John Barker praised the efforts of Carlton’s onfield leaders after the Blues stunned Port Adelaide by four points on Saturday to record his first win as an AFL coach.
The Power trailed by 29 points early in the last quarter at the MCG, but came storming back to draw within four and looked poised to steal the game with the ball camped out in their attacking 50 in a frantic final two minutes.
But the gritty Blues fought bravely to deny Port and record the 17.8 (110) to 16.10 (106) win in Barker’s third game as interim coach.
“Our leaders are really starting to drive what we stand for and that helps in those situations,” Barker said, singling out Marc Murphy and Kade Simpson for praise.
“Their ability to direct and organise on the footy field is obviously critical.
“I think the boys were really brave.”
Port were left to rue a controversial umpiring decision with 70 seconds left, with Sam Colquhoun denied a set shot at goal after his mark 35m out in a pocket was disallowed.
Play stopped as he went back to take his shot but the umpire further afield had called play on believing the ball had been touched, with Carlton then able to clear it from danger after the resultant ball up.
It was a thrilling end to an entertaining contest.
Young Blues star Patrick Cripps was outstanding with 31 possessions and 11 tackles in a gutsy, much-improved tackling performance from a side that had won only one match going into round 12.
“He was enormous,” Barker said.
“He’s really shining now that he’s getting a lot more time inside.”
Cripps had plenty of support, Murphy important with 29 disposals and 10 clearances, while Andrew Carrazzo (29 touches) and Ed Curnow (26) were also influential.
The Blues’ willingness to play on and take risks under Barker was evident in the second term, as his side slammed through five unanswered goals to storm to a 23-point lead. Port slashed that to four points at halftime before falling behind again and then launching their final assault in the last quarter.
The Power never gave up and threatened to steal the points but coach Ken Hinkley was unimpressed by the performance.
“You can look at the game in isolation and look at patches that caused us problems but it’s a four-quarter game,” Hinkley said.
“We’re just not a team that’s prepared to play the whole four quarters – at the moment and for the most part of this year.”
Travis Boak nearly carried his side to a come-from-behind win with a huge final term and finished with 27 touches, while Chad Wingard kicked five goals.
Robbie Gray was carried from the field on a stretcher just before halftime after being slung to the turf in a Bryce Gibbs tackle.
He didn’t return, leaving Gibbs with a nervous wait to see how the match review panel views the incident.
“(Gibbs) went with him in the tackle,” Barker said.
“Robbie still had the ball in his hands and they went to ground together.
“That’s probably all I can say on the incident. I hope Robbie’s okay obviously but, to me, it looked okay.”
In a rare sight, play was stopped during the second quarter when umpire Brendan Hosking wrote himself into football folklore by marking Hamish Hartlett’s free kick.
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