THE CARLTON coaching staff could walk away happy with a clear understanding of where the Blues need to fine tune things, according to senior assistant coach Ash Hansen.
The home side emerged with a seven-point victory from IKON Park in their opening hitout under AFL Senior Coach Michael Voss.
This is what Hansen had to say speaking to media immediately post-match.
On his general view of the game:
“It’s good to get the first one out of the way. In the last few weeks, we’ve been craving to play an opponent and to put our best side at this point in time together, to start to build that cohesion and connection.
“There were a few fatigued boys at the end, which there always are after the first one. It’s great to be back here at the spiritual home of Carlton in front of fans. It feels like AFL footy is getting close.”
On what the coaching group:
“There’s still growth. We’ve still got to pick a 22, or a 23 including the medical sub. We rotated a few off the bench: we’re still confident that Harry is going to be right. There are a few guys that will put their hands up for contention like Docherty as well. We’ll reward the guys that have done a lot of work today.
“Style-wise we’ll be strong: we thought we saw some really nice progressions in the way we’ve been teaching them. There were some inconsistencies, but that’s going to happen at this time of the year. Overall, to have a clean bill of health and get through four 30-minute periods was really good.”
On Brodie Kemp’s performance:
“Brodie has the capacity to play both ends. At our intra club last week, we were really impressed by the way he went about it. Going into this year, we’re going to need players that can play multiple roles and Brodie can be part of that.”
On Adam Cerra and George Hewett’s impact:
“The depth is going to be really for important for us, especially missing ‘Walshy’. Cerra’s class and poise on occasions really stood out and George’s experience and strength inside gives ‘Crippa’ a break. It’s important for our squad, they’ve been great acquisitions over the summer.”
On Patrick Cripps:
“I thought he covered the ground really well, he’s a professional. The work he has done over the summer has put him in the best position to play well.
“I thought his game time was spot on: it allowed him to be powerful and he shared the workload with those other guys. His approach has been faultless and his professionalism has allowed him to be in good nick.”
On Carlton’s attacking mindset:
"It’s not constructed that way, but overlap is a really important way of creating an outnumber ahead of the play. Maintaining position to keep the opposition defence accountable with the short kick is important. Stretching the ground and using width is important.
"There are many tools that players can use, and we’re encouraging them to explore those and make good decisions when they get the chance. Us being dynamic off the half-back line with our personnel is certainly going to be a trait of the way we play."
On Carlton’s defensive structure:
“You want those two talls. I think most teams are playing three talls but minimum two: two bigs with that intercepting defender, which we think ‘Gov’ can do, will probably be a good blueprint going forward.”
On Mitch McGovern:
“He was good. He made some really good decisions and the more he plays there, he’s certainly going to continue to make good decisions with his positioning and when he supports. It was another step forward in progression for ‘Gov’ to get through four quarters.”
On Alex Mirkov:
“This year can throw anything at us. With his height and reach and role that we’d need him to play, it’s incredibly important that we gave him some exposure to an opposition team.
“He played the second half and got in some good positions: he could be an important player for us in a year where there’s going to be uncertainty. Developing these guys is critical.”
