Game Review

Carlton lost this game against the Gold Coast by 26 points, to go 1 and 3 to start Season 2017. After a tight opening half where we should have done better, the Coast surged in the third and the Blues fell apart to leave us in the bottom four after the first month of the year.

At selection Carlton selected debutant Zac Fisher and welcomed back Charlie Curnow to replace Kerridge and Palmer. It seemed we were going young and fast against the Gold Coast outfit who had only just pummelled the Hawks by 90 points to hit some form.

The opening was bright for the Blues, with good mark and goals to Jacob Weitering and Levi Casboult. Kreuzer was doing well in the ruck, Murphy was everywhere and young Fisher seemed to be showing abit. Despite controlling the quarter, Carlton was behind at the break owing to some missed opportunities and the supreme forward ability of Gold Coast's Tom Lynch. One came from an appalling kicking error by Lachie Plowman who seemed to kick to a nest ( a 'solar system'?) of Suns without a Blue in sight.

The trend continued in the second; the Blues would maintain control of the ball and kick a few goals - and a few points - but when the Suns gathered it at half back they managed to run it forward and progress to Tom Lynch (who kicked 5 for the half). Among the goals was a delightful kick from 35 deep in the pocket for Fisher's first in league football. But there were also some bad misses.

The third began in the same way, and with the Blues up by a goal at 49-43 thanks to a rare Kade Simpson goal (who played on the wing all game) the crowd (99% Carlton following) was hoping we could translate this ascendancy to a more fulfilling lead. But instead, and it seemed to flow from a throw by Sun Jack Martin missed by the umpires, the Suns bolted away with 6 goals in 10 minutes to break our back. The Blues seemed confused and a bit lost as we tried to maintain control, only for the Suns to sweep forward and nail the goals. The Suns were clinical with hard running from defence and delightful passing to their tall timber in Lynch and young Peter Wright, who kicked two in the last.

The last was a bit of a procession with the Suns managing to get the lead above 40 points a few times, before Levi Casboult and Jack Silvagni managed a couple each to bring it back to a more respectable 26 points.

This was the fifth time that Carlton played six teenagers in the side and were Zac Fisher, Harrison Macreadie, Sam Petrevski-Seton, Jack Silvagni, Jacob Weitering and Tom Williamson.

Team

B:	43 Simon White	22 Caleb Marchbank	17 Sam Rowe
HB:	15 Sam Docherty	20 Lachie Plowman	31 Tom Williamson
C:	6 Kade Simpson (vc)	4 Bryce Gibbs	35 Ed Curnow
HF:	25 Zac Fisher	41 Levi Casboult	39 Dale Thomas
F:	5 Sam Petrevski-Seton	23 Jacob Weitering	46 Matthew Wright
Ruck:	8 Matthew Kreuzer	9 Patrick Cripps	3 Marc Murphy (c)
Interchange:	1 Jack Silvagni	26 Harrison Macreadie	30 Charlie Curnow
	33 Jarrod Pickett
Coach:	Brendon Bolton
Emg:	16 Billie Smedts, 24 Rhys Palmer, 32 Nick Graham

FYI: Dale Thomas started the game off the back of the centre square

Milestones

Debut and first goal: Zac Fisher
Interesting Fact: For the first time since 1970, the Blues would field 6 teenagers in the one team. It looked like some record, at least until the following week....

Brownlow Votes

3. Tom Lynch (GC)
2. Brandon Matera (GC)
1. Gary Ablett (GC)

Best & Fairest Votes (5 votes+)

Sam Docherty 11, Marc Murphy 9, Jack Silvagni 8, Levi Casboult 6, Zac Fisher 5, Bryce Gibbs 5