FOR forward Lachie Fogarty and the wider Carlton team, it starts with defence.
After two consecutive losses, the Blues are looking for a response when they host North Melbourne at Marvel Stadium this Sunday.
The last game of the weekend means Carlton will have plenty of time to stew over the performance against the Western Bulldogs which saw the team concede a triple-digit score for the second straight week — the first time it has happened during Michael Voss’ tenure.
Speaking to media on Tuesday, Fogarty said it was clear where the focus would lie this weekend.
“It’s been defensively. We’ve given up 100 points in the last two games, and prior to that we had five games where we were giving up 70-odd points. As an 18-man system, we haven’t been connected.
“‘Vossy’ touched on it in his press conference. We went through our review and looked at a few things that probably haven’t been working in the last couple of weeks. It’s a chance to reflect, learn from it and bring it to training.
“We pride ourselves on our defence, our pressure and contest. It’s something that ‘Vossy’ is massive on.”
A hallmark under Voss has also been the Stronger Together ethos, and Fogarty said the Blues wouldn’t be deviating away from that despite the disappointment of the last two weeks.
It’s the first time Fogarty has played in consecutive losses since his return to the senior side in the middle of last year, with the small forward saying that the only way to return to winning form is what has served the Blues so well in the last 12 months.
The focus on the collective.
“We haven’t been at our best, we’ve been giving up a fair few points from stoppages . . . we looked at some vision - forwards, backs and midfielders - to get on the same page and make sure we’re connected.
“It’s important to look at the vision. It can be pretty confronting at times and tough to look at, knowing you haven’t done the right in that instance. We try and take the head out of it and not look at who the player is: you know individually if it’s you or not, but it’s a team-focused thing and an 18-man system.
“For five weeks, we were able to be really good defensively, and we’ve got no doubts we can do it again.”
As the Blues’ No.1 rated tackler inside 50 - as well as the team’s No.1 goal assist player - Fogarty will continue to pride himself on his contest and pressure, despite so much talk in recent weeks about potential Tribunal repercussions for dangerous tackles.
“You know the consequences. You don’t want to get suspended and you don’t want players getting hurt. You’ve got to make split second decisions.
“It’s pretty hard, but it starts from your training, training the right habits and the right technique. We do it at training regularly: you’ve got a half second, so it can be pretty quick, but you’ve got to adapt.”
