AFL great Brad Johnson believes Harry McKay played for several free kicks on Friday night against St Kilda, urging him to be stronger in contests moving forward.
The 24-year-old star forward received three free kicks in Carlton’s 15-point loss against the Saints, kicking two goals playing on Josh Battle.
Johnson said McKay would regret “searching for a free kick” on several occasions, saying he should use his body more in contests to out-muscle opponents.
“I thought there were a couple of occasions (where he played for free kicks),” he said on SEN’s Crunch Time.
“He probably went to the deck searching for a free kick, where he could have used his big 100kg frame and actually stood up and brought the ball to ground.
“He actually won a free kick in the last quarter when it didn’t look like it was there but he got it… he missed the snap shot.
“On a couple of occasions (on Friday night), he probably could have stood up a lot stronger in contests.”
McKay, who won last year’s Coleman Medal with 58 goals, currently sits in 12th spot and 14 goals behind teammate Charlie Curnow in the race for this year’s award.