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Carlton won their first game of the season by defeating the Bulldogs at Etihad Stadium by 28 points.

Round 5, 2014

Carlton 7.3 45 13.6 84 16.9 105 18.11 119
Bulldogs 3.3 21 8.6 54 12.8 80 13.13 91
Venue: Docklands Stadium
Date: Sunday (twilight) April 20, 2014
Result: Win by 28 points
Crowd: 27,986
Goalkickers: L. Henderson 5, J. Waite 3, M. Murphy 2, H. Scotland 2, B. Gibbs, D. Ellard, T. Bell, C. Yarran, A. Everitt, D. Thomas 1.
Reports:
Umpires: T. Burgess, C. Kamolins, S. Jeffery
Injuries: C. Judd (hamstring), E. Curnow (broken fibula), T. Bell (finger)
Ladder: 16th


Game Review

Under intense pressure from within and without, Carlton rebounded from a week of soul searching to beat the Western Bulldogs by 28 points in an open and entertaining match on this Sunday evening at Docklands. Running and tackling with a tenacity not previously seen in 2014, the Blues overwhelmed the Bulldogs and lifted the flagging spirits of their fans – although the win came at a high cost in terms of injury.

Three players; Chris Judd, Ed Curnow and Tom Bell, were forced off the field late in the game, leaving the team with only one fit man on the interchange bench for the last fourteen minutes. In his much-anticipated return after undergoing surgery on an Achilles tendon in February, Judd started the game as the Blues substitute. There was a huge roar when he replaced youngster Patrick Cripps late in the third quarter, but Carlton’s former captain lasted just six minutes before tearing his right hamstring and limping back off. Shortly afterwards, one of Bell’s fingers was torn from its socket as he grabbed an opponent’s guernsey in a tackle, and halfway through the final term, Curnow crashed into a point post and broke the fibula in his right leg.

Before those incidents, Carlton had made three changes to the team so badly beaten by Melbourne, losing Michael Jamison and Troy Menzel to injury, and omitting Nick Graham. Into the line-up came Judd, Bell and Jarrad Waite. On match day, Simon White replaced Dylan Buckley in a late change, and the team ran out onto Docklands in front of a crowd of almost 28,000.

As the teams sorted themselves out, there were a few surprises. Carlton looked strong in attack with Lachie Henderson and Jarrad Waite inside the forward 50, but Simon White and Sam Rowe in the key defensive posts seemed like a gamble. If that was the case, it was a successful one - because all four talls acquitted themselves well, and with his five goals, Henderson was a match-winner.

For weeks, Carlton’s legion of fans had been demanding a lift in aggression and intent from their team, and they got it right from the first bounce when Bryce Gibbs crashed a Bulldog to the turf in a fierce tackle. The first six minutes were an even contest, until Gibbs pumped the ball long and Henderson marked strongly on the lead to post the Blues’ first major from 40 metres. Three minutes later, ‘Hendo’ kicked his second, and the Blues were away.

The pace of the game was frenetic. Carlton was playing on at all costs, and their disposal by hand and foot was fast and direct. Inspired by their captain Marc Murphy, Gibbs, Kade Simpson and Andrew Walker in defence, the Blues ran the Dogs off their feet for most of the quarter, which ended with Carlton up by 24 points. Henderson had booted three goals for the term, Waite two, and the Blues’ midfielders were right on top.

The second quarter began with a brief Bulldogs fightback, during which three unanswered majors in seven minutes cut their deficit back to six points. Meanwhile, in the ruck, Rob Warnock was engaged in a torrid contest against All-Australian Will Minson. At the next ball-up, Warnock grabbed the football and launched a long kick to where Tom Bell ran into an open goal-square for a quick reply. The Bulldogs’ rally stalled, and Carlton slammed on five of the next seven goals to skip out to a 30-point advantage at half-time.

Ed Curnow’s excellent blanketing job on Bulldog playmaker Tom Liberatore, a couple of Chris Yarran dashes from half-back and a lovely right-foot goal by Dale Thomas were the highlights of the third quarter. Then at the 25-minute mark, Chris Judd was released from the bench. He was soon in the thick of the action, only to be pushed in the back as he kicked, and immediately clutched at the back of his right leg. Having torn a hamstring, he faced another month at least on the sidelines.

With both Judd and Bell finished for the day, Carlton began the last quarter under-manned but still 25 points in front. The Bulldogs surged again, but they missed a couple of vital early shots at goal and couldn’t get the run-on they needed to start a revival – even after Curnow crashed into a point-post and limped from the field. It was left to Lachie Henderson to provide a fitting finale six minutes from full-time when he marked a pass from Andrejs Everitt and kicked truly for his fifth goal. Leading well up the ground, but equally as prepared to charge back and provide an option in the forward 50, ‘Hendo’ had been outstanding in a very even team that deserved their five-goal win.

Statistics told the story of the game. Carlton ruled the air, taking 17 marks inside 50, compared to 10 by the Bulldogs. They tackled harder (88 to 73) and won more contested possessions (150 to 134). The Blues kicked 13 goals in the first half, and only five in the second half, but by then they had run the Bulldogs ragged.

Outstanding for Carlton in an often spectacular game were captain Marc Murphy (28 disposals, 12 tackles and 2 goals) Bryce Gibbs (29 disposals, 5 tackles, 1 goal) Andrew Walker (26 disposals, 5 marks, 5 tackles) and Lachie Henderson (16 disposals, 8 marks, 5 goals).

Subs: Chris Judd replaced Patrick Cripps late during the third quarter.

Team


B: 42 Zach Tuohy 17 Sam Rowe 43 Simon White
HB: 13 Chris Yarran 1 Andrew Walker 6 Kade Simpson (VC)
C: 3 Marc Murphy (Captain) 44 Andrew Carrazzo (vc) 29 Heath Scotland
HF: 28 Tom Bell 23 Lachlan Henderson 39 Dale Thomas
F: 41 Levi Casboult 30 Jarrad Waite 9 Kane Lucas
Ruck: 11 Robert Warnock 4 Bryce Gibbs 35 Ed Curnow
Interchange: 16 Patrick Cripps 33 Andrejs Everitt 46 David Ellard
Substitute: 5 Chris Judd
Emergencies: 7 Dylan Buckley 10 Matthew Watson 38 Jeffery Garlett
Coach: Mick Malthouse

  • Simon White replaced Dylan Buckley in the selected side

Milestones

Interesting Fact - Guernsey History: Players' names appeared on the back of each guernsey for the first time in all League matches in this round.

Brownlow Votes

3. Marc Murphy, Carlton
2. Lachie Henderson, Carlton
1. Bryce Gibbs, Carlton

Best & Fairest Votes

Ed Curnow 10, Bryce Gibbs 10, Lachie Henderson 10, Marc Murphy 10, Kade Simpson 6, Robert Warnock 6, David Ellard 5, Sam Rowe 5, Andrew Walker 5, Jarrad Waite 4, Dale Thomas 3, Zach Tuohy 2, Chris Yarran 2, Tom Bell 1, Heath Scotland 1,

Ladder


Pos Team P W D L For Agn Stk Chg % Pts
1 Geelong 5 5 0 0 512 344 5W U1 148.84 20
2 Port Adelaide 5 4 0 1 566 359 2W U1 157.66 16
3 Hawthorn 5 4 0 1 601 411 1L D2 146.23 16
4 West Coast 5 3 0 2 428 334 2L - 128.14 12
5 Fremantle 5 3 0 2 470 374 1L - 125.67 12
6 Collingwood 5 3 0 2 414 402 2W U3 102.99 12
7 North Melbourne 5 3 0 2 389 384 1L D1 101.30 12
8 Gold Coast 5 3 0 2 375 443 1W U3 84.65 12
9 St Kilda 5 3 0 2 352 423 1W U3 83.22 12
10 Essendon 5 2 0 3 448 401 2L D3 111.72 8
11 Richmond 5 2 0 3 443 446 1W U3 99.33 8
12 Adelaide 5 2 0 3 498 502 2W U3 99.20 8
13 Sydney 5 2 0 3 410 425 1W - 96.47 8
14 GWS Giants 5 2 0 3 421 456 2L D6 92.32 8
15 Western Bulldogs 5 2 0 3 424 517 1L D5 82.01 8
16 Carlton 5 1 0 4 407 528 1W U1 77.08 4
17 Melbourne 5 1 0 4 287 414 1L D1 69.32 4
18 Brisbane Lions 5 0 0 5 329 611 5L - 53.85 0

2014
Game 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23
Agst PA RI ES ME WB WC CO SK Bye AD BR GE HA GWS CO SK SY NM FR GC GE PA ES
Carlscr 87 86 57 58 119       ...                            
OppScr 120 98 138 81 91       ...                            
W/L -33 -12 -81 -23 28       ...                            
Ladder 12 13 15 17 16                                    
% 72.5 79.36 64.6 65.9 77.0                                    



Round 4 | Round 6
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Page last modified on Friday 24 of October, 2014 18:47:00 AEDT by WillowBlue.
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