Carlton coach Michael Voss has defended the decision to start Tom De Koning as the substitute on a night the Blues’ season ended in a 28-point elimination-final loss to the Brisbane Lions at the Gabba.
The Blues rolled the dice and recalled six players from injury for the knockout clash, including athletic ruck De Koning, who was a surprise substitute considering most teams use a running midfielder in this role.
After the Blues became the first team in 50 years to fail to score in the first term of a final, De Koning was activated early in the second term, replacing Matt Kennedy, and had an immediate impact with his efforts in the ruck and around the ground. The Blues, scoreless and trailing by 60 points, soon began to generate momentum, and booted two quick goals.
All over: It was rugged night for Blues coach Michael Voss.Credit: AFL Photos via Getty Images
In his post-match press conference, Voss said the Blues had to make a tough call, having had six changes, including De Koning returning from a fractured foot and collapsed lung.
He returned alongside Harry McKay, Adam Cerra, Mitch McGovern, Zac Williams and Sam Docherty, who made a miraculous return from an ACL rupture in round one.
“We had three guys that had missed one or two weeks, so they have played a body of work over the course of the season. That doesn’t really impact them. Then we had the other ones which namely were ‘Doc’ [Docherty] and ‘Cez’ [Cerra] and Tom,” Voss said.
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“We tried to manage Tom’s minutes a bit at the start of the game. We ended up activating him when we did, we were left with no choice because of the way the scoreboard was rolling.
“I would love his availability, there is no question about that. If we had our way, we would love to start them all at the same time. But we had to manage a very unusual, a very unique, set of circumstances. Tom was probably one or two runs short of putting in a 100 minutes. The option was to play him or not play him, or play him in that scenario. We chose to activate him, and I am pleased we did because we needed a presence down the line, clearly forward of the ball we couldn’t win many contests. They [Lions] were able to dominate in the air and on the ground for large parts of that first half.”
Voss said the Blues had a plan to subdue veteran Lions playmaker Dayne Zorko, but the team just did not execute well enough. Ollie Hollands was sent to him later in the game. Zorko finished with 29 disposals and was arguably best afield at half-back.
The Blues were a legitimate premiership threat in early July when second on the ladder but won only two of their final nine games of the season - against strugglers North Melbourne and West Coast.
Injuries hurt, but too much was left to skipper Patrick Cripps, while the Blues never boasted an elite defence.
“The reality is, probably tonight was a small sample of what our season has been - it hasn’t been consistent enough. When you are not consistent enough, it compounds over time,” Voss said.
The Lions advance into a knock-out semi-final against Greater Western Sydney on Saturday.