“The Carlton abattoir”: Hawthorn’s crisp ball movement trumps Blues brutality

Carlton huffed and puffed with a brutal attack on the ball, but they were outclassed and outrun by Hawthorn at the MCG on Thursday night.

The Blues were beaten by 20 points in a much-improved showing after last week’s second-half capitulation against Richmond.

Despite the more encouraging effort, Michael Voss’ side now owns a 0-2 record and a lot of it has to do with their lack of efficiency when in possession.

David King acknowledged Carlton’s intensity around the ball, however, their kicking skills in particular left a lot to be desired. Their disposal efficiency of 63.9 per cent was monstered by Hawthorn’s crisp 73.4 per cent, contributing to a second defeat of 2025.

King described it as somewhat of a slaughterhouse.

“It’s getting harder and harder to bash your way to victory,” King said on SEN Breakfast.

“Ball movement now is trumping brutality. The slower you are to that the more you’ll be in decline.

“Have a look at Carlton’s line-up last night, it’s the Carlton abattoir. There’s slaughtermen everywhere, there really is.

“By foot, their midfield, they just don’t hurt you. They can’t hurt you like other teams can. When Hawthorn got the ball last night, the contrast in their ability to move the ball was so clear.

“They did a great job to hang around Carlton, they were brutal at the contest, terrific at clearances, but in the end ball movement is king.”

Kane Cornes concurs with the notion that constantly bashing and crashing is difficult to do for long periods of time.

He picked out Carlton’s best contributors, including George Hewett, Patrick Cripps and Tom De Koning, but felt ultimately the Blues lacked the legs to keep up with the Hawks.

“I absolutely agree with that and have agreed with that for a long time,” said Cornes.

“This is a long season to be able to play this way and it’s going to build up on the bodies.

“Sam Walsh’s body is cooked and he’s not even 25 years of age, with the style that they’re asking him to play.

“I thought Hewett was enormous, Cripps was enormous, De Koning was huge in and around the footy, but every time it go into open space, the Blues couldn’t go with them.

“You knew at three-quarter time, good luck trying to stay in a running race with this Hawthorn side.”

The Blues will now look ahead to a crunch clash with the Western Bulldogs at Marvel Stadium next Friday night.

The 3-0 Hawks next face GWS in Launceston as they look to continue their flawless beginning to 2025.