“Perfect game”: Simpson lauds Carlton dominance after 15-year first

Carlton’s 76-point win over Brisbane was the perfect night for Blues’ players, coaches and fans alike, having played out what Adam Simpson believes to be “the perfect game”.

Dominating in almost every major statistic, the Blues won out emphatically, mounting their biggest score in 15 years to down the back-to-back reigning premiers in style.

Speaking from the lens of a premiership coach, Simpson identified the difficulty one can have when preparing for a match against top sides, highlighting Josh Fraser’s successes in orchestrating a performance for the ages.

“You can overdo it when you play Brisbane,” Simpson told SEN’s Whateley.

“Because they are the best and they do so many things so well and they’ve won six or seven in a row, you can do too much planning – that’s what happens when you play the best teams.

“What are you trying to take away when you play Brisbane? Uncontested marks is the first thing – they average 110. Can you take away their ball control is one of the things.

“They are really good at clearances this year, and then you’ve got the individual matchups.

“It felt like that was as simple as it was from the outside. I don’t know the planning that went in place, but that was pretty clear to me.

“The second piece, which is really important – how do we counteract that. What are we chasing in terms of vulnerability.

“We all know their defence isn’t as sharp this year. When they move the ball, Brisbane, if it’s not clean and it turns over, sometimes they are in offense for too long, so their defence is vulnerable.

“I thought (Carlton) exposed that part of the game. Brisbane are so good sometimes because they make the ground really big, which is an opportunity if it turns over.

“That was a big tick, and then the DNA of Carlton is still contest and clearance. That’s still there. When they’re at their best, they are good in that area.

“They just had the perfect game. The last quarter, the Lions were beaten up, but (Carlton) put the foot down. Sometimes, we don’t see that in competitions – just happy to get over the line with the win and move on to the next week.

“It became a bit of a celebration, and that’s when the crowd got involved. Overall, it’s just a great day for the club.”

While he doesn’t believe the win was a lesson in coaching from interim Fraser, Simpson did concede that everything the Blues have been working on – even prior to Fraser’s tenure – was on show in full effect on Saturday night.

“I’m not sure it’s a masterclass, but everything they tried worked,” he said.

“Sometimes it’s just playing your way. A lot of the things Carlton have done really well in the last 10 weeks; they were working on in November and December.

“That’s the beauty of the transition that Josh made. He didn’t tweak a lot of things, but they evolved really quickly.

“Offensively, they looked sharp – they kicked 11.3 from clearances. That’s still their go, the core of Carlton, but they kicked 12.6 off turnovers. That’s the difference on the weekend.

“We still need to know the bigger picture about the Blues, but in terms of that particular night and this season and Wildcard and the roller coaster… it was an important win and they played really well.”

With three games remaining on the season, Carlton has shot into the Wildcard places, with a matchup against St Kilda this weekend proving crucial in the fight for the all-important 10th place.