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Blues ready to Ratten down the hatches

By Mr Dandalooa

Carlton coach Brett Ratten wants his squad to brace for a tough Tigers outfit when the Blues take on Richmond in the season opener at the MCG this Thursday night.

Ratten reckons the Tigers will be ultra-aggressive and said new Tigers coach Damien Hardwick’s combativeness, a trait he is credited with having as a player, would be mimicked by his team.

He said Richmond will come out swinging.

“I know Damien very well through playing days ... they’ll be hell-bent on every possession and making us fight for everything,” the Blues coach said.

“They’ll be in our face, I’d say, straight from the first bounce.

“Every play will be a contest and nothing will change from probably the way (Hardwick) played to the team that he coaches.”

The Blues smashed the Tigers by 83 points in the opening round of last season for a horror year for the Tigers, which led to the down-spiral of former coach Terry Wallace.

Ratten anticipates the Tigers will be out to prove themselves early and will be urging his own charges to stamp their physical authority in the game early.

“If you sit out and think you can just run round the edges and hopefully get a possession, I think when you get in it and roll your sleeves up and cop a bump or a tackle you feel a part of the game,” Ratten said.

Chris Judd will miss the opening 3 matches as a result of being suspended in last year’s elimination final.

FootyGoss understands Marc Murphy and Jarrad Waite and Marc Murphy will both play, the first senior game for Waite since he injured his knee in round 9 last year.

Murphy has been out of action since a hip operation in January.

“[Murphy] looked like he was running over the top of the ground really well and Jarrad’s second and third efforts were fantastic in the game, so they’ll both play,” Ratten said.

Meanwhile, Carlton fans believe Kade Simpson should be named captain in Chris Judd’s absence during the opening three rounds of the home and away season.

Simpson received 38 per cent of the 1833 votes in carltonfc.com.au’s poll to be the fans captain elect ahead of Marc Murphy with 25 per cent.

The pair received almost two-thirds of all the votes in the online poll.

Simpson captained Carlton on six successive occasions three years ago and although impressing most with his on-field leadership, he failed to get a win as skipper during that period.

Judd is poised to return for the Blues’ round 4 match against Adelaide at AAMI Stadium.