Carlton guarantee coach will face Adelaide despite second-half fade-outs
Carlton director of football Chris Davies has assured Michael Voss will coach the Blues against Adelaide on Thursday night, but delivered an honest but damning critique of the team after another second-half slump.
Voss is fighting for his future after the Blues fell to 1-3 and had a 22-point lead at quarter-time against North Melbourne on Good Friday by 10 points. This comes after squandering a 43-point lead and losing against Melbourne last weekend; Sydney Swans defeated the Blues at halftime of the opening round.
Voss, who is out of contract at the end of the season, is in his fifth year in charge and has failed to resolve the second-half problems that have plagued the Blues since their shock defeat to Richmond in last year’s first round.
The Blues now return to Thursday night’s prime time game against the Crows, with Davies insisting Voss will be in charge on Saturday.
“I can do it. I definitely can,” Davies told 3AW during his first year at Carlton after moving on from Port Adelaide.
“We’re 1-3 from the beginning of the year. If we can take any positives away from these three losses, [it] We were in a position to win these matches. But like I said, [we’re] “I’m certainly very disappointed that we haven’t been able to complete this work over the last few weeks.”
Asked whether the Blues’ problems were related to fitness, coaching or leadership, Davies revealed he would look into the matter.
“I think in these cases it’s never just one thing, it’s a mix of all of them. I think if you’re getting into the X’s and O’s of the game [defensive and offence tactics]”We rely heavily on the points we get from the hearings,” he said.
“When we couldn’t get that right, which was later in the game, our scoring dried up because we weren’t very good from a transition attacking perspective and in reality when the game was going against us, teams were scoring goals too easily. There are X’s and O’s. I would definitely be willing to look into the other things you mentioned.”
“I don’t think it’s a fitness thing, but there’s obviously a mentality aspect to it. We want our players to communicate better than maybe they do. I think it’s a mix of all those things. I’m not too proud to say I’m willing to look into all that.”
Davies said players need to communicate better when it comes to competition.
“That’s where the gap in the competition can sometimes be. You have a relatively inexperienced team. When the pressure is on, when your team isn’t doing so well, one of the first things is communication,” he said.
“If you watch our matches, you will have conceded heavy goals against us and when things like this happen it is a critical issue.”
The Blues rank ninth in average age (25.8 years) and eighth in average games played (98.6).
Second half capitulations were the main theme of last year; The Blues allowed themselves to lose leads for nine innings during that period.
Voss’s game plan was often based on winning the contest and making stoppages, but the best teams are now excellent transition sides, teams that move the ball expertly and hit goals and can drop back to defend when necessary.
While Voss said on Friday he did not feel his players were intimidated against the Kangaroos recently, Davies’ comments suggest otherwise; so are the comments of former West Coast premiership coach and now Blues consultant Adam Simpson, who says the Blues are drowning.
Davies admitted Blues fans were not seeing the improvement they expected.
“So unfortunately I’m not in a suitable position and I certainly wouldn’t want to tell our fans how they should feel,” Davies said.
“The reality is they need to see some improvement on the pitch and I accept that right now, we haven’t been good enough to show that so far this year. That doesn’t mean we can’t get better at that, but obviously I want our group to get better at that very quickly.”
Blues chairman Rob Priestley and chief executive Graham Wright said they expected the Blues to break into the top 10 and Voss’ future would be determined by a number of indicators. But with the arrival of Adelaide, Collingwood (also in prime time on Thursday night), Fremantle, St Kilda, Brisbane and the Western Bulldogs, the Blues could be out of contention in the extended final period midway through the season.
Former Blues co-captain Sam Docherty said it would be a mistake to sack Voss at this point in the season.
“I don’t think you can transfer to a trainer at this time of year. I think it would be a really bad decision,” Docherty said on 3AW.
“They haven’t exactly backed him and given him an extension, but they’ve backed him to get through this year’s football.”
He said the Blues had been beaten in the competition and by a wide margin and could not handle the pressure. He said the Blues often opted for safe long kicks and were not “brave”, with the Kangaroos scoring seven goals in the final quarter, having conceded seven goals in the entire game up to that point. The Blues could only score two goals in the last period.
Simpson, who spends one day a week working with Voss, including on how he conducts press conferences, insisted on Saturday the Blues were in a “good place” culture-wise. But he said the dramas in the last quarter were a big problem, though he wasn’t sure if it was a structural issue or a talent issue.
Simpson told SEN: “There are some clear issues there and there are clubs going through it at the moment. There are definitely some issues that need to be worked on and I completely understand why there would be pressure.”
In what could be interpreted as a damning indictment of the Blues, Simpson said on Friday that young Kangaroos midfielder George Wardlaw was “the toughest man on the pitch”.
“I’m just their [Carlton] They were defeated at their own game. I thought they were outplayed around the ball in the contest and the lead was 15 to 10 in the last quarter,” Simpson said.
“What I saw quite clearly was, you know, a bit of panic with a sudden kick and it was a handball or a smothered kick and the inevitable sort of thing was happening, wasn’t it? So, there was undoubtedly a bit of a mental demon going around in their heads after a shot, [Jacob] It’s just Weitering coming down and two, the momentum shifting around the contest.”
Weitering suffered a concussion in the third period when his knee hit the back of his head. He remained in hospital after the match but returned home. At the very least, he will miss the game against the Crows.
If the Blues opt for Voss, Simpson is expected to be a candidate for the senior role.
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Jon Pierik is a sports reporter for The Age. He covers the AFL and has won awards for his cricket and basketball writing.Connect with: X or email.
