The Wrap Up | Round 11 V West Coast
Written by Joseph Addamo
Each week, Blue Abroad’s “The Wrap Up” takes a different perspective on Carlton’s post-match review. “The Wrap Up” will provide insights and stats supporting the key trends, moments and patterns of the game that held most influence over the final result. This is your Round 9 Wrap Up after a disappointing loss to the Eagles.
We’ll gloss over the questionable umpiring from yesterday’s game as an “it is what it is” situation. The loss to West Coast was full of positives for the resurgent Blues but, by the same token, another wasted opportunity. Throughout 2019 and earlier this season, it was slow starts and fast finishes. Now, it’s fast starts and fade-outs plaguing the Blues with the spotlight starting to shine brighter on David Teague. This was the 14th time in 21 outings under Teague as head coach, that the Blues have conceded a 5 goal+ turnaround. It’s not all doom and gloom though, Blues fans! Just remember where this club was just over 12 months ago.
It was an arm wrestle with the current Premiership favourites for the better part of the first two quarters. Zac Fisher made his presence known early, with a quick snap for Carlton’s first before piling on three more goals throughout the day to finish with four majors in a sensational return for ‘Fish’. The Eagles swung the momentum their way late in the first, and continued early in the second quarter through a rare Brad Sheppard goal (his first since 2017) to put them a kick ahead. From there, the Blues flicked the switch and piled on three unanswered goals to lead at half time 5.4 (34) to 3.3 (21).
Fisher’s fourth goal came early in the third quarter to extend Carlton’s lead to 19 points. It looked as if the Blues would continue to roll, when a Levi Casboult kick to the top of the goal square saw Patrick Cripps all alone 10m out. This proved as the game’s turning point, as Cripps fumbled what should have been an uncontested mark and almost certain goal to put Carlton up by 25 points. Instead, West Coast went coast-to-coast and brought the margin back to 13 points. The momentum and confidence of the Blues was sucked out of the contest from this point onward, with the Eagles piling on 8 of the last 9 goals of the game to prevail as 22 point winners on another promising, yet frustrating day for the Carlton Football Club.
Dom Sheed (26 disposals, 9 clearances, 2 goals) was the clear best-on-ground, with Nic Naitanui (41 hitouts, 31.7% to advantage, 7 clearances) providing platinum service to his Midfield all afternoon. Tim Kelly (22 disposals, 7 Inside 50s) showed his class out of the middle by giving Josh Kennedy and Jack Darling (2 goals each) every chance at the contest going inside 50.
Marc Murphy (23 disposals) led the way as Carlton’s number 1 ball-getter for the day, while Cripps (19 disposals, 8 clearances, 8 tackles) and Sam Walsh (20 disposals, 10 contested, 5 clearances) toiled hard against a formidable West Coast Midfield brigade. Zac Fisher (4 goals, 12 disposals, 5 tackles) provided the spark up forward in the absence of Mitch McGovern and Harry McKay in an exciting return to the Senior squad.
BREAKING IT DOWN: KEY MATCH INSIGHTS
Zac Attack! How good was it seeing this guy back in action? With a goal within 10 minutes of the first quarter, it was a wonder it took him so long to get back into the Senior side. No one saw what was to come, putting on 4 goals for the day in a remarkable return to football for little ‘Fish’. He appears to be a crucial component of the Carlton forward line moving forward, with his energy and football smarts adding serious quality to our small forward stocks. Here’s to hoping ‘Fish’ can stay fit after a wretched run with injuries.
Naitanui Ruck Dominance: Marc Pittonet and Tom De Koning would have known it was going to be a tough day at the office leading into the match, and ‘Nic Nat’ made no exception for the Blues as he continued his blistering display of Ruck prowess in this match. 41 hitouts, 37.1% to advantage, 7 clearances of his own, 4 free kicks for and 9 contested possessions summed up the dominant display from Naitanui all afternoon. The tap-work from Naitanui this season has been breathtaking, making the service he provides to his Midfield group seem almost too easy at times; the Eagles dominated the Clearances 43-32 on the back of this Ruck-craft. Marc Pittonet went down with a suspected hand injury in the middle of the game, giving Tom De Koning the task of taming Naitanui’s influence. While the hitout numbers suggest he was well and truly beaten at stoppages, his coverage around the ground along with a couple of clearances of his own showed some promise for the big man. Hats off to you, ‘King’, however there’s no stopping the current clear All-Australian ruckman in Naitanui.
Cripps’ Crucial Clangers Continue: It’s almost too harsh to say, considering how hard Crippa goes about it week after week, but his ability to execute in critical moments has reared its ugly head yet again this season. Those set shots vs. Melbourne in Round 2, last week’s brain fades in front of goal and then that dropped mark this week vs. the Eagles. It was a major turning point in the third quarter, with the Eagles going on to kick 8 of the last 9 goals of the match. This is not to say it all sits on Cripps’ shoulders when the game is on the line. However, in a season where we believed he would launch himself into the Nat Fyfe mould and become that goal-kicker we’ve been waiting for, he has unfortunately fallen short one too many times. He looks sore, he looks tired. Why shouldn’t he be after carrying this club on his back for so long? How much longer until it finally clicks, and we see that game-breaking performance again as in Round 13, 2019 vs. Brisbane to turn the club’s fortunes?
Inside 50 Entries Wasted: The Blues led the way again for Inside 50s (44-35) as they have done for a majority of the season. With a smaller forward structure, Marks Inside 50 were down on the season average of 9.2 per game to finish with only 3 for the match. However, this mosquito fleet of forwards in Michael Gibbons, Eddie Betts and Zac Fisher made sure the tackling pressure from Carlton inside forward 50 was on full display. Carlton doubled their season average of 9.3 to finish with 18 Tackles Inside 50 for the game. While the whistle may not have gone our way at times with all of this pressure applied, it doesn’t excuse the 34.1% efficiency output in generating scoring shots once inside 50. On the other hand, the Eagles finished with 51.4% Efficiency Inside 50, showing the difference that clinical execution makes to the outcome of a game.
FINAL SCORES
Carlton: 2.0 (12), 5.4 (34), 6.5 (41), 7.8 (50
North Melbourne: 2.2 (14), 3.3 (21), 8.4 (52), 11.6 (72)
Carlton Goals: Fisher (4), Walsh, Gibbons, Setterfield
Carlton Best: Fisher, Jones, Walsh, Cripps, Setterfield