“St Kilda are a good side and got some great players in there and they tested us in the third quarter so to have us hold and ability to strike back in the last was important,” he said. “We’ll have some areas in our game where we need to go to work on and those kind of things, but I’ll highlight to the team we got our offence going really well in the first half and got that off great defensive acts as well.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Blues mentor particularly shouted out the work of Harriet Cordner<\/a> (15 disposals, five marks and two rebound 50s) and Ciara Fitzgerald<\/a> (nine disposals, four tackles and six rebound 50s) who quelled the Saints’ attack when the opposition had the momentum.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “We won the ball back well through our intercept possessions and we were able to execute for a long while and then St Kilda stepped up in the third and challenged our team and it was about turning up at source and at the contest and making sure you put on enough pressure to win the ball back,” Buck said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “They were pretty good with their hands around the ground, their contest shape and when they went forward would have had some good looks but again our defensive five and six and the people going through there, they just held up really well.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n Carlton was comprehensive around the ground with 23 more hitouts (38-15) and 10 more clearances (32-22), though that differential was largely due to stoppage clearances (27-10) with the centre bounce work an area of improvement (12-5 St Kilda’s way). Unsurprisingly skipper Abbie McKay<\/a> lead from the front with 32 disposals, nine clearances and seven tackles, as sister Sophie watched on from the stands.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Without her, the Blues still piled on 21 scoring shots and Buck said that he believed the team was starting to have more players who “compliment the way we play” such as injury-replacement forward Nell Morris-Dalton<\/a>. The ex-Pie joined the squad two weeks ago and was able to kick a goal in the win alongside her eight touches, three marks and two tackles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “She is a position that we needed to fill, that deeper kind of forward,” he said. “That piece has been really important so that’s been an important piece and the personnel who go through it don’t really bother me, I’m happy for any of our players to go play that forward system that we want to see and they’re well coached by Jess Dal Pos <\/em><\/strong>our forwards coach who holds them to a high standard and a high bar incredibly well. It’s more a system based thing. “<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/central.rookieme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Nell-Morris-Dalton-Carlton-AFLW.png\")