Challenges don’t come much bigger than this – Carlton takes on the undefeated North Melbourne this Saturday night at Etihad Stadium.
Both sides will be looking to continue their winning streak, with the Blues hoping to make it five in a row for the first time since 2000, and the Kangaroos aiming for nine on the trot.
Carlton fans will no doubt be hoping history repeats itself this weekend. It was this exact round nearly 38 years ago to the day, Saturday 27 May 1978, that the Blues defeated North Melbourne to end its eight-game winning streak.
Addressing the media on Friday morning, Carlton coach Brendon Bolton says this weekend’s match up is a great chance for the young group to build some resilience, test their processes and share the load against top-of-the-table North.
“It’s not around individual match-ups, it’s about pressure around the ball and our system as a whole,” Bolton said.
“It’s going to provide challenges for us, but it’s one we’re looking forward to – it will test our system.”
Carlton will be without ruckman Matthew Kreuzer and forward Levi Casboult, who both suffered injuries in the match against Port. This opens up an opportunity for Daniel Gorringe, who’ll make his debut for the Blues after arriving from Gold Coast at the end of last year.
“He’s an elite runner, he’s got a great endurance base and good speed,” Bolton said.
“Footy is about opportunities so he’s a good chance against a real quality ruckman (Todd Goldstein)."
Jacob Weitering and Simon White also return to Carlton’s line-up, having both missed a few weeks with injury.
The last time these two sides met was Round 18 last year at Etihad Stadium, with North Melbourne running over the Blues in the second half to claim the four points: 18.10.118 to 8.6.54.
In that match Marc Murphy and Kade Simpson had 26 disposals, and Andrejs Everitt kicked three goals, while Shaun Higgins had 31 touches for the Roos.
Higgins will miss this weekend’s match with a knee injury, while Daniel Wells, Majak Daw, Mason Wood and Ben Jacobs have also been sidelined.
North Melbourne coach Brad Scott says although the Kangaroos are 8-0, they can’t afford to “take their eye off the ball” against any team.
“As soon as we start taking our eye off the ball and looking further ahead, we take our eye off what’s important and that’s the here and now,” Scott told the media on Wednesday.
“Carlton are four wins and no losses from the last month of footy, so they present a great challenge for us.”
With a mix of experience, youth and talent, Scott noted the Blues were being coached well by Bolton and his group of assistants.
“I think they (Carlton) are really well organised – I think that’s been pretty well documented,” Scott said.
“I know Matthew Kreuzer went down, but there are not too many clubs that start with three No. 1 draft picks plus Patrick Cripps in their midfield.
“There’s a bit of mythology in footy, one being that Carlton are really young and inexperienced, they’re not young at all – they’ve got a lot of talent, recruited really well and they’re really well coached, so when you put all those things together they’re a pretty formidable opponent.”
Carlton takes on North Melbourne this Saturday night at Etihad Stadium, with the match kicking off at 7:25pm.
