Racing
League
Rugby
Cricket
Golf
Motorsport
Combat Sports
Football
Netball
Basketball
Other Sports
Sport Nation
Unpacking Carlton’s issues after disastrous loss to Richmond
Andrew Slevison • March 14th, 2025 11:25 am
Carlton’s Round 1 loss to Richmond on Thursday night was a disastrous result for the club.
The Blues were expected to trounce the Tigers at the MCG and it certainly looked like it was heading that way when they were 41 points in front during the second quarter.
But the more experienced Carlton side was unable to deal with the heat the younger Tigers applied, eventually going under by 13 points despite having seven more scoring shots and 25 more inside 50s.
SEN Breakfast’s Kane Cornes and David King unpacked the disappointing performance from Michael Voss’ men, going through a number of glaring issues from their opening round defeat.
Disappointing defence
Aside from Jacob Weitering, who was a rock, Carlton’s defence struggled and was a point of interest for both Cornes and King.
“You should be rightly disappointed,” Cornes said to Carlton fans on SEN Breakfast.
“There’s questions around the Blues heading into the season which you (King) and I have discussed.
“The defence looked a bit flaky last night. If Jacob Weitering goes down, my goodness.”
King believes it is time for Mitch McGovern to be shifted from defence to attack.
“That’s as good a game as you’ll see from a centre half-back, full-back type,” he said.
“He’s just desperate for support. I know they’re looking at (Nick) Haynes and (Jack) Silvagni, and (Mitch) McGovern has always been there.
“They don’t have a nominal centre half-back. I know (Brodie) Kemp looks good up forward, but I think he has to go back because he’s the only one that plays like a centre half-back.
“I look at McGovern who had a solid night with 14 touches and eight intercepts, his three cough-ups cost three goals. You just can’t live with that. That’s the severe penalty you pay on turnover.
“I would get him forward, he’s a good tall third forward, and I’d move on from him being a backman.”
Lack of quality small forwards
Cornes was overly critical of Carlton’s small forward group including Jesse Motlop, Francis Evans, Matt Cottrell and Lachie Fogarty.
“My biggest concern for the Blues is the best teams have elite small forwards, not just one, they have three or four of them,” said Cornes.
“Carlton don’t have one.
“Motlop was really disappointing. In his fourth year now and he had some really ordinary moments, trying to kick the ball off the ground and be a bit smart and not strong enough in the contest.
“Francis Evans isn’t going to be your answer, I’m telling you that right now. Geelong knew that, Port Adelaide knew that, so he’s more of your depth player.
“Is it Cottrell? Is it Fogarty? It’s not. They do not have anything that looks like an elite small forward and the best teams have got at least one.
“That would be my biggest concern.”
Cripps forced to play in the ruck
Two-time Brownlow Medallist and inspirational Carlton captain Patrick Cripps was forced to spend time playing in the ruck.
Cornes simply cannot believe that the marquee superstar of the Blues is being used in such a combative aerial role.
“A second ruck at times would have been handy,” Cornes said further.
“For the life of me I just don’t understand Cripps rucking. It’s one of the more unfair things that you’re asking your star player to do. He looked absolutely gassed as a result, taking on (Toby) Nankervis in the ruck.
“I just do not get that, I will never get that.
“Put someone who is expendable in there, not your dual Brownlow Medallist when you need him to impact in the last quarter.
“Put anyone in there other than your marquee superstar.”
Need more from senior players
King touched on some of the positives, but concluded that he was more worried about some senior players who must deliver more, including Sam Walsh and Adam Saad.
“Weitering a big tick, Patrick Cripps picked up where he left off and probably almost gets the three votes on Brownlow night,” King said.
“De Koning versus Nank was unreal. It was like a prize fight. De Koning was everywhere. If they were going to win the game it was going to be him.
“(Sam) Walsh went missing when they needed him, (Blake) Acres does some nice things on the outside but not really when you absolutely need him.
“(Adam) Saad sifts around. They need more out of Saad, and I don’t know whether it’s to throw him in the middle at times. I think they need to challenge him to give more.
“Nick Haynes creates a lot of soft drops. Third man back into the contest and all he does is bring the ball to ground and leave his man at ground level.
“Outside of that not a lot to talk about.”
