The power of Brisbane’s midfield has forced Carlton coach Michael Voss to recall George Hewett.

Hewett, the Blues’ reigning best and fairest winner, was remarkably dropped after their shock loss to North Melbourne on Good Friday.

The inside midfielder was a standout at VFL level but has had to wait over a month for another opportunity in the senior side.

Hewett collected no less than 24 disposals across his five matches in the twos, led by a 31-disposal, two-goal performance against St Kilda last weekend.

Voss says the Blues need what Hewett does best if they are to challenge the Lions at the Gabba on Friday night.

“He’ll play; he’s been really strong over the last couple of weeks,” Voss said.

“He’s added a couple more things into his game in the last few weeks which we’ll hopefully see in this game.

“He’s been a really valuable teammate for us, you bang the door down to selection through form and he’s certainly done that.

“We know what we get with George, he’s very reliable. You’ve got to factor in what our balance is looking like (and) he brings a strong contest game.

“When we talk about Brisbane, they’re strong around stoppages and we’ve got to get our hands on the ball first.”

It’s been a challenging month for Voss and Carlton on and off the field.

The disastrous opening to the year has been laid bare by the Elijah Hollands saga and repeated second-half collapses.

Voss knows what a win would do to the Blues’ morale but says – given their fade outs – they can’t afford complacency.

“It’d be pretty large, but you don’t think about outcome, that’s stating the absolute obvious about what we’re trying to do here,” he said.

“What we do have to focus on is getting our game together, we have to stay connected throughout the whole game to give ourselves the best chance to win.

“This is a pretty tough environment to win in, they’re a very good side (and) we’re going to have to do a lot right.

“It’s been frustrating, but at the same time, we’ve used those moments to find marginal gains to get better.

“That’s where we’re at as a team, and you’re living on that knife’s edge a little bit in terms of performance.

“To have a quarter like we did last week, it’s extremely disappointing. You’ve got to go to work on your game, we let ourselves down defensively.

“We’ve got to be better, and we have to ask more from one another throughout this game.”

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