Reality check or learning experience? League’s hardest fixture set to challenge Blues over next five weeks
No team has a harder fixture than Carlton in the coming five weeks.
The Blues’ first loss of the season, coming against Adelaide on Saturday, leaves Michael Voss’ side with a 4-1 record.
And while it’s been an impressive start to the season, plenty will be said about Carlton with five blockbusters to come in successive weeks.
They play four teams ahead of them as well as the reigning premiers in that period after letting the Crows kick the final three goals on Saturday to steal victory by two points.
AFL Media’s Josh Gabelich feels a 4-1 record is a fairer indication of where the Blues are at than had they held on for a gritty win and got to 5-0.
“What does it mean for Carlton? We have been celebrating their start to the year, 4-0, but I felt like they weren’t a humming 4-0,” Gabelich began on SEN’s Sunday Crunch Time.
“They were lucky to pinch it against Fremantle, they were lucky to win against Richmond and they were great to come from 46 points down against Brisbane but it’s not like they have been absolutely humming at 4-0.
“I don’t want to call yesterday a reality check, it wasn’t. But I tell you what, if you look at the draw ahead, they’ve got GWS into Geelong into Collingwood into Melbourne into Sydney.
“We’re going to learn a lot about Michael Voss’ side across this next five-game patch and I want to see how they respond next week because I didn’t think they deserved to be 5-0 the way they’d been playing to start the year.”
The Giants and Cats, Carlton’s next two opponents, are both undefeated, while Melbourne and Sydney have lost only three games between them.
Carlton copped its first defeat of the 2023 season against Adelaide and also in Round 5. That kickstarted a period where the Blues would lose seven of their next eight games and put Voss’ career at Ikon Park in serious jeopardy.
This time around in 2024, Crunch Time host Cam Luke believes the next five weeks will be a defining period for Patrick Cripps and co.
“In five weeks time, they’ll either be premiership favourites or they will be in a situation where we’re not sure if they’ve been able to get to that next level, keeping in mind that their second half of 2023 was their best part of the year and almost carried them to a Grand Final appearance,” Luke explained.
“That next five weeks is as tough as it gets in the AFL in 2024.”
The Blues will have to do it without Adam Cerra, Adam Saad and Mitch McGovern, all of whom suffered hamstring injuries in the last week.
They compound an already frustrating injury list, including Sam Docherty, Jack Silvagni, Caleb Marchbank, Jack Martin, Jesse Motlop, David Cuningham and Lachie Fogarty.