Carlton needs to respond after Opening Round shocker
Carlton will face an early-season test of their resolve when they clash with Richmond in AFL action on Thursday night at the MCG.
The Blues would be bitterly disappointed after capitulating in the second-half of their clash to lose by 63 points against Sydney on Thursday night, a match they had highlighted given they were playing against former spearhead Charlie Curnow for the first time.
Carlton now faces traditional rivals Richmond in a match they are expected to win, with Neds Australia installing them at 1.38 to defeat the Tigers (3.08).
Former Carlton captain Sam Docherty has also thrown oil onto the early-season fire by describing the Blues as a “shit-show” and saying the issues were not new, with these comments particularly stinging given he is a recent retiree and played under coach Michael Voss.
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For Voss though, in what is looming as his make or break year, Doherty sinking the boot in is a bitter blow and an example of Carlton people eating themselves.
“I didn’t give it a hell of a lot of thought,” Voss said.
“People keep asking me about last year’s best and fairest speech and culturally we defeat ourselves and I think this was an example of that.”
The Blues could be reinforced by the return of Frank Evans and Nick Haynes, but midfielder Adam Cerra remains a month away from returning from a hamstring injury.
The Tigers have injury troubles of their own with Dion Prestia, Josh Smillie and experienced defender Nick Vlastuin all either injured or in doubt for the clash against the Blues.
Meanwhile, Hawthorn will be hoping to respond to their opening round loss, with a victory against Essendon on Friday night. The Hawks are a 1.22 favourite to win against Essendon (4.25).
In Saturday’s early match, Western Bulldogs (1.33) are being backed heavily at Aussie betting sites to defeat GWS (3.35) with both teams super-impressive in their opening round wins.
Geelong (1.57) faces a tricky encounter against Fremantle (2.40) and they need to lift after being thrashed in the opening round by Gold Coast, but a return to Geelong should help.
Sydney (1.44) is remarkably favoured to beat reigning champion Brisbane (2.80), with the premier suffering several key injury blows in their narrow loss to the Bulldogs.
On Saturday night, Collingwood (1.73) will be hopeful of continuing their winning ways, when they clash with Adelaide (2.10), who will be missing live-wire Izak Rankine because of suspension.
On Sunday, North Melbourne is paying 2.35 to defeat Port Adelaide (1.60), although the Roos will fancy their chances against a Power team that has had a patchy pre-season.
Melbourne (2.40) will look to issue St Kilda (1.58) successive losses to start the year, while Gold Coast (1.01) is heavily favoured to eclipse the struggling West Coast.
