Carlton’s playing conditions and Gold Coast’s AFL form have been horrible one week, perfect the next.
Blues coach Brendon Bolton will accept no such fluctuation in his young team’s effort when they host the Suns at Etihad Stadium.
The sterile conditions under the roof on Saturday will be in stark contrast to last Sunday, when Carlton posted their first win for the season at a sodden MCG as Melbourne shivered through its first taste of winter.
On the same day, Gold Coast plunged Hawthorn deep into crisis and Gary Ablett returned to form as they belted the Hawks at home by 86 points.
That was a whopping 188-point turnaround from the week before, when the Giants mauled the Suns and Ablett’s lacklustre performance prompted heightened media scrutiny about his playing future.
Bolton said the Suns would want to back up last Sunday’s performance and he is adamant that the rebuilding Blues must do the same.
Carlton’s tenacious win over Essendon was highlighted by a club-record 111 tackles.
“We’ve said for the last year and a half that we want to be defined by pressure,” the second-year Carlton coach said.
“So last week – if that’s the reputation we want, that’s a good one.
“We’ve also said the growth in that into the second year was to be defined by consistency.
“So it’s about backing it up – our players need to go and back up the performance.”
While the Blues must plan for Ablett – Ed Curnow will probably go to the star midfielder – Bolton said they must not obsess over him.
“We have to come with a similar mindset to last week and defend hard and put some pressure on the opposition, because they can move the ball quickly,” he said.
“We’re going to rely on pressure all over the ground, not just on Gary Ablett.
“They have plenty of players – (Aaron) Hall is in good form – we know they have good rebound out of their defence, (Jared) Harbrow and (Adam) Saad.
“We’ll have some plans in place for him (Ablett) if necessary – he’s been a good player for a long time, you can’t keep a champion down.”
And the Suns will also have to plan for Carlton captain Marc Murphy, who has finally had a full pre-season and is reaping the benefits.
“We know how hard this competition is week-to-week and it’s difficult on the back of not having a really good pre-season to perform.
“On top of that, when he was injured last year, and over pre-season, it gave him a great opportunity to understand the way in which we want to play.
“Because of that, he’s getting some rewards personally.
“But it’s only a few rounds in and the challenge for Murph, as a leader and skipper, is to do it week-in, week-out.”
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