CARLTON defender Sam Rowe says there’s a lot on the line for the Blues in their final two games of the season.
Having conjured up just two wins so far in 2018, the Blues will round out their campaign with home games against the Western Bulldogs and Adelaide at Etihad Stadium.
“As a group, there is still a lot to achieve in the last two rounds. We’re not rolling through the end of the season. We want to win games of footy and finish on the front foot,” Rowe said.
“We want to improve in most aspects of the game, whether it’s our structures or fundamental skills of the game. There’s still plenty to do for us a group.”
After a seven-goal-to-nil third term cost the Blues dearly in their 29-point loss to Fremantle at Optus Stadium on Sunday, the team will look to make amends against an in-form Bulldogs.
Rowe said Sunday’s opponents, who are coming off wins against St Kilda and North Melbourne at Etihad Stadium, would present a sizeable challenge in the two sides’ second meeting of the season.
“The Bulldogs are in pretty reasonable form,” Rowe said.
“We expect a really good contest which is good because it’s going to be a tough game of footy, which we like. We’re looking forward to playing four quarters of footy and hopefully walking away with the win.”
Sam Rowe recorded a match-high 11 one-percenters against the Dockers. (Photo:AFL Media)
Sunday’s clash looms as a battle of the AFL’s two youngest sides, with the Blues averaging just shy of nine players (8.95) aged 18-21 this season.
The Dogs sit second on 8.5, with both sides well ahead of the rest of the competition in this statistic.
While acknowledging season-ending injuries to more experienced defenders Sam Docherty (knee), Alex Silvagni (Achilles), Lachie Plowman (knee) and Liam Jones (knee) had severely impacted the Blues’ backline, Rowe said the makeshift rearguard was beginning to gel.
“We’ve had a lot of injuries particularly in the backline this year. We’ve had a changing group. It has its challenges and it has its good aspects as well,” he said.
“We’re getting a lot of guys getting experience through the backline. I think we’re starting to work pretty well with the group we’ve got – we’ve played a bit of footy together now.”
The Blues will go head-to-head with the Bulldogs from 1:10pm at Etihad Stadium on Sunday.
