A KEY contributor and emblematic of Carlton’s win.

Coming into the Round 2 clash with Geelong, Blake Acres admitted that the events of the previous week’s draw with Richmond had played on his mind.

However, it was clear that there was only one thing that he and his teammates could do against the reigning premier.

Respond.

Acres did exactly that, and then some. One of his side’s best on the night, Acres celebrated his first Carlton win after a performance which saw him accumulate 26 disposals and get involved in both offence and defence on the wing.

“I’m stoked we got the job done against a good side,” Acres said.

“I was obviously disappointed with that mark late against Richmond. I got to work . . . I had a focus on committing to the ball when it was there to be won.”

A strong contributor over four quarters, two moments stuck in the mind when it came to Acres’ performance in the final term.

His attack on the ball and the contest against a seemingly unstoppable Jeremy Cameron momentarily did exactly that, in a time where the Cats started to surge. Five minutes later, his mid-week craft was put to good use when he dropped into the hole in front of the Geelong danger man as the Blues clung onto their lead. 

It was clearly an act which resonated with his younger teammates, as fellow wingman Ollie Hollands repeated the dose moments afterwards.

When asked whether that attack on the contest was the pre-match message from Michael Voss, Acres’ response was immediate.

“That’s going to be us all year. Bring the physicality and get after the opposition when we can,” Acres said.

“We want to make that a trademark.

“The main message was keep going after it. The whole plan going into the game was physicality and going after our ball use: it was probably a bit stale [in Round 1].”

While Acres joined Hollands and Lachie Cowan in the Gatorade shower post-match, Acres was happy to let the first-year Blues enjoy their moment.

After all, “I didn’t expect to be getting the Gatorade shower in my 10th year!”.

“It’s so good for them to experience that . . . those two kids have come into the Club and really wanted to learn,” he said.

“I’ve worked closely with Ollie. He’s going to be a good player, he’s already building towards that.

“Both kids get to work, they want to learn and they want to get better. We’ll see them grow throughout the year, I’m excited for them.”