Jones to face scrutiny, Bolton 'falling in love' with new Blues
Liam Jones could test the love of coach Brendon Bolton, with the Carlton defender in strife for an incident with Richmond's Jack Riewoldt well off the ball in the second term of Thursday night's loss at the MCG.
The contact left Riewoldt on the ground for a short while, but he quickly recovered and played out the match.
Carlton paid for a goalless first quarter and could not go with Richmond in the last term as the Tigers kicked clear for a 33-point win.
But there was plenty to like about the Blues, who only trailed by two goals at the last change.
Indeed, Bolton loves what he is seeing - particularly when Carlton rallied from 40 points behind early in the second term.
"It's taken us three years to get the list together that we want to hold together for a long time," he said.
"I'm falling in love with our players - I know that sounds mushy, I know it's a word that we don't use a lot. They're really tight and the same age, they're having really open discussions with me about how they feel and [me] with them and we're connecting really strongly. So there's a real strong element of pride when they do that [fight back].
Bolton also noted their determination to post a win - something they managed only twice last season.
New co-captain Patrick Cripps led the way, while key forward Harry McKay, also impressed.
Debutant Sam Walsh and former Sydney defender Nic Newman were the most impressive among the six new Carlton players.
It was also symbolic that Richmond star Dustin Martin was stopped twice by tackles that a year ago, he probably would have fended off.
"One thing we did do well, was tackle," Bolton said. "Some of the effort indicators there were pretty strong."
Bolton bemoaned Carlton's over-use of handballl at times, plus the ease with which Richmond were able to move the ball out the back of play at times.
AAP