(L-R) Joe Anderson, Jeffrey Garlett & Eddie Betts of Carlton. Slattery Images
You never know what you’re going to get with the Blues. One week you’ll witness a team full of confidence and belief in each other’s ability.
They’ll play attacking football through the centre corridor, and look like one of the most dangerous sides in the competition.
That is the kind of football that saw them beat sides such as Geelong and St Kilda earlier this season.
However, on another given day, Carlton will be careless when in possession and waste vital opportunities.
They’ll resort to over possessing the ball in defence, and focusing on the man not the ball. That is the kind of football that saw them lose games as favourites against North Melbourne and Fremantle in the last two weeks.
After thirteen games, the Blues sit seventh on the ladder, with seven wins and six losses.
You would assume that for such a young side, it’s a respectable first half of the season.
But this is a team that finished in the finals last year, and if they fail to find some consistency in the second half of the season, they could possibly go backwards and miss the finals altogether.
So why do the Blues perform well when they are the underdog, but then flop against teams they should beat?
It’s the question that has everyone scratching their heads.
Do they prefer to be the hunter rather than the hunted? Probably, yes. Do they get ahead of themselves against the lower ranked teams? Quite possibly.
One thing that is for certain is that the difference between their best and their worst is far too great.
And it’s a problem that will only be fixed with the more games that this team plays together.
But at the moment, the negatives certainly outweigh the positives.
Unfortunately, their biggest blow of the season was something out of their control. Matthew Kreuzer ruptured his anterior cruciate ligament against the Dockers last Saturday night, which will see him miss the remainder of this season and a fair chunk of the next.
Without the number one draft pick’s influence in the ruck and up forward, the Blues kiss their 2010 premiership aspirations goodbye.
Versatile utility Jarrad Waite can accept a two game suspension for a reckless, silly and pointless hit on Fremantle’s Paul Duffield off the ball.
It is the third time from eight games that he has been reported this season, and the second time he has been suspended. Waite is such a talented footballer, but his undisciplined nature must be giving coach Brett Ratten a massive headache.
Skipper Chris Judd was lucky to escape suspension for an elbow to the face of his opposite number in Matthew Pavlich.
Match Review Panel labelled the Brownlow medallists hit as insufficient force, despite the fact that Pavlich required five stitches underneath his right eye.
Judd’s mini outburst was brought about by constant harassment from Adam McPhee, and other Fremantle midfielders. But while the elbow was certainly an unnecessary act, you can’t help but feel the captain’s frustration.
If you watch the Geelong midfielders around stoppages, they support and protect Gary Ablett by blocking annoying taggers so that he has the best possible opportunity to get the ball.
If you watch the Carlton midfielders around stoppages, there is no sign of team orientated tactics anywhere. They are purely focusing on themselves, and their respective opponent.
There is barely any consideration for Judd and his opponent.
Eddie Betts has taken his game to another level this year.
He’s kicked 28 goals to lead Carlton’s goal kicking from Setanta O’hAilpan. However, Betts is 173cm and 78kg. A team can’t rely on a man of his size to be your main target up forward, even though he is such an innovative and classy player.
O’hAilpan is an enigma himself, and Lachie Henderson is still very much a work in progress.
If one, or both of them, can become a focal point up forward, and get to as many contests as possible, then Carlton’s efficiency going inside 50 and in front of the scoreboard will improve.
The mid-season break couldn’t have come any quicker for the Blues. Many players, including Judd, are tired and in need of a reprieve. They will rest, recuperate, reflect and reassess where they are at and what they would like to achieve by season’s end.
In reality, Carlton aren’t ready to match it with the big boys just yet.
But with a little bit of patience and some more time for this young team to gel together as a unit, we might see the Blues up in lights in the near future.
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