The Wrap Up | Round 21 v Gold Coast
Written by Helena Petrou
Round 21 saw the Carlton Football Club go down by 19 points to a spirited Gold Coast Suns outfit at Marvel Stadium on Saturday the 7th of August. Despite playing to stay in the finals race as the 2021 season comes to a close, the Blues lacked the intensity and effort to get the job done, failing to match the energy that the Suns brought to the game. With key players such as Harry McKay and Sam Walsh sustaining injuries, things can’t seem to get much worse for the Blues from here.
Quarter one
The Suns were winning uncontested possession early, the first goal of the afternoon went to Brandon Elis with Gold Coast’s 21st uncontested possession just 5 minutes into the game. The Blues soon started to gain some attacking momentum and began to play the match on their terms. Despite this, the Baggers had yet to hit a target with any of their 7 kicks inside 50. The Blues got their first major of the afternoon through Charlie Curnow who made something out of nothing, curling in a goal 40 meters out off one step. Soon after Josh Honey cleanly intercepted a Gold Coast kick in to give himself a shot on goal 50m out. Honey kicked truly to give the Blues the lead. Jacob Weitering started well in defence, with all 4 of his possessions intercepts. Skipper Patrick Cripps began the game on fire, collecting 5 touches and 2 tackles in the first while leading from the front with his intensity and desire to hunt his opponent. Cripps cleanly moved his way through traffic to lace out Josh Honey inside 50, who kicked his second goal to give the Blues a 10-point lead at the dying stages of the first quarter. The Suns won the uncontested possession count 73-47 in the first signifying how the Blues not only allowed them too much time with ball in hand, but also their inability to man up.
Second Quarter
The second quarter began with Touk Miller kicking a goal from a questionable Ben Ainsworth handball. Both sides were inaccurate in front of the goals to start. Second gamer Joel Jeffery was causing headaches for the Blues defence, having multiple shots on goals but failed to convert them as again accuracy was proving a problem for the Suns. Mid way through the quarter veteran Sun Brandon Elis was subbed of after re-injuring his hamstring. Charlie Curnow and Harry McKay were spending lots of their time playing higher up the ground to provide extra options around the field but this left Silvagni, Honey and Martin as Carlton’s deepest forwards where they became exposed for height. An exciting passage of play 2 years in the making saw Harry McKay on the wing hit up Charlie Curnow just outside forward 50, who flawlessly pin pointed Eddie Betts just outside the goal square for his goal against the flow. Tom De Koning won the following centre clearance and booted the ball in the Silvagni direction. Jack was able to sneak a goal off balance to extend Carlton’s led to 9 points with 7 minutes remaining in the half. After a slow first quarter, Zac Fisher collected half of his disposals for the afternoon in the second term. Fisher took multiple bounces down the wing to allow Ed Curnow to hit up brother Charlie inside 50, whose shot on goal unfortunately swung left. The Blue’s tackling pressure was much more effective this quarter completing all but one of the 14 tackles they laid, contrasting to the first quarter where only eight of their 16 tackle attempts were successful. Jack Silvagni was serviceable in the second term, winning 75% of his ruck hit outs as well as being the leading player on the ground for score involvements. Noah Anderson was causing trouble for the Blues, having collected 15 disposals and 3 centre clearances in the first half. Brayden Fiorini had also collected 12 touches and 8 tackles.
Third Quarter
After looking lively in the first term Joel Jeffery kicked his first AFL goal just two minutes into the half. Soon after Jack Martin was rewarded for his hard leading with a targeted kick inside 50 from Harry McKay, who was playing high up the ground. Martin went back to kick his goal although Gold Coast slot the next two, both of which were launched from defensive half intercepts. The Blues had a chance to regain the lead with seven minutes remaining in the quarter through Zac Fisher, but his snap sailed too far left, leaving the Blues to trail by one point. The scores were all tied up with just 2 minutes to go, but a defensive structure failure from Carlton saw Gold Coast easily kick mark their way through the corridor resulting in a Zac Smith goal. A game where the Blues looked to be in control of early, they now trailed by 7 points at the final break. Gold Coast made the most out of their opportunities this quarter and improved their set shot accuracy, kicking 4 goals straight from their 11 intercept chains to the Blue’s 1.7 7 from the same number of intercepts. Despite Carlton’s defensive structure being picked apart by the Suns, Nic Newman did his best to try and hold up the Blue’s defence. Newman gathered 8 disposals, 4 of them intercepts, at 100% efficiency- all team highs for the quarter.
Fourth Quarter
A shaky start for the Suns saw Carlton get a goal through Ed Curnow in the first 2 minutes, tying the scores up at 51 apiece. Despite the Suns going at 43% kicking efficiency early in the term, the Blues struggled to get the ball past their defensive half due to the Sun’s contested work and repeat entries. Carlton was finally able to get the game back on their terms mid-way through the fourth, measuredly moving their way up the ground but failed to make it mean anything, taking only two marks from seven inside 50 entries. Coleman leader Harry McKay went to ground clutching his right shoulder in a marking contest and made his way to the bench, he later returned to play but was evidently in pain. Jacob Townsend kicked his second of the afternoon to give the Suns the lead with twelve minutes to go after capturing Jacob Weitering holding the ball with his defence under siege. Noah Anderson won the following centre clearance and sent the ball inside 50 for Josh Corbett’s goal. Alarm bells should’ve now been ringing in the Carlton’s coaches’ box- in less than a minute they had become two goals down with ten minutes to go in a season defining game. Jacob Weitering done well keeping Ben King goalless for the game but a slip up from Matthew Kennedy gave Touk Miller a free shot at goal from directly in front. Harry McKay returned to play and kicked his only goal for the day from 10m out to put the Blues back within two goals, but overall, it was too little too late. With less than half a minute remaining Will Powell put a dagger through the heart of the Carlton Football Club and its finals hopes slotting a GOTY contender from the boundary capping of a career best performance for the youngster, whilst Sam Walsh went down in pain clutching his ankle.
The Blues had gotten completely smashed in clearances, contested and uncontested possessions as well as marks. They allowed the Sun’s to play their kick-mark uncontested game style, while their tackling pressure was nothing like what they showed against Saint Kilda just a week ago. Only five Carlton players managed over 20 disposals, while three didn’t lay a tackle and five laying just a single tackle for the game. This indicates Carlton’s lack of intent and commitment during the game, but also their complacency heading into it.
A that game can’t be described as anything more than a failure and a kick in the guts to a teased fanbase, round 21 proved to be just another typical feat from our underperforming football club.
