As the Blues record back-to-back victories under Brendon Bolton, the coach was quick to emphasise these moments are all “little steps” in the Club’s journey.

For the second week in a row Carlton showed grit and determination, fighting its way to win in a scrappy affair at the MCG against Essendon. 

Speaking to SEN on Monday, Bolton celebrated the group’s effort and intensity, but reiterated there is still a lot of work to do. 

“I think one thing our members want is effort and by and large we’re giving that, and our defensive structure is quite sound…but we’re making the very easy look very difficult with our ball use,” Bolton said.

With both teams finding it hard to score in windy conditions, not to mention opposition pressure, neither side was able to kick a goal in the second quarter – the last time this happened was in Round 3 in 1968.

“I thought we attacked OK, we had the ball pinned in our half quite often, so I would have thought time in our half was fairly positive for us, what we didn’t do was execute,” Bolton said.

“It was a combination of a lot of things, there was some poor decision making with the ball and execution issues and some patterns, but in terms of getting it in our forward line that wasn’t the issue…we just needed to stick to it and be patient.”

With goals hard to come by in the first half, Dale Thomas’ opening goal of the game was a highlight of the match. 

The midfielder played arguably his best game in the Old Dark Navy Blue, racking up 31 disposals and laying seven tackles. While Bolton praised Thomas’ efforts on the field, the coach says he’s just as impressed with ‘Daisy’s’ endeavour behind closed doors. 

“One thing he’s been doing behind the scenes with our youngsters is he’s selling the importance of effort and compliance to the system, so I’m just as pleased on that front as I am with his performance on the weekend,” he said. 

Carlton’s leaders all stood up when it mattered, with skipper Marc Murphy, Bryce Gibbs and Kade Simpson also playing important roles. 

“When leaders lead by actions, not just off the field but on the field, that’s really important to a group, particularly one that’s had so much change,” Bolton said.

“I think Murph and Bryce played really good games, as well as Daisy, Simmo down back and Docherty who has only played 50 games – they’re all leading really well and are great for our reset.”  

Ruckman Andrew Phillips, who had 11 disposals and sealed the game with a long bomb from 50, also played one of his best games for the Blues having arrived from GWS last season. 

“I thought there were just some real little signs that he’s (Phillips) becoming more and more comfortable at the level yesterday,” Bolton said.

“He took a couple of really good contested marks and being able to go back and kick that goal at a pressure moment, that’s a good step forward in our progress – particularly for Andrew.” 

Carlton’s next challenge takes place on Saturday when it prepares to battle it out with another traditional rival, Collingwood at the MCG.

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