TonyK
Tash Jayasinghe
CibbuanoRatten doesn't want to hear finals
June 22nd 2008 22:26
CARLTON coach Brett Ratten has publicly killed off any more talk about playing in finals following his side's loss to Essendon at the MCG on Sunday afternoon.
After an upset victory over Collingwood last week, Carlton moved into the top eight and was expected to consolidate its spot by accounting for an Essendon side that had just won three matches for the season.
But the Bombers attacked from the opening bounce and made sure that Carlton's stint in the top eight was short-lived with a 35-point win that pushed the Blues back to 10th place on the AFL ladder.
Ratten did not rule the Blues out of playing in September for the first time since 2001, but said the club was focused on the remaining nine rounds.
"That's it for us," he said.
"It was great that we got to have a look, but as soon as we got our head above the horizon it got kicked off.
"We thought maybe being in the eight was a challenge (for) the group, to stay in the eight, but now I think it's just about us winning games, putting games into players, understanding our roles."
Ratten said his players had not got ahead of themselves after the previous weekend's win over Collingwood, but admitted that his side wasn't switched on against the Bombers.
"This game is such a brutal game; if you're not on your game and you're off by 2% (from) every player, that's a dramatic drop.
"We know where we're at and if we're not switched on … we can feel a bit of pain from the opposition and that happened today."
After an upset victory over Collingwood last week, Carlton moved into the top eight and was expected to consolidate its spot by accounting for an Essendon side that had just won three matches for the season.
But the Bombers attacked from the opening bounce and made sure that Carlton's stint in the top eight was short-lived with a 35-point win that pushed the Blues back to 10th place on the AFL ladder.
Ratten did not rule the Blues out of playing in September for the first time since 2001, but said the club was focused on the remaining nine rounds.
"That's it for us," he said.
"It was great that we got to have a look, but as soon as we got our head above the horizon it got kicked off.
"We thought maybe being in the eight was a challenge (for) the group, to stay in the eight, but now I think it's just about us winning games, putting games into players, understanding our roles."
Ratten said his players had not got ahead of themselves after the previous weekend's win over Collingwood, but admitted that his side wasn't switched on against the Bombers.
"This game is such a brutal game; if you're not on your game and you're off by 2% (from) every player, that's a dramatic drop.
"We know where we're at and if we're not switched on … we can feel a bit of pain from the opposition and that happened today."
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