“Our focus during the week was on contested footy, tackling and clearances and we won all three areas against Melbourne which was really important.
“Winning these areas was the key for us winning the game,” Walker said at Carlton’s recovery session on Monday at Visy Park.
Walker didn’t agree with some critics who suggested Carlton only really broke the game open in the final quarter and the Blues really should have accounted for Melbourne with more authority earlier in the match.
“Melbourne has been very good in contested football and they have some big hard bodies around the ball so to win these three important areas, not just over the game, but in every quarter, was a key for us. We were certainly much happier with the manner in which we played and of course with the result,” Walker said.
He believes the drop in form in recent weeks and decline in contested football and clearance numbers was due to the players’ mindset and this had fluctuated since earlier in the season.
“Winning in the key areas we identified was not just about playing Melbourne, it is getting back to what we do best, this was not about last week or this week, but back to how we want to play our footy all the time,” Walker added.
The Blues were missing four of the defenders for Sunday’s game against Melbourne, along with Jarrad Waite, Marc Murphy and Andrew Carrazzo but Walker refused to look at injuries as an excuse for recent performances, instead he praised the form of the players who have come into the side.
“Brock McLean was fantastic and his form was the same as he has been displaying in the VFL week in, week out. He obviously didn’t want the opportunity to slip by, he was hard-nosed in his contested work and it was fantastic.
“Dave Ellard did a great job on Moloney, not just restricting his opponent but in getting plenty of the ball himself. And Josh Bootsma made the most of his opportunity. He is young and raw and played like it, spoiling like his life depended on it and really cracking in.”
As for round ten against Port Adelaide this Saturday Walker said the team travels well and likes playing at AAMI Stadium.
“It is another challenge and the boys are looking forward to it,” Walker said
