Carlton coach Michael Voss admits there were times when he did not know when the Blues would win again as their AFL season teetered on the brink of disaster.
Key points:
- The Blues have won six straight matches to return to the top eight
- They defeated the Magpies by 17 points on Friday night
- The loss was just the third recorded by the Magpies this season
The Blues seemed set to miss the finals following a run of eight losses from nine matches, with Voss’s position as coach under serious threat.
But they have since rattled off six straight victories, including a stirring 17-point upset of ladder leaders Collingwood on Friday night to surge back into the top eight.
Charlie Curnow was a shining light for the Blues with six goals.
“We were looking at a stage there where we didn’t know where our next win was going to come from,” said Voss after the Blues’ 16.9 (93) to 10.16 (76) win at the MCG.
“We were in a pretty bad place in terms of trying to get our game together and players were just lacking an enormous amount of confidence.
“Through just being able to believe in what we were doing and believing a little bit in each other, we sort of stuck together through that to find what our identity looked like.
“When that became clearer, the players have got more in behind it and they’ve thrived off the back of it.”
Carlton will finish round 20 inside the top eight and next face St Kilda at Docklands, before a run home against Melbourne, Gold Coast and GWS.
“I’d imagine there will be conversations about what it might look like for us in a month’s time but I’m not really concerned about that,” Voss said.
“I’m concerned about what we do next. We’ll take a short little break for a couple of days and set our sights on St Kilda.”
Magpies accept reality check
Collingwood coach Craig McRae said his squad received a timely reminder of the need to keep improving as the season progressed towards the finals.
The loss to the Blues was only the third recorded by the Magpies this season.
“We’re in the business of getting better. This is a marathon and you have to just keep improving,” McRae said.
“We’ve had a great season to date but it’s not finished. There’s still so much work to do.
“You can’t stand still in this game because teams take things away from you really quickly, so we’re going to have to improve.”
McRae refused to blame the loss on the Magpies’ six-day break and the travel home from Adelaide following their thrilling two-point win over the Power last Saturday.
“They [Blues] were clearly the better team, but we had enough chances,” McRae said.
AAP
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Source: AFL NEWS ABC
