CARLTON Coach David Teague has spoken frankly on Carlton’s disappointing loss to Hawthorn on Friday afternoon at Optus Stadium.
The Blues gave up a 30-point lead early in the first quarter, to lose by 31 points to the punishing Hawks in Round 9.
Carlton was unable to maintain the pressure from the first quarter, with Hawthorn’s run of nine goals to one in the second quarter making it difficult for the Blues to regain any momentum.
“We lost the contest,” an honest Teague said following the game.
“Early-on in the game we were winning the contest, then after quarter-time they started to win the contest.
“It’s disappointing.”
Despite now sitting at four wins and five losses for the season, narrow wins over Geelong, Essendon and North Melbourne - despite early leads, is a major focus for Teague and the Blues as the season continues.
For Teague, the intent and the pressure demonstrated in the first quarter is positive, however the consistency still needs to be addressed for the team to continue to challenge consistently.
“We played such good footy. We just won the contest and we got the ball deep in the forward line, and our pressure and our tackling was very good,” Teague said.
“Our ability to maintain that at the moment is an issue.
“We need to keep addressing it and keep training it.”
With nine days until the next game, Carlton will have the opportunity to right the wrongs of Round 9 as they prepare for another heavyweight bout against the West Coast Eagles.
Hawthorn’s punishing rebound transition will provide many lessons for Carlton as they prepare to do battle with a West Coast team beginning to hit their strides.
“You probably saw the difference from the first quarter where we hit the targets. We looked to rush it a bit, we looked to force it. We probably didn’t play as much on instinct as we did in the first.
“We’ll review that, we’ll keep training and we’ll look at it as an opportunity to get better and to learn.
“There’s a lot of learning out of that game and we’re going to need to [learn]. We’ve got a massive challenge next week against West Coast.”
“We’ve got nine days before the next game, so that gives us a good opportunity to train that which is exciting for us.”
