Blues skipper injures his knee in loss to Western Bulldogs.
The Carlon Blues’ chances of scraping into the AFL top eight have been dealt a severe blow after skipper Chris Judd was ruled out for the rest of the season with a knee injury.
Judd strained a medial ligament and hobbled off the field in the third quarter and took no further part, as he side were beaten by the Western Bulldogs by 28 points.
Carlton Mick Malthouse said he wises he could blame the loss on the of Judd and others, but admitted the Bulldogs simply outplayed his side in the 16.21 (117) to 12.11 (89) loss at Etihad Stadium.
“When there’s so much at stake and you want to demonstrate that this game means a lot, and the Bulldogs ran over us and could have been and should have been five goals in front (at quarter time). Let’s face it, their bad kicking,”
“I mean first bounce. Our first-bounce strategy was in place running down the race, and it wasn’t adhered to.
“That to me is the most disappointing thing about the whole game. That we went through strategy after strategy, and acknowledgement was accepted by the players and unfortunately we weren’t able to either to perform it or didn’t do it when we have the opportunity.”
The Blues have now fallen two games behind Port Adelaide in the race for the last finals place, as they look to keep their faint hopes alive when they take on the in-form Richmond Tigers at the MCG next weekend.
Despite being out of contention for the post-season for several weeks the Bulldogs continue to show their young players could be stars of the future.
They have now claimed wins over the West Coast Eagles and Carlton in the past three weeks, and they will look to use that momentum when they tackle the Adelaide Crows next round.
COMMENTS