While Carlton’s first month of the season has been poor, the club has managed to beat West Coast and North Melbourne now, to sit at 2-4, with life in their season. The win against North may have taken some of the pressure off Michael Voss and the Carlton players, but they are certainly not out of the woods yet, with a tough month ahead of them.
For North Melbourne, the loss adds more pressure to Alastair Clarkson. Clarkson’s tenure has come under criticism recently from some circles in the media, with Kane Cornes speculating that Clarkson might not be the best person to take the Kangaroos out of their current predicament, given the talent that they have now been able to draft.
The win takes Carlton to two wins in a row, and sits them in a better position to potentially make finals, if they can continue to string wins together. However, that remains a big ‘if’ given that their two wins this season have come against relatively easy opposition, even if those wins were comprehensive.
North has now only one win in their six games so far this season, with their sole victory coming against a Melbourne side that looks to have fallen so far down the ranks that Simon Goodwin may just be the first coach to lose his job this season.
Let’s have a look at some of the talking points from this game.
Speed on the ball leads the way again
Calling Carlton’s start to the season dour would almost be an understatement. The team gave up a 40-point lead to Richmond, a team that some believed would go through the season winless before that game. Carlton then had a few games where they were competitive for long stretches before being overrun at the end.
One of the biggest issues that left Carlton exposed in the first month of the season was their lack of run at the end of the games, and they often got exposed because of it. In their last two weeks, the Blues have not only added pace to the ball, but they have maintained it through all four quarters.
This was especially on display this week against North Melbourne, as they were able to work through their smaller, faster players to expose North Melbourne’s inexperience. Curnow kicked a moderate bag of four, he could have ended up with six or seven, with a favourable matchup against Aidan Corr, but it was Carlton’s mosquito fleet of Corey Durdin, Jesse Motlop, Zac Williams, and Will White that did most of the damage.
Welcome Back Elijah
While Carlton welcomed back injury-prone small forward Corey Durdin last week, who has now kicked six goals and laid seven tackles since his return, last week. This week, Elijah Hollands made his return to the Carlton senior side. While Elijah was subbed out of the game in the fourth quarter after a quiet game, statistically speaking, his return seemed to spark some much-needed energy in the Blues, especially in Elijah’s brother, Ollie Hollands.
Elijah seems to play a key role structurally for the Blues, and his presence has certainly been missed by the Carlton side in their first month. Hopefully, the troubled Hollands can keep himself together after a four-week absence for “personal reasons”.
Are the Blues back?
A question that would send a shiver down non-Carlton fans, have the Blues found the mojo that took them to a Preliminary Final in 2023? During that period, Carlton was incredibly competitive and put other teams to the sword with apparent ease.
Carlton appeared to carry this form into the latter stages of the 2024 season before they appeared to fall off a cliff, dragging them down from their peak of second place, where they sat as late as Round 19 last season.
Unfortunately for the Blues, their only wins in their last ten games have come against West Coast and North Melbourne. The Blues will face Geelong, Adelaide, St. Kilda, and Sydney in the next month, all of whom pose a stiffer test than the two teams that they have beaten.
However, the encouraging sign for Carlton fans is not just the fact that they have gotten over the line against North and West Coast, but they have blown their opposition away in both games. This will likely restore some of the players’ confidence coming into the rest of the season.
The Roos still have a lot of developing left to do
Much has been made of North Melbourne in their third season under legendary coach Alastair Clarkson. Clarkson’s first season at North Melbourne was interrupted, taking an 11-week absence from the coaching role between rounds 10 and 21.
In his first full season at the helm, North finished with just three wins for the entire season, coming second last ahead of a Richmond side that completely bottomed out after sustaining significant injuries. North Melbourne now sits at 1 win and 5 losses, and their next win doesn’t look to be coming anytime soon.
North Melbourne will face a rejuvenated Port Adelaide, Essendon, Brisbane, and Richmond in the next month. Richmond would have been a team that North may have pencilled on the calendar for a win, but judging how Richmond’s young brigade have started this season, that certainly isn’t a guarantee, particularly if North capitulate like they did against the Blues.
It is also worth pointing out that this club backed themselves, this season. They traded away their 2025 first round pick, and at the moment, that doesn’t look like the wisest of moves.
Darling unsighted
Watching the game live from the stadium, North Melbourne’s star recruit Jack Darling was almost invisible for the majority of the game. It wasn’t until well into the last quarter that the former West Coast forward seemed to get anywhere near the ball, and by that time, the game was well and truly over as a contest.
Darling had six possessions for the entire game and didn’t get close to hitting the scoresheet. While part of this may have been because the North forwards weren’t exactly getting prime service, Paul Curtis, were lively early in the game and created his own opportunities.
Darling wasn’t North’s only passenger, with fellow recruit, Jacob Konstanty only touching the ball four times for the entire game.
Fisher Sidelined Again
Zac Fisher was seen as a big get for North when the livewire crossed over from the Blues before the 2024 season. Unfortunately, such was his time at Carlton, the small forward has been largely hampered by soft tissue injuries.
Fisher was subbed out of the game at halftime after injuring his hamstring during the second quarter. This latest occurrence will likely see Fisher spend several weeks on the sidelines as he again needs to work his way back into full fitness. Since he was drafted by the Blues in 2017, Fisher has only played a full season once in the last eight years.
Xerri on the cake
Very few North players could look back on the game and say that they truly performed well during the game. Certainly, Paul Curtis started like a house on fire, kicking three goals for the game, and was a bright spark for the Roos up forward. Former Swan Luke Parker also kicked two goals and was serviceable.
However, if forced to name a star for North Melbourne, it would be their ruckman, Tristan Xerri.
Facing off against Carlton’s Tom De Koning, Xerri used his size to out-muscle De Koning for most of the day, earning himself 43 hitouts, against De Koning’s 24. In addition, Xerri prevented De Koning from finding the ball around the ground, keeping him to just 11 possessions and a single goal for the game. He didn’t find much of the footy, himself, but TDK’s main weapon is his ability to get around the park and provide a marking target. The North big man successfully nullified that aspect.
Xerri also added 11 tackles to his stat line, indicating that he was all-in when it came to the combative stuff. TDK started well, but Xerri was able to reel him in over the course of the contest. Imagine how messy this could have been if De Koning got off the chain, as well?
Hewett’s Big Day Out
One important aspect of the win for the Blues is the form of George Hewett. More to the point, it is what the form of Hewett means for Patrick Cripps.
Looking at this game, Crippa was good for 17 touches and a goal. Way down on what you expect from the dual Brownlow Medallist, right?
Well, he didn’t have to do any more in this game. He finally had help!
That help came in the form of Hewett, who racked up 34 touches, 21 contested possessions, and 12 clearances for the game, in a complete performance. That the Blues are winning and are not needing Cripps to put his cape on bodes well going forward. Having one dominant midfielder is great, if all you care about are big stats, but sharing the load and seeing players like Hewett, Adam Cerra (28 touches and a goal), and Blake Acres (22 and a goal), command the spotlight, it gives the Blues a more potent mix that is much harder to close down.
Centre bounce dominance
The Blues smashed North at centre bounces. Not even just beat them, but walloped them!
A 20-10 win out of the guts took away one of the areas that North are usually very competitive. Hewett had seven, Cerra added four, and De Koning had three, as well, as Carlton completely owned the middle.
Even with Xerri winning the ruck taps, the Blues mids simply outworked their opposition, leading North to the footy on most occasions. It was damning of North, given Cripps’ quieter game, and the talent they had in there, with Simpkin, LDU, Wardlaw, and Sheezel unable to stand up, physically. That said, you’d give Wardlaw a pass. He competed like his life depends on it.
North are seen as a blue-collar club, but it was the Blues who had their working boots on in this game. North played like they were ready to have a Chardonnay and discuss the latest art installation at the NGV. They wanted to play like millionaires, and were left looking like paupers.
