Carlton defender Kade Simpson has called on his teammates to build on the side’s consistency in the second half of the season, following the Blues’ one-point victory over GWS on Sunday.

The veteran was a cog in the Blues’ backline, amassing 20 disposals and four rebounding 50s, alongside fellow in-form defender Sam Docherty.

“I think we’ve taken some big steps this season, but we still have a quite a few steps to still take. We’re a really young team and the young guys we have in at the moment are only going to keep growing with the more games they get under their belt,” Simpson said.

“We’re still hoping to build on our consistency and not having those lapses in games that have cost us some wins this season. So for the second half of the year, that’ll be a main focus – just to build consistency because there is no doubt the effort is there, the system is there and I think we can all see that. Our fans included.

“But we’re in a good space at the moment, we should take some confidence out of that performance (on the weekend) and I know we’ll keep working incredibly hard to build on that effort.”  

Despite the call for greater consistency, Simpson said the Blues’ nail-biting victory over premiership favourite GWS was one of his most memorable in recent years. 

“And that’s probably because of the calibre of the opposition. Obviously they (GWS) are a terrific side and on top of the ladder for a reason, so to do that (get the win), with a man down early, makes the win pretty memorable,” he told ABC Radio. 

“They have won a lot of tight games this year, so they’re pretty good in those situations and for us to hold on and be able to get the win, that was a really good effort I thought.

“But in the numbers, the Giants actually gave us a bit of a touch up in the clearances so we know there are a lot of areas we need to improve on – yes there were things we got right, but there are areas we still very much need to work on.”

Simpson also singled out the performances of milestone man Matthew Kreuzer and Liam Jones, who found himself in a new defensive role in his return to AFL since Round 23, 2016. 

“Personally I didn’t have any doubt that Liam was going to perform that way, he’s been doing that week in, week out in the VFL and for him to come in and play the way he did on a couple of star forwards in Cameron and Patton, it’s just great reward for effort. 

Watch Jones's highlights against GWS

“Hopefully he can keep doing that for the rest of the season, and I hope he can just build from that game because he should take a lot of confidence out of that performance.

“In terms of Kreuz, he was massive, and to be honest, he’s been massive for us all year. If you had a look at his numbers, he should be right up there in the All-Australian selectors’ calculations. 

“He’s just a real competitor at heart and the way he went about it on Sunday – I was sure he was always going to give an effort like that. He’s just one of those guys you love to play with.”