CARLTON held off a strong St Kilda challenge to secure a hard-fought Round 6 VFL victory, with coach Damian Truslove praising his side’s composure and maturity.

Truslove highlighted the importance of his side’s fast start and their ability to stay composed when momentum shifted. Despite St Kilda’s surge through the middle of the game, the Blues held firm late, relying on experience and decision-making to secure the result.

Key takeaways from the win:

“Our first quarter got us off to a great start: we were quite dominant and our ball movement was exciting. St Kilda then stepped up their pressure in the second and third quarters and came back at us.

“What was pleasing in the end is we held on for the win after some maturity from our senior boys, and at the right time, making the right decisions.

“It was exciting early, and then we knew they'd probably always fight back, because they're a quality team. But in the end, I thought we were really composed when we needed to be. We attacked the game at different times when we needed to: there was some real maturity.”

Key aspects towards the win:

“For me, it was setting the game up early: our pressure, and then late in the game, making really smart decisions with the ball in hand when they were coming at us.

“I thought we were fairly composed. And then we used the skinny part of the ground rather than trying to attack too hard late, and we hung on.”

His thoughts on the fast start:

“It was pleasing because we put a lot of focus into our starts, because we’ve probably been slow to start earlier in the year. The ability to win the ball, take it forward, and then defend the ground was excellent.

“I thought we kept our game plan really simple early and it was all based around pressure and territory. We did that well, even late in the game, we made some really good decisions with the ball in hand I thought.”

On some of the standout players:

“We had a few guys who played important roles. You look through the midfield, Campbell Chesser and George Hewett were really good.

“We saw some, some really good stuff from Hudson O’Keeffe at times as our skipper, some critical contested wins in the air and then down back.

“I thought that Lewis Young had a better second half, Jordan Boyd has been consistent down there with Billy Wilson. Blake Acres continues to be consistent on the wing.”

On Cody Walker’s debut:

“He got better as a game as the game went on. He was quite nervous early, and then the third quarter had a huge influence on the game when we were under huge pressure.

“He swung the momentum our way around playing on ball and just getting territory. It's exciting to have him out there.”

On focus shifting to next week against Casey:

“Casey is powerful playing at home. They're really hard to beat down there. So again, just try to double down on playing our system and our brand for longer, not having lapses in the game, and continue to change the momentum with some of our smart ball use.”

Bailey Walsh 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.