All season long, Carlton fans have been desperately hoping to see some second-half fight from their besieged Blues. On Friday night at the Gabba against the two-time reigning premiers, they got plenty of it โ and a glimpse of light to come.
Michael Vossโ men seemed destined for a thrashing when they fell 49 points behind early in the third, but instead of going to water, they dug in and fought back โ in more ways than one โ losing by just 11 points.
One moment typified the Bluesโ resolve. It was late in the final term and they were down by 22 points, but they refused to be pushed around any longer.
When Levi Ashcroft marked, goalled and immediately got in the face of Ben Ainsworth, Sam Walsh wasnโt having it โ remonstrating with Ashcroft and giving away an immediate free kick. Ashcroft missed, and the Lions still went on to win, but Walsh had made his point, and his skipper couldnโt have been prouder.
โWe are not going to take it from anyone,โ Patrick Cripps told Seven after the game.
โThere is a spirit in this group, and we are going to stand up for one another, and we are not going to get walked over.
โWalshy stood up for a mate, and then we had his back. It cost a free kick, but I would rather give up a free kick showing some fight than no one reacting at all.โ
The Blues have led at half-time in six games this season before fading out, whereas on Friday night they were thumped for a half before fighting back at the finish.
It was a pattern not lost on the Lions โ including their former skipper Lachie Neale, who won the Robert Walls Medal as best afield.
His post-game comments on Seven were a kind of proof the Blues still have a long way to go to earn back the respect of the competition.
โWe werenโt doing that well enough in the third quarter, and we were allowing them to chain [possessions together] and then find an easy mark … I got told by a couple of the boys [that] we were โdoing a Carltonโ,โ Neale admitted.
โThey were trying to get in our heads a little bit, but thatโs part of the game.
โIt was pretty close but … weโll take it.โ
Cripps led from the front in the second half, recording 18 of his 32 disposals, while Harry McKay (three goals), Walsh (29 disposals) and Mitch McGovern (three goals) all lifted with him.
The Blues have received plenty of criticism in their 1-8 start to the season and, as Voss pointed out, they canโt win matches playing one good half.
He was in no mood for moral victories.
โAfter half-time you could definitely see a confidence growing in the group,โ he said.
โThere were little battles we were starting to win, some of the connections forward of the ball that we were missing, we started to make. I think we finished with 20 marks inside 50 and we didnโt look like that in the first half.
โWe got field position and kept the ball in our half โ all the things we want to be building our game on were evident.
โWe probably utilised their drop in intensity to lift our own and that gave us the confidence to finish out the game the way we did, but we still have got to be better than playing one half of football.
โWeโve got to put more time together than that.โ
Voss noted that Cripps, Walsh and Jagga Smith spent even more time in the midfield and centre ball-ups than in earlier matches. McKay, meanwhile, had one of his best second halves with 12 possessions, three goals and seven marks.
Unlocking his ability, and confidence, is as crucial as any improvement the Blues can make, while McGovern and Will Hayward were both dangerous options alongside him.
The Blues have an eight-day break before facing Marcus Bontempelliโs Western Bulldogs at Marvel next Saturday night, with the injury-hit Dogs bouncing back in their own right with a thrilling win over Port Adelaide in Fridayโs other night match.
Oliver Florent and Zac Williams both appeared to be carrying leg injuries in the second half, but Cripps was hopeful they could both prove their fitness with the longer break.
While Voss believes the second half showed the Blues have a โmodelโ that can be successful, he still wonโt accept anything less than a four-quarter effort.
โWe walk out of the game with further clarity on what we need to be producing, but we also walk away disappointed,โ he said.
โWe acknowledge the fight, but we canโt accept mediocrity โ we have got to have high standards of ourselves than that.โ
Lions coach Chris Fagan called the match a โdanger gameโ for his side given Carltonโs Jekyl and Hyde form from halves to halves, so he was happy to bank the four points โ even young spearhead Logan Morris said on Kayo Sports after the match that Fagan sprayed his side for being โshithouseโ in letting the Blues roar back.
The Lions have won six of their past seven matches, while veteran defender Ryan Lester had one of the best games of his career with eight of his 11 intercept possessions coming in the first half.
โItโs hard to win impressively every week, and I was worried about this game as I have a fair bit of time for Carlton and the way they play their footy,โ Fagan said.
โI donโt think their win-loss ratio is a reflection of that.
Roy Ward is a sports writer, live blogger and breaking news journalist. He’s been writing for The Age since 2010.Connect via X or email.From our partners
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