Carlton Vice-Captain Andrew Carrazzo says his team was taught a valuable lesson last night – their challenge now is to learn from it and tackle the next opponent head-on.
The Blues were left shell-shocked after an 81-point loss to Essendon at the MCG.
In assessing his team’s performance, Carrazzo didn’t mince words.
“I don’t know where to start – it’s not the effort that we want to be known for and it’s really disappointing,” Carrazzo said.
“Some home truths need to come out amongst the boys and we really need to learn from this.
“We don’t want to go down the path of accepting this standard of footy, and that’s got to come from within the playing group.”
Essendon seized the momentum early with a six-goal opening term.
The Bombers maintained the pressure throughout, showing why they’re in the top four on the ladder.
After the match Carlton players met behind closed doors, where the team held an open, frank and honest discussion about their performance.
The vice-captain said the players are determined to show Carlton supporters what they’re made of.
“I am confident it is in this group, that sort of team-first footy, that competitive ruthless footy, is in this group,” Carrazzo said.
“We’ve just got to do what we can to bring it out.”
One positive to take from the night: the match was Carrazzo’s first game back from the calf injury he sustained in the pre-season and he got through unscathed.
