‘We needed to turn up’: Voss says Blues didn’t know what hit them

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Adelaide: Carlton’s powerlessness to arrest Adelaide’s savage early onslaught, followed by prolonged bouts of inefficiency at the other end, left the Blues bearing a big black eye to open Gather Round.

Thursday night’s 56-point belting at a heaving Adelaide Oval was virtually sealed inside the opening 27 minutes, by which time the Crows had already slammed home eight goals to Carlton’s solitary goal.

It was the Blues’ first defeat of 2023, the destructive manner of which coach Michael Voss didn’t see coming.

“I thought our preparation was really good,” he said. “We had a great opportunity to kick off that [Gather Round] weekend with this game, so there was going to be extra focus and scrutiny … and we were looking forward to that.

“You can have quarters where that can happen, but you can generally hold in a bit better than that.

“When the whips are cracking, you’ve got to be there at the start, and we just weren’t.”

Carlton’s Harry McKay is caught out in Thursday night’s loss to Adelaide.Credit: AFL Photos

Carlton finished ahead in clearances (42-37) and inside-50s (53-51), but were never as damaging or clean as Adelaide in either of those areas.

“Going inside 50 we were completely inefficient and every time they [the Crows] went in, it felt they were going to score,” Voss said.

“We just couldn’t turn the tap off when it came to them scoring inside 50.

“We tip our hat to our opposition, they were too good. We needed to turn up better than that.”

The Blues were dealt a body blow 10 minutes before the bounce when key defender Mitch McGovern withdrew with calf tightness.

They then lost ruckman Marc Pittonet to a gashed eye before quarter-time before rebounding defender Adam Saad, who endured a rare downer, sat out the closing stages with hamstring tightness.

The only positives for Carlton were superstar Sam Walsh’s return from back surgery (team-high 25 disposals) and human glove Nic Newman adding Izak Rankine to his swelling list of victims, which already includes Toby Greene.

“He [Walsh] has been a complete professional over a period of time and can go do that when he hasn’t played a game of footy at all,” Voss said.

“I thought Newy’s role on Rankine was exceptional. We just didn’t win enough of those battles.“

Adelaide skipper Jordan Dawson and engine room heartbeat Rory Laird combined for 69 disposals, 16 clearances and 15 tackles, while taking turns in torching Carlton skipper Patrick Cripps, who admitted “they [the Crows] punched us in the nose and got the head start”.

Adelaide handled the occasion and their opposition with eye-catching aplomb.

The only member of the home team to become remotely rattled was coach Matthew Nicks, who became starstruck with inaugural Australian Idol winner and Crows ambassador Guy Sebastian in the rooms pre-game.

Carlton’s George Hewett and the Crows’ Taylor Walker go head to head.Credit: Getty Images

“We had Guy Sebastian in the rooms – even I lost my composure for five or 10 minutes,” Nicks laughed. “There were photos and autographs … I do love him.

“You just don’t know what sort of energy you can burn in a lead into a game like this.

“But our players remained focused. They balanced their intensity with their composure.

“Thursday night footy, with every single football person in the state, there was a fair bit going on and our group handled it so maturely.”

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