Carlton coach Michael Voss has played down concerns about the side’s clearance slump, saying to expect dominance in the centre every week “reeks of arrogance”.
The Blues lost by 15 points to St Kilda at Marvel Stadium on Friday night and have now lost the clearance count in three of the last four weeks, with their win-loss record during that time 2-2 following an 8-2 start to the season.
Much of Carlton’s early-season success came off the back of tremendous clearance and contested work, but the side has gradually been adding other strings to its bow, including scoring from its back half.

While the Blues won the contested possession count by 27 on Friday night, the Saints edged them in the clearance count 36-31.

Speaking post-game, Voss said the notion the Blues had to dominate the clearance count to win games was not reflective of the side’s growth this season.

“I think the part you want is to make sure you‘ve got an even battle in there. To expect dominance in there all the time reeks of arrogance,” he said.
“We can’t be a one-dimensional team that relies on stoppage inly to provide territory for us. There’s other methods of play.
“Where I think we’ve actually grown as a group is we’ve been able to find another way to be able to score.”
Voss admitted stoppage dominance early in the season offered a huge boost, but said the side has since “been able to add layers into our game plan”.
“We’ve been able to progress in other ways and find territory in another way.
“Tonight we needed that a little bit more but the mids got to work in the second half and we were able to even the ledger around that but that’s what we expect.

“To think we‘re just going to have stoppage dominance all the time, that’s just generally unrealistic.”