Michael Voss must carry forward the lessons learned from Round 23’s win against the Eagles if Carlton are to beat St Kilda and play finals in 2024.
The Blues were sitting pretty after Round 17 with 11 wins and just four losses, but have only won twice since. What was once a club comfortably positioned second on the ladder, is now fighting for its season less than two months later.
Voss himself is fine as a coach. He’s a likeable leader, affable and articulate, and has done a lot of good for the Blues in his three seasons at the club. After all, we’re only a season removed from them falling less than three goals short of a Grand Final appearance.
It’s also extremely plausible to argue that no club has suffered from as many injuries at key moments of a season than the Blues in recent times. That’s long been a gripe of the club’s fans. The detailed breakdown of that is probably better suited to a different forum.
Win a Ziggy BBQ for Grand Final day, thanks to Barbeques Galore! Enter Here.
The victory over the Eagles in Round 23 featured a team so ravaged by injury, certainly the most ailed Carlton team in Voss’ tenure, that getting those important four points was impressive, despite the lowly opposition.
That in itself sort of ties in with why the pressure will start to rise on Voss, not only because being at one of the biggest clubs in the league is already a hot seat in itself, but because it exposed perhaps one of the ongoing deficiencies in Voss-led teams.
Without a whole host of stars – most pertinently, Charlie Curnow and Harry McKay – the Blues were forced to make personnel and stylistic changes.
AirKemp
— AFL (@AFL) August 22, 2024
Blue Brodie Kemp takes out the @VirginAustralia Mark of the Year nomination for Round 23. pic.twitter.com/z7avrOH2ZE
Brodie Kemp was thrown forward out of necessity and immediately looked like the missing third-tall target that would sufficiently act as an extra aerial presence that has been sorely lacking next to the big two. Mobility, good hands and follow-up work, it’s really gone to show just how much Jack Silvagni has been missed.
Naturally, other roles were filled as required. Matt Kennedy had plenty of minutes offensively, there was a healthy reliance on smalls and most importantly, the pressure game had returned in full force. Zac Williams’ move forward was one of Voss’ better moves this season.
But like a lot of coaches of yesteryear, the downfall for the coach and his Carlton team really stems from a loyal attachment to ‘plan A’, at times, to the detriment of the performance.
Against the Eagles, as Nathan Buckley alluded to earlier in the week, it was a fully-functioning team performance that really stood out, as opposed to the heavy reliance on stars the Blues have often been guilty of.
The lack of forward targets meant the Blues had to lower their eyes going inside 50. They looked for leading patterns and pockets of space in attacking 50, and were more willing to embrace the ground-level ball. 20 tackles inside 50 was one of Carlton’s best performances, especially after the previous month of footy had culminated in 23 tackles inside 50 in total.
But, overall, even when they were sitting second on the ladder and a likely flag threat, Voss’ ‘plan A’ always had holes.
Carlton’s preferred style for the season has been to win clearances and get the ball forward. For most of the season, they’ve been a top-five pressure team, particularly around the ball and have been one of the best teams in the league in scoring off of turnovers.
Carlton coach Michael Voss. (Photo by Michael Willson/AFL Photos via Getty Images)
Defensively, put simply, it’s Jacob Weitering or bust, hardly a sustainable approach. The 26-year-old has to be All-Australian this season. He has had a phenomenal season in so many ways, with his leadership and direction standing out. He has lost just 11 per cent of his one-on-ones, placing him in the top handful of players.
Of course, Mitch McGovern is vitally important with his intercepting and closing speed on leading players. Nic Newman’s pressure and calmness with ball in hand is great too.
And it’s not like ‘plan A’ started to falter because of all the injuries. This level of medical crisis has come in the last couple of weeks; they’ve been bad for two months.
If we look at the last five weeks in particular, the Blues are averaging five less shots per inside 50 a game, according to WheeloRatings.
Their style is very one-on-one, star reliant in attack. They average the most attacking one-on-ones in the league by far and are second for contested marks on the season. They’re at league average for hitting up leads, as outlined in the aforementioned stats site.
Yet, in the last five weeks, the contested marks have regressed right back to below league average. The opposition is averaging more intercept marks and the style of entries has been awful. Since Round 17, they’ve scored less, been far less efficient and everything has become predictable. Plan A never changed.
But that Eagles game, yes that one match against a bottom-three team, showed a different path forward. As previously mentioned, the midfielders and half-backs were much more willing to lower their eyes going forward. They took 10 marks on a lead, well up from their season average of 6.5.
The contested marks they took weren’t the sole avenue to goal, they weren’t speculative, hopeful kicks with a positive ending. They were agile players imposing themselves.
As part of the shuffle, the pressure was way up – Voss’ plan A designed on pressure had dropped off significantly since Round 17; we touched on the tackles inside 50 numbers earlier.
Against the Eagles, young players got a chance and the midfield group looked rejuvenated. Weitering took five intercept marks on the day, Newman three and the repositioned Elijah Hollands, perhaps the Blues’ best young talent, took three as well and was excellent behind the ball.
Through necessity, Voss had to veer away from his plan A and it breathed life into the Blues. Which is why the St Kilda game is so, so important for Carlton. The inclusion list will not be as deep as the exclusions were last week. The Blues won’t be at full strength heading into the game.
And as hard as it may be for fans of the club themselves, the result isn’t the most important part of Sunday’s game for Voss’ future and Carlton’s long-term aspirations.
If the coach was to revert back to the bash and crash style that he has preferred for a while, and the Blues won, it’d simply paper over clear cracks. They wouldn’t win a game in September.
But if Carlton’s leaders, on-field and off-field, can adjust their natural games with how they approached the West Coast contest, it’s a game-changer, even if 2024 doesn’t end up being their season.
This league is all about adaptability and flexibility. The best coaches in the league can use multiple styles and the in-built versatility of their players to create different approaches. Most have something up their sleeve.
By accident, it seems as though Voss has potentially stumbled upon that too. It’s something the Blues desperately need with the squad they have, before assessing the player market in the off-season.
It’s imperative that the former champion Lion embraces the opportunity to add to his tactics if it’s to be a successful tenure at Carlton. Some thought 2024 would be their season. Perhaps lady luck has a different plan for them.
One thing is for sure though, if Voss reverts back to his plan A, the pressure will mount in one of the hottest seats that exists in the AFL and true success will never be reached by Carlton.
Round 24’s Super Sunday looms large for many reasons. It’s a big day for Michael Voss and his Blues.
إرسال تعليق