Goalkickers: Hampson 2, Walker 2, Grigg, Fisher, Betts, Simpson, Johnson 1.

Reports: Nil

Umpires: S. Meredith, T. Pannell, M. Stevic

Injuries: Armfield (concussion) replaced in selected side by Ellard, Judd (chest/shoulder)

Ladder: 7th

Game Review

Just when you thought it couldn’t get any worse, it did. Much pomp and ceremony was dedicated to the meeting of traditional rivals in an old fashioned block-buster in an old fashioned time slot on a Saturday afternoon. In the lead up Brett Ratten spoke of the enormity of the occasion, the history, the importance. But it’s one thing to talk it and another altogether to walk it. The Blues continued their dismal late season form delivering an insipid performance which, most pundits agreed, was their worst for the year. On the other hand, Collingwood showed why many have them as Geelong’s main rival for the 2010 crown with a powerful 48 point victory.

With the initial squad announced only David Ellard missed the boat. Back from a long lay off due to his bionic (LARS) knee installation Brad Fisher got the call up. His inclusion suggested that the match committee thought a dose of strong marking might be the order of the day for our forward line. In the final wash up Ellard ended up with a life-line when it was deemed Dennis Armfield’s injured neck might not quite stand up to the rigors of another full contact outing.

The opening moment was like a gift. A soft free in favour of Shaun Hampson, in the unmissable range, and the nerve settler was ours. Sadly, the equaliser came a couple of short moments later. In the time before that moment Carlton’s intensity had looked good and their disposal had looked ok. Perhaps the occasion had brought out their best? Maybe they were switched on, up for it even, raring to go? The second came after a few more minutes of relative stability when Shaun Grigg got on the end of a Chris Judd pass that found him dead in front. He made no mistake and the lead was ours again. Then all too quickly a change came over the game. It was as though the Carlton players realised they were inferior; as though the Magpies had grown wings. Two Collingwood goals and a string of behinds gave them an 11 point lead by the first break, but it really should have been a lot more.

When Grigg’s goal went sailing over the goal umpire’s head in the seventh minute of play you probably would’ve scoffed had someone suggested 67 minutes would pass before said umpire would wave their flags again to confirm the next Carlton goal. Sad as it sounds, that was the reality. A solitary behind edged the Blues to 2.1 by half time while Brad Fisher got his name in the scorebook with Carlton’s only goal for the third quarter. It was possibly the most one-sided period of play I’ve ever witnessed. Getting the footy inside our half was infrequent, inside 50’s like hen’s teeth. The Carlton defence was totally under siege for much of the period, panic reigned, confidence evaporated. Credit to Collingwood who completely out-everythinged Carlton and flexed their considerable muscle.

With three of the first four goals in the last Collingwood’s lead sat at 73 points and with Judd off injured keeping it under 100 was looking like a tough ask. With the game long over as a contest it would be tempting to ponder whether the Pies put the cue in the rack, perhaps they did? Regardless, the Blues finally found something, it wasn’t much, but it was something. They kicked five unanswered goals to give the scoreboard a modicum of respectability, but there’s no hiding the fact that the 48 point margin flattered Carlton enormously. Collingwood reigned supreme.

Both losses to Collingwood in season 2010 had been of a similar margin, 53 points in round 6, and 48 points in round 18. In a strictly numerical deduction you might argue Carlton have improved by about a goal in the three months that have come and gone in that time, but having witnessed both outings we could confidently say that the margins conveyed little of the real story. The round 6 contest was the best nine goal hiding we’ve seen, because it simply didn’t feel like a nine-goal loss. On the contrary, the eight goal loss we had just witnessed seemed so much more painful; it could’ve just as easily been 18 goals. Despite all that, Carlton were hanging on in the eight by a thread - living to fight another day with another blockbuster against another traditional rival, Essendon, to come.

Team

* Ellard replaced Armfield in the selected side

Milestones

Last Games : Brad Fisher and Chris Johnson
Interesting Fact : Too many quiet Septembers of late? Well, with this game, Carlton had played 243 games since our last Grand Final, a new club record...

Brownlow Votes

3. Scott Pendlebury, Collingwood
2. Dayne Beams, Collingwood
1. Alan Didak, Collingwood

Best & Fairest Votes

31 Robert Warnock, 11 Kade Simpson, 3 Marc Murphy

Ladder