Carlton have swung the axe, dropping four players as part of six changes for their grudge match with fierce rival Collingwood as they look to salvage something from their troubled campaign.
Jordan Boyd, Alex Cincotta, Billy Wilson and Lewis Young have all been dropped for Friday night’s clash with the Magpies, while Adam Saad and Jack Silvagni will also miss through injury.
Earlier on Thursday, Blues coach Michael Voss declared his coaching future was the least of his concerns while foreshadowing a push to youth in his side’s run home.
In his first public appearance since club president Robert Priestley pledged no decision would be made on the coach until after the campaign, Voss laid down his aims for the remainder of the year, saying the season was still live.
The spotlight will again be on the beleaguered Blues this week when they tackle premiership favourites Collingwood in front of a likely crowd of 70,000-plus and a prime-time national TV audience.
Though finals are all but out of reach, the pressure will be on the Blues to turn in an improved performance after horror losses to North Melbourne and Port Adelaide, which have placed Voss’ future on the agenda.
The club had its walls sprayed with graffiti calling for the sacking of the board, football boss Brad Lloyd and list manager Nick Austin, but the retention of Voss in the hours after the loss to the Power.
The Blues announced earlier in the week they had brought forward Graham Wright’s start date as chief executive, paving the way for him to make key calls on the future of the football department.
“I think what we’ve always been is pretty aligned with where we need to go,” Voss said.
“It’s probably the least of the things that I’m thinking about at the moment.
“It’s more about probably the care for our people and we’ve got a job to do and it’s been fairly eyes in. I also know that that sort of connection and alignment will help us.”
Defender Boyd was not at the Blues’ captain’s run on Thursday, along with injured backmen Silvagni and Saad.
Defender Lachie Cowan, 20, and teenagers Harry O’Farrell and Matt Carroll have been recalled, along with second-season forward Ashton Moir, Francis Evans, and experienced ruckman Marc Pittonet.
Their inclusions have freshened up a 23 that was the oldest team the Blues have fielded since 1944.
“For us, it’s now we get on with business and it’s about performance and how we start to turn the form on the field around,” Voss said.
“And there’s exciting things to look forward to. We’ve got some youth that that will be playing. Some big games over the last seven, eight weeks of the season. We want to energise that.
“What’s really important to us is that we connect into our supporters. They are very important to us.
“We understand that there’s a there’s a style of football that we want to play that they can be proud of and we can be proud of and that they can connect to and we’re all in this together.”
Voss said there was still plenty for the Blues to play for in the final eight rounds of the season.
“I think it’s to be stated that for us this season’s live, there’s a lot to get out of this year,” Voss said.
“There’s nothing parked here. There’s nothing to say, there’s nothing to protect. And we’re going after it.”
‘Collingwood would tear the place down’: Hardwick’s anger at AFL
AAP
Frustrated Gold Coast coach Damien Hardwick is warning the AFL to “look out” if Suns star Matt Rowell is banned under changes to umpire contact penalties.
Hardwick is seething that Rowell is among a batch of AFL players facing a possible suspension if he makes contact with an umpire again.
The Suns’ prime mover has already been fined four times in a two-year span for careless contact with an umpire.
Under a rule change announced this week by the AFL, any player who makes careless contact with an umpire four or more times in a two-year period faces being sent to the tribunal and a possible ban.
Hardwick savaged the “frustrating” late-season change.
“If it leads to a suspension, look out from our point of view,” Hardwick told reporters on Thursday.
“I know we’re the Gold Coast Suns. And don’t get me wrong, Matt Rowell is a superstar. But if this was spoken about with Nick Daicos, Collingwood would tear the place down.
“Let’s sit there and understand what we’re talking about here. We can make changes about umpire adjudication, but we’ve been calling out for change to the tribunal for a period of time. Why can we, with the swipe of a pen, change one and not the other?”
The AFL changed the rules after 63 incidents of players making careless contact with umpires this season. All have resulted in a financial sanction.
Leave a Reply