JACOB Weitering believes that learning to win is a skill, and that he and his Carlton teammates need to harness it to progress to the next level.

Weitering was Carlton’s star performer in Sunday’s defeat to the Western Bulldogs, producing seven contested intercept marks in a showing which also yielded four coaches’ votes.

However, he said he and the rest of the back-line group were disappointed with the last quarter which saw the Blues concede six unanswered goals.

He said the debrief from the playing group was one where they had to take responsibility and respond after getting the team in a winning position midway through the third term.

“Our centre-bounce work wasn’t great and our midfielders acknowledged that. At the end of the day, as defenders, we’ve got to take responsibility as well,” Weitering told SEN’s Whateley.

“We’re kicking a score but at the moment, we’re getting scored on.

“It has been a bit of a theme for us. It’s probably been mostly a three-quarter effort and we haven’t been able to put together four quarters.”

Citing the previous examples of Geelong (2007-11), Hawthorn (2013-15), Richmond (2017-present) and St Kilda (2008-2010), Weitering said the team needed to learn to win games of football, compared to being in winning positions but not coming away with the four points.

Looking back to the Club’s 2018 season, Weitering maintained that the Club and playing group was on the right path, particularly given a stat which demonstrates that the Blues aren’t that far away while also providing a constant source of frustration.

“It’s not that we haven’t been in games. There is a stat going around that we’ve got the lowest losing margin [17 points] of any team in the last two years,” he said.

“It’s probably not a good stat to have, but at the same time you can flick it to a positive. It means we’re in games and we’re not getting blown out.

“But at the same time, that may be us being in front by a couple of goals and then losing it like we did on the weekend.

“Three years ago, we were 60 or 70 points away from wins. Now, we’re a couple of goals away, if not being being in front and losing it just at the siren. We’ve got to finish off games now.”

When asked whether he was one who heard the external noise, Weitering said he’d be “naive” to say he was oblivious to it.

However, he said the only way to stop the talk was producing on the field, and there was no greater test to prove themselves than this Sunday at the MCG against the undefeated Melbourne.

“It’s always out there: you walk into a cafe and it’s on the front page, you go on your phone and there’s a feed of FOX Footy or whatever it might be,” he said.

“It’s hard not to hear it, but you do have to filter out a lot of it.

“At the end of the day, it’s David Teague and the players going out there each week. We’ve got to do a job, for each other and for the Club.”