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Venue: Telstra Dome | ||||||||||||||||||
| Date: Sat 30 August 2008, 7:10pm | Result: Lost by 78 points | ||||||||||||||||||
| Umpires: H. Kennedy, S. McLaren, M. Stevic | Crowd: 49,057 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Goalkickers: Fevola 7, Gibbs 2, Cloke, Judd, Russell 1. | |||||||||||||||||||
| Reports: TBD | Injuries: Cazzazzo & Scotland replaced in selected side by Austin & Pfeiffer | Ladder position: 11th | |||||||||||||||||
Game Review 
Carlton finished the 2008 home and away season with this Saturday night clash at Docklands against eventual Premiers Hawthorn in a match that was pivotal for two of the biggest names in the game. The Blues were well and truly out of finals contention, but our gun full-forward Brendan Fevola was playing consistently well and had booted 92 goals for the year. Hawthorn were second on the ladder - a whopping four wins behind Geelong - yet running into ominous form, with their athletic spearhead ‘Buddy’ Franklin poised on 98 majors for the season. Either or both of those stars seemed sure to crack the ton that night, so almost 50,000 fans turned up to see history made.Intent on getting Franklin to his milestone as quickly as possible, the Hawks burst out the blocks with a six-goal first term. But promising Blues defender Paul Bower held Buddy in check for 22 minutes, before Hawthorn’s midfield pressure burst the game open. Approaching time-on, Franklin worked his way into space, marked, and drilled his first major. Three minutes later, he repeated the dose - registering his first-ever century, and sparking a wild ground invasion by hundreds of delirious Hawk supporters.
Meanwhile, up the other end, Fevola's first half was a disaster, with a poster, a shank that didn’t make the distance, a behind, and another shot out on the full. The Blues were being totally outplayed, and trailed by 38 points at the main break. Eventually however, Carlton found some system in the third term. Although Hawthorn maintained their dominance, the Blues made a number of successful forward thrusts, and Fevola worked hard to kick four goals and take his tally to 97 from three strong marks and a trademark snap from a forward pocket. In the last quarter, with the Hawks totally in control and the game out of reach, the Blueboys did all they could to get their spearhead to triple figures, while the Carlton supporters in the crowd willed them on. The biggest stumbling block was Hawthorn coach Alastair Clarkson, who stacked his backline in the last ten minutes with the doubtful excuse that he wanted to “avoid another time-consuming ground invasion.” Even Hawk forward Jarryd Roughead - who had kicked five goals - was sent back into defence to crowd out the increasingly desperate Fevola. With only seconds left, Fev made one last despairing attempt to mark, but gave away a free kick, and ended up stranded on a heart-breaking 99 goals on the siren.
No. 1 draft pick Marc Murphy was arguably best afield for the Blues with a career-high 36 disposals at 81% effiency. Captain Chris Judd and another No.1 draft pick in Bryce Gibbs were also sensational. Judd had 31 disposals, 9 contested possessions and kicked a goal while Gibbs had a career-high 32 disposals (at 81% efficiency) and 2 goals. But all eyes were on Brendan Fevola whose seven second-half goals made him the first player in VFL/AFL history to be left stranded on 99 goals. Apart from a few individual performances, the Blues had a lot of players who performed well below their capabilities and this was indicated by the scoreboard.
Team
| B: | 32 Bret Thornton | 18 Paul Bower | 26 Joe Anderson |
| HB: | 27 Dennis Armfield | 1 Andrew Walker | 4 Bryce Gibbs |
| C: | 6 Kade Simpson | 5 Chris Judd (c) | 24 Nick Stevens (vc) |
| HF: | 2 Jordan Russell | 30 Jarrad Waite | 33 Ryan Houlihan |
| F: | 14 Brad Fisher | 25 Brendan Fevola | 28 Cameron Cloke |
| Ruck: | 8 Matthew Kreuzer | 16 Shaun Grigg | 3 Marc Murphy |
| Interchange: | 7 Adam Bentick | 21 Mark Austin | 22 Shaun Hampson |
| 36 Darren Pfeiffer | |||
| Coach: | Brett Ratten | ||
| Emg: | 44 Andrew Carrazzo, 29 Heath Scotland, 34 Simon Wiggins | ||
- Late Changes Austin and Pfeiffer for Carrazzo and Scotland
Milestones
50 Games: Jordan RussellLast Game: Adam Bentick
Last Game (Carlton): Darren Pfeiffer
Brownlow Votes
3. Jordan Lewis, Hawthorn2. Marc Murphy, Carlton
1. Luke Hodge, Hawthorn
Best and Fairest Votes
36 Chris Judd, 29 Brendan Fevola, 28 Paul Bower, 22 Marc Murphy, 18 Bryce Gibbs, 17 Bret Thornton, 4 Matthew Kreuzer, 3 Dennis ArmfieldRound 21 | 2009