CARLTON will be without key forward Harry McKay for next week's semi-final against Melbourne and could lose livewire forward Jack Martin to suspension after an incident early in the six-point win over Sydney at the MCG.
McKay was substituted out of the elimination final in the third quarter after Sydney key defender Tom McCartin backed back into the path of the 2021 Coleman medallist and appeared to make contact with the Blue's sternum and chin, before he was helped off the ground in the arms of trainers.
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Martin made an impact in his first final but the former Gold Coast Sun is expected to face scrutiny from Match Review Officer Michael Christian after making contact with Nick Blakey's jaw with a swinging arm in a tackle that forced the Sydney defender off the ground for a concussion test in the first quarter.
"Harry is in concussion protocols, so he won't be right for next week," Blues coach Michael Voss said.
"He wasn't in a great way at the end of the game, so (he has entered) concussion protocols. That makes him unavailable for next week. We'll have to look at what our forward line mix looks like."
Jack Silvagni has played one VFL game since being subbed out of the round 19 win over West Coast with a knee sprain, but the mobile forward could be available to face Simon Goodwin's side if he proves his fitness next week.
Carlton led inside two minutes when Sam Docherty kicked the opening goal of the game, but the Blues faithful was forced to endure a nervous second half as Sydney kicked seven goals to four after the main break to finish with a wet sail.
"The last minute and a bit was interesting, wasn't it?" Voss said. "It had big moments, it had plenty of mistakes, but somehow we found a way to hold on. I guess that's what finals footy is all about, isn't it? You never know when the moment is going to turn up. We had a couple of really big efforts late to get over the line."
Voss won 15 finals, including three premierships, during his decorated playing career at Brisbane, but the Brownlow medallist had won only one final as a coach before Friday night, back in his first year in charge of the Lions when he guided them to victory over Carlton in the 2009 elimination final at the Gabba.
After a tough exit at Brisbane and eight years away from senior coaching, where he worked predominantly as Ken Hinkley's right hand man at Port Adelaide, Friday night was a landmark win for Voss, not that the second-year Carlton coach will stop to reflect on his individual journey back to this point.
"It has been a journey. It has been a journey for all of us. This thing has absolutely nothing to do with me, it has got to do with our people, our club and that's what I'm really proud of," he said.
"This is a really important club moment. It's taken a lot of effort, a lot of decisions to get back to this point in time. Right now, we get to embrace that. That's all I'm concerned about."
Carlton's 2022 campaign ended in devastating circumstances when Collingwood denied the Blues a return to September by beating them by a point on the final Sunday of the home and away season.
But after overcoming a start to 2023 where the Blues exited the mid-season bye with only four wins on the board, Voss said an improved resolve this season has paved the way for a resurgence that now takes them to the second week of the finals.
"I think there is a defensive resilience to us now. We have spoken about it all year, it had to be a characteristic that we had to build within the team," he said.
"We won on defence at the end of the game. We didn't have momentum at all, it was completely against it and we certainty weren't winning it through ball use. In behind all that was a desperate will to win. We probably won on heart."
