Carlton midfielder George Hewett is confident the Blues can turn things around despite an underwhelming 0-2 start to the 2025 AFL season.
The 29-year-old, now in his fourth season at Carlton, spoke to media on Monday about how the Blues could take inspiration from slow-starting teams in years past.
"If any team is 0-2, you're going to be disappointed, but there's 21 more games, it's a long season," Hewett said.
"You look at teams like Brisbane last year, even the Hawks, so there's plenty of time to turn it around... We're doing a lot of things right; we just need to be more polished and focused with our skills and we'll be okay."
Hewett has been a bright spot for the Blues in their early losses, averaging 26.5 disposals and 9.5 tackles per game, but despite his personal efforts, feels like his team needs to hone their skills in crunch moments.
"Richmond [in Round 1] brought great effort and we made a few mistakes in critical moments," Hewett commented.
"The Hawks game was a really tight contest and they just won the critical moments in their back half to transition and goal. Our skills let us down a little bit."
However, Hewett believes the foundations are there for Carlton to build strongly during the remainder of the season, encouraged by the effort displayed in the greasy affair against Hawthorn on Thursday night.
"Our effort was really good if you look at the figures and stats. [The game] was in our favour except the scoreboard, which is the one that counts," Hewett said.
"Voss said [post-game] it was a great game of footy and we just didn't take our chances in front of the goals... We played well, [the Hawks] scored 80 points and we only scored 60, but that's something for our offence to work on. I think everything else is in good order."
Carlton have yet another challenge this week, taking on the Western Bulldogs at Marvel Stadium on Friday night. Hewett underlined the importance of playing clean football after Bulldogs tall forward Sam Darcy was dominant against Collingwood with a four-goal haul.
"Weitering or Will Young or one of the key defenders will have their work cut out for them, but [Darcy] is a very good player and he's good to watch, so hopefully they go alright on him," he said.
"Our skills and finishing in front of goals [is critical] because everything else is pretty good."
The Blues will be hoping their winless streak, which goes back to Round 23 last season, ends on Friday night, with first bounce at 7:40pm AEDT.
