IT WAS a physical clash at Thomas Farms Oval as the Blues took on last year’s grand finalists in the Crows. 

While Carlton wasn’t able to take home a result from the practice match, they were certainly able to implement their game style and refine the way they wanted to play – presenting a tough and gritty game style despite only being a pre-season game.  

With their strengths coming from the centre, winger Dayna Finn said the positives from the match will come from the turnaround the Blues were able to show after being under the pump in the first half. 

“We started slow and they got a few early ones on us but I think the positive to take out of today was how we responded to that and it’s a big thing that we’ve tried to build on as a group – how we respond to those two or three goals,” Finn said.  

“Every team is going to kick goals so we want to play our brand of footy and I think we showed that throughout the second half for sure.”

Adelaide got off to a hot start, kicking the first two goals within minutes of the opening bounce, while Carlton only scored their first major after the first-quarter siren. 

To reset and regroup from there wasn’t easy, as the Blues remained scoreless in the second quarter, but not dropping their heads, they found a way to bang on five goals in the remaining half. 

Despite not mentioning herself, Finn had a firm impact on the turnaround, finding herself intercepting across half forward and delivering the ball precisely into the forward 50. 

“I feel like we worried too much about what they’d do early on so the switch was to play our brand,” she said. 

“We were winning the tap so ‘Abs’ [McKay] and ‘Mim’ [Hill] were getting the ball and getting clearances off that, so I think back to our brand of footy really worked. 

“They were hitting us hard, it was about hitting them back hard and gaining momentum off that – I feel like we really changed our focus and going into the second half, we didn’t get the result that we wanted but there are a lot of positives to take from today.”

The Blues won’t have another hitout against opposition until their Round 1 clash with the Hawks, taking place in two weeks on Sunday 1 September. 

In the meantime, they can look to recover from a substantial pre-season and hone in on a few areas that they noticed in their match simulation and practice match. 

“I think there’s a lot of work that’s already been done – we’ll rest and recover for the next few days,” she said.  

“We’ll be working on those little things that have let us down throughout the match simulation and this game. 

“We had some focuses that we took from last week into this week and I feel like we nailed those and got them right and we’ll take another step now into Round 1. 

“We have the next fortnight to build on those and get those going, so I’m excited.”