EXECUTION and reward.
Nobody is more frustrated with Carlton’s record to start the season than those pulling on the jumper every week, with leader Jacob Weitering intent on seeing the group and the Club get reward for effort sooner rather than later.
All three games have been on the Blues’ boot to start the season, yet are without a win from the opening three games heading into a blockbuster Peter Mac Cup this Thursday night against old enemy Collingwood.
A typically honest Weitering rejoined SEN’s Whateley for the 2025 campaign, highlighting where things have fallen short in terms of getting the result the team has been after - and also what positives are being reinforced to get the Blues back on track.
“There’s that element of getting your first win, which gets the monkey off the back - with our situation and being a bigger club and the build-up of the start of the season, you really want that first win to give some great confidence,” Weitering said.
“Unfortunately, it’s been the back-ends of games and our execution. I’ve heard the conversations around the ability to run out games, and I think that’s a very narrow view. You look at the stats of clearances, inside 50s, our defence behind the ball - it’s actually in a good place at the moment, it’s just our execution in all parts of the ground.
“It’s a hard one, but we’ve got an amazing opportunity this week against Collingwood to change that. It’s doing the little things right, the determination, making sure you have the motivation every week regardless of the result - because it’s 1-3 or 0-4 this week, we’ve got to turn up next week and go again.”
Some of those numbers that Weitering alludes to are particularly strong. The Blues' time in forward half stats rank among the competition's best, while also ranking No.1 for contested possessions, tackles and intercepts. But as everyone can see, consistency in-games - not playing their way for long enough - is proving costly, and the number that matters in the context of the season reads at 0-3.
Weitering has seen the highs and lows of footy in his near-200 games at the elite level, with the All-Australian defender mentioning the fluctuations and momentum swings that can either happen in games or in seasons.
Heading into 2025, the Blues had lost just one game in the opening month over the course of the past three seasons under Michael Voss, but have had to deal with both downturns in form as well as incredible surges of momentum throughout campaigns. This time around, they're starting behind the eight ball - but have the belief in being able to turn it around.
“It’s a long season, we all know that. I don’t want to look too far into the past or compare ourselves to other teams, but the team that won the premiership last year didn’t start too flash, and the most in-form team in the competition didn’t start too flash either.
“I’d agree that we haven’t been at our best consistently. To find the balance of all parts firing at once, clearly the best teams are able to do that week in and week out - we’re definitely not there yet.
“In terms of the sense of urgency… I’ve got great confidence in what this group can do in a short amount of time, and hopefully we can start that this week.”
