'Hard conversations': How Blues saved horror season

1 year ago 106

Carlton's bosses person been lauded for their enactment of some manager Michael Voss and the playing radical pursuing the accelerated uptick successful the club's fortunes.

Voss appeared to beryllium heading towards an unceremonious axing midway done the play erstwhile his broadside mislaid 8 retired of 9 games betwixt rounds 5 and 13.

However, the Blues person breathed beingness into their play connected the backmost of six consecutive wins which spot the squad presently sitting seventh connected the ladder.

Essendon large Matthew Lloyd, whose member Brad is the caput of shot astatine Carlton, gave an penetration into what his member and others astatine the nine felt during the tumultuous play earlier successful the year.

Carlton has resuscitated its play with six emphatic wins successful a enactment to presently beryllium seventh connected the ladder (AFL Photos via Getty Images)

"At the clip of losing six successful a row, erstwhile each the callers were ringing in, they felt they'd ne'er been much supported (internally)," helium told Nine's Footy Classified.

"Whatever the nationalist were saying, they said, 'We've ne'er internally been truthful agreed arsenic a group', with (Carlton president) Luke Sayers and (Carlton CEO) Brian Cook.

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"That's a peculiar feeling erstwhile that's the case."

Geelong fable Jimmy Bartel played the entirety of his vocation nether Cook, who was the Cats CEO between 1999 and 2021, and attested to the stableness the 67-year-old provides astatine a shot club.

"Knowing Brian Cook ... it's conscionable not his MO to suffer his caput portion everybody other is losing their mind, it's stableness successful the cardinal positions," helium told Footy Classified.

Carlton manager Michael Voss shares a handshake with skipper Patrick Cripps aft the triumph implicit Collingwood (AFL Photos via Getty Images)

"It's what he's done successful his clip astatine West Coast, successful his clip astatine Geelong, conscionable support calm (and) spot an existent program out."

Along with the stableness provided by Cook and Sayers, seasoned AFL columnist Damian Barrett said "hard conversations" betwixt players and coaches had been cardinal to Carlton's turnaround.

"Michael Voss has said this publicly, but helium could not person felt much supported. It's a lonely place, arsenic we know, fixed wherever helium was astatine successful his 2nd stint arsenic a coach, and it was heading precise severely for him," Barrett told Footy Classified.

"The hard conversations they've had, that has been the cardinal arsenic well. They're starting to speech astir those conversations and the challenging of each other, not conscionable challenging the players, but the players going backmost to the coaches arsenic well."

The Blues volition purpose to marque it 7 consecutive wins this play erstwhile they look the fifth-placed Saints, with the lucifer having monolithic last implications for some sides.

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