‘He’s a great mentor’: Cripps’ backs Voss as coach laments lack of fight in Port thumping

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Thanks for joining us tonight. Stay tuned for our coverage of the rest of the round 16 action – and the fallout for the Blues over the coming days.

Carlton coach Michael Voss was left to lament the Blues’ lacklustre start against Port Adelaide as they suffered a humiliating 50-point loss with the heat rising on the embattled coach.

The Blues’ alarming lack of early fight will trigger fresh debate about the coach’s contract after Port booted the initial eight goals of a lopsided encounter.

“We just didn’t come with an appetite to the contest,” Voss said.

“What I feel right now as a leader is, I feel really disappointed for our people – we feel like we’re creating a great environment, but we’re not getting the results we’re after.

“We’re enormously disappointed ... but it’s time to come together, not isolate.”

Asked specifically if he was the right man for the job, Voss said he was in “no doubt” about what the club’s current set-up was capable of achieving.

“When you look at a body of work … when you look at sort of the results and the shift we’ve had in our game style this year, there’s been a genuine shift in our numbers, and in a really good way,” Voss said.

Carlton coach Michael Voss.Credit: AFL Photos

“We were 14th for forward of centres last year. We’re now third.

“I could rattle off a lot of [numbers]. Clearance wise, we score. We don’t get scored against [at] the stoppages.

“Yet [with] all those things [measurements] today, we weren’t able to stop. They scored from stoppages. We gave away marks. We couldn’t build a contest and the pressure around the ball, so we had to find other ways to be able to try and score.

“But that doesn’t leave me in any doubt, any doubt whatsoever, about what we’re trying to create here.”

The Blues boss also launched an impassioned defence of Charlie Curnow after the forward had a return of 0.3 in the heavy defeat.

Voss had no problem with the output of Curnow, who was the key target in the forward line with Harry McKay missing.

“I thought Charlie competed really hard today,” Voss said.

“I thought he competed really hard today. He has had some form struggles, and I understand he’s probably copped some attention because of it but, I tell you what, that bloke absolutely tried his backside off today.

“I don’t think we gave him too many favours but, at the same time, that comes back to the collective stuff.

“But I’m not walking away from the game saying that Charlie didn’t compete. He competed as hard as he possibly could.”

Port Adelaide star Zak Butters was rapt with the way the club responded after their loss at home last round to the Swans.

“I think it was huge [to respond the way we did],” Butters told Channel Seven, reflecting on their red-hot start against Carlton.

Zak Butters in action against the Blues.Credit: AFL Photos

“They’ve been a really good team early in games, so I thought to get a good start and get on top in the contest early really brought us to life.”

Butters was asked about his tactics against tagger Alex Cincotta, after the Port player befuddled his opponent by preparing to go to the interchange and then changing his mind at the last minute.

“I watched a lot of vision during the week, I watched a lot of footy. I prepare for everything. A lot of things add up in games of footy,” said Butters.

Carlton’s horror week took another dark turn with a vapid 50-point loss to Port Adelaide intensifying the heat on besieged coach Michael Voss.

The Blues arrived at Adelaide Oval level with the Power on points and boasting a significantly superior percentage.

They walked off the park in a state of humiliation, the final margin actually flattering their true lack of competitiveness.

The Blues lost by 50 points but were flattered by the final margin.Credit: AFL Photos via Getty Images

Carlton looked slow, spiritless and soulless, especially in the first half as they crawled out of the blocks to cough up the first nine goals.

Port Adelaide captain Connor Rozee and vice-captain Zak Butters both contracted leather poisoning across half-back and in the middle, respectively, while spearhead Mitch Georgiades had his way with three opponents – Jacob Weitering, Jack Silvagni and swingman Lewis Young – en route to a five-goal haul.

At the other end, Charlie Curnow competed aerially but misplaced his radar, kicking three behinds plus a late sitter from 30m that he shanked miles out on the full.

It was one of those nights.

Miles Bergman bounced back from a rare downer last week against Sydney’s Isaac Heeney to get back on track in his rise as one of the league’s premier taggers, this time doing a number on Patrick Cripps.

The Blues skipper, under the weather with illness during the week, found himself firmly under Bergman’s thumb throughout Thursday night.

Young’s goal at the 26-minute mark of the second stanza spared Carlton their first goalless half in seven years.

Implausibly, the Blues sleepwalked their way through the opening seven minutes of the third, watching on as Travis Boak, Willie Rioli and Bergman took turns in slotting six-pointers as the margin ballooned to 63 points.

During that period, Carlton amassed two disposals.

Two.

It was a similar tale to start the fourth, Georgiades and Dante Visentini nailing back-to-back majors before a Bagger had even touched the pill.

Port took their foot off the gas, enabling some of the scoreboard damage to be minimised – but the psychological damage inflicted on Voss’ men can’t be downplayed.

There’s the final siren. What a night out for Port Adelaide … and a night of misery for the Bluebaggers. The result was determined early in the game, so there was a lot of footy of little consequence late.

FINAL: Port Adelaide 16.14 (110) d. Carlton 8.12 (60)