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Updated April 4, 2026 \u2014 4:43pm,first published 2:29pm<\/p>\n
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Remove items from your saved list<\/a> to add more.<\/p>\n Save this article for later<\/p>\n Add articles to your saved list and come back to them anytime.<\/p>\n Got it<\/p>\n AAA<\/p>\n Carlton\u2019s head of football Chris Davies has guaranteed Michael Voss will coach the Blues against Adelaide on Thursday night but has given a damning critique of the team after yet another second-half fadeout.<\/p>\n Voss is fighting for his future after the Blues slipped to 1-3, having conceded a 22-point final quarter lead against North Melbourne on Good Friday to lose by 10 points. This came after they squandered a 43-point lead to lose to Melbourne last weekend<\/a>, while the Swans pummelled the Blues after half-time in opening round.<\/p>\n Off-contract at the end of the season, Voss, in his fifth year in charge, has been unable to solve the second-half issues that have plagued the Blues since the shock loss to Richmond in round one last year.<\/p>\n The Blues now return to Thursday night primetime against the Crows, and Davies guaranteed Voss would still be leading the team at Gather Round.<\/p>\n Editor’s pick \u201cI can [guarantee it]. I absolutely can,\u201d Davies, in his first year at Carlton after crossing from Port Adelaide, told 3AW.<\/p>\n \u201cFrom the start of the year, we are 1-3. If we are taking any positives from those three losses, [it] is we have been in positions to win those games. But, as I say, [we\u2019re] bitterly disappointed that we haven\u2019t been able to get the job done, certainly in the last couple of weeks.\u201d<\/p>\n Asked whether the Blues\u2019 issues were to do with fitness, coaching or leadership, Davies said there\u2019d be a thorough investigation.<\/p>\n \u201cI think in these situations it\u2019s never one thing, but it\u2019s a mixture of [it] all,\u201d he explained.<\/p>\n \u201cI guess if you are getting into the Xs and Os of the game [the tactics], we are very heavily reliant on our scores from stoppage,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen we don\u2019t get that right, which has been late in the game, our scoring has dried up because we haven\u2019t been very good from a transition offence perspective and, in reality, when the game is going against us, teams are scoring far too easily.\u201d<\/p>\n Davies was spot on with his assessment, with more than 60 per cent of the Blues\u2019 scores this season (seven goals per game) coming from stoppage \u2013 a league high. The Brisbane Lions are next best (45 per cent). The league average is 37 per cent.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t think it\u2019s a fitness thing, but clearly it\u2019s a mindset aspect to it,\u201d Davies admitted.<\/p>\n \u201cWe would like our players communicating better than maybe they have. I think it\u2019s a mixture of all those things \u2013 I am not too proud to say I am willing to look into all those things.\u201d<\/p>\n Davies said the players needed to communicate better when the contest was on the line.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is where the gap in the competition can be sometimes. You have got a relatively inexperienced team. When the pressure comes on, one of the first things that goes when your team is not going very well is communication,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cIf you have been watching our games, we have been scored heavily against and that\u2019s a critical issue when those things occur. \u201d<\/p>\n The Blues are ranked ninth for average age (25.8 years) and eighth for average games played (98.6).<\/p>\n Second-half capitulations have been a theme for the past year, the Blues letting slip nine half-time leads in this period to lose.<\/p>\n Related Article Voss\u2019 gameplan has typically been based on winning contest and stoppages, but the best teams are now excellent transition sides, moving the ball slickly and hitting targets off turnover, and then folding back to defend when required. The Blues are ranked last in scores from turnover.<\/p>\n While Voss said on Friday he did not feel his players had been spooked in the final term against the Kangaroos, Davies\u2019 comments suggest otherwise, as did those of Adam Simpson, the former West Coast premiership coach and now Blues consultant, who suggested the side had choked.<\/p>\n Davies conceded Blues supporters were not witnessing the improvement they expected.<\/p>\n \u201cI mean, unfortunately, I am not in a position, and I certainly wouldn\u2019t want to be telling our supporters how they should feel,\u201d Davies said.<\/p>\n \u201cThe reality is, they should be seeing some progress on the field, and I accept right now, we haven\u2019t been good enough to show enough of that so far this year. It doesn\u2019t mean that we can\u2019t get better at it, but clearly I want our group to get better at that very quickly.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Blues president Rob Priestley and chief executive Graham Wright have said they expect the Blues to be in the running for the top 10<\/a>, and Voss\u2019 future will be determined by a range of markers. But with clashes with Adelaide, Collingwood (also on Thursday-night primetime), Fremantle, St Kilda, the Brisbane Lions and Western Bulldogs to come, the Blues could be out of the running for the top 10 by the mid-point of the season.<\/p>\n But former Blues co-captain Sam Docherty said it would be a mistake to sack Voss at this point of the season.<\/p>\n \u201cI just don\u2019t think you can make a move on a coach at this time of the year. I think it would be a really poor decision,\u201d Docherty said on 3AW.<\/p>\n \u201cThey didn\u2019t back him in fully and give him an extension, but they backed him in to see out this year of footy.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n He said the Blues were beaten in contest and clearance, and failed to handle the pressure. Docherty also said the Blues too often opted for safe, long kicks down the line and were not \u201cbold\u201d \u2013 the Kangaroos booting seven goals in the final quarter after kicking just seven for the entire match to that point. The Blues managed only two goals in the final term.<\/p>\n Simpson, who spends a day per week working with Voss, including on how he handles his press conferences, insisted on Saturday the Blues were in a \u201cgood spot\u201d, culture-wise. But he said the final-quarter dramas were a major issue, and he wasn\u2019t sure whether it was a structural or talent problem.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s some clear issues there, and there are clubs going through this at the moment. There\u2019s definitely some issues to work through, and I totally understand why there would be pressure,\u201d Simpson told SEN.<\/p>\n In what could be construed as a damning indictment of the Blues, Simpson said young Kangaroos midfielder George Wardlaw \u201cwas the toughest bloke on the field\u201d on Friday.<\/p>\n \u201cI just thought they [Carlton] got beaten at their own game. I thought they got beaten around the ball in the contest, and clearances were 15 to 10 in the last quarter,\u201d Simpson said.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat I did see pretty clearly is a bit of panic, you know, with a surge kick, and it was a handball, or a kick that just got smothered, and just the inevitable sort of was happening, wasn\u2019t it? So, a bit of mental demons that would have been running through their head no doubt after one, [Jacob] Weitering going down, and two, just the momentum shift around the contest.\u201d<\/p>\n Weitering was concussed in the third term after an accidental knee to the back of the head by Zane Duursma. He spent time in hospital after the match but returned home. He will miss at least the clash against the Crows, given the concussion protocols.<\/p>\n The Blues\u2019 woes don\u2019t end there, either, with Will Hayward copping a one-match ban for striking.<\/p>\n Hayward hit Wardlaw across the stomach with an outstretched arm after the Roos midfielder disposed of the ball during the third quarter. The MRO graded the incident as intentional, and medium impact.<\/p>\n Keep up to date with the best AFL coverage in the country. Sign up for the Real Footy newsletter<\/a>.<\/p>\n Save<\/p>\n You have reached your maximum number of saved items.<\/p>\n Remove items from your saved list<\/a> to add more.<\/p>\n![\"Plenty](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/1775330450_694_761c5f85918e62de21b3703b54cb5392a1e80afd.jpeg\")
Plenty to think about: Carlton coach Michael Voss says the Blues will get back to work this after another woeful fadeout, this time against North Melbourne.Getty Images<\/p>\n![\"Carlton](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/1775330451_68_aa0190b859fc92581f615f8c894f0a91dfcbbdf0.jpeg\")
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Huge loss: Blues fullback Jacob Weitering will miss at least a week because of concussion on Friday night.Getty Images<\/p>\n![\"Jon](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/1773472229_978_b41a40c453ab3b0ce85a012a2f2e71470a51efea.png\")
Jon Pierik<\/a> is a sports journalist at The Age. He covers AFL and has won awards for his cricket and basketball writing.Connect via X<\/a> or email<\/a>.From our partners<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Updated April 4, 2026 \u2014 4:43pm,first published 2:29pm Save You have reached your maximum number of saved items.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":585571,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[560],"tags":[638,64,63,55,639,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-585570","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-afl","8":"tag-afl","9":"tag-au","10":"tag-australia","11":"tag-australian-football-league","12":"tag-australianfootballleague","13":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/585570","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=585570"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/585570\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/585571"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=585570"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=585570"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=585570"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}