CARLTON coach Michael Voss got the response he was looking for from his players on Thursday night, after starting 2023 in a similar fashion to how they ended 2022. 

The Blues led Richmond with less than two minutes on the clock in round one, just like they did when they missed out on returning to September last year by losing to Collingwood by a point in round 23, a week after coughing up a late lead to lose to Melbourne. 

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But against the reigning premiers at the MCG on Thursday night, Carlton navigated past a vintage Jeremy Cameron performance – the Geelong superstar kicked three of his six goals in the final quarter – and managed to win or halve crucial moments in time-on in the fourth quarter to seal a memorable eight-point win to get back on the winners list for the first time since July. 

"It wasn't a monkey on our back, we never looked at it like that, that's for sure. It just had to be that way, didn't it?" Voss said. 

"I said to the players after, 'We just had to win that way, didn't we?' It was really tough in the end. We got the correction we were after. 

"What we're constantly trying to reinforce and encourage is we're not an outcome-based football team, we're process driven. When you look at your process, and how you're playing, it looked right. 

"There were some aspects of our game last week where we lost some critical contests and were forced to play a game we didn't really want to play, but today I thought we had great balance in our game. Our contested was A+. Our balance on both sides of the ball was pretty good tonight.

"To be able to go back after last week and have a look at it and learn off it. There were some guys there that had some tough learnings, but what we were confident of is our system was standing up, there were a few little decisions that we needed to make better to correct it. Tonight we absorbed quite a bit from about seven minutes to go."

While reigning Coleman Medal winner Charlie Curnow produced a dominant display at one end of the ground, booting five goals from 11 disposals and nine marks, it was Cameron at the opposite end who kept Geelong in a contest it rarely led. 

The Blues simply couldn't contain the triple All-Australian, who finished with six goals from 25 disposals, 11 score involvements, eight marks and 592 metres gained in a clinical display. 

"He was unbelievable," Voss said. "I'm sitting there at the last part thinking, 'Surely he's got to miss one? Surely.' He was incredible tonight. What a classy player. Even as an opposition coach it is hard not to admire what he's doing.

"We were trying to figure out how to stop and it is very hard to do. the few looks that he got he finished it; that's what dangerous forwards do. He was pretty significant, I'm just fortunate we had a few that stood up as well."

Carlton made a late change, removing Jack Martin from the 22 after the West Australian pulled up with calf tightness following training, replacing him with ruckman Marc Pittonet for his first senior appearance of 2023. 

Geelong has only started a season 0-2 once under Chris Scott and only twice since 2004, but the Cats coach isn't hitting the panic button just yet, despite becoming the first side to drop the first two games of their premiership defence since Hawthorn in 2009. 

"We always knew that it was going to be a hard year. We'd be saying the exact same thing if we'd won two close games. The fact that we haven't got over the line, there is disappointment but it is certainly not a situation where we are panicking," Scott said.

"We've come into this year with a view that we are going to be different, there are going to be some teething problems with a few things, and we've lost a couple of close games but there is still a lot to like. 

"There is a quiet confidence about us. We do have extra confidence without experienced players that if we do get it right, our top level is going to be hard to beat. 

"We're not quite there yet. We'll work on it. I'm probably erring on the positive side, which is rare when you lose, it usually takes a couple of days to get to that point."

Without Tom Stewart, Jake Kolodjashnij and Jack Henry, the Cats' makeshift defence struggled to contain Carlton's attack and midfield, where the absence of the retired Joel Selwood and injured Mitch Duncan has been felt in the first fortnight of the season. 

Geelong and Carlton both head north next weekend, with the Cats facing Gold Coast at Heritage Bank Stadium on Sunday and the Blues meeting Greater Western Sydney at Giants Stadium on Saturday.