‘We’ve never lost belief’: Cerra thriving as improved Blues eye crucial clash with Dockers

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Key points

• Adam Cerra gathered 27 disposals to star again as Carlton thumped Hawthorn by 60 points.
• The Blues have won back-to-back matches for the first time since rounds two to four.
• Cerra is averaging a career-most 27.3 disposals in his second season at Carlton.

Star Carlton midfielder Adam Cerra is bracing for a significant challenge against his former side Fremantle in Perth on Sunday as his purple patch of form continues.

Cerra was outstanding at the weekend in the Blues’ 10-goal thrashing of Hawthorn, amassing 27 disposals, six clearances, nine score involvements and seven tackles.

Carlton had plenty to celebrate against Hawthorn at the MCG on Sunday.Credit: AFL Photos

The 23-year-old, who is the favourite to win Carlton’s club champion award, has dipped below 20 disposals just once this season and is averaging a career-high 27.3 touches – up from 23 – as he finds his groove in his second year in navy blue.

“I’ve found my fit in this team really well at the moment, and I’ve tried focusing on others rather than myself. We like to have a selfless mindset in our team,” Cerra told The Age.

“I think for some players it takes a bit more time after they move to a new club. I made a lot of ground in my connection with the team last year, but I probably wasn’t delivering to my expectation of what I wanted to do.

“It’s pleasing to put some good performances together, but the main task is winning games and investing in what we’re trying to do here with my teammates. I’ve still got a long way to go, same as the group, and we just want to work together to reach it.”

Cerra has also set a goal to develop his leadership behind the scenes, and believes his greater investment in his teammates has boosted his individual performances and benefitted the club.

The victory over the Hawks gave the Blues their first back-to-back wins since a string of three successes from rounds two to four. They are now only six points adrift of eighth-placed Essendon with eight matches to come.

Both Cerra and coach Michael Voss stressed they were not thinking about finals, but Carlton’s ability to hold Hawthorn goalless to half-time showed they are moving in the right direction.

“We’ve never lost belief. A lot of boys have said how strong we are inside our four walls, and we stuck together [through that tough period], so I think it’s really just reward for effort,” Cerra said.

Adam Cerra faced his former team Fremantle for the first time last year.Credit: Getty Images

“We always believed in our process and we, as players, accepted that we had to get better, individually and as a team. The last couple of weeks there’s been reward for that, but we’ve got to keep the same mentality. We’ve got to keep getting better. We all know that.

“We pride ourselves on being a good defensive team, and even that month when we weren’t winning much, we were defending really well, but we just couldn’t score, so it’s nice we were able to do that the past two weeks.”

This weekend’s trip west will be Cerra’s second clash with the Dockers since they granted his wish to return to Melbourne in a trade package centred on the Blues’ pick six at the 2021 draft.

Fremantle won by 35 points on that occasion on their way to a September berth, and there are significant stakes up for grabs this time around.

Carlton would leapfrog the Dockers on the ladder if they consigned them to a fourth defeat in the past five games.

“It’s always a challenge going to play out west. I’ve been on the other end of it, and you feel like it’s a real home advantage,” Cerra said.

“It will be good to get back over there. It will be a tough game, but we pride ourselves on being able to play anywhere.

“We played West Coast over there earlier in the year and played really well. We also went up to Sydney and played the Giants and played well, so it’s just another challenge for us, and we’ll take it on.”

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