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Carlton have suffered their fourth-straight loss under coach Michael Voss with a number of the Blues’ top powerbrokers pictured together after the defeat, while Collingwood captain Darcy Moore has been praised for his class. Collingwood piled more misery on Carlton with a 8.15 (63) to 6.10 (46) win at the MCG, leaving the Blues in an 0-4 hole.
Despite the spectacle marred by the guernsey clash between the two teams, Collingwood emerged as the winners in front of 80,000 fans. Collingwood have now won six of their seven clashes against Carlton with Blues coach Voss under immense pressure to keep his job to start the season
Collingwood were down at half-time, but the Blues have a dismal second-half record and once again dropped off to let the game get away from them. “The way we played in the first half gave us encouragement to suggest we could continue it,” Voss said.
There were certainly no signs to suggest that was going to drop off, but ultimately the third quarter was unacceptable. We talk about this game and about styles, but the reality is the game is played at contest first.
“We absolutely were disappointing in that area in the third quarter. They were cleaner, they were tougher around the ball, they dialled up the pressure and we didn’t handle it.”
And in worrying scenes for Voss, the Blues’ powerbrokers were captured looking dejected outside the dressing room. Channel 7 vision showed Carlton’s CEO Brian Cook, future CEO Graham Wright, new president Robert Priestley, and board director David Campbell all dejected after the loss.
And the tension is building at the club with reporter Mitch Cleary suggesting the were not good signs for Voss. “The pressure is mounting at the Blues,” reporter Cleary said after the game. “These signs post-game are ominous when you’re the coaching staff of the Carlton Footy Club, when the directors and the executives all start to gather in the rooms.”
AFL great Nick Riewoldt suggested: “At some point Michael Voss’s career will be on the line.” Blues defender Jacob Weitering admitted the coaching staff were frustrated after yet another second-half collapse.
