Chapter 1: What were the highlights of Carlton's performance at the Gabba?
the award-winning crunch time around the body right to the line goal yeah Here they come. That's a bit better. Send it back inside. Forward 50. High ball. That's what he does. Mackay almost. Drips. Toe poke. McGovern laying off son. On his left foot.
Picks the goal.
McGovern kicks it.
It's five in a row for the Blues. Harry Mackay on the runway. Harry from just inside the 15. Don't mind it. Don't mind it at all. I smell an upset. Six in a row to the Blues. Harry on the board.
They're believing. Carol Lowe drilling ball. This is unbelievable. Will Haywood marks 35 out directly in front. Drop punt's on its way. And he's put it through. Told you. So what is going on? Holy crap. Haywood's kicked his third. And Carlton have got it within 10 points. Hoisted high. No one there. Saad takes the mark. Oh, look at him go. Kicks the ground running. Turns it over.
Neil gets the crumb.
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Chapter 2: How did Carlton's second half compare to their first half?
And that is that. It's all over now. I was relieved after that. I was getting a bit nervous. Not overly happy with the performance, but sometimes you just got to find a way to win, right?
Beaten, but this time not defeated. Carlton find the requisite fight, reversing their mode and maybe even their fortunes in a spirited fight back at the Gabba.
Opportunity now. Goes back towards Artie Jones with a handball. Ball's alive. Took it out. Hard-by's head play. Oh, there's a point. There's a point. 30 seconds. Another heartbreak for Port Adelaide on the back of the showdown. Siren sounds. Wow. Dogslip to find another name. Port Adelaide completely gutted, completely shattered. Yeah, tonight was horrible.
The first half especially, trying to be too cute with the footy, the conditions obviously were slippery, just a really bad night. It's a good word, proud. There was some integrity in our performance, it was a bit messy and so to hang in there and after you drop four in a row you're almost learning how to win again.
Bevo's fine line between pleasure and pain. The Bulldogs nail the two-minute drill to rescue the points and return to the winners list while Port Adelaide laments another narrow defeat.
Hand pass to Voss, looking inboard, Fredericks job to kick the goal, and kick the goal he did! Fremantle within touching distance now. 54,100 in the house and they get the clearance. Fremantle, Jackson long, Young flies, Tracy the crumb, oh he should have handed it off. He goes to Amos. He'll put him in front. He will put him in front. Morphy read onto the ricochet.
Kicks to an open forward set up. Amos knocked it on for Frederick. Might he go again? Frederick takes the snap. Oh, the Dockers. Warping time.
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Chapter 3: What role did key players like Cripps and Mackay play in the game?
All rights. Goal after goal after goal. If they take a mark, it's over. Young pushing the bat surely. Pushing the bat surely. To put it beyond doubt, Oh, to be young. Oh, to be a crowd fan. This crowd is about to erupt. That is one hell of a win for Fremantle. Last five goals of the game in a withering burst. They run down the hooks. and plant their flag in 2026.
And Fremantle win the credential tester, overwhelming Hawthorne in a fascinating high-end battle that lit the fuse on the weekend of footy. This is the Round 9 edition of Crunch Time. Three games with so much to discuss and we are fully loaded to do just that. Crunch time for the all-new Ford Ranger Wolf Track V6 and Azzito, Azzito brushless power tools built to work. Azzito, do you.
I'm very excited to say we have brought them together in the Adelaide studio to thrash it out. Cain Corns and Ken Hinkley together. Hello, dear Cain.
Well, with the old coach in the studio, Gerard, how good is this? Doesn't get any better for a Saturday morning, a beautiful Saturday morning in Adelaide, it must be said, as we sit here in 1 King William Street and watch the people drive by. But pretty good round of footy, albeit, yeah, as Josh Carr said, not the best spectacle at Friday night. We'll get to that with Kenny shortly.
But at the Gabba, I know you were there. It was an interesting performance from the Blues. But just great to be here, Kenny.
Yes, it is great to be here with you, Cain. He walked in this morning, Gerard and Tom, and he said, I'm just trying to get my kids through school. And I laughed. I thought, you're kidding me, aren't you? Mr Everywhere is just trying to survive. I couldn't believe it after reading the article about the new three-bedroom pad that he's got going over in Melbourne. He's on fire, this man.
I'm just in the room with greatness this morning, and I'm just so honoured.
There's some off-air conversations and there's some on-air conversations. I feel like I've got to be very careful with this man and what he said off-air that then ends up on-air.
All I'm going to do is stay out of the way today. I'm in it, Tom Morris, to find out whether Kenny's glare forces Kane to take a short step at any stage.
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Chapter 4: What were the critical moments that shifted the game's momentum?
That's all I'm in it for the next two hours. I can tell you, Kenny's glare has forced me to take a short step once or twice the last few weeks. So I wouldn't be surprised if Kane had to as well. I'm happy to stay out of it as well, Gerard. But there is some injury news around the place. Tim English is the biggest concern for the Western Bulldogs.
So his concussion last night, he failed a scat test post-game, so he'll miss next week's match for the Western Bulldogs against Carlton. Now, he hasn't been concussed technically since 2022, but there were concerns on the eve of the 2024 season that he was having some serious issues with his brain and concussion-related symptoms.
This was later determined to be migraine-related symptoms, which was good news. Nevertheless... This is at least his seventh concussion as an AFL player, and the Western Bulldogs will take a very cautious approach on this entire thing. There's nothing straightforward when it comes to these players with repeat concussions, is there? Nothing at all.
So there's the emotional side of it and the personal side of it, and then, okay, if he's missing, what do the Western Bulldogs do? Because he's such an important player for them as well.
Let's get into it. We'll come back through the events of Port Adelaide and the Bulldogs as we go. But we started the Gabba. At halftime, it felt like the Voss era would probably end Sunday or Monday. For all that the Blues had been through, there was no pressure. It was a wretched night to lose your clearance game entirely.
And they looked at the mercy of the Lions that it was going to be such a big number that it might just become impossible to absorb. And then by reverse engineering, if you think about if they played their first half of the second half, our conversation would be exactly the same as it has been all year.
Instead, they play their first half as their second half and they get meritorious points for the fight, which was highly commendable. It was highly admirable, Kenny. How do we make sense of what transpired last night?
Well, I sat there and did exactly what you just taught. The reverse Blues I put down was my first note. The reverse Blues, is it still the same Blues or are they just still a half a team Blues? I don't know.
But what I did take notice of myself, Kane, and you're probably better qualified because I was watching the Port and the Dogs game much more closely, but the two highest rated players on the ground for Carlton in the second half, and I think this is what they've been crying out for, Cripps and McKay. Mm-hmm. They're the two best players for them in the second half.
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Chapter 5: How does Michael Voss's coaching impact Carlton's performance?
He had 21 disposals. And I go, oh, perfect, perfect. Because now he has shown that he's got some value. Patrick Cripps was terrific. Mainly, you know, he still is. He dumps kick perfectly. Far too often long inside forward 50 for me, Cripps, but I guess that's never been his go. But he was great. Walsh, 13 score involvements. And Will Haywood, you go, well, that's best.
Will Haywood's best game for Carlton that I've seen. He was everywhere. Will Haywood, his three goals last night, high up the ground was terrific. So I think it's slightly different than the last few weeks because of those key players that...
essentially dominated the game in the second half but what weight do you put on the first half because jared you're right i was doing my notes going this is this is 100 plus i was seeing brisbane score from center bounce i was seeing them score from forward stoppage and i was seeing them transition the ball from their back 50 with no pressure at all 15 tackles in the first half from carlton and there's some big names that didn't lay a single tackle they they
They just, they look broken. And you spoke about it pre-game. Like, is this going to be a Carlton team that is broken? What resistance is there going to be? Well, it looked like they were. So I didn't see the second half coming. Didn't feel like they were ever going to win, but it's really difficult to digest. And how do we sum it up?
How much criticism goes in the first half versus how much relief was there from what they produced in the second?
So the answer might be in what comes next. What does the second half lead to? Because coming out of the St Kilda game, that felt like rock bottom, and then they played the first half like they were at rock bottom. So Michael Voss gave the slightest hint in his press conference that he was very forceful at halftime, and it was probably the last time that he got to be that, Kenny.
If he couldn't rouse a response with that, it was probably over, wasn't it?
Yeah, I think so. Look, everyone's been talking about it being over now for a number of weeks and it's just a matter of, you know, unfortunate for me, the narrative becomes when. It's not if it's over, it's when it's over. And I think that's still, I think that's probably absolutely real for Carlton and for Vossi. But, you know, first half, we, you know, it could have been over at halftime.
Like it could have been walking and he could have walked out almost in disgust with the effort that was coming from his team and what he was trying to get them to do. And I think... importantly for him. And that's the biggest thing I took, that their leadership decided to come to the party a little bit for the first time this year in a critical moment.
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Chapter 6: What are the implications of Carlton's performance for their season?
This is over. And for Michael's sake, his leadership group absolutely stood behind him for the first time and said, okay, We've got your back, boss. We'll take care of this. We'll show some fight and we'll give you something to be proud of. And I'm really pleased that they were able to do that.
So there's no need to hasten a decision if... the group responds like that, if he still has the group and he's still able to prompt something, then there's no need to rush. There's this desperation to get to the end, which was starting to look inevitable. So can that be consistent?
Yeah, it can, well, maybe, but my issue with this, if you know what's going on and you know this is over, Why are you waiting? Why are you putting Michael through this? Is it just to protect the club? And is it for him to keep taking the wax? I'm not sure that's fair either. But I know he's paid to do his job and everything else. Everyone will jump up and down and say.
But it seems to me that everyone's saying it's done and it's over. And Carlton certainly haven't denied that. And they've got to make a decision, I think, based on Michael's health as much as the health of their footy club at the moment. It's like, give the bloke a break. And you lived that.
Yeah, I have lived that. Put you out of your misery was almost how I felt last year watching it. And Josh Carr didn't want to take it at that stage. But it was going one way and that was official. So speak to me about what you would have liked to have happened in hindsight.
Well, no, this is the difference, I think, Cain. The difference is the succession plan, which I agreed to in February, and I was okay with that. And I knew the challenges of the year ahead. So for me to want to step away, that was never the case.
My job and my responsibility and my effort for Port Adelaide, because they'd been very good to me, was to fill that year out and make sure I did my best to coach in the moment. But it got rough. I got rough, but I coached in the moment. And Josh, this is the difference people don't understand who sit outside it. The succession plan allowed Josh to prepare really clearly for the upcoming season.
We had players who needed to have things repaired and done and surgery, and they took them all out of the way. So I was there in some ways protecting Josh. what might be going to happen.
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Chapter 7: How do injuries affect Carlton's strategy moving forward?
And that was a lot of losses at the back end of the year, which didn't really sit great for me as far as I'm a winner, want to win, and didn't get that opportunity. But, you know, I did my job for the club and for the club to be able to be in a better position at the end of the year than could have been the case.
Like if we got to where we were around, like today, where Voss is at, round 10 or whatever it is. And you're 1-8. 1-8. You have to sack me. Yeah. You have to get rid of me because I'd been there, you know, 12 years. So that was ā whereas the agreement to go there at the start of the year was, hey, this is going to stop any of that noise in some way. I'm going to have to carry a bit of that.
And I'm okay. I can cope with that. And Josh was going to get on with the business of getting ready. And I didn't think it was an absolute disaster. I was happy to play my role in that for the Port Adelaide Football Club who'd looked after me.
Were you completely removed from future decisions? Yes. So this is the other thing with Michael Voss. That's the difference.
That's what I'm saying. That's the difference. Josh knew what he was doing. I knew what I was doing. I was sort of, in some ways, I was on three-quarter time. I didn't have to do all the job that necessarily had to be done.
So how long? Often would list management sit for, is it once a month? Does Vossi go to list management? I guess what we're sort of saying and the awkwardness around that, if there's an inevitability about his role and what we're all thinking is going to happen, then to your point, it's just a brutal position for him to have to keep fronting up in.
Yeah, well, that's what I'm saying. The difference between my outcomes and Michael's outcomes is that there was an agreement in place that we knew who was taking care of the business. Michael's now getting ā is he getting asked the questions like I would have been getting asked about, hey, who do you think? We're interested in this player, player X or player Y. We're in this conversation.
Do you want to bring him in? Because Michael's not deciding the game plan for next year. He's not deciding the style of football that we're going to play. And I'm sure those conversations are much more difficult when you're in their situation right now. He is up for the fight.
I know that he's insulated himself from the outside conversation. So he's largely oblivious to the idea that it's when, not if.
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Chapter 8: What can Carlton learn from this match for future games?
And he has had a really stoic mindset around, I'm not coaching for my job. And he was asked that question again at the end last night. He's been firm on that from before the season started.
through to now is he has identified the clear purpose of what he's coaching for and the second half was proof of that he demanded probably as forcefully as he ever has a response at half time and for whatever reason it got through and he got it
The man's full of courage. That's why he'll stand up front and he'll be stoic around the way he approaches everything. His job will be getting their absolute best. And that's what Michael will bring every time. I have worked with him, luckily enough, for a long period of time. He will bring his absolute best until he is born competitive.
He's going to keep going until you tell him he's not needing to go anymore. And then he might take a decent rest, I reckon. But I just find it really tough on him to have to sit through it if the decision's made.
So you can't do anything, Kane, unless your best players perform. You just can't.
You're hostage to your best players. Exactly. Particularly when you're not flushed with great depth as it is anyway. So you're so reliant on a key group of five. And the key group of five aren't to the level that they were three years ago. I used to think their best five was as good as anyone, but Wiedering's not that... Cripps is not that anymore. Walsh is still at a good level.
Mackay is not that anymore. So, I mean, it's very difficult. And then when you've made the decisions that they've made for the future of the list, which I think probably is going to age okay with Tassie coming in, provided they nail their draft picks and get the trade period and the draft right. He was always going to have a difficult task this year, but it just can't be 1-8. That's the problem.
At some point, you're going to have to win. And you're going to have to win against teams that you should be beating. St Kilda, you should be beating or at least highly competitive against these sides. So no one expected them to go to Brisbane and win. So that was a birdie last night, that performance, because of...
But it's when you come up against Richmond and St Kilda and Melbourne and Port Adelaide, these are the games that you're going to have to win. And unfortunately, if they'd won three wins, it's a different conversation than you having had one-one in the way that they've done it. But you're right, it does buy them a bit of time if they're going to be as competitive as that last night.
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