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.”
Macca
Guest
Mattyb - as Col says, criticism is one thing but claiming we said things we didn't, making things up about the blues or ranting about former players contributing to the club isn't criticism it's just BS.
Col from Brissie
Roar Guru
Citicism of the club is fine, it's just the stories you make up to suit your bias eg your accusation that I have abused Tom Boyd and Cale Daniel when that is a lie just like your comment the other day about Carlton being responsible for the alleged poor condition of the Preston City Oval - again a blatant lie.
mattyb
Guest
AD,I'm not the one sooking it up or trying to be a gatekeeper of the comments. What I'm saying is I have no objections to the Carlton fans constantly abusing Boyd or the abuse given to Daniel last year. What your saying was my point,they dish it out but don't like anything said about Carlton. I don't mind criticism of my club,it's no skin of my nose. Sometimes I even agree. Carlton is also a team constantly finishing around the bottom of the ladder,so some criticism must be true.
SmithHatesMaxwell
Guest
This is such a tough game to pick. Carlton's lack of scoring worries me, but the Suns don't score too highly when they travel either. Carlton had a decent record at the Docklands last year and the Suns were horrible at the venue.
SmithHatesMaxwell
Guest
Murphy is elite and unfairly picked apart because he has a lousy group of players around him.
Col from Brissie
Roar Guru
He is to Carlton what 'smithhatesmaxwell' is to Fremantle. Just for the record AD my apparent abuse of Tom Boyd occurred when the 'one handed typist' commented about the poor standard of players in the NEAFL. I replied to him by pointing out that Tom Boyd when at GWS had played more games in the NEAFL than the AFL which apparently is abuse of Tom Boyd. As for Caleb Daniel I have never made a comment about him. It seems OK for him to question the abilities of Carlton players even having a go at Jacob Weitering the other day but you must never question the ability of Western Bulldogs players. The Roar is a great forum for sports fans to enter into discussions with othe like minded people but unfortunately there are always a few who like to spoil it for the majority.
Liam Salter
Roar Guru
Why does it matter it Col has "abused" a few players. This is footy, and we're fans on a OPINION website. Everyone of us has had a firey opinion on a player or two at some stage. A long-held, dubious and usually BS opinion fixated on a team is the worrying thing, Matty. And with Col and Macca being fans of said team, of course their gonna react in a manner than you seemingly don't like. Don't dish it out if you can't take it, bro.
Col from Brissie
Roar Guru
Well according to the 'one handed typist' I have constantly abused Tom Boyd and given Caleb Daniel a couple of almighty serves. I think this is the first time I have ever put the name Caleb Daniel in a post but perhaps the 'one handed typist' can direct me to where I have given these alleged serves. It is also a bit rich coming from a person who has called Sergio and Stephen Silvagni corrupt individuals, constantly abuses Andrew McKay and Adrian Gleeson and now includes dual Brownlow medalist Chris Judd in his rants. I am still trying to get over his comment the other day how the alleged (by him) poor state of the Preston City Oval was the fault of Carlton. Pretty hard as the ground is owned by Darebin City Council and they are responsible for maintenance and upgrade. The ground is also leased by three other sporting teams, but just to check I talked to my cousin who lives in Coburg (neighbouring suburb) and asked him about the oval. He told me there has been some council development over the past 7 or 8 years and looked pretty good. Just more proof that the 'one handed typist' lives in fantasy land.
George
Guest
Carlton best 22 is very good and they played some good footy so far and are well coached. Carlton main issue is scoring. If and it's a big if Suns bring the effort they showed against Hawks they should win. I expect it will be a close one as Suns record away is not good. Missing Thompson is a big loss as Sam Day is out for a year and Leslie is still trying to establish himself. It will be interesting to see how midfield battle will go. Suns are number one in clearances. Witts vs Kreuzer should be fun. Plenty of young players on both sides.
Macca
Guest
Or you could stop making stuff up
Liam Salter
Roar Guru
Eh, it's gotta be some sort of obscure satire by now, right?
Macca
Guest
And he obviously hasn't paid any attention to the blues recently - Bolton said yesterday he intentionally drafted good ball users and SPS and Williamson definitely showed that so far plus Fisher was praised a number of times by Bolton yesterday for his foot skills. Throw in the speed SPS, Williamson, Pickett and Fisher possess and it points to the blues wanting to play a hig tempo game at Etihad tonight. Whether the young blokes can execute this early in their career time will tell but the intent is clear.
mattyb
Guest
Don't reply then Col,it's pretty simple and you don't need to be a Rhodes Scholer to figure that out. Your born to rule sensitivities doesn't mean Carlton are improving or you have all these 10 year 200+ game players that are continually mentioned. You yourself have constantly abused Tom Boyd and given Caleb Daniel a couple of almighty serves,you don't seem to have any issue doing that.
Col from Brissie
Roar Guru
Jeez he must live a sad life if he gets his kicks out of posting his monotonous diatribe on every Carlton article. It must take him a while to type one handed because I am pretty sure I know where the other one is.
Cat
Roar Guru
Macca
Guest
Yeah Murphy has definitely failed, I mean how many number one picks have an All Australian, AFLCA player of the year, club B&F and AFLPa best first year player to their name. You really should read the article in today's Herald Sun. And how is praising a bloke putting pressure on them? As for your tip time will tell but given your prediction I will go for a high scoring, entertaining tight affair - the amount of speed in each side is impressive.
mattyb
Guest
With Carlton having a lack of ability I'd imagine they'll try and play a sloppy low scoring type of game. Carlton won last week purely because of the conditions evening up the contest,while GC had an improved attitude. Will be interesting what the clubs bring to the table this week. Good on Bolton to put some pressure on Murphy,but Murphy has done an ok job as captain considering he has very little leadership ability and is forced to do the job because there is no one else capable. Murphy does need to be cut some slack,he may be a failed number one draft pick but he's still an ok type of footballer,it's not his fault he was drafted where he was or that there is no captaincy material at the club. While Carlton are a shocking football side they have shown they can catch sides off guard,especially in the early rounds of the season when other clubs aren't fully prepared. Neither of these sides will be playing finals this year but I'll tip GC by around 30 points in a sloppy,low scoring,low standard game of football even under the roof of Docklands.