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During the commentary of the past couple of Carlton games, many have asked ‘where’s this Carlton been?’
The short answer? Smothered under Mick Malthouse’s game plan. The transformation deserves a detailed look, so below are what I consider to be the key factors.
1) Taggers be gone
Under Malthouse, Carlton employed Ed Curnow and Andrew Carrazzo as midfield taggers, often both Dennis Armfield and David Ellard as defensive forwards and Andrejs Everitt as a run-with player.
This meant that five of the 16 players not picked as defenders were not trying to get the ball as their primary objective.
With Malthouse gone, Barker has sent Ellard back to the twos (where he has been racking up possessions and goals running through the midfield) and deployed Everitt in a more attacking role up forward which has seen him kick six goals from three games.
On top of that while Curnow, Carrazzo and Dennis Armfield are still given responsibility for a player they have been given significantly more freedom which has seen Curnow average almost 27 possessions in the last three games, Carrazzo 29 while Armfield has bagged five goals in three games (one more than his previous five).
2) Changing of the Guard
Barker has brought in Nick Graham who was banging the door down so much there was a door sized hole in the floor and thrown him into the middle, while also giving Cripps and Bell (who was used almost exclusively as a forward flank under Mick) more time through the middle, especially around stoppages.
This has resulted in the trio racking up 50 clearances and 48 tackles in three games along, with Bell averaging 25 disposals (up from 19 in the first eight games) and Cripps 27 (up from 21).
The injection and success of this trio has lead to a greater depth in the midifeld and made life easier for the other blues mids – which leads me to –
3) Marc Murphy released
Murphy is one of the smaller midifelders going around these days at just 180cm and 80kg – Malthouse’s stoppage heavy game plan meant Murphy was constantly forced go body to body with the likes of Dangerfield and Fyfe.
Mick’s long bombing style didn’t give adequate reward for those willing to run hard to space like Murphy does.
In the eight games under Mick Murphy averaged under 25 possessions while in the two games under Barker he has racked up 36 and 29 (plus 11 tackles) and has rediscovered the form he had under Ratten.
4) Quick ball movement makes forwards dangerous
The Blues’ forward line has come in for plenty of criticism but in the last two weeks they have managed 90 and 110 points respectively against sides vying for the eight.
We have seen Casboult bag seven in three games (18 marks), Henderson four (21 marks and 42 possession), Everitt six (23 marks and 56 possessions), Armfield five and Menzel three, giving the Blues’ forward line a dynamic feel.
This is the exact opposite of life under Malthouse where the forwards were constantly found in the back half or were forced to compete against multiple defenders to take a contested mark from a long bomb.
5) Runners are rewarded
Under Mick there was simply no reward to create run – if you managed to break a line you generally had to hold up or go backwards because no forwards were in front of the centre or your run was simply ignored as the ball was bombed long down the line to a contest.
Now the handball is given, the lead is provided and the dashers like Buckley, Simpson, Yarran, Docherty and Tuohy can attack the game with confidence.
The Blues still have a long way to go (and are more than likely to get done by the Suns this week) but the change of coach has shown things aren’t as dire as many suggested.
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