One down, 22 to go.
The first eight games of the 2021 AFL season didn’t just provide us with our initial set of winners and losers, it raised another series of questions.
With each of the league’s 18 clubs set to do battle again this weekend, we attempted to answer the major issues facing their playing lists and coaches alike.
Carlton
How do they tackle Collingwood’s fleet of small forwards?
Despite their first up loss to Richmond last Thursday night, many tipsters and plenty of punters have the Blues as favourites for their clash against old rivals Collingwood.
The major quandary facing Carlton’s shot caller David Teague will be how to nullify Collingwood’s numerous avenues to goal, even if these names have failed to produced bumper harvests of late.
On paper, Teague is set to start with a back six of Sam Docherty, Jacob Weitering, Adam Saad, Lachie Plowman, Liam Jones and Tom Williamson. With Weitering and Jones set to tackle Collingwood’s talls of Cox and Mihocek, the remaining quartet will be tasked with marking Jamie Elliott, Josh Daicos, Josh Thomas and the dangerous Jordan De Goey.
As mentioned in an earlier iteration of this column, Carlton’s greatest strength from their back six also poses them with their greatest weakness. With their half-back line seeking to shift up the ground offensively, it theoretically leaves their direct opponents open on the counter.
Last week, Carlton conceded 10 goals from players that could conceivably considered the direct opponents of the Blues’ brigade of small defenders, something that can’t have pleased the bespectacled Teague.
In their only head-to-head clash last season, Carlton allowed Collingwood’s offensive smalls to slot six of their 10 goals – or 40% of their total for you layman’s – something that would have also had Teague seething.
As previously mentioned, the Magpies’ small forward brigade is yet to set the world on fire of late, but as there are many names that can hurt Carlton’s chances, ‘The Teague Train’ cannot afford anything that remotely resembles a passenger in his defensive 50 this week.
