These were the types of battles and critical moments that Carlton lost last week, but should be celebrated this week.
They weren’t without their mistakes – Mitch McGovern’s direct kick to Cameron for one of the fourth-quarter goals was a howl – but they generally hit their critical moments.
Jeremy Cameron single-handedly dragged Geelong back into the game. Credit:Getty
Last week those pieces undid Carlton’s lead against Richmond; this week they saved them from the ignominy of carrying the ever-increasing burden of being the team that can’t win close games.
It’s worth remembering that while Carlton lost two games in the death last year that cost them a spot in the final, and then drew Richmond from a winning position last week, the teams they’ve lost or tied with have been very good. Last night they beat last year’s best team in a close match.
Of course, this game should never have been close. The Blues led a couple of times by 28 points and, save for one stint in the first half of the second period, they looked for three quarters as the significantly better team. But it was Cameron’s intervention that dragged Geelong down again.
Charging
Even Michael Voss could fatalistically joke about the comeback and the close result… after they won.
“It had to be this way, it just had to be this way. I told the players afterwards. It just had to be that way, really hard at the end and we got the fix we were looking for, which was really nice,” Voss said.
“To be able to go back after last week and take a look at it and learn from it. And there were some guys there who had some tough learnings (last week), but what we were sure of was that our system was on its feet.
“There were big big plays. Harry (McKay) was at the end of the line, he took some really special marks. Lewis Young was another, young Ollie Hollands was amazing in some endeavors, but that’s some individuals, but what surrounds them is a team doing their job. So it was good to be able to get past that moment.
“Today I thought we had a great balance in our game. Our contest was A-plus, but also the balance on both sides of the ball was pretty good tonight.
“In any game, there is a moment where you have to absorb because when you play against a really good team like Geelong, you know that they cover each other and they know how to increase…sometimes you have to be able to absorb that and that’s what we have done.”
For forward Matt Owies it was just a relief. He had had a very good night (seven scoring appearances, including three own goals), but he threatened to fade if they lost their composure in that fourth quarter.
“That’s a pretty awesome feeling,” he said.
“Geelong is such a good team that we knew they would never give up and we tried to break their back, but that’s what good teams do. Again, it was all the little things: Big H taking a few marks helps, but when those moments happen in the fourth quarter, you know we trained for them.
“Absolutely, this kind of victory gives us great confidence. I think we already believed it, but this puts the icing on the cake”.
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