the same tally in what was a 50-point thumping.

So much has been made of Collingwood’s miraculous comebacks under Craig McRae. But these Blues are hard to mow down.

Blake Acres against Collingwood on Friday night. Picture: Dylan Burns/AFL Photos via Getty Images

In 2023 they have lost one out of 11 games when leading at halftime. The contest numbers on Friday night were critical.

Carlton beat the Magpies by 33 in contested ball, 41 in groundball gets, 10 in clearances, 10 in tackles and six in tackles inside 50.

It was Collingwood’s worst and Carlton’s best contested-ball differential for the year. The clearance discrepancy was Collingwood’s equal-worst and Carlton’s third-best for the year.

“That was good,” Acres said.

“The group really needed that, we’ve been playing some good footy but probably haven’t beaten teams that have been going as well as they’d like.

“But Collingwood had their full side in (excluding Bobby Hill) and we know our identity is working now so if we keep bringing pressure and contest each week and get the ball in a scramble and we’ll play from there.”

The obvious contrast from those gloomy days is the ball movement. But as one insider noted in the rooms on Friday night … you have to get your hands on the ball before you can move it.

Voss has told his players their identity is contest and pressure and all of a sudden it’s gone from a fake ID to maximum points.

It is as if the Blues have found their driver’s licence, passport and birth certificate at once.

As Tom De Koning’s dad, Terry, said: “They’ve got the players, they always had that”.

The Blues now enjoy a 10-day break before a match against Acres’ “old mob” St Kilda.

A seventh-straight win recorded against another team clinging on to a place in the eight would put them within touching distance of September.

“We haven’t even spoken about finals,” Acres said.

“We put that conversation aside months ago. But I’m looking forward to the old mob.

“It’s pretty funny being a journeyman, to be honest. I keep ticking off all the clubs.”

Journeymen might be the wrong word for Acres. He is more of their marathon man. In the past three games Acres’ GPS has clocked 46.7km.

How does he measure his own performance?

“I don’t need to be getting high numbers – if it comes my way it does,” Acres said.

“But I might have some quarters where I don’t get near it all.

“I just keep managing my width and try to control the shape of the ground and if I get a chance to support the backs I’ll get back every opportunity.”

Blue heaven: King Charlie downs Pies, puts finals rivals on notice

Collingwood cried poor and then had a poor night.

Carlton – led by ‘Coleman Charlie’ – played like millionaires and powered to fifth on the ladder with its sixth-straight win.

The Blues were 15th after round 13 but are certain to enter round 21 in the top eight. Last year they had to win one of their final four games to make it but could not seal September.

Once again, their destiny is at their disposal with a month of footy against St Kilda, Melbourne, Gold Coast and GWS to go.

The in-season swing under Michael Voss is one of the storylines of the season. The roar when Jesse Motlop tugged at the Carlton emblem on his jumper after kicking the Blues five goals in front was thunderous.

One TAB punter lost $1 million on the Magpies. Ouch.

Charlie Curnow helped the Blues to a big win. Picture: Getty Images

On a night where Pies boss Craig Kelly announced an all-time membership record of 101,954 and then spoke alarmingly about finances at least Kelly still holds a live $1 million ticket.

The Magpies are on top of the ladder and the men are set to put the club in pole position to be crowned the inaugural Champion Club – awarded to whoever banks the most premiership points across AFL and AFLW (eight points per win in AFLW, four in AFL).

It is a $1 million prize and it will be over to women’s captain Bri Davey and her crew to try and cash that cheque later in the year.

Kelly conceded the Magpies had “just blown up the lives” of their netball players and coaches by withdrawing their Super Netball licence.

Kelly also said their AFLW program was bleeding cash and defended the league’s decision not to expand on a 10-game home-and-away season.

“We made $50,000 last year,” he said.

“There’s only a certain amount of money that goes around. Every time we put on another (AFLW) game of football it costs a lot of money.

“We can’t just squeeze the lemon and start handing out cash that we haven’t got as a whole competition.”

Speaking across multiple radio interviews, Kelly also doubted whether bundling together the men’s and women’s pay deals was the right call and even supported staging a best-of-three grand final series.

Collingwood didn’t have a good night. Picture: Getty Images

“Say you played one here (MCG), next one you went interstate that may be a grand final under lights, and then if you haven’t got a result you come back to the ‘G,” Kelly said.

“I’m for that from a commercial sense. It’s worked around the world.”

Kelly said the Pies asked themselves “What were we put on this earth for?” when deciding their netball fate.

“When you were losing the amount of money that we were (in netball), which was substantial year after year after year, we couldn’t invest in those things (like AFLW).”

The Magpies posted an operating profit before government revenue, depreciation and amortisation of $51,918 last year.

It was a slender win from a powerhouse preliminary finalist.

MATCH REPORT: BLUE HEAVEN AT THE ‘G

Carlton have franked their stunning mid-season resurgence by toppling ladder-leading Collingwood at the MCG on Friday night and bursting into the top eight for the first time in three months.

The brilliant Charlie Curnow was once again the difference in the 17-point victory with another big bag of six goals against star Magpie defensive duo Darcy Moore and Nathan Murphy, backing up his career-high haul of 10 last week against West Coast. The Coleman Medal leader now has a personal best 67 majors for the year.

The Blues’ season looked shot to pieces when they tumbled into the bottom four five weeks ago after losing eight of their previous nine matches.

The Blues are back. Picture: Getty Images

But they have now won their last six matches and by taking down the premiership favourites 14.9 (93) to 10.16 (76), they have officially declared themselves a finals contender.

The Blues will probably only have to win two of their last four games to make the finals, and with St Kilda, Melbourne, Gold Coast (away) and GWS in their run home, their destiny is well and truly in their own hands.

An illness had reportedly swept through Olympic Park during the week, and it looked like it because Carlton’s physicality and ferocity was relentless in the middle of the ground as they out-hunted Collingwood with their veracious appetite for the contest.

In the end, Carlton pulverised Collingwood in contested possessions 138-108 and clearances 41-31, and their pressure was underscored by their doubling of the Pies for tackles inside 50 (12-6).

The Magpies actually had more inside 50s (53-49), but were let down by horrible goalkicking, particularly from set shots with 9.7 to Carlton’s 10.2.

Jacob Weitering was also immense down back for the Blues with 18 touches, 11 marks and nine rebounds 50s, and Mitch McGovern (18 touches and one goal) kept the dangerous Jamie Elliott very quiet.

Jacob Weitering was brilliant for Carlton. Picture: Getty Images

Adam Cerra was one of their best players in the first half, but was subbed out early in the third term due to hamstring complaint. When he exited the game he already had 20 touches (nine contested) and six clearances.

The Magpies got out to a seven-point lead early in the second term, but Carlton made a blistering response as they scored six of the next seven goals to shoot out to a 23-point lead early in the third quarter.

PIES WASTE DOMINANCE

Collingwood wrested back the ascendancy in the territory battle and smashed Carlton for inside 50s in the third period 17-6, but poor goalkicking meant the Blues still outscored them for the quarter, 3.1 to 2.5. The Magpies exploited the absence of Cerra and continued to dominate possession in the final term, but could only manage five consecutive behinds either side of three-quarter time. The more efficient Blues made them pay by piling on the first three goals of the quarter, including two from Curnow, to lead by 36 points and deny a Collingwood trademark late comeback.

ELLIOTT FLIES HIGH

After Collingwood fell six goals down in the final quarter, Jamie Elliott tried to raise their spirits with an absolute screamer as he climbed over Jacob Weitering and reined in a huge grab. But unfortunately for the Magpies, he missed his set shot.

MIGHTY MITCH

After Carlton coughed up the first two goals, backman Mitch McGovern settled them into the game sensationally as he received the handball from Nic Newman and unloaded a bomb from the centre square that sailed through the big sticks.

MCCREERY MAKES AMENDS

Eight minutes later, Beau McCreery had the chance to put Collingwood up by eight points when he lined up a set shot from 20m out directly in front. But to his horror, he hit the post from point-blank range. He atoned shortly after quarter-time when he lined up from almost the identical position at the city end and made no mistake.

SCOREBOARD

PIES 3.4, 4.6, 6.11, 10.16 (76)

BLUES 3.4, 7.5, 10.6, 14.9 (93)

LERNER’S BEST:

Magpies: De Goey, Howe, J.Daicos, N.Daicos, Cameron.

Blues: C.Curnow, Weitering, McGovern, Cerra, Newman, Acres, Martin.

GOALS

Magpies: Howe 3, McStay 2, De Goey, Cameron, McCreery, J.Daicos, Adams.

Blues: C.Curnow 6, Martin 3, Motlop 2, McGovern, Owies, Cincotta.

INJURIES: Magpies: Nil. Blues: Cerra (hamstring)

UMPIRES: Deboy, Hosking, Findlay, Mollison

VENUE: MCG

PLAYER OF THE YEAR: LERNER’S VOTES

3 Charlie Curnow (Carl)

2 Jacob Weitering (Carl)

1 Mitch McGovern (Carl)

Originally published as AFL Carlton Deep Dive: Blues win six games in a row to rocket into finals contention