The Preview | Round 6 V Fremantle
Written By Ari Stamatakos
Season So Far:
The tide has turned. Both Fremantle and Carlton, after years of rebuilding from scratch and years of promises, have finally found their true form and are back on the big stage. Both sides side 4-1 after multiple years of missing out on finals. Both sides are led by a young core that has levelled up in season 2022, and both sides are looking to all bust confirm a finals berth by going 5-1.
From a Blues perspective, this has been a rollercoaster season so far despite the results. Having 15 minutes of scintillating football to secure the 4 points in round 1. Backing that up with a half of unbelievable football to go back-to-back the following week. Before nearly choking a 6 goal lead against the Hawks, but somehow coming away with all 4 points to go 3-0. An underwhelming loss to the Gold Coast the week later brought them back down to reality before they hung on for dear life against the Power and secured the win after being 50 points up at halftime.
Hence the nature of these results, nearly every Carlton supporter has aged about 50 years since the opening bounce against Richmond, time after time it's been a stressful game. Ironically enough, the only game that wasn't stressful throughout was the only loss of the season, against the Gold Coast. In which, Carltons fans, if they didn’t lose years on their life, they lost hair on their head, as that was an agonising watch.
As much as Carlton fans wouldn't want to admit this, this type of season was always going to happen with this young side. A side that is still very inexperienced and still adjusting to a completely new regime, is always going to have an inconsistent season filled with upset wins and upset losses. That Gold Coast loss is one of those losses that you have to put behind you and focus on the next game at hand.
The reason why that Gold Coast loss is especially relevant to the game on Saturday is because, that was the only game this season in which Carlton fans expected their side to come out and absolutely blow the opposition out of the water and win by 10 goals plus. Against the Hawks, both sides had come off brilliant victories the week before and were both very capable of beating each other in devastating fashion. Against Port Adelaide, we all knew that Port was going to come out firing after another poor outing the week prior, and when they get their system clicking, they can demolish any side, despite their shocking start to the season.
The reason why many Carlton fans expect a massive win this Saturday is two-fold. Firstly, Fremantle has been Carlton’s 'bunny' in recent times. The Blues haven't lost to the Dockers since 2018 and always seem to play well against them. As well as this, the Dockers are a team that many Carlton supporters believe they ‘must beat well’ if they are going to establish themselves as a top 4 side in the very near future.
With these external notions surrounding the club, it will undoubtedly be seeping into the inner sanctum of the football club. This will be the job of Micheal Voss to counteract and ensure that there will be no complacency heading into the game on Saturday. Because complacency has plagued the Blues in nearly all their matches this season, every time they think they had the game won, either during or pre-match, it has come back to hurt them nearly every time.
Fremantle will make Carlton pay full price if they come into this game with any sense of complacency. The Dockers have established themselves as a force this year and should be taken just as seriously as any other side in the competition. The last time the Blues got away with murder, they came out the next week and got slaughtered.
Moving across The Nullarbor, Freo has been the steadier improver in the AFL for a long time. Moving up one ladder position each year for the past 4 seasons, this is the year in which the Dockers have seemed to take the leap. Led by star Andy Brayshaw, the hole left by the departing Adam Cerra has been filled expertly, with this side going from strength to strength since the start of the season.
With full-forward Matt Taberner kicking 7 goals straight against the Bombers last week, he will be ready and willing to fire against a Blues outfit that has been leaking some goals. This will be the ultimate test for the Dockers. Should they come out and absolutely smashed the Blues, then they would have announced themselves as a serious contender in 2022. However, if they subject themselves to another heartbreaking loss at the hands of Carlton, it would be 1 step forward, 2 steps backwards as they would fall to a 4-2 start.
Being 5-1 is such a critical position to be in if you are serious about being a finals side. Should either side get the win on Saturday night, they would be nearly halfway there to their first finals berth in a long time.
Team News:
Speaking from a Carlton perspective there really isn’t that many changes that are expected to happen. After Voss swung the axe after the Goal Coast defeat, there aren't many changes that are expected this week. Skipper Patrick Cripps would be expected to return after his minor hamstring complaint, with Liam Stocker's return to the AFL side imminent. However, things are as plain sailing for Fremantle. 5 players have been ruled out due to Health and Safety protocols, including the likes of Hayden Young and Heath Chapman. There will have to be some magnet movement for Justin Longmuir this week to combat those key outs, especially in defence.
Prediction: Carlton by 20 points
