It was a disappointing effort from a team coming off a 15-goal thrashing at the hands of St Kilda a week ago.
It was evident from the opening bounce that Collingwood were off. They lacked energy, weren’t prepared to work for one another and did not cope with the pressure exerted by a hungry Carlton outfit keen to stamp their authority on the match early.
A former coach of mine would often say he could tell if we were on by how hard we worked as a team when not in possession. He would have been pleased with his former side today. Watch a game closely and you’ll see what I mean. Players guarding the mark as if their lives depended on it like Mitch Robinson; shepherding a teammate into space like Mark Austin for Chris Judd, or tackling inside forward 50 like Jarrad Waite.
Carlton seized an opportunity today while the Magpies were disappointing in many areas. And the Blues wanted the win more, it’s as simple as that.
Football continues to evolve but some things don’t change. You are either prepared to do whatever it takes to win, no matter what the cost both individually and collectively – or you walk off the ground at the end of a match, knowing in your own mind that you could have done better, gone harder; sacrificed something for the team. Many of Collingwood’s 22 would have trudged off the MCG with these types of thoughts rumbling around inside their heads.
FOUR QUARTERS
Q1: Carlton 5.1 (31) v Collingwood 0.4 (4)
Waite started forward and kicked the opening two goals. Collingwood was reactive, lacked any run from defence and couldn’t cope with Carlton’s pressure. The Blues dominated the clearances with Judd, Bryce Gibbs, Marc Murphy, Matthew Kreuzer and co running amok. Collingwood is in desperate need of a legitimate ruckman of the ilk of Jamie Charman – prepared to physically intimidate the opposition. With the Blues’ midfield gathering possessions at will, the Pies could also do with a couple of descent taggers.
Q2: Carlton 7.3 (45) v Collingwood 1.7 (13)
Carlton opened the second quarter with its sixth goal and we had to wait until the 14-minute mark for the Magpies to finally kick their first for the afternoon from the boot of Ben Reid. As in the first quarter, the Pies were besieged every time they won possession.
Q3: Carlton 11.8 (74) v Collingwood 3.9 (27)
Scott Pendlebury had 20 touches in the first half but for reasons only known to coach Mick Malthouse he spent the opening eight minutes on the bench. Such was Carlton’s dominance, Judd even had time to take a big grab four deep in another fine captain’s game. Collingwood rallied in the middle part of the quarter off the back of a brilliant Leon Davis goal but the run quickly petered out when Davis missed a shot minutes later.
Q4: Carlton 16.8 (104) d Collingwood 7.11 (53)
A five-goal final quarter rounded out a polished performance from a side yet to convince the football community that they are a serious threat in 2009. As with St Kilda and Geelong, the most pleasing thing about the Blues was not the scoreboard but their willingness to apply pressure.
Key stat
Carlton allowed the Magpies no room to run and as a result forced them to handball more than they kicked; something you rarely see under Malthouse. By half time Collingwood’s kick to handball ratio was 86 kicks to 102 handballs. On the other hand the Blues continually found space in defence and were allowed to set up, run and carry with minimal pressure inside their forward 50.
He might not have got the votes but ...
... Shaun Hampson played his best game for the Blues – suggesting that they might have another big man worth persevering with. He impressed up forward with a long-range goal after a strong contested mark in the third term. And he proved equally capable on the ball, allowing Kreuzer a much-needed rest.
The points were safe when ...
... Carlton opened with a five-goal-to-nil first quarter. The Blues did all the things I expected to see from a Malthouse-coached side keen to atone for a poor performance a week earlier. They tackled ferociously, hunted in numbers, worked just as hard when they had the ball as they did when the Pies were in possession and they were prepared to sacrifice for each other. The greater good of the team over the individual was obvious in their play.
The game in a nutshell
There was no better example of the Blues’ consummate teamwork than the performance of Brendan Fevola. Fevola finished with eight possessions and no goals but his side still managed to kick 16 goals and win by 51 points – something you couldn’t imagine in recent Carlton teams. Perhaps the Blues really are coming?
The views in this article are those of the author and not necessarily those of the clubs or the AFL.
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