Round 15, 2019

Carlton 0.3 3 4.5 29 6.8 44 11.13 79 Fremantle 5.2 32 6.3 39 8.8 56 11.9 75
Venue:	Optus Stadium, Perth WA.
Date:	Sunday 30th June, 2019 (5.20 pm)
Result:	Won by 4 points.
Crowd:	37,293
Goalkickers:	M. Kennedy 2, M. Gibbons, S. Petrevski-Seton, P. Dow, M. McGovern, L. Casboult, J. Silvagni, K. Simpson, D. Thomas, M. Murphy 1.
Reports:	David Mundy (FRE) fined $2000 for striking Ed Curnow (CAR), Nat Fyfe (FRE) fined $1000 for pushing Ed Curnow (CAR) into the path of an umpire.
Umpires:	Nick Brown, Dean Margetts, Robert O'Gorman..
Injuries:	C. Curnow (knee, off during first quarter).
Ladder:	17th

Game Review

Out of the Blue: Murphy buries Dockers with 31 seconds to go.
IT WAS mission impossible - except nobody told Carlton. In one of the upsets of the season, the undermanned Blues have come from 29 points down at quarter-time and landed a severe blow on Fremantle's finals ambitions with a stunning four-point victory at Optus Stadium. Without superstar skipper Patrick Cripps (foot), key forward Harry McKay (groin) and with star tall Charlie Curnow (knee) going down inside 12 minutes, Carlton looked dead and buried only 30 minutes into the contest. But these Blues are building a never-say-die attitude under interim coach David Teague, and nobody typifies that spirit more than former skipper Marc Murphy, who was the hero with a miraculous checkside goal with 31 seconds left on the clock. The Dockers looked to have survived a major scare with just over a minute to play when Sam Switkowski snapped truly to grab back the lead.

But Carlton incredibly found another goal in the dying seconds, with Murphy getting into space and sneaking a shot past Fremantle defenders' outstretched fingers to send the large pro-Blues crowd into a frenzy. The Blues' third victory – a 11.13 (79) to 11.9 (75) triumph – was their second in three games under Teague and has lifted them off the bottom of the ladder for the first time since round eight. Murphy was outstanding, racking up 35 touches, while tagger Ed Curnow won an incredible 16 clearances and 32 disposals to lift the midfield brigade after the Dockers' engine room ran all over the visitors early. After some dark days, it was a win to savour, but Fremantle was left lamenting a golden opportunity to shore up a top-eight spot. The Dockers could have finished the round a game clear inside the top eight but they are now only clinging to eighth spot by percentage ahead of Port Adelaide and Essendon and are heading into a bumper 50th Western Derby. Fremantle lost control of the game after dominating the opening term.

Superstar skipper Nat Fyfe (29 disposals) was in imperious touch, with all nine of his possessions contested, and with white-hot Michael Walters (17, two goals) riding shotgun it looked how far Fremantle at the first change. But in a remarkable twist of events, the Blues defied all expectations and flipped the script. Whatever Teague said at the break clearly worked, with Carlton pumping the ball inside 50 on 17 occasions before Freo entered the attacking arc. Murphy and tagger Ed Curnow got to work at the coalface, while defenders Jacob Weitering and Caleb Marchbank set up a wall to lock the ball in. The Blues drilled four goals before Brennan Cox steadied the ship for the Dockers, who went into half-time only 10 points up. It was an arm-wrestle in the third term, with neither side giving an inch. The Blues hit the front for the first time after a dubious free kick paid to Matthew Kennedy, who then snapped brilliantly from the pocket, at the 11-minute mark. But a brace of majors from recalled Cam McCarthy (four goals) reestablished some breathing space for the home side, and they went to the final break with a 12-point buffer. Playing his first game since round seven after Jesse Hogan (foot) went down, McCarthy had a key part to play late, setting up Michael Walters for a goal and playing a hand in Switkowski's major. But Murphy kicked the sealer and the Blues will cross their fingers scans confirm their hopes that Curnow, who was coming off a seven-goal bag against the Dogs, only has a low-grade medial strain. Charlie Curnow immediately clutched his right knee after a first-quarter collision with Ethan Hughes and hobbled from the field and down to the rooms. Blues football manager Brad Lloyd told Fox Footy at quarter-time that Curnow had a low-grade medial issue, a relatively good result, while Mitch McGovern was also down in the rooms after a collision with Griffin Logue. - Travis King.

Best: M. Murphy, E. Curnow, S. Walsh, L. Plowman, M. Kreuzer, D. Thomas.

Match Highlights

https://www.carltonfc.com.au/video/2019-06-30/r15-highlights

Team

B:	20 Lachie Plowman	14 Liam Jones	39 Dale Thomas
HB:	6 Kade Simpson	23 Jacob Weitering	22 Caleb Marchbank
C:	43 Will Setterfield	35 Ed Curnow (acting captain)	4 Lochie O'Brien
HF:	2 Paddy Dow	30 Charlie Curnow	25 Zac Fisher
F:	41 Levi Casboult	11 Mitch McGovern	40 Michael Gibbons
Ruck:	8 Matthew Kreuzer	18 Sam Walsh	3 Marc Murphy
Interchange:	1 Jack Silvagni	5 Sam Petrevski-Seton	7 Matthew Kennedy
	24 Nic Newman
Coach:	David Teague
Emg:	16 Darcy Lang, 34 Andrew D. Phillips, 45 Hugh Goddard, 46 Matthew Cottrell

-*Matthew Cottrell replaced David Cuningham in the original squad
In: J. Silvagni, M. Kennedy, L. Jones
Out: P. Cripps (foot), Harry McKay (groin soreness), D. Cuningham (general soreness)

AFLCA Votes

9 - Ed Curnow (CARL)
9 - Marc Murphy (CARL)
3 - Nat Fyfe (FRE)
3 - Caleb Marchbank (CARL)
2 - Sam Petrevski-Seton (CARL)
2 - Sam Walsh (CARL)
1 - Matthew Kreuzer (CARL)
1 - Connor Blakely (FRE)

Milestones

Debut as Acting Captain: Ed Curnow

Brownlow Votes

3. Marc Murphy
2. Ed Curnow
1. Nta Fyfe (Fremantle)

Best & Fairest Votes

Ed Curnow 13, Marc Murphy 12, Levi Casboult 8, Matthew Kreuzer 8, Caleb Marchbank 8, Sam Petrevski-Seton 8, Lachie Plowman 8, Nic Newman 6, Dale Thomas 6, Sam Walsh 6, Jacob Weitering 6, Lochie O'Brien 5, Jack Silvagni 5,Paddy Dow 4, Zac Fisher 4, Matt Kennedy 4, Will Setterfield 4, Kade Simpson 4, Liam Jones 3.

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Round 14 | Round 16