"I had someone that really backed me, my ability" - Carlton’s Alex Cincotta reveals inspiring chat with league icon that sparked his AFL career

After missing seven drafts and dedicating most of his time rehabilitating in the gym during the COVID-19 pandemic following his ACL injury, Alex Cincotta returned for the first time to the field against Carlton's long-time rivals Collingwood.

Cincotta had scored in a previous meeting against Collingwood. He told AFL.co.au's Knock Offs:

“My first year, it was a pretty amazing experience to play in front of (86,785). Two big clubs come together on a Friday night.”

“It’s a great experience and a great game to be part of”, Cincotta said via AFL.co.au's Knock Offs.

Vossy didn't take the traditional path through U18s football. He said that he only got the confidence he needed to give his best through a conversation with a much-loved figure in Danny Frawley-Spud after a game of rep football.

“I hadn’t played a single VFL game yet, I had a really good year at local level and played really well in rep games. Spud gave me a role in the Vic Country game, and I shut down a small forward named Josh Green (ex-Brisbane, Essendon).

“That one game gave me a lot of confidence. For the first time, I had someone that really backed me, my ability and me as a player. ‘Spud’ said to me ‘mate, I think you can play AFL’.”

Alex Cincotta was signed by Carlton in the 2023 Pre-Season Supplemental Selection Period to replace defender Zac Williamswith an ACL injury.

He played his debut game at the senior level in the sixth round against St Kilda.He played 19 games in his debut season, and his natural defensive ability, speed, burst and kicking earned him a year's contract extension by Carlton .

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Last-minute goal hand Carlton loss against rivals

Despite Harry McKay scoring four goals and excellent defending from Nic Newman and Blake Acres with 32 disposals each, the Blues were unable to defeat Collingwood.

After a 14-point margin at the end of the first quarter, a late-minute goal by Nick Daicos saw the Blues lose their second consecutive game by a narrow scoreline.

Coach Voss agreed that the back-to-back narrow losses to top-four contenders Geelong and Collingwood served as a reality check for the Blues, who are also considered to be in the premiership race this year.

“Right now that’s what’s been put to task,” he said.

“There’s tension on it and good sides who have lots of threats and have a good style of footy and they can play it for long periods of time, they’ll put that under tension."

He added:

“So we’re getting some really important feedback for us right now. It’s really clear for us. We’re not searching for it. It’s really clear. Our job is to just make sure we execute for longer and be more disciplined for longer, do our role for longer, execute those kicks a little bit more.

“When you get into games like this, it’s about margins. It’s the marginal gains. It’s the little things that you want to get after and we’ll keep showing that to the players and we’ll keep trying to improve individually and we’ll keep trying to improve as a team.”

Admitting that his side is playing well, he urged them to continue improving:

"We’re playing some good football. We’re playing some really good footy,” Voss said.

“We also know that we’ve got to continue to progress, and I talked about defence last week, but we’re referring to that every single week. It’s important to us every single week and we’ve got to build off the back of it because it can’t be the moving spotlight."