It was at half-time of the St Kilda v Carlton game on Sunday afternoon, in the bowels of Marvel Stadium, when one comment showed how the Saints could flip the game in their favour.
As St Kilda’s midfielders met, one player turned to another and said, “You stop Cripps, you stop Carlton”.
Sure enough, as the teams emerged after the long break, tactician Ross Lyon had made two subtle but significant changes on his whiteboard.
Patrick Cripps leads his team from the field after their loss to the Saints.Credit: Getty Images
All-Australian defender Jack Sinclair was moved into the midfield to provide the Saints with more grunt and pace around the ball, while inspirational captain Jack Steele, in his first game back and still not pain-free after having his collarbone surgically fixed, was sent to Cripps.
After 20 disposals in the opening two quarters, Cripps was largely without impact in the second half, the reigning Brownlow medallist having only three disposals in his team’s forward half as Carlton’s midfield dominance from the first half was flipped on its head, largely thanks to Lyon’s changes.
Despite losing by 22 points, Carlton finished the game with the six highest ball winners on the ground. While the likes of Adam Cerra (39 disposals) and George Hewett (29) have been seen as solid recruits for the Blues, The Scoop spoke to five clubs this week and the majority are of the same opinion: if you limit Cripps’ ability to win the ball and spread, it goes a long way to thwarting Carlton. Though no club official wants to go on the record critiquing a rival, all the clubs spoken to agreed that Carlton and Fremantle are the competition outliers – in an era of fast ball movement, the Blues and Dockers are slow.
The numbers don’t lie.
Saints stars Jack Steele and Jack Sinclair.Credit: AFL Photos
It was the great Leigh Matthews who, two weeks ago, first raised his concerns about Carlton’s lack of scoring power outside the game’s last two Coleman medallists, Harry McKay and Charlie Curnow.
Matthews told 3AW it was an unsustainable scoring profile that coach Michael Voss had to address.
In the first six weeks of the season, no Carlton midfielder has kicked multiple goals. Only veteran Ed Curnow, Sam Walsh (who missed the first month of the season due to a back injury), wingman recruit Blake Acres, and Cerra have kicked one goal each. Matthew Kennedy, Lochie O’Brien, Ollie Hollands, Hewett and Cripps are yet to hit the scoreboard.
After the game, Voss refused to admit that the Blues’ system was at fault.
“I think some of the decisions that we made were actually quite sound,” he said. “I think the method actually looked quite OK. You’ve got to finish your plays and that’s a bit of a theme for us at the moment, it’s incomplete. So we’ve got to go to work on it.”
After what should be a comfortable win against West Coast on Saturday night, the Blues play the Brisbane Lions, the Western Bulldogs, Collingwood, Sydney, Melbourne and Essendon in what should be a telling six weeks for the club.
All eyes on the gallery
When billionaire trucking magnate Lindsay Fox throws a party, there are no half measures. Last week he took over one of the salubrious function rooms at the National Gallery of Victoria, of which Fox is a significant bank roller. The who’s who of football and business were in attendance, including St Kilda president and Seek founder Andrew Bassat, as well as his Carlton counterpart and former PwC heavyweight Luke Sayers.
Outgoing AFL boss Gillon McLachlan, we’re told, sneaked in the back entrance to avoid any curious media. But when the festivities were over, most guests left with one name on their lips: Andrew Dillon. According to two partygoers, who spoke to The Scoop on condition of anonymity, Dillon is set to be unveiled as the AFL’s next chief executive after the federal government announces its funding of Tasmania’s new stadium.
Something in the water?
It’s been no great secret that illness has swept through Collingwood for several weeks now. From players such as captain Darcy Moore and Nathan Krueger, to high-profile staff members, even coach Craig McRae has been under the weather. His right-hand man, Graham Wright, has also been hit by a bug and missed Tuesday’s epic come-from-behind win over Essendon.
Jordan De Goey was hugely influential for Collingwood against Essendon.Credit: AFL Photos
But the source of Jordan De Goey’s illness last week, that forced him to miss the Gather Round win over St Kilda, has been somewhat of mystery.
The entire team enjoyed dinner together at a popular Adelaide restaurant on the Friday night, but Collingwood officials don’t believe that was the source of De Goey’s illness. Instead, teammates believe rogue coconut water on the Saturday night when a group of Magpies went out for dinner may have been the perpetrator.
We think De Goey will stick to still or sparkling from now on.
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