Carlton coach Brett Ratten started the mind games ahead of Thursday night’s crunch clash with West Coast at Patersons Stadium, claiming the Eagles could be flat following an extended AFL break.
Much has been said of the Blues’ scheduling nightmare, with Carlton forced to make the long trek to Perth on the back of their third six-day break.
But Ratten was adamant on Wednesday that the short turnarounds hadn’t fazed his group, and instead turned the heat onto West Coast, who will have had 11 days in between games after a bye.
“Last year it was a bit of a hoodoo for teams to have the bye,” Ratten said.
“They didn’t respond straight after so it will be interesting to see how the teams that had the bye are going to respond this year. It might be completely different. It might be a great thing for teams.
“But at the back of their minds they (West Coast) will be thinking ‘what happened last year? Geez, it could be a bit flat’.
“Time will tell.”
Blues tagger Andrew Carrazzo (shoulder) is almost certain to return against the Eagles after making it through a light training session at the WACA Ground on Wednesday, while Heath Scotland (calf) will join him in the side.
Carrazzo, who seriously injured his right shoulder blade in a crunching tackle from Essendon’s Sam Lonergan in April, was initially slated to be sidelined until the end of June.
But Ratten declared the 28-year-old ready to resume bash-and-crash duties in the midfield.
“He’s really important in regards to stopping or quelling the influence of some of the key players of the opposition,” Ratten said.
“He’s so hard on the footy and he’s a real enforcer on our blokes in regards to where they’re setting up and what we want from them.
“I think it’s a big ask to say he’s going to come back and have 30 possessions, restrict his bloke to 10 possessions and get 17 clearances or something like that.
“But we think what he can do on the day will be really valuable for us.”
The Eagles welcome back key midfielder Luke Shuey from suspension, but defender Beau Waters will be forced to watch on from the sidelines after copping his own one-match ban.
Ninth-placed Carlton (6-5) are in desperate need of a victory after dropping four of their past five games.
West Coast have won their past 16 games at Patersons Stadium, but Ratten said the venue held no fears for his troops after posting wins there in five of their past seven visits.
