IT WAS a significant win for the Carlton Reserves at IKON Park on Saturday night.
Trailing Collingwood by as much as 20 points early in the third quarter, the Blues rallied late and came away with a four-point win, with Corey Durdin registering the final goal.
Speaking after the win, Durdin was all praise for his teammates in another Carlton VFL game where the contest went down to the wire.
“Emotions… I’m just proud,” he said.
“Coming back, it’s been fun. The young boys bring great energy. It was a tough win, we just had to be harder for longer and we grind it out.
“A lot of it is down to the attitude of the boys. We could’ve crumbled under the pressure, but we were up for it. There were a few big moments late with some of the young boys, especially in that last quarter.”
One of those key moments was Durdin’s own. With 15 disposals and five tackles to his name over the course of the night, Durdin’s time came late in the final term.
With the clock running down and the Blues struggling to register the go-ahead goal, it was an intercept mark 40 metres out that gave him a chance to put the Blues back in front in the dying stages – and with great composure, he did.
“It was a great moment once I knew it was through. It looked like a bit of a dog ball on the way in, but it was nice to go back and take my moment,” he said.
“I feel like it lifted the rest of the group to really help us get through and grind for the next 15 minutes.”
In a game of momentum swings, the young Reserves outfit didn’t go away – when asked about what clicked in the second half, Durdin once again applauded the group’s resilience.
Gathering momentum after back-to-back wins, Durdin said the group needed to maintain focus on the weeks ahead at both levels.
“We have really good core of players that are in their first and second years. They’re really competitive and they really want to win, and that was on display tonight.
“We know there’s a lot of pressure from the outside noise… I feel like as long as we can bring good energy play some good footy we can share the load.”
“The way the VFL boys have gone about it - especially the last few weeks - is a really positive sign: I’m really happy and proud of the young boys.”
While their seventh win puts them in a spot to challenge for a VFL finals berth, Durdin insisted that the group are keeping their focus simple heading into next week’s clash with Brisbane.
“There’s a lot of positives coming out of what we’re doing in the Reserves at the moment, and we feel like we can really be a driving factor and really lift the rest of the group.
“If we drive the energy and drive the positivity, we can get a turnaround and start playing some good footy. The way we’re going about it in the VFL at the moment is a good sign.”
Jaspar Wilson-Keir is a student at La Trobe University, undergoing his Bachelor of Media and Communications (Journalism and Marketing). He is currently undertaking an internship at the Carlton Football Club as part of its partnership with La Trobe University.
