IT WAS a disappointing night for the Blues as they fell to the Dogs by 33 points.
Carlton failed to capitalise on the scoreboard early and struggled to make up momentum for the remainder of the game.
Heading into a 10-day break, Senior Coach Mathew Buck is looking forward to refreshing and resetting ahead of the last two games of the season.
Here's what he had to say.
On the game overall:
"I feel like we let ourselves down tonight. I think over the first eight weeks of the season, we’ve prided ourselves on cracking in around the contest and defence and tonight we didn’t get that done.
"Half time wasn’t as much about that as much as they weren’t feeling like - the game had them frazzled a bit - so it was more clear the mind, get ready to take the learning in and go out and get ready to go again."
"It turned into a perfect snowball: it started with fundamentals and executing fundamentals consistently and then handling pressure.
"I felt like we weren’t able to get that done and credit to the Western Bulldogs, they turned up ready to play and played a great style of game tonight. For us, it’s take the learnings and get ready for the next two games."
On the fatigue of the players:
"A five-day break after the condensed fixture, coming back from Perth. We’ve got a 10-day break now that will feel like brand new. We’re used to playing two games in those ten days so to have that break will be fantastic and give us a great chance to freshen up."
On Darcy Vescio's late withdrawal:
"Darcy had a head knock and had some delayed concussion symptoms that came on so was unavailable tonight."
On Kerryn Peterson:
"We can always count on 'Kez' to give us absolutely everything and she had an oblique issue that hampered her ability to sprint but credit to the captain, she keeps turning up. That was in game, so our medical team will assess where that’s at."
On Abbie McKay's 50th game:
"50 games has been a great achievement for Abs, she’s been through it the hard way in a way. She played some seasons here at Carlton where she didn’t get selected and had to go away and have big pre-seasons and get the best out of herself.
"Throughout this year and last year, we’ve seen the best of Abbie McKay and that’s put her into a vice-captaincy at the Club and she’s a terrific leader amongst our group.
"Onwards and upwards for Abbie and I can’t wait to watch her next 50. Not our night tonight but that won’t shy away from the celebration we need to have for Abbie and how good she’s been over 50 games."
On the focus for the remainder of the season:
"For us, it’s about growth and development. It’s a really tough competition at the top end so it’s always been about how you grow and develop. Tonight wasn’t our night, but we’ve got a 10-day break and we’ll take the lessons and go get after it from here."
On a surge late in the game:
"We were a few goals down at that point and it was a bit of throwing caution to the wind, so we took some liberties that opened the game right up. Bulldogs capitalised on that.
"We’ve got to take our chances in all parts of the game. We looked to do it in the last and we thought if we could’ve taken more chances then maybe we were a shout, but probably the first three quarters really told the story anyway."
