Prior to the year 2000, there was an absolute surety and arrogance about the Carlton faithful in the manner to wit they conducted themselves. They wouldn’t ask anybody if they could they make the eight or win a flag, they would openly tell you how good they were going, and they would tell you, without twitching a facial muscle, they would make the eight and they would win the flag. Their arrogance was confidence and that confidence regularly bore fruit. Very regularly.
Brown paper bags and Jack jokes aside, Carlton were that good prior to 2000, and as much as it hurts me to say it, they backed up that arrogance on field with silverware.
Moved forward to the last three games in 2022 and I believe the pressure of expectations in and around the club just got the better of them and exposed their Post Millennial Stress Disorder which has cut deep into this year and may well have them a half a game short at the end of this year from the eight.
However, this is not a thesis about Carlton’s psychological issues, so let’s get on with it.
Carlton just needed a win and a good old-fashioned touching up of another team and the team to feel the angst of Carlton’s anxieties were the hapless Gold Coast Suns.
The First Quarter – Dead Football
There seems to be a trend in the AFL presently that many quarters, halves, or entire games are very tentative, boring contests, with a lot of skill errors, very little scoring, and basically asking the question of the viewer, would you rather keep watching or poke your own eyes out with a fork?
It is dead football.
Carlton was pathetic in the first quarter, while the Gold Coast literally kicked themselves out of the game. The only real highlight was the form of former Bagger, Levi Casboult, who took a few good grabs, kicked a goal, and looked threatening.
Bad kicking is bad football and the Suns had the chance to blow this game to pieces. Despite their overall dominance, the Suns could only score two goals and six behinds and they gave up a late goal to Cerra to keep Carlton within touch.
Enough said about the first quarter, more than enough!
The Second Quarter – Slam Bang Thank you Ma’m, The Baggers are Back!
The much-hyped Carlton spine miraculously returned after a long hiatus. Led by Cripps and Walsh in the centre, Curnow and Mckay up forward and Weitering, McGovern up back, the Carlton engine room was back. The Lygon Street Ferrari was firing on all pistons again. Cerra, Kennedy, Docherty (who is the heart and soul of the club), Cottrell, Kemp, Saad and others started finding form and touch as a result.
Whatever coma Patrick Cripps and Sam Walsh had been for the last month or so lifted miraculously yesterday and suddenly they reminded their teammates (who came along for the ride), their fans, the half-dead viewing public, and all and sundry that they are STARS of the AFL and very entertaining to watch.
With Cripps and Walsh suddenly dominating and breaking out the centre, McKay started clunking his marks again and kicking accurately, Charlie was back being Charlie again and Cottrell, Cerra, Kemp and Owies started presenting, hungry to join in and feed off the scraps the midfield bulls and the big star forwards.
The biggest turnaround for Carlton was not the form of Cripps and Walsh, but rather they kicked nine goals and two2 behinds for the quarter instead of two goals nine behinds like in previous weeks. What a difference kicking straight makes! The players were pumped and happy, the coach was relaxed, and the fans engaged with positive energy.
Up back, Weitering, McGovern, Saad, and the Doc looked like a cohesive defensive unit and started attacking the ball and running it up the field instead of the stop-start game they employed in the first quarter (and the previous six weeks).
TDK
The confidence of the entire Carlton team was up as they run amok around a hapless Gold Coast and it showed most in the face of the embattled Tom De Koning. The weight of the world was lifted from TDK’s shoulders as he dominated the ruck around the ground, took marks, kicked goals and for the first time in a long time he looked happy. Carlton must re-sign TDK as I know 17 other clubs that would gladly wrap their arms around him.
Time to Bake the Suns
Gold Coast deserve a huge bake. Not for the first time in their short history, when success seems achievable, they shrivel up and fall back to the comforts of the lower rungs of the ladder. The Suns had Carlton on toast in every area of the contest in the first quarter except for bad kicking – they should have been four or five gaols up at quarter time.
I can’t, in all honesty, say anything positive about any one Suns player in the second quarter, except for Noah Anderson, such was the turnaround in form. The Suns looked and played like a second-rate team in the second quarter and were beaten at halftime.
Every time pundits like me dare to dream the Suns are on the verge of success, they crash out in spectacular fashion. What’s worse is quarters like today give oxygen to the critics of the expansion clubs and the waste of AFL money and resources into the new regions.
The Suns were mere voyeurs to a prime-time Carlton performance.
The Second Half
This game was over at half-time, and while the Suns broke even in the third quarter it was only a rear-guard action and a matter of time before the Baggers put the icing on the cake in the last quarter, as they did.
While McKay (three goals straight) and Curnow, (two goals two behinds) showed their dominance, what was more important from a Carlton perspective was the overall spread of goals with three goals from Cripps and two goals each from Cerra, De Koning, Cottrell and Owies. Carlton’s midfielders and small forwards gave the due support to McKay and Curnow they have needed for a long time.
Jarrod Witts, Noah Anderson and Jack Lukosius
Witts is a warrior and never stops trying and leads the Suns from the front week after week. As much as I praised TDK earlier (TDK did beat Witts around the ground), Witts still had 45 hit-outs for the game and tried to supply his midfield brigade. Sadly, for Witts, his midfield brigade was outclassed by a better team on the day.
Noah Anderson is all class and never gave up the fight all day. In the second quarter, he was one of the few Suns’ players who could get his hands on the ball and take up the fight to the Blues. If I was awarding coaches votes, he would receive votes.
Jack Lukosius, in terms of consistency, is the most improved player in the AFL this year. He has always had the ability and in previous years I would have said when the Suns play well Lukosius plays well, however, this year he has played some of his best games when the Suns have been beaten and yesterday was no exception. It is for this reason I believe he should be considered for inclusion when the extended list of players is announced for the All-Australian team.
Conclusion
When the Baggers are good, they are brilliant, but when the Baggers are bad they are horrid, which explains the high hopes and the frustrations of their supporters. Just to ease back the throttle a bit here, they played a brilliant second quarter of near-perfect football and had a dominant win against a club that had a really bad day.
Carlton had the win they needed and now they have a week’s break. As I said about Essendon recently, expectations around the club are high again, but the only concern for the coaches and playing group should be the next game against a very talented young Hawthorn outfit.
Like Carlton, the Suns’ next game is also against Hawthorn.
After trips to Darwin and coming back from the bye I am forgiving the Suns for their MCG disaster (they are not the only Queensland club to falter at the G) and I expect they will put up a better showing against the Hawks under the comfort of their beloved southern Queensland sun next week.
