VETERAN coach Mick Malthouse has described Carlton's come-from-behind three-point win over West Coast at Etihad Stadium on Saturday as "one of the better wins I've been associated with".
With the victory being Malthouse's 400th win as coach, it is high praise indeed.
Carlton kicked the final five goals of the game to pull off the dramatic win but – even with such a weight of experience behind him – Malthouse said it was impossible to pinpoint exactly why or how such a turnaround in momentum occurred.
"I'd love to know where it came from," Malthouse said.
He knows, better than most, it's impossible for coaches to have an answer for everything.
"You might pinpoint a thing [that changes momentum], but at the end of the day it's really got to be gathered by a mass of people. One player is not going to change the course of that game. It has to be a collective," Malthouse said.
When Carlton's small forward Jeff Garlett kicked a goal with less than 10 minutes remaining, the Blues drew within three goals of the Eagles. It appeared however to be a consolation goal at the end of a gallant but unrewarding effort.
However after 693 games in the coaches box, Malthouse knows that until the final siren sounds, hope remains.
So he prayed for a score to happen from somewhere to stop belief from sinking like a stone.
"We just needed to pinch a steadier to break their momentum to see if we could maybe throw a bit of doubt into their psyche," Malthouse said. "It is an easy message to give but it is hard to interpret, it is hard then to execute."
One goal became two which became three and then became four and suddenly Carlton had regained the lead.
To Malthouse, it wasn't just the flurry of goals in the last 10 minutes that made the victory so meritorious.
"I just thought it was a very gutsy win all up," Malthouse said.
He knew before the game had started that the Blues had their backs against the wall. They had lost five midfielders to injury from the previous week and made six changes overall.
That meant many players were asked to fill unfamiliar roles.
That led to frustration at times in the coaches box but Malthouse has learned to live with such feelings.
"It was an adjustment for them to reposition," Malthouse said. "[We] just had to go back to [the] bare basics of what suits the players even though they had to play in different roles."
In the end, Malthouse said the win was the sort of victory that fast-tracks a team's development.
"We almost gave it away a couple of times because we didn't use the ball well or the right option late, but even that is a learning curve and we can go through those scenarios with players who perhaps haven't been in this position [before]," Malthouse said. "You learn a lot from those games, both good and bad, but you learn how to win."
