LESSONS learnt.
Midfielder Adam Cerra returned to the line-up to face the Giants on Sunday night, having missed three games with a hamstring injury.
While the result wasn’t what the Blues were after, Cerra said both the individual and collective could take plenty from a game where some key Blues got valuable game time under their belt with fifth position secured.
Despite going down by 32 points at the hands of GWS, Cerra said Carlton would take the chance to embrace the feedback ahead of a first finals tilt in a decade.
“It was great to be back: sometimes you don’t realise how much you miss it until you’re injured and out,” Cerra said.
“Unfortunate result but a lot of boys got through healthy and I think it’s a good reality check for the next two weeks to work on our game and enter an exciting finals series.”
Cerra was adamant that the Blues were searching for a win in the home-and-away closer, on a day where fans still had plenty to shout about as excitement peaked when Charlie Curnow secured a second consecutive Coleman Medal.
And despite the nine-game winning run brought to an end, Cerra said the Blues could still carry plenty of momentum into September.
“We were focused on the job at hand: we spoke about the incredible momentum we've had over the past few months, we want to carry that into finals,” he said.
“We’ll continue to work on our game and go into finals with a lot of excitement and momentum that we’ll keep carrying."
On his teammate in Curnow, Cerra couldn’t understate the importance that Curnow brings to the team, declaring him a vital cog in the team.
“I was very excited for him, as was everyone else in the stadium,” he said.
“He’s been a massive player for us this year. I think he’s played every game, he’s a big reason we turned around our season so we always celebrate the individual accolades as a team and we’re very happy for him and excited to see what he can do in September.”
Having stuck together through the good times and the bad, Cerra and the Blues couldn't be more excited to embrace September action.
Adopting a ‘next-man up’ mentality since AFL Senior Coach Michael Voss’ arrival, the team has become a cohesive unit on and off the field.
“When things were tough earlier in the year, we wanted to stick together and be Stronger Together and when things were going well, we wanted to celebrate together and acknowledge everyone's role and involvement in that,” he said.
“Each week we go into finals, we want the fans on the ride with us and everyone else inside the four walls.
“We’ll continue that mantra of Stronger Together, get the best out of everyone, fans bring the energy and we’ll do our best to see how far we can take it.
