Before I write about the game on Sunday afternoon, I want to share with you all that after the game last week against North Melbourne, I wrote a piece but did not publish it. I wanted to wait and see what transpired this past weekend and the match against Geelong.
I wrote that after watching Geelong play against Hawthorn in the previous round, I saw holes in their game and that Hawthorn were not beaten by a better team, but Hawthorn lost the game with their terrible shots at goals and some silly mistakes. Hawthorn also played a game that sometimes played to their strengths and sometimes to Geelong’s. There were gaping holes in Geelong’s back line. I have always said that to beat Geelong, you must not play their style of footy, which is slow and laborious, and counting on their “star” players to step up. Geelong finds it challenging to counter-act a team that plays a fast-paced, intensive and ferocious style of footy. They just cannot counter-act that pace in footy that is not aligned with what they want to do and play. I said that if Carlton plays with the same intensity and ferociousness when they played against North Melbourne, even if they are a bottom-side, we can and will beat Geelong.
Sunday’s game showed that this is exactly how Carlton played. Everyone knew that Geelong would not go down lightly, and in the last quarter, they scored the first three goals. In the past, Carlton would have been frustrated and played that way, and ultimately – lose. But they did not. They played in a way that was relentless, ruthless and intense. It was as if they learned from the first four games of the season what they needed to do and achieve in a match to win these pressurised games. Those who stepped up and played with momentum from the game against North Melbourne took steps to ensure that Carlton would not go down without a fight, and that is exactly what they did.
How many times did Carlton pressure Geelong, who kicked the ball out on the full? How many times was Carlton doggedly chasing a Geelong player and tackling them? How many times did Geelong try to thwart Carlton players and only be handed a hiding when our players got the ball away from Geelong’s forward line? The pressure that Carlton placed on Geelong showed something I have alluded to since round one – do not count the first games as an indication of a team’s season!
Sure, we won three games on the trot, and the first two were against the lower sides; however, the test was the game against Geelong. Never underestimate what momentum and learning what went wrong and how to correct it can do to a team as the season progresses. Those who wanted and proudly splashed over anywhere they could that Carlton has to sack Michael Voss have gone quiet. I am not saying at all that this changes everything in season 2025; I’m saying that the steps that the club has taken and the growth that it is developing in the team should not be discounted or taken for granted. What this shows is that with every match played, the team will learn and get better and better.
The team knows what it will take to get that ultimate success. We are not there yet, but we have made strides in a way that some people were too blinded by the start to see what can be achieved in the long race, which is a season.
I have never once doubted this and still won’t, even if we lose some games. I believe that with every match, the team gets better and will look at their opponent, see the gaps in the opposition’s game and ensure that Carlton fills those gaps. The team is growing in a way that culminated in a stunning win against a formidable opponent and nailed it! It was moving to see, just as it was moving to hear the silence around the MCG when the Last Post was played before the game.
#GOBLUES!
SPORTZ 