As pressure builds at Carlton coach Michael Voss is sticking to his guns on how the Blues combat an serious on-field issue.
AFL: Carlton skipper Patrick Cripps remains upbeat about his side’s chances of a finals spot, despite their patchy run of form.
The Blues have been in defense mode this week after suffering a third-loss in four games to the Western Bulldogs and ahead of a clash with ladder-leaders Collingwood starting a month which could define their season.
Critics came hard for 2021 Coleman medallist Mackay who failed to kick a goal against the Bulldogs as Carlton failed to make the most of significantly greater forward entries in the first half, kicking just 1.4 in an inefficient period that eventually cost them the game.
McKay finished with ju7st two behinds, while Charlie Curnow, Jack Silvagni and captain Patrick Cripps also had their own issues as the Bulldogs took their chances at the other end of the ground.
But on Thursday Voss said adjusting the Blues’ training program to include more goalkicking would only breed more inconsistency and McKay was putting in the work and would turn things around.
Harry McKay is marking the ball as strongly as ever but continues to struggle to convert his chances in front of goal. Picture: Michael Klein
“There’s been a lot of talk about his goalkicking, but as I expect from a professional he gets on with the job and puts his work into his training and getting it right,” Voss said.
“The time that I’ve had here, Harry’s been an outstanding person for us and outstanding character who knows one way and that’s to work hard.
“He’s not looking for a shortcut way through it, we’ve got to collectively get better and he knows we’re he’s at with that.”
Voss said the Blues’ inefficient first-half performance against the Bulldogs was certainly not a sustainable performance, but his players were willing to defend for as long as it took to keep themselves in the game.
Carlton ruckman Tom De Koning is a chance to play Collingwood at the MCG on Sunday after recovering from concussion. Picture: Dylan Burns / Getty Images
He said there had not been a “full transfer” of improvement he had seen translating to results on the field but insisted it was a matter of time.
“We certainly felt like we made some really steady progress. I wouldn’t say we’ve made large progress over the last couple of weeks,” he said.
“If the scoreboard is not ticking over, don’t get discouraged, stick to what we’re doing. If that means we need to defend a little longer, then we’ll defend a little longer.”
Voss said Tom De Koning was available to play this week but was tight-lipped on whether he would face Collingwood at the MCG on Sunday or play in the VFL.
He said the onus was on Jack Martin to earn his spot in the senior side after the small forward returned from a calf injury via a practice match against the AFL Academy side last week.
“He’s pulled up well, we’ll keep assessing where he’s at and what form he’s in. It becomes a performance conversation from this point on,” he said.
“To try and say how many weeks that is, that’s a bit difficult – it’s up to Jack.”