“IT WAS a hard one to take.”
Midfielder George Hewett said the Blues were lamenting letting the win slip to the old enemy in Collingwood, but that there were learnings and positives to take out of their Round 8 performance.
Hewett himself was one of Carlton’s best at the MCG, gathering 30 disposals, 17 contested possessions and five intercept possessions in a game where the ball was hard to get rid of.
The Blues were smothered by the Pies' defence at every turn, with the 28-year-old admitting the group fell into it too often.
“I think we were feeding back a bit and running into Collingwood's pressure,” Hewett said.
“We were winning the first possession, fed it back and they would come forward and cut us off a few times.
“We’ll get to work on that, we need to look to go forward more and attack the front line.”
Only entering the forward 50 38 times was a telling sign for Carlton, who struggled to move the ball past the half-forward mark.
Hewett believes that more physicality and pressure around the contest is key when looking to launch into the forward half efficiently.
“I think pressure and physicality around the ball brings out your strengths a lot more,” he said.
“If we can get our pressure up more consistently, get it into our forward line and lock it in there, play in our front half, I think that’s what we need to work on and hopefully, we can get to work on it this week and implement it against Melbourne.”
Despite the loss, the 28-year-old noted it was important for the Blues not to succumb to their recent losses, aiming to keep spirits high and drive motivation within the group.
Referencing the resilience and determination his side showed last year in their historic run to the finals series, Hewett was adamant that the foundation had been laid and was improving week on week.
“We’ve got a great group, I think we’re a very resilient group, that probably showed last year that we’re never out of it,” he said.
“We’ve played some quality reams, I think that’s just the competition saying that if you’re a bit off, anyone can win.
“You have to stay positive in this environment because if you don’t, you’re in trouble.
“We need to be honest on where we’ve not gone well, and be positive on what we’re doing well and keep going at it.”
