IT WAS a tough outing for the Blues at Marvel Stadium, as they were outplayed by a determined Saints outfit who put the pressure on from the opening siren.
Noting the lack of efficiency in terms of ball use and in front of goal, Michael Voss was disappointed with the result, but knows that the performance was an outlier for Carlton who has generally been efficient at both ends of the ground in its games this season.
Here's what he had to say on the game.
On losing territory early:
"It wouldn’t be unusual in stages throughout games where you don’t have the game on your terms, whether it’s in the first quarter or during the third quarter, some times you’ve just got to hold as best as you can.
"A fair bit of attention was made to what St Kilda’s week had been and what was the potential they’d come out like, we were well prepped there. We’ve been starting games pretty well, so it felt like we had some really good method but they did jump: clearly in the first half, we lost territory across the field and they had some really good pressure.
"We probably didn’t really respect their pressure as much as what we should’ve and then it was down to efficiency: I’d like to create another story, but that was it. Some of it was respecting their pressure and the other part was our efficiency, they both played a pretty big role.
On efficiency issues:
"It was a bit of overuse, recognising when the heat is coming at you... an extra handball that probably wasn’t needed. In the back half, I think we conceded seven odd goals out of our back half, so that hurt us.
"Clearly when we got our opportunities, we weren’t able to covert. There’s not too many games when you get 20-30 shots on goal and you go at 57 per cent score per entry and you lose the game. We managed to find a way to do that tonight and it hasn’t been a trend for this year, but for tonight it was and we couldn't correct it to give us the opportunity.
"Our second half response was pretty significant. The boys were able to correct a lot of things and go to work on their game and were able to implement really well but when we got our opportunities, we just couldn’t put scoreboard pressure on enough."
On tagging options mid-game:
"We’ve tended for the most of the year to go after our method to be honest. Clearly [Brad] Hill was getting off the chain a little bit early but Cottrell was able to go onto that match up and give him a little bit of attention — but you can’t cover both of them, then you’re losing some of your method and structure.
"We ask our players to be able to play team defence and oppositions start to pull you apart. It's a credit to them for being able to generate it, clearly it was something that was pretty important for them across the night.
"I feel we were able to influence Hill after the first quarter, but clearly [Jack] Sinclair in the first half had a fair bit of the ball."
On conceding clearances:
"I think the part that you want is to make sure that you’ve got an even battle in there. To expect dominance in there all the time reeks of arrogance.
"We can’t be a one-dimensional team that relies on stoppage only to provide territory for us, there’s other methods of play. Where I think we’ve actually gone as a group is that we’ve been able to find another way to score.
"At the start of the year, that stoppage dominance was able to give us really good field position. As we’ve gone throughout the last period of time, we’ve been able to add layers to our game plan, we’ve been able to progress in other ways and find territory in other ways.
"Tonight, we needed that little bit more, but the mids got to work in the second half and were able to even the ledger around that: that’s what we expect. To think we’re going to have stoppage dominance all the time, that’s just generally unrealistic."
