CARLTON is going to stand by young defender Jacob Weitering through a much-publicised form slump and history suggests the Blues are taking the right approach.
When you compare Weitering's first 45 games against the players now considered the benchmark defenders in the competition – Alex Rance, Jeremy McGovern, Jake Lever and Steven May – the former No.1 draft pick's numbers stack up.
Weitering, still only 20, is a talented and composed defender who demonstrated throughout his junior career with Vic Country and the Dandenong Stingrays an elite ability to out-position his opponent, attack the football in the air and latch onto his marks.
In the first two seasons of his AFL career, those traits have been largely apparent, while his ball use and precision kicking (a career average of 77 per cent) are established attributes within his game.
When it comes to defending the opposition, Weitering's 3.1 spoils per game and 15.2 pressure points per game rank at the bottom of the list of the five defenders AFL.com.au has chosen to compare.
Killing the contest with purpose and chasing and pressuring the opposition are clear areas of Weitering's game that he must continue to refine if he is to repay the faith Carlton has invested in him.
It must also be noted the 195cm, 95kg key position player spent significant portions of his first two seasons at AFL level playing as a forward, as the Blues struggled to unearth significant scoring options.
Two contests in the first quarter of last Friday night's game against Collingwood would have featured highly on the list of feedback Weitering received when he went through his individual review this week.
The first is a clear example as to why the young Blue must lift his pressure around the ball, with Collingwood speedster Will Hoskin-Elliott accelerating into an open goal as Weitering chose to dwell rather than taking his body at the opponent to lay a tackle.
The second example of why Weitering must increase his aerial presence was highlighted when he failed to make a spoil coming over the top of Ben Crocker and Kade Simpson, who were engaged in a one-on-one battle.
Weitering committed the cardinal sin of a defender by allowing the ball to get over the back of the contest, with his hesitation as he approached the footy in the air coming back to bite.
Injuries to Sam Rowe and Sam Docherty have increased the pressure on Carlton's defence in 2018, which is ranked second-last in the AFL for points against (107.3), while it faces a further challenge with Caleb Marchbank to be sidelined for up to a month with an ankle injury.
Carlton's increased focus on adding offensive elements to its game plan, after building its team defence under coach Brendon Bolton in his first two seasons, has also placed further strain on the Blues' backline this year.
The Blues also turned over 42 players in Bolton's first two seasons at the helm, with an emphasis on investing in its youth such as Charlie Curnow, Paddy Dow, Lochie O'Brien, Harry McKay and Tom De Koning.
Early in his career at Richmond, Rance faced similar challenges to Weitering playing in a mediocre side and was often asked to play on opponents bigger and more experienced than him.
Weitering has always been prepared to back himself in in the air, with the defender averaging more intercept marks (1.5 per game) when compared to Rance (0.9), but well below Jeremy McGovern's (3.1), at the same points of their careers.
Weitering also wins his fair share of the ball (13.7 disposals per game), ranking behind only Rance and Lever (15.4) in that category.
On Saturday night, the Blues will take on a North Melbourne forward line boasting Ben Brown and Jarrad Waite, and minus Marchbank, Weitering's role in nullifying the in-form duo will be critical, not only for the team, but from an individual standpoint as well.
The top pick from the 2015 NAB AFL Draft finds himself in the most challenging period of his career and how he emerges out the other side will speak volumes about his temperament and character.
| D | KE% | R50 | CP | M | IM | SI | SP | PP | T | 1/1L | |
| Jacob Weitering | 13.7 | 77.0 | 2.2 | 4.9 | 5.3 | 1.5 | 2.2 | 3.1 | 15.2 | 1.3 | 28.2 |
| Steven May | 11.6 | 72.9 | 2.5 | 4.7 | 3.9 | 0.7 | 2.5 | 5.9 | 21.2 | 1.8 | 27.0 |
| Alex Rance | 15.4 | 73.5 | 2.8 | 5.3 | 4.4 | 0.9 | 3.1 | 4.2 | 25.9 | 2.6 | 0* |
| Jeremy McGovern | 13.5 | 76.3 | 2.1 | 6.1 | 5.9 | 3.1 | 3.6 | 4.3 | 15.9 | 1.3 | 18.2 |
| Jake Lever | 15.4 | 75.8 | 3.0 | 5.3 | 5.4 | 2.5 | 3.0 | 4.7 | 14.9 | 1.1 | 30.4 |
Stats supplied by Champion Data
*Champion Data did not record one-on-one contests in Rance's first 45 games
D - Disposals
KE% - Kicking efficiency percentage
R50 - Rebound 50s
CP - Contested possessions
M - Marks
IM - Intercept marks
SI - Score involvements
SP - Spoils
PP - Pressure points
T - tackles
1/1L - one-on-one contest losses
