WHY CARLTON’S EYES SHOULD BE ON THE BULLDOGS AND NOT FINALS
Last week we put on the agenda that over the next six weeks, Carlton face the challenge of the big, bad wolf.
With games against Brisbane, the Dogs, Collingwood, the Swans and Melbourne we’d find out whether the house that Voss and his team were residing in was made of bricks, sticks or straw. Sadly for Blues fans, it came up straw on the first attempt over the weekend. Blown away by Brisbane, aided by a horrible kicking display from Carlton itself and a propensity to go backwards with handball rather than forwards that undermines the very foundation of the Blues’ house.
It’s certainly not over for the Blues, but things have to get better and they have to change in a hurry.
Given the loss, the very real prospect of missing finals for the 10th consecutive time seemed to finally dawn on those asking questions to various Carlton identities.
For what it’s worth, Michael Voss has eyes only for next week, as is expected. CEO Brian Cook has seen it all before and rightly pointed out that it wouldn’t be the end of the world.
But Adam Cerra, who is in career-best form himself, suggested it wouldn’t be a failed season if they didn’t play finals.
STAR BLUE INSISTS MISSING FINALS WOULDN’T MAKE 2023 A FAILURE
Well, that of course is in the eye of the beholder and certainly not the view held by most Carlton supporters that I know.
After finishing so close last year and with the return of some serious players back from injury and the organic improvement of various young players like Cerra himself, expectations of finals were widespread.
It was the expected pass mark in pre-season as espoused best by Carlton great Robert Walls and is the expected pass mark now given the list is relatively healthy. In the wider community, I know that no one ever fails these days. You just pass with a score lower then 50 per cent.
But in footy, if a legitimate pass mark is finals, missing them would logically be a fail, Ok, I’ll conform, I won’t say it, I can’t say it, because no one fails it seems these days.
But it will be a mark not enough to pass and a bitter blow for the Blues and their supporter base. A win against the Dogs will keep that big, bad wolf at bay.