North Melbourne has produced an incredible final-quarter comeback to register their first-ever Good Friday win over Carlton by 10 points at Marvel Stadium.
Michael Voss’ Blues gave up a 22-point lead at three-quarter time to lose once again from in front, with the Kangaroos’ 14.12 (96) trumping their 13.8 (86) at full time.
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It was a Harry Sheezel goal with less than four minutes to play that gave North Melbourne back the lead for the first time since the second stanza, before Jy Simpkin dribbled the sealer through an open goal in the final minute.
Small forward Francis Evans had a chance to swing the lead back the Blues’ way after Sheezel’s major, but failed to convert a free kick given for high contact.
“That’s their worst nightmare,” Melbourne great Garry Lyon said of Carlton during the final quarter.
The win for Alastair Clarkson’s Roos put to bed their record of five losses from their last six games against Carlton, and slowly improves their recently grim record at Marvel Stadium.
North Melbourne goalkickers: Duursma, Trembath 3, Larkey, Curtis 2, Darling, Zurhaar, Sheezel, Simpkin
Carlton goalkickers: Kemp 3, Pittonet, McKay, McGovern 2, Newman, E.Hollands, Walsh, Smith
THE 3-2-1… (with Jack Jovanovski)
3. BLUES LIVE THEIR ‘WORST NIGHTMARE’ … AGAIN
Footy is bloody cruel sometimes.
Even the biggest Blues haters would have to feel for Michael Voss after what went down in the last quarter at Marvel Stadium — described by Garry Lyon as Carlton’s “worst nightmare”.
AFL Legend Jason Dunstall said at half-time: “At some stage, you have to shake these monkeys off your back. It can’t go on forever.”
Well, it mightn’t go on forever, but it’ll go on for at least another week after North Melbourne overturned a 22-point three-quarter-time deficit to win by 10 points on Good Friday.
And Voss would again be wondering to himself: ‘Why be a coach?’
The Blues entered Friday a combined -153 in second halves this year, so all eyes were on Carlton’s second stanza.
And once again, Carlton went into the main break with the lead over the Roos, albeit a slender three-point advantage.
But while the Blues kicked four of six goals in the third quarter to lead by a game-high 22 points, they found a way to squander it again.
After Brodie Kemp kicked his third goal of the day to put Carlton up 21 points at the 12-minute mark, the Kangaroos kicked the last five goals of the game — including a Harry Sheezel go-ahead crowd-lifter, and a Jy Simpkin sealer.
But while they lifted their second-half pressure considerably, concerns for the Blues began at half-time, despite leading by three points.
At the main change, there were worries over a couple of parts of their game, starting with poor tackling pressure.
“Depends if they can lift the pressure rating, the Blues,” Dunstall said on Fox Footy of Carlton’s chances of closing out the four points.
“It’s something that I think is one of the weaknesses of their game, their ability to create turnovers.”
Caller Anthony Hudson added: “Amazingly low tackle number for Carlton; just 13 in the first half. For the majority of that second quarter, they’d only laid one tackle, and they ended up laying four or five at the end to get to 13.
“At one stage, it was going to be their least amount of tackles since 1999 in a half.”
The Blues’ pressure rating lingered around a lowly 150 in the first half.
“You’ve got to be better than that,” Dunstall added. “You can’t give North what they want, and that’s uncontested possession.”
The other concerning aspect of Carlton’s performance was its at-times substandard disposal, particularly by foot.
It meant that Voss’ side wasn’t able to forge quality looks going forward. At half-time, their score-per-inside-50 rate sat at just 37 per cent, with the AFL average at 45 per cent.
“Their kicking hasn’t been great historically, and it’s hurt them again today,” Garry Lyon said.
Lewis added: “Their kicks inside 50 have been a little bit too predictable … the forwards haven’t been able to get separation.
“I think they can involve a little bit more handball into their game to get into positions where you really challenge the defence.
“Some of these kicks; they just force pressure on themselves when they don’t need to, which means that their kicks going inside 50 aren’t with the clarity that they need.”
Carlton responded in a big way to questioning over its tacking pressure, laying 16 in the first 12 minutes of the third quarter after 13 in totality in the first half.
But Voss’ men sorely missed defensive lieutenant Jacob Weitering in the closing moments, with the key stopper out of the game early in the final term due to a concussion.
Powerful pre-game moment on Good Friday | 03:11
2. ‘NOT USED TO WINNING’: STAR’S RAW WORDS AFTER MIRACLE … DESPITE BIG VOID
“Unbelievable. I can’t explain the feeling — we’re not used to winning, and to come back and win like that, it’s probably the best one so far.”
Those were Harry Sheezel’s first words to Fox Footy after the events of the final quarter at Docklands.
The Kangaroos looked down for the count, trailing by a game-high 22 points at the final change.
But Sheezel said his side never lost belief in their ability to come back and win.
“The three-quarter-time chat, we had so much belief in that huddle. I genuinely believed we were going to win that game. We were saying it,” he told Fox Footy.
“We knew we weren’t playing a great brand of footy. We knew we were matching it in the contest, which was the focus, but our offence was pretty poor, as you would have seen.
“But we had so much belief going out there that if we kept going, kept grinding away, more focussed on what we could control, that it would turn — and fortunately it did.”
Sheezel finished with 24 disposals – seven of which were score involvements – and his ice-cold, go-ahead goal at the 28-minute mark.
The Roos didn’t look back from there, but it was far from a straightforward task on Good Friday.
They had eight more inside-50s than Carlton by the end despite tallying four fewer clearances, with their stoppage work a rare question mark through the afternoon.
The absence of Tristan Xerri on Friday was a point of contention going into the game, and it was felt by Alastair Clarkson’s side.
And up against the little-used Callum Coleman-Jones, Marc Pittonet “sensed an opportunity” — and he was central to the Blues’ clearance dominance throughout the afternoon.
The veteran tall frequently got his hand to the footy first, creating several first-use opportunities for his midfielders.
“He’s been influential around the ground. I’ve just loved the presence that he brings,” Tom Hawkins said on Fox Footy at half-time.
“He’s a player that, to be fair, doesn’t bring much other than his bash-and-crash and get forward and compete — and really, that’s all you want your ruckman to do.
“He’s a solid player without being a star, and he’s got forward and hit the scoreboard, which has been really important.”
Jordan Lewis added: “I think he’s sensed an opportunity. A ruckman that’s not as experienced as him (Coleman-Jones), he would have relished the opportunity not to play against Tristan Xerri.
“I think his energy has been great; the physicality has certainly been a big part of his game. He’s been able to go forward and score.”
The Kangaroos, stoppage experts, started slow in the clearance department. But not only that, their corridor kicks weren’t coming off, leaving them vulnerable in transition.
“They are possessing the footy — they’re winning uncontested possession +18, but they’re just struggling to connect when they’re going to the forward half of the ground out the back half,” Ruby Schleicher said on Fox Footy at quarter-time.
“They’re looking for the middle kick through the corridor, but almost biting off more than they can chew and trying to force it at times, which is allowing the Blues to intercept and create forward opportunities.”
Colby McKercher owned the footy with 19 first-half disposals as the Roos’ preferred distributor coming out of the back half.
1. SUPER BLUE STRUCK IN LATEST FOOTY ACCIDENT
After discussion was had last week about the future of the high mark, Carlton star Jacob Weitering became the latest victim of the knee to the back of the head.
Saint Alix Tauru’s high-flying mark last Saturday came at the expense of Noah Answerth, and on Good Friday, it was Weitering who paid the price for Cooper Trembath’s big grab in the fourth quarter.
Leaping high for the footy, Trembath’s right knee collected the back of Weitering’s head, with the defensive stalwart needing immediate medical assistance.
“We saw it happen last week, didn’t we? Now we’ve got the same thing here,” Dunstall said.
“It’s a spectacular leap, knee straight to the back of the head.
“There was nothing malicious, no intent about it, it’s just one of those things that happens in the contact game.”
Weitering wound up failing his subsequent concussion test, meaning he’ll miss Carlton’s Gather Round matchup against Adelaide.
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