SENIOR Coach David Teague is backing his players in to respond this Saturday night at GMHBA Stadium.
Carlton made two changes at the selection table last night, with Jack Silvagni and Tom Williamson replacing Darcy Lang and the injured Nic Newman respectively.
Following the inconsistency of last week, Teague said the onus was on all involved at Ikon Park to find a solution: starting tomorrow night against Geelong.
Speaking to media, Teague said the clear focus was on four-quarter football.
“We need to be able to handle it, stand up in the contest and be stronger,” Teague said.
“If you look at raw numbers, our tackling just hasn’t been at the level. We need to get our pressure up early in games.”
A series of stats reported by AFL.com.au earlier in the week showed the standard of football the Blues are producing after quarter time.
Teague said Carlton was in need of a circuit-breaker to get itself out of the worrying trend.
“It’s going to take one quarter where we start well and we get that belief going,” he said.
“After quarter time, we’re playing some good football. We need to play for four quarters and compete for four quarters.”
A closer look at last night’s team announcement showed that two young Blues are doing all the right things in the early stages of their careers.
"He's someone who has been focussing on his forward pressure... I think he had more tackles than anyone on the ground."
— Carlton FC (@CarltonFC) June 16, 2020
See who impressed Daniel O'Keefe in Saturday's reserves scratch match.#OwnTheFuture
“Both Sam Philp and Josh Honey are in the squad of 26. They’re not far away,” he said.
“We’ve got a few guys that are pushing for selection at the moment… Tom De Koning is back this week and Zac Fisher isn’t far away.”
