‘That hurts’: Teague retains the faith despite Carlton’s ‘worst’ loss of the season

Carlton coach David Teague branded a finals destroying 39-point loss to bottom-of-the-ladder North Melbourne on Saturday as his side’s worst of the season but insists they are on the right path despite a dismal performance at Marvel Stadium.

The Blues needed to win their remaining five matches of the home-and-away campaign to have a chance of returning to September action for the first time since 2013 but that fell apart in a shocking third term behind closed doors.

A shattered Ed Curnow leaves the field after his 200th match.Credit:AFL Photos

In what was to prove the worst quarter under Teague’s tenure, the Kangaroos tormented their opponents with their run and carry through the middle of the ground, booting seven goals to nil, to turn a two-point half-time deficit into a match-leading 38-point buffer by the final break.

This was only the Kangaroos’ fourth win of the season, while the Blues — a team club bosses had expected to at least seriously challenge for the top eight — have only seven.

The Blues’ football-department is already under a major review by Matthew Pavlich, Geoff Walsh and Graham Lowe, and Teague’s position – despite having a year to run on his contract – is not guaranteed.

“I have absolute belief in this group. I think we have seen some growth over the last period and today was really disappointing because it didn’t follow that trend. That hurts the playing group, the coaching staff, our fans, (that) we didn’t continue but, over the longer journey and where we are going, I have absolute belief in the group,” Teague said.

“I have belief in the people we have at our footy club that will take us forward. I will keep saying it — we have got some work to do, we are not good enough yet, clearly, that’s why we are not playing finals. But, going forward, this group will play finals, I am very confident of that.”

Asked if this was the Blues’ worst performance of the year, Teague replied: “I think that is absolutely fair.” It was the Blues’ heaviest loss of 2021, topping the 36-point defeat to Greater Western Sydney in round 14.

Teague bemoaned wasted opportunities in front of goal, poor ball use, and ball movement that was often too quick which hurt on the rebound as defenders could not regain their position in time.

“(For) whatever reason, I thought there was a slight shift in our mindset. We weren’t at our ruthless best,” he said.

By mindset, Teague said he felt players had over-reached in “trying to do something extra to help the side” beyond “doing the basics well”.

David Teague says he has not lost faith in the Blues.Credit:AFL photos

The third-quarter run-on was a repeat of the issues of earlier in the season, and the Blues have now conceded more than 100 points eight times this season.

The absence of injured star forward Harry McKay (toe), who is leading the Coleman Medal hunt, hurt but captain Patrick Cripps, rarely given time as a key forward, went to the goal-square and booted three goals. Sam Walsh had 27 disposals but couldn’t rally his side while Paddy Dow continued his resurgence with 24

Eddie Betts hurt his ankle landing in a marking contest, had only two touches and finished on the bench.

Carlton are scheduled to face St Kilda in round 20.

For the Kangaroos, this was their third win in five weeks, and the improvement under coach David Noble is obvious. Key forward Nick Larkey booted a career-high seven goals and has 34 goals for the season.

“He has been really consistent since the bye. He has been terrific. Nick would probably say there was some pretty good ball delivery down there … I was really pleased for him to get some reward today,” Noble said.

Tarryn Thomas, with four goals as a midfielder-forward, is shaping as a match-winning star.

“One of his tasks was to spend a bit of time with Sam (Walsh). We wanted to give him that experience to play against another, and other, elite midfielders going forward,” Noble said.

“He is a young guy learning that you have got to play the game out for four quarters. When he went forward today, I thought his active movement down there was really, really good.”

Veteran Ben Cunnington and fellow midfield bull Luke Davies-Uniacke were robust, while the Magpies must continue to regret losing Jaidyn Stephenson.

The Kangaroos are now slated to face Geelong on Saturday, and have an opportunity over the final month to avoid finishing at the foot of the ladder.

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