Time is running out for Carlton to fix their scoreboard woes, Fox Footy’s Leigh Montagna has warned, as the Blues slumped to their third loss in four games.
The Friday night loss to Brisbane has seen Carlton drop down to eighth, with Essendon and Adelaide just half a win behind.
And worryingly, Montagna believes the Blues are “getting confused” about what their game style needs to be moving forward.
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“I think this is the big talking point … and the time is now,” he warned on First Crack.
“If they want to play finals this year and they expect to, they need to change their method now.
“They certainly need work.
“They average the most disposals in the competition, yet they are 14th for generating inside 50s – that alone should be enough to say there’s a lot of ball going around but not going where it should be going.”
Montagna said despite having Harry McKay and Charlie Curnow in attack, Carlton averaged just 69 points a game if you take away the results over cellar dwellers North Melbourne and West Coast.
Carlton Blues press conference | 10:09
“They’ve got to be doing much better than they are,” he said.
“Either their players don’t understand what their best method is or they don’t believe in it – because it looks to me like they kick when they should be handballing, they handball when they should be kicking, they blast it forward when they probably need to have control. Then they control the ball and go slow when they probably need to go forward.
“Time is running out.
“I know they are just sitting in the eight now, but with the run they’ve got coming up … their season hinges over the next month.”
Carlton have a tough five games to come, including the Western Bulldogs, Collingwood, Sydney in Sydney, Melbourne and Essendon.
“The reason why it is so frustrating is they are ranked 2nd for contested possession and 6th for turning the ball over so they are still winning the ball back,” Montagna lamented.
“The good teams when they have their numbers around the footy … use those outnumbers and handball – and run at the opposition.
“Carlton are a bit of a kick team.
“They are getting confused about when to blast the ball to their forwards and when to use their numbers around the footy. And that’s what’s getting them in trouble.
Richo blasts ‘inexcusable’ Carlton | 00:55
“They don’t use their handball to run at the opposition and challenge in transition.
“It’s not natural for them – they still want to kick the ball.
“It’s costing them opportunity to hit the scoreboard.”
Fellow First Crack panellist David King questioned if it was worth bringing in a third tall like Tom de Koning to try and compete up the ground to leave McKay and Curnow deeper.
Speaking post-match on Friday, Blues coach Michael Voss conceded the club had areas to work on.
“We got some feedback that says that we need to go to work on a few things, so we understand the frustration and we’ll get after it — that’s our promise.”
