Carlton tragic Andy Maher believes too much criticism is coming in the direction of coach Michael Voss when the fault lies with the poor ball use of his players.
The Blues routinely blew simple kicks, particularly in the first half of their Saturday night loss to the Western Bulldogs – and that includes four simple set shots that amounted to nothing.
Only St Kilda kicks the ball more per game than Carlton, with the two teams comfortably clear of Gold Coast in third. This skews the Blues’ kicking efficiency numbers, which sit at 67 per cent (above AFL average), given they chip the ball short and go backwards regularly.
Maher believes basic execution issues are at fault for the club’s poor form and the heat coming on those behind the scenes.
“I’ll tell you what’s pox – Carlton’s kicking,” he told SEN’s The Run Home.
“You can bag Michael Voss, if you want to ring Bruce Mathieson and give him a half volley outside off stump and let him tee off on the CEO and the footy manager and the coach, go your hardest and if you want to lap up what he says because it helps with your frustration, so be it.
“But good luck being a coach when you’ve got blokes who miss targets 20 metres away. When you sit the ball consistently on the head of blokes.
“They have got no chance of playing any sort of meaningful high quality football, and I’m not just talking about the kicking for goal, their field kicking was atrocious in the first half.
“They started to handball the footy a bit more in the second half and they turned the game around.”
Patrick Cripps’ decision to attempt a left foot snap from a set shot epitomised Carlton’s first half, with the kick ultimately missing completely. Jesse Motlop, Sam Walsh and Harry McKay also shanked set shots, which ultimately mattered in a low scoring game.
“The kicking for goal – in the first half, forget about Sam Walsh’s set shot because that was just a horrible kick, but there were three moments with Jesse Motlop, Harry McKay and Patrick Cripps who all had kickable goals and went around the corner,” Maher added.
“If I’m a coach, I’m doing a diagram for my players. I’m drawing an arc. If you’re on the boundary side of the 50, no problems. You can kick a check side. If you are corridor side of the 50, you are kicking a drop punt and I, as the coach, will take the heat. If you miss it, it’s on me.
“But when they are kicking the ball so poorly, you have to take responsibility.
“Those three misses were at critical times when the team was desperately crying out for reward on the scoreboard and they got none. And it sucks the life out of you when those kicks are so errant.”
Carlton’s horror fixture run continues, playing Collingwood on Sunday afternoon before facing Sydney at the SCG and then Melbourne.