Carlton receive injury boost ahead of Thursday’s clash against Melbourne with 29-year-old set to make first appearance of the season
Ahead of their clash against Melbourne, Carlton has named their team for the game. It includes 29-year-old forward Jack Martin who will play his first game of the season following a pre-season hamstring injury,
Martin is joined by Mitch McGovern and Ollie Hollands who return from hamstring and knee injuries respectively. Defender Brodie Kemp was also recalled after the last weekend in the Carlton Reserves, where he recorded 25 disposals and a game-high 13 marks.
Zac Williams is not available for selection due to glute soreness, which saw him subbed out in the loss against Collingwood. Caleb Marchbank is on the Carlton reserves list to take on the Casey Demons in the Friday night clash.
David Cuningham, Orazio Fantasia and Lewis Young are not listed, while Jordan Boyd, Adam Cerra, Matthew Cottrell, Corey Durdin and George Hewett have been named on the interchange, with the sub to be announced Thursday 6:20 pm AEST.
Fourth-placed Melbourne will have one player back. Jake Bowey returns after breaking his collarbone in the opening round against Sydney.
Carlton coach Michael Voss says Charlie Curnow is executing his instructions perfectly
Charlie Curnow has come under fire, as many say that he's not pulling his weight. Essendon champion and former player Matthew Lloyd has questioned whether Curnow has enough fight in him to deliver for the blues.
Carlton boss Michael Voss, though, has said that Curnow is doing exactly what's expected of him in the team:
“The strength is in our collective. That's what I think - and I think he buys into that extremely well. The role we ask him to play, the teammate we want him to be - I’ve been nothing but impressed with how he's approached that.”
"And he knows as well as anybody that our success is off the back of being able to get our forward line cohesion right and our connection right. He's got a role within that. He's got to be a competitor within that. But we are all searching for that extra level of consistency in what we do. And he'd be no different.”
He also praised Melbourne's defensive structure and discipline ahead of their Thursday night game and says that his team must be cautious and take advantage of whatever opportunity they get in the game.
He addressed concerns about Carlton's poor defensive stats and says that the team has made some adjustments he is confident will pay off in their upcoming match.