REWARD for effort.
After a difficult, condensed month, Mathew Buck's Carlton side got the win it was looking for with a stunning last-minute win against Fremantle.
Playing against another of the competition's top-four hopefuls, the Blues overturned a 10-point deficit in the final minutes to produce a stunning four-point victory on the road.
Here's what Buck had to say.
On the result:
“It’s nice reward for effort. It’s been a pretty condensed and busy fixture which has been hard on the players, and it’s asked them to be incredibly professional and diligent with the way they approach games and go about that.
“On the back of that, we’ve had some tough losses, but I can’t fault our group. Their professionalism, their hunger to get better and turn up and be a connected side has been terrific. We showed that today.”
On structural changes inside the final minutes:
“We had to score to win the game. To execute that, we had to drop some numbers away from the stoppage and open the game up a bit more.
“Kerryn Peterson goes into the middle of the ground, Maddy Guerin goes forward. I thought Kerryn had great impact in the last and helped contribute to the couple of goals we got.”
On the reaction to Sherar’s goal:
“It was straight onto the next thing — what do we need to do to hold on for the rest? Really proud of Keeley in particular. She’s one of the youngsters in our side who’s had a terrific year to date.
“To see her get some reward and nourishment at the end of the game is really pleasing.”
On the challenge coming in:
“We knew coming here that Freo is a strong contested side, their clearance game is really strong. Mim Strom in the ruck is an excellent player, so it was about how we combat that. We started the game a little bit slow and had to work our way back into it.
“To hold them goalless in the second quarter, I thought it was a great defensive effort. Across the board, we were consistent in our contest all day and ended up with the reward.”
On arguably the Blues’ best performance this season:
“It could be close. To get some repeat entries on the back of some assertive defence, we couldn’t capitalise on the inside 50s as much as we’d like to. That’s always going to be a growth we’ll chase. I thought our wings held well and our half-backs were excellent.”
On what comes next:
“Right now, it’s more process. We play again on Thursday, so again, we’ll test the professionalism of the athletes and we’ll ask them to be at their very best in a few days.
“In terms of the season, we’ll have another look at that in due course, but it’s about sticking to what we know works which is making sure we’re ready for the game, doing our research and turning up with a plan to execute at IKON Park. That’s exciting for us, to get back to our home game and home fans and have a great night.”
On Lily Goss:
"‘Gossy’ has gone to the hospital now in an ambulance with an ankle injury. I don’t know any more than that at this stage."
