‘The urgency is real’; Bewildered Voss slams another Blues fade out amid Carlton’s crisis of confidence

After star defender Jacob Weitering conceded questions must be asked about Carlton’s mental toughness, Blues coach Michael Voss alluded to a form of identity crisis given the manner with which they were trounced by Collingwood after halftime on Thursday night.

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Carlton was belted around the ball after the main break in their 17-point loss to Collingwood at the MCG to the bewilderment of Voss, who lamented; “That’s not us. We have a standard that we play to and we didn’t meet that tonight.”

The Blues have slumped to 0-4 heading into Gather Round after conceding a halftime lead for the fourth week in succession, this time against a club fielding the oldest ever team.

Collingwood’s average age was 28 years and 275 days, which surpassed the previous held by Geelong in the 2022 grand final, but they had all the dash and run in a second half in which they turned a four-point deficit at halftime into a win far easier than the margin suggests.

Voss, who acknowledged the Carlton coaching staff had to own the Blues dismal start as much as the players, described what unfolded as “completely unacceptable”, but the problem for his side is that it also happened against Richmond, Hawthorn and the Bulldogs.

“Coming into halftime (we were) all pretty clear on what we needed to be able to get done,” he said.

“Certainly the way we played the first half gave us encouragement to suggest that we could continue. There were certainly no signs to suggest that that was going to drop off. But, ultimately, the third quarter was unacceptable.

“And we talk about this game and about styles, but the reality is that the game is played at the contest first and we absolutely were disappointing in that area in the third quarter.

“So we lost territory (and) couldn’t get ball flow, (which made it) hard to defend the way we wanted to. The ball would come out, we’d lose the contest and the ball would go back in.

“You go back to the stoppage (and) they were cleaner, they were tougher around the ball and they dialled up the pressure and we didn’t handle it.

“So that’ll be something that we’ll review strongly. We’ve already had a really honest chat about that within the rooms. But that is not us.”

While the Blues were arguably lucky to lead at halftime given Collingwood’s inaccuracy in the second term, there were encouraging signs from players including Sam Walsh to that point.

But the Magpies put the clamps on the star midfielder in the third term as Collingwood’s prime mover Nick Daicos began to win more of the ball courtesy of a dominant rucking display from Darcy Cameron, who outpointed influential Blue Tom de Koning.

Trailing by four points at the main break, Collingwood coach Craig McRae said he stressed to his players the lamentable record Carlton has after halftime this season and the importance of maintaining pressure on the pre-season flag fancy.

Carlton had been outscored 8.19 (67) to 24.12 (156) in the first three rounds after the main break leading into a Thursday night clash against their arch rivals that drew more than 82,000 to the MCG.

What followed was an avalanche, with Collingwood kicking 4.6 (30) while holding their rivals to a solitary behind in a third term mauling that, given the conditions made scoring difficult, was even more decisive than what the scoreboard indicated.

Weitering, who spoke to the Seven network after the match about the Blues mental toughness and the challenging position the club now finds itself in, was part of a defence that was under siege given the thrashing the club received in the middle of the ground.

And it is that aspect, Voss said, that is simply unacceptable given Carlton is usually so strong around stoppages. But he believes the Blues, which face West Coast and North Melbourne over the next fortnight, have the character to rebound and resurrect their season.

“I think what we do here is we collectively own where we are. It’s on us. There’s no doubt about that,” he said.

“As a football club, I think what we do really well as a club and internally is we support one another. We see problems and we solve them together. That’s the only thing I know about this football club.

“So regardless of what gets said (elsewhere) and regardless of what is actually happening, I think that’s a strength of our club and that’s what we’re leaning to this week.”

Voss would not be drawn on when Harry McKay would return, saying he will not provide a “weekly dialogue” on the absent forward, who has not played since Rd 1.

Carlton will also be without Lachie Cowan in the short-term, with the 20-year-old substituted from the match in the first term after injuring a hamstring.

Given Carlton has a nine day break until the clash against West Coast at Adelaide Oval next Saturday, the Blues will take a couple of days away from the club in a preordained break.

But the Carlton coach is in doubt that things need to click quickly for the Blues to have any hope of playing in September for the third season in succession.

“The guys will have to take a rest (and) you’ve got to take those opportunities within the season (because) you don’t get many of them. It’s an important time, after a month, to get the recovery, and then we’ll get … back together on Sunday,” he said.

“Now we’re pretty clear about what we’re going to be able to chase, but we’ve got to make some progression pretty fast, so the urgency is real, absolutely.”