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Carlton defeat Collingwood by 23 points - MCG. Blue skies as Carlton snaps back from a 14-game losing streak. Fevola kicks 7.

Round 4, 2008

Carlton5.2329.45812.67817.9111
Collingwood3.4226.6427.95113.1088
Venue: MCG
Date: Sun 13 April 2008, 2:10pm Result: Won by 23 points
Umpires: Jeffery, McBurney, Sully. Crowd: 77,873
Goalkickers: Fevola 7, Fisher 2, Stevens , Hadley, Betts, Gibbs, Grigg, Simpson, Russell & Setanta Ó hAilpín
Reports: Stevens (Carlton)-cleared Maxwell (Collingwood)-1 week Injuries: Nil













Game Review

Played on a fine Sunday afternoon at the MCG, this game will be remembered for Brendan Fevola’s superb effort at full-forward, on the day that the Carlton Football Club rediscovered its self-belief and avoided creating a new record for the longest losing sequence in the club’s history.

The Blues were always going to lift against our fiercest rival, however Collingwood once again went into the match as clear favourites, following their impressive destruction of Richmond the previous week. On the other hand, Carlton were winless after three rounds and staring down the barrel of a fifteenth consecutive loss.

But sparked by a fiercely-competitive ruck division and a dominant midfield that helped keep the pressure off a defence that showed real signs of maturity, Carlton led at every change and withstood a late rally by the Magpies to run out 23-point winners.

Brendan Fevola was the focal point at full-forward, and kicked 7 goals in a scintillating display. Benefiting from some neat delivery of the ball from a winning midfield group, Big Fev marked strongly on the lead and perhaps should have had a couple more. The highlight of his performance came late in the game, when he chased hard and laid two strong tackles in succession. The ball spilt into the path of Shaun Grigg, who kicked the sealer from close in.

In addition to Fevola's 7 goals (from 8 marks), Jarrad Waite held Anthony Rocca to 6 disposals, 1 mark and 1 goal while picking up a career-high 26 disposals and 13 marks himself. Paul Bower played his best game yet for the Blues; keeping Travis Cloke to 9 disposals and 1 goal while helping himself to 20 disposals and 8 marks. Chris Judd was able to lift a gear when it mattered most in the final quarter, picking up 14 disposals to take his match tally to 26. Marc Murphy recovered from a heavy hit early in the game to finish with 22 disposals, 6 inside-50's, 3 assists and not one error. Bryce Gibbs also played a great game; picking up 19 disposals, 8 tackles and a spectacular goal.

This game is remembered fondly by Carlton fans, and is considered one of our best wins in the Home & Away rounds of the 2000's. For more games like this, please click here.

Team


B:40 Michael Jamison 30 Jarrad Waite 32 Bret Thornton
HB: 4 Bryce Gibbs 18 Paul Bower 44 Andrew Carrazzo
C: 6 Kade Simpson 5 Chris Judd (c) 29 Heath Scotland
HF: 3 Marc Murphy 14 Brad Fisher 16 Shaun Grigg
F: 19 Eddie Betts 25 Brendan Fevola 17 Setanta Ó hAilpín
Ruck: 28 Cameron Cloke 10 Richard Hadley 24 Nick Stevens
Interchange: 2 Jordan Russell 8 Matthew Kreuzer 31 Jordan Bannister
36 Darren Pfeiffer
Coach: Brett Ratten
Emg: 7 Adam Bentick, 15 Steven Browne, 22 Shaun Hampson
In: Shaun Grigg, Setanta Ó hAilpín
Out: Ryan Houlihan (hip), Shaun Hampson


Milestones

50 Games (Carlton): Jordan Bannister
400 Goals: Brendan Fevola
First Win (As Coach): Brett Ratten
Score Records: This win ended a record equalling run of 14 losses
Score Records: This win, and great defensive effort, ended a Carlton-record, and near AFL record, of games where over 100 points was conceded by a team
Interesting Fact: This was the first win experienced by Paul Bower, Michael Jamison, Matthew Kreuzer, Shaun Grigg and Darren Pfeiffer, and the first in Navy Blue for Chris Judd and Richard Hadley

Brownlow Votes

3. Jarrad Waite, Carlton
2. Brendan Fevola, Carlton
1. Andrew Carrazzo, Carlton

Best and Fairest Votes

46 Brendan Fevola, 40 Jarrad Waite, 39 Michael Jamison, 34 Paul Bower, 33 Marc Murphy, 27 Bret Thornton, 23 Heath Scotland, 17 Chris Judd, 12 Kade Simpson, 11 Brad Fisher

Video



Mike and Dan

Marc Murphy: Mike and Dan's Play of the Week

In any great game and any great win such as our riveting defeat of the ‘Pies, there are bound to be many moments that could be considered your Play of the Week. It could have been Fevola’s goals – particularly the last one, or his ferreting and tackling to give Grigg his moment in the sun (itself a highlight), or Bower’s game on Cloke, or Gibbsy’s tackles…but this week the fellows from Mike & Dan all agreed that Murphy’s brilliant extraction and kick to advantage was the pinnacle which we would reward with our Play of the Week.

Marc, you’ve won this week’s Play of the Week for that outstanding clearance and movement forward that set up Fevola’s last goal, right when the Pies were surging and the game was up for grabs. Great effort. Did you realise the game was won at that stage?

Yeah thanks guys…nah probably once Grigga kicked his goal after Fev’s two great tackles, I think that’s when I thought, we’re home here.

Thankfully it was hard to pick out a Play of the Week for the sheer number of choices – and your overall game was very impressive. What were the instructions through the week?

I know it’s a bit of a cliché but we really needed an all round even team performance. The week before we had some good individual performances, but we needed a team effort across the board and I think we delivered that on the weekend and that needs to be our benchmark going forward.

It wasn’t just you, but some of the other younger players had stand-out games. Tell us abit more about Bower and how he has been training?

Yeah Paul had a standout game on the weekend, he is a pretty quiet fella, but has been pretty impressive on the track and if he can keep up the form he showed on the weekend, all of a sudden the backline looks a lot stronger.

Gibbsy delivered a great goal and some huge tackles. How do you rate his progress this year as part of the midfield?

The thing people forget about Gibbsy is that he was drafted as a bottom age player. He has just turned 19, he is still extremely young, and I think Carlton people are still pretty excited about the kind of player he will be.

This was the first time our defence has really 'clicked' together with Waite, Jamison and Bower. Do you see them as a long term backline trio?

I don’t see why not - Waitey once again proved he can do one of the tough jobs, Jammo has really been fantastic and is a player that has well and truly slipped under the radar, he has probably played about 10 games and has done some really good jobs, Paully Bower is the same. But as a team we really need to assist the defence as much as possible, defence is a team game and shouldn’t be left to the back six.

Most people would say that Collingwood are a better team than Richmond and Essendon. How did we manage to beat them and yet fall down against the lesser teams?

Good question, I think it just proves that any team can beat any side on any given day, if you prepare and play the standard of footy required at this level you will be in with a show of beating anyone.

On this theme – did Carlton just ‘click’ or did we rise for the game? Was it the record losing streak or the hatred of Collingwood??

No we didn’t talk about the record, and you always get yourself up for the big games. There is a new feel around the Club this year; I think the positive thing going forward is that we can now benchmark ourselves going forward, anything less than the effort on the weekend is unacceptable.

You seem to attract a fair bit of physical attention ala Maxwell's elbow but
it doesn’t seem to phase you much. We are starting to think you enjoy it…

Ahh, wouldn’t want to cop that every week… that’s football.

Many pundits predicted that you would get an easier run with the opposition now focussing on shutting down Judd and Stevens, whereas last year you were the number one marked man. Have you noticed a change in the players who are picking you up?

Yes and no, there’s always going to be an opponent. I’m not really looking at it like ‘how good’s this going to be?’ I’m still going to work hard and try and draw some of the tagging attention away from those guys along with Andrew Carrazzo, Kade Simpson and Bryce Gibbs because that’s how we’ll develop into a strong midfield unit.

In the St Kilda game in Round two there were some incidents where Carlton players back-chatted umpires and gave away 50 metre penalties. The last two weeks it seems that every player has been very disciplined in not disputing decisions. Was this discussed as a team after the St Kilda game?

No, players know now if you backchat you will more than likely give away a 50.

Growing up the son of a VFL champion, what impact did that have on you as a junior player and as a kid?

I certainly didn’t appreciate how good Dad was until I was a teenager, and that goes for my Grandfather as well. Dad played well over 200 games, represented the state and won multiple Best & Fairests. As a kid he always supported me as well as my brothers Leigh and Brett.

Is your Dad still someone that you turn to for advice? Does he give it even when you don't ask?

Dad is always there to offer advice and he is really supportive, sometimes he tells me what I don’t want to hear, but need to, but I see it as a great advantage to have someone like Dad that has achieved so much and passionate about footy.

Have you converted your old man to Carlton yet? Has he bought a membership?

Yes and he’s got his seat at every match.

Melbourne has been down recently. How do you balance the enthusiasm after a win with a potentially dangerous game that you are now expected to win?

You’re right, they will be feeling the same as we did last week, we know that and we have to play the same type of footy again this week, it’s an exciting challenge for us.

Sometimes we ask our Blues players about which names are on their locker? We reckon there’s 5 Blues Champs on your locker – can you name them all?

Yeah I think I can, Bruce, Clarke, Bennett, Hall and of course the AFL Chairman Fitzy.

We’re pretty sure Marc knows his history and isn’t just reading his Locker….for all details on blokes to have worn Marc’s jumper in the past, click here….

Marc, sometimes we offer the players the chance for a free plug. So tell us – where do we go for the best pizza in town?

It’s too hard to split many of the fine eateries down Lygon Street, so my tip, if you want a good pizza, you can’t beat Lygon Street.


Marc’s arrival at Carlton was filled with fanfare, and now his games are too with highlights aplenty. From hard-ball gets, a large number of Inside 50’s (6 last week) and or trying to avoiding errant arms and shoulders, Murphy’s the man.


Einstein on the Wing

‘Northeast’ Noel ascends into Blue Heaven

If the measure of a man is how well he times his leaving of this world, then no one would begrudge ‘Northeast’ Noel Duckworth exiting stage left in the hours immediately following Carlton’s magnificent victory over Collingwood last weekend.

Northeast Noel was a Carlton member for 52 of his 72 years until ‘the dancer’ finally robbed him of seeing any more than Carlton’s last eight flags. It was a good return for this battler from the bush who was instantly recognisable by his spade-handle grey beard and the twinkle in his eye.

After his funeral in Euroa next Tuesday, his ashes will be scattered at the Coliseum of our Conquering Champions. Then he will forever keep an eye on training sessions at Princes Park from his favourite possie in front of the old Harris stand.

He used to sit there week-in and week-out next to his old mate Frank ‘Wacker’ Strachan, a legendary Carlton character once famous among the players and the fans for his whacky annual Wacker Awards nights and his incomprehensible one-eyed Carlton column in The Melbourne Times.

Born at the Epworth Hospital in Richmond on August 16, 1935, Northeast Noel was initially a Fitzroy supporter because his beloved mother fancied the Gorillas from the other side of Nicholson Street.

His conversion to the True Blue Carlton cause came one day in his youth when one of the Fitzroy players had a Barry Hall moment and sunk the slipper into one of the Carlton Conquering Champions. Nicholson Street proved to be the road to Damascus.

Plutarch says the measure of a man is the way he bears up under misfortune. Young Duckworth contracted the debilitating polio disease as a kid and spent many years in a hospital at Macedon.

He could not walk properly when he got out of hospital but – if he took the back streets from his home in Thornbury and timed the traffic lights well enough – he could just manage to balance on his bicycle till he got to training twice a week at Princes Park.

With his awkward gait, he attempted to run with the players around the boundary line and received enormous encouragement for his efforts from the team doing circle work with cigarettes before going over the road to Naughton’s pub for a few sherbets to complete the training session.

He recalled last weekend before the Collingwood game that Jim Clark in particular was always there to lend young Noel a helping hand and see him safely on his bike for the perilous journey home through the traffic – where balance depended on perpetual motion and hang time on footpath fences.

Like most Carlton supporters, Northeast Noel lists “the last one” as his favourite Carlton premiership. When pushed, he says 1970 was an absolute beauty because it came at Collingwood’s expense.

However, he can not split his all-time favourite player from between Big Nick and Jezza and demands to have both.

His current favourite is Heath Scotland. A get-well card from Heath Scotland and Brett Ratten will go into his coffin next to one from Prime Minister Kevin Rudd.

Oh, and two bottles of Jimmy Watson’s Trophy best reds from 1987 and 1995 which he insists on taking with him to Blue Heaven to share with the Good Shepherd of Princes Park.

Travel well, Blues Brother. The next flag is for you…



Round 3 | Round 5
Contributors to this page: Jarusa , molsey , PatsFitztrick , BlueWorld , true_blue24 and WillowBlue .
Page last modified on Saturday 04 of February, 2023 01:49:31 AEDT by Jarusa.

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