THE BLUES weren't good enough for the Dogs at Marvel Stadium on Saturday night.
Senior Coach Michael Voss said Carlton's consistency issues were at the forefront of the loss, but also praised the performance the Western Bulldogs were able to produce.
Here's what he had to say.
On the game overall:
"It felt like a high-paced, high-intensity game. The person with the ball in their hands didn’t have a lot of time so there was a lot of live ball within the game.
"As you noticed, both sides were going inside 50 and scoring pretty well, so it almost became a volume question, could we get it in there more than them? They were able to do that clearly and then they were able to score off the back of it, which meant we were on the chase for most of the game.
"It never really felt like we were in a position to win it, they kept us at bay for most of the game, the 10 to 15 points were hovering, and every time we closed, they got an easy one back.
"Credit to the Dogs, they brought a really consistent level of performance today and they stuck at the task and we weren’t able to do the same."
On winning some key statistics:
"It was an efficiency question. In terms of the numbers, we were quite even, the ball skirted on the edges at times and they took it away a bit easier.
"It also says in the numbers they kicked four goals from centre square bounce and defensive 50 stoppages, they’re two score sources you don’t account for, not that big a number.
"We were always on the back foot trying to generate our own scores from something else as well. In transition we were alright, but from the stoppage it’s not about the pure number, it’s about the efficiency in that number."
On Patrick Cripps:
"When I speak about him, I get a smile on my face, even in a loss. He stands for some great values as a person, he has those leadership qualities that people want to follow.
"He’s a self-made man in that he’s been curious since he’s got here and that’s all I’ve ever heard. He’s made himself better over time and we’ve lost this game, but I know he’s desperate for success for this Club and I don’t think anyone is riding that horse harder than Patrick Cripps.
"He’s been fantastic for this football club and he continues to be a great leader of our Club. It’s a privilege to be working beside him."
On the loss in the scheme of the season:
"We look over the course of 23 games. We also respect the competition. You only have to cast an eye over the ladder to show how close it is. It’s marginal and when you’re operating at the back end of the season, you’ve got teams that are fighting for their spots and we’re no different.
"It’s getting tighter and all teams have to decide what they want and a few still have a say in it. We want to have a big say on it but our focus is firmly fixed on making sure we have consistency over 23 games and we have six to go.
"There are some things we need to get after, but that’s how we’ll treat it, we’ll get after it pretty hard and make ourselves better."
On Charlie Curnow's performance:
"I just put the banner over the consistency we need to be as a footy team. Individuals play roles within that and clearly Charlie and Harry and whoever is in the forward line play important roles within that.
"For us, it’s a collective effort, Charlie had his turn today, he had a couple of looks, didn’t convert all his looks, but at the same time, the game itself felt like we were just sitting behind them the whole time.
"We were on the chase the whole time so maybe it forced a few things it shouldn’t and we weren’t able to get the scoreboard ticking over the way we wanted to."
On playing two ruckmen and team selection decisions:
"We’ve got to look at our list and our squad and we’re still learning a lot about it. We’ve had some players that have played some really important roles over shorter periods of time and we’re still evolving as a team so there’s nothing that’s set.
"We’re really fortunate that we have strengths in our team and we’ve got two guys who can play ruck very well and Tom [De Koning] can impact forward as well. Probably didn’t impact as well as we wanted it tonight but we feel like it’s a strength of ours and if we need to explore it in the later half of the year, who’s to say we won’t need it at the back end of the year?
"I would say it probably didn’t have its effect tonight but I don’t think it’s about one or two rucks, it’s about what gives us the best chance to be a consistent team over a long period of time."
On the work of the defence and transition game:
"There were enough turnovers in the back half, so some efficiency, when we had our opportunities to go back the other way, we weren’t as good as what we needed to be.
"That’s part of how do we become a little bit more consistent, and predictable, what that looks like for us, because we have certain roles to be played in offence and roles we need to play in defence and I felt like at times, we weren’t as a reliable as we needed to be.
"I felt like [the Dogs] brought an appetite for the contest, they clearly dialled up their defence from last week, it’s something that was discussed with our lead-up to this game, but they got a few things in their favour today and we weren’t able to go at it long enough."
On Jack Martin returning through the VFL:
"He just needs to get back and start playing, I don’t have any expectations at this point in time. He’s been out for a long period of time, he’s an important player to us so all he needs to concentrate on is getting through tomorrow and hopefully getting through healthy and we can continue to build that squad."
