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| Venue: | Optus Stadium, Perth WA. | ||||||||||||||||||
| Date: | Sunday 10th July, 2022 (4.40 pm). | ||||||||||||||||||
| Result: | Won by 63 points. | ||||||||||||||||||
| Crowd: | 43,359 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Goalkickers: | C. Curnow 5.3, H. McKay 5.3, C. Durdin 2.1, Z. Fisher 2.1, S. Walsh 1.1, M. Cottrell 1.0, P. Cripps 1.0, J. Motlop 0.1, J. Silvagni 0.1, Rushed 0.3. | ||||||||||||||||||
| Reports: | Nil. | ||||||||||||||||||
| Umpires: | Nicholas Brown, Leigh Haussen, Alex Whetton. | ||||||||||||||||||
| Injuries: | J. Newnes (corked leg). | ||||||||||||||||||
| Ladder: | 5th. | ||||||||||||||||||
Game Review
A pair of high-fives keep Blues' top-four hopes alive
Five goals each from Charlie Curnow and Harry McKay puts Carlton right in the double-chance conversation. - By Nathan SchmookA dominant 10-goal game from Carlton's twin key forwards has spearheaded an important 63-point win against West Coast at Optus Stadium that has the Blues on the edge of the top four. Having wasted a dominant opening quarter and becoming the first team to concede seven goals in a term to West Coast this season, Carlton turned to Charlie Curnow to save them. The Coleman Medal leader delivered, lifting his team after half-time and taking his season tally to 50 as the Blues drew level on points with fourth-placed Brisbane, winning 17.14 (116) to 8.5 (53). They put their foot down in the final term, kicking seven unanswered goals to recover their big margin after letting the Eagles back into the game, with Harry McKay booting three of his five to finish the home team off.
The win ends a seven-game losing streak against West Coast, stretching back to 2015, and goes a long way to ensuring Carlton will play finals for the first time since 2013 under first-year coach Michael Voss. They were on shaky ground halfway through the third quarter, having allowed the Eagles back into the game after holding the home team scoreless in the opening term and opening a 36-point lead early in the second. Leading by just 10 points and with the Eagles rallying on the back of champion forward Josh Kennedy's 700th goal for the club, Curnow took matters into his own hands. The athletic forward took a strong contested mark and then slotted his set shot from 50m to give the Blues some breathing room. They ultimately wouldn't concede another goal in the game. Midfield wrecking ball George Hewett (26 disposals and eight clearances) was excellent, Adam Cerra returned to Optus Stadium to have 28 and nine inside 50's. Captain Patrick Cripps lifted in the final quarter to have 10 of his 24 disposals and finish with a game-high 10 clearances, with his team winning the stoppage battle 47-31. West Coast worked back into the game after its horror opening on the back of defender Shannon Hurn (28 and 12 rebounds), and wingman Andrew Gaff (30 and six clearances). The Eagles ultimately handed the Blues too big a head start and had too many passengers in two of the four quarters, falling away alarmingly when the result got away from them late.
Eagles concede head start
The opening quarter was as one-sided as we've seen in West Coast's nightmare 2022. Dominated in the midfield and unable to handle the Blues' relentless pressure, the Eagles went scoreless in a quarter for the third time this season. While they conceded the first 17 forward entries in the first 17 minutes, the most damning stat was their inability to register a disposal inside 50 by the end of the quarter. The backline was done no favours and held up as well as it possibly could, with the Blues kicking a wasteful 5.4 that could have been more.
JK hits one last milestone
West Coast champion Josh Kennedy kicked his 700th career goal back in round seven, but his 700th as an Eagle was a special moment for the 34-year-old. Kennedy entered the match with 698 goals as an Eagle and in the third quarter he kicked the second he required to hit 700 with the club, where he is the all-time leading goalkicker. Chris Masten, who is the Eagles' runner, was drafted with the pick No.3 that arrived at West Coast alongside Kennedy in the Chris Judd trade of 2007. The former wingman bolted onto Optus Stadium to celebrate with his premiership teammate.
A different time
Before Sunday, Carlton last beat West Coast when Bryce Gibbs was the club's reigning club champion and Andrejs Everitt its leading goalkicker. Following that three-point loss at Marvel Stadium – then known as Etihad Stadium – the Eagles built what was their longest active winning streak against any club. No Carlton players from the 22 who last beat West Coast remain on their list, while nine Eagles from that game – including former Blue Kennedy – remain with the Eagles. Coaches Adam Simpson and Mick Malthouse were in their first and second seasons with the clubs respectively.
Best: C. Curnow, H. McKay, G. Hewett, A. Cerra, S. Docherty, P. Cripps, T. De Koning.
Blues break West Coast drought in the wet
For the first time in eight years, Carlton defeated West Coast in resounding fashion. - By Rose Zarucky, Carlton MediaIt was a monumental win for the Blues in the west, as they downed the Eagles by 63 points. Keeping West Coast to two scoreless quarters, Carlton delivered its highest ever score against the Eagles in Western Australia, helped by the performance of Charlie Curnow and Harry McKay in a combined 10-goal performance. Sam Docherty and Adam Cerra both gathered 28 disposals, while Nic Newman contributed seven intercepts in a strong win for the Blues. Having not beaten the Eagles in eight years (and not in Perth since 2010), the flight home to Melbourne will be an enjoyable one for the Blues, who gave themselves a tidy percentage boost heading into the final rounds of the season.
Quarter one
It was a dominant first term for the Blues, who managed to keep the Eagles completely scoreless. The game was competitive from the first bounce, being played quickly and physically, with smothers and tackles aplenty. Zac Fisher got the first goal on the board, while Harry McKay produced a great chase-down tackle that resulted in Charlie Curnow’s first goal. Carlton’s forward pressure was immense, with West Coast not managing an inside 50 until the 17-minute mark of the quarter and Carlton leading 15-0 in forward-half intercepts – ending up being the main source of their goals. The Blues had the better of the clearances early, giving them ownership on the field position. Curnow delivered three contested marks as well as two goals, while Corey Durdin and McKay also contributed goals to Carlton’s 34-point lead.
Quarter two
West Coast definitely responded in the second quarter, kicking seven goals to Carlton’s three. Tom De Koning fared well in the ruck against Nic Naitanui and Bailey Williams, but the Eagles managed to get things going for them through the middle, resulting in more forward half time for the home team. Goals from McKay, Curnow and Durdin kept the Blues in the game, but apart from that, it was all on the Eagles' terms. The Blues' pressure was down while the Eagles ramped theirs up, getting the better of the contested possessions (42-31). Josh Kennedy became a handful for Carlton in the defensive arc, while Lewis Young and Nic Newman battled manfully. Matt Kennedy was getting the brunt of the clearances for the Carlton midfield (six to half time), using his physicality alongside Patrick Cripps to get the ball moving. Sam Docherty finished the half with five inside 50s, gaining the most metres for the Blues, but after all its hard work in the first term, Carlton entered the main break only 10 points ahead.
Quarter three
It was a relatively even but messy quarter, with neither side being able to break the game open. The Blues couldn’t get the start they were hoping for, missing some key opportunities in front of goal. Curnow was a bright spark for Carlton, slotting two goals in the term to take his tally to five for the game: his contested marking was crucial as an outlet for the Blues. Carlton wasn’t able to mount the same pressure in their forward line as it did in the first term, recording a forward-half kicking efficiency of only 23 per cent for the term. Young continued to provide a strong intercept game and Adam Cerra battled away in the contest (seven contested possessions). Carlton had a purple patch in the last five minutes of the term where it was able to hold the ball in their forward half, keeping a 17-point lead heading into the final change.
Quarter four
Carlton came out of the gates strong, as McKay slotted two back-to-back goals to push the margin to 29 points. From there, it was all the Blues, as Matt Cottrell and Patrick Cripps also contributed a goal each to the delight of a vocal Navy Blue contingent in the stands. Even though the rain started to get heavier, Carlton was playing cleaner footy than it had in the previous two terms. Cottrell provided some clever play down the wing and the Blues consistently won the ball out of the middle, surging the ball forward at will after the stilted slog that preceded it. Sam Walsh was on another level, gathering 12 disposals in the final quarter that includes four score involvements and a goal. Carlton didn’t give up after gaining a comfortable lead, piling on the scoreboard pressure with seven goals and again keeping West Coast scoreless.
Three things from the game
1. Matt Kennedy played a strong role for the Blues throughout the entire game, battling it out in the middle when Carlton were under the pump. Kennedy’s clearances and contested possessions were the hallmark of his game, while Adam Cerra also produced a polished midfield performance in familiar territory at Optus Stadium.
2. It isn’t easy to sustain a dominant game throughout four quarters, but Carlton showed maturity by continuing to battle it out even when things wasn’t going its way. Facing a danger point in the second term, the Blues were able to even things up in the third quarter and finally broke away in the final term, doing exactly what they needed to in their biggest win of the season and their first over the opposition since 2014. It was an indication of how much the side has grown in 2022.
3. Not for the first time in recent weeks, Tom De Koning came up against a highly fancied opposition ruckman and certainly held his own. Against Nic Naitanui, De Koning finished with 17 hitouts, but it was his work around the ground - registering 16 disposals and a career-high six clearances - which saw him able to provide his midfielders with clear access to the ball. It’s safe to say the emerging tall has found his feet against some of the best rucks in the competition.
Best: C. Curnow, T. De Koning, M. Kennedy, A. Cerra, H. McKay, S. Docherty, S. Walsh.
Carlton won't join the best until it eliminates its worst
The thrilling best and head-shaking worst of Carlton were both on display inside a half at Optus Stadium on Sunday. Keeping West Coast scoreless in the opening term with organisation and defensive discipline, the Blues' best will scare anyone. But they were then sucked into playing the Eagles' game and became the first team to concede seven goals in a quarter to the 17th-placed club this season. No moment summed up their lack of discipline in that time like captain Patrick Cripps' decision not to handball to Sam Walsh when he had the option inside 50, leading to a holding the ball free kick and a goal at the other end of the ground. Charlie Curnow sparked the team and they eventually piled on the goals in a fearsome finsih that has them on the edge of the top four. But quarters like the second will prevent the Blues from getting where they otherwise appear very capable of in 2022. - Nathan SchmookThe Run Home to the Finals
The Blues edged closer to locking in their finals spot with a 63-point win against West Coast, and back-to-back matches against struggling teams Greater Western Sydney and Adelaide in the next three weeks should see them confirm their ticket to September football. They'll want to win both, however, with a difficult end to the season looming and some scratchy form through periods against the Eagles. The return of Jacob Weitering to an injury-hit backline on Sunday was a step in the right direction, and star forward Charlie Curnow is in fine touch. – Nathan SchmookVoss on sticking to the task
Michael Voss is pleased with how his side were able to correct their game to finish strong. - By Carlton Media.It was a dominant performance for the Blues as they surged to a 63-point victory over the Eagles in Perth. Michael Voss was pleased at how Carlton stuck to its task and didn't get rattled after a second-quarter surge from West Coast. Here's what he had to say about the significant win.
On the Eagles comeback:
"The second quarter, clearly West Coast got a hold of us. We’ve seen in the last month in particular, they’ve been able to challenge teams pretty significantly, both here and away: they’ve certainly got the capability to be able to do that. "They weren’t missing a hell of a lot either so they were kicking pretty straight with the opportunities they did have, but they were able to build the pressure and they certainly asked the question of us at half time. "We were able to correct a couple of things, some about intent, some about effort. I thought other than a couple of little things we needed to clean up, we had plenty of opportunities to hit the scoreboard and the last quarter, to be able to finish like that was a real positive. "You can walk in at three-quarter time and perhaps be a little frustrated that the game is not panning out the way that you wanted it to, but the boys stuck to their task and they were able to change up a couple of things and the boys went to work and finished the game really strong."
On Charlie Curnow:
"He was important. I felt like we had a lot of guys who were contributing across the night. The end result is that our key forwards were able to get on the end of it tonight and they were able to hit the scoreboard: that’s a nice outcome. "We tend to focus a lot more on the little things and how we generate those opportunities. We know if we can generate those opportunities then we can give ourselves a better chance of kicking a winning score."
On the half-time chat:
"It was pretty calm, it was pretty composed. There were some defensive stoppages that were causing some trouble for us and some urgency we needed around that so we cleared up a couple things in that space. "Generally speaking, it was calm. We focus a lot on the little things really, we just strayed away from what we were doing. An opposition is always going to bring a surge at some stage, so our ability to focus on the little things and stick to our task is still something that we’re going to work on. "We’re working pretty hard on it, we’re certainly narrowing that gap over the course of this year but there was a lot of that correction and the boys were able to correct that in the second half.
On finals expectations:
"I haven’t spoken to this group about finals and I won’t. We’ve got a lot of things we need to continue to go after and we’ve been able to spend some really quality time together improving those — we’ve seen enormous growth from Round 1 to where we are now. "We’ve almost completed this season in stages, so that conversation is not a conversation we’re having. We’re pretty determined to get the best version of ourselves that gives us the best chance to get prepared for really big games, and we’ve got some big ones coming. "The danger is you can take your eyes off the road and you forget about the next contest you’ve got to play. We get a great win against West Coast and our next contest is Geelong: there’s a team to reset you if you get ahead of yourself. "It’s going to be a big game for us on Saturday night. We’re expecting a big crowd there, clearly our supporters are coming along in numbers, so we’re looking forward to that night."
On returning players:
"We’ve got a couple coming back this week, where they play, we’ll determine that as the week goes. Mitch McGovern is due to come back, as well as 'Pitto'."
On Jacob Weitering and the backline:
"I’ve been really impressed with our back six or back seven: they’ve been under siege at times and lost personnel, questions have been asked if they can stand up and they’ve just kept turning up. "Whether they’ve been undersized, they’ve just got on with it. If we’ve lost a runner, they’ve got on with it. They’ve found a way. "They’re a pretty close bunch, and we’ve talked a lot about next man in, but I must admit, I was pretty happy that the next man in was Jacob Weitering on this particular occasion: it just makes us a bit more balanced down there."
On Tom De Koning:
"He’s had some fair challenges. Certainly in the early days, we weren’t sure how quick his development would come this year. “He’s gone to work really hard on his game and as a young player, it’s amazing when you give them a bit of responsibility, they just go after it. "The 'mids' have really supported him hard and kept him present throughout games, he’s stuck to his task and he’s ably assisted by 'SOS' Silvagni coming up and being able to do the second ruck duties."
On the midfield group:
"'Walshy' was pretty good in the last quarter, he came in and was able to correct a few things. I thought our mids were good the whole day to be fair. "I thought they really stuck at it. Even when it wasn’t going our way, they were able to just give us a chance. I spoke last week about the unrealistic expectation on our midfield group to have this midfield dominance and that’s nice 11 the results say that we were able to get that in our favour for tonight, but you can’t rely on it. "There are a lot of great midfields out there that will have stages in games where they were able to get territory on the ground and we have to be good enough to absorb that when it’s our turn and be able to counterpunch when it’s our turn. "When they needed to raise the intensity, they did. I think the real growth for us this year is that we’ve found other ways: all we ask them to do is compete, make sure there’s pressure on the ball so it gives us a chance."
On Jack Newnes:
"He had a cork. He was brave to get through the two quarters but it started to get really sore and he was a bit limited in his range so we had to activate the sub."
Team
| B: | 42 Adam Saad | 23 Jacob Weitering | 15 Sam Docherty |
| HB: | 32 Jack Newnes | 33 Lewis Young | 20 Lachie Plowman |
| C: | 46 Matt Cottrell | 9 Patrick Cripps (c) | 18 Sam Walsh |
| HF : | 3 Jesse Motlop | 10 Harry McKay | 1 Jack Silvagni |
| F: | 25 Zac Fisher | 30 Charlie Curnow | 19 Corey Durdin |
| Ruck: | 12 Tom De Koning | 7 Matthew Kennedy | 29 George Hewett |
| Interchange: | 4 Lochie O'Brien | 5 Adam Cerra | 24 Nic Newman |
| 36 Josh Honey | |||
| Medical Substitute: | 40 Will Hayes | ||
| Coach: | Michael Voss | ||
| Emergencies: | 38 Sam Durdin | 44 Matt Owies | 43 Will Setterfield |
Medi-sub: Will Hayes replaced Jack Newnes (corked leg) in the last quarter.
In: Jacob Weitering, Will Hayes.
Out: Brodie Kemp (omitted), Will Setterfield (unused medi-sub) (omitted).
Milestones
Debut (Carlton) & first win for the Blues: Will HayesInteresting Facts
1. This was the Blues first win against the West Coast Eagles since Round 6, 2014, this win ended 7 consecutive losses.2. This was the Blues first win against the West Coast Eagles in the West since Round 4, 2013 when they beat the Eagles.
3. This was the first time that Patrick Cripps, Lochie O'Brien, Tom De Koning and Sam Walsh have played in 10 wins in a single season.
4. This was the 150th time that Patrick Cripps wore the No.9 guernsey, his first three games he wore the No.16 guernsey.
103 Year First
The last time a team was kept scoreless in the first and final quarters was St.Kilda in Round 12 v South Melbourne in 1919.AFLCA Votes
9 - Charlie Curnow (CARL)7 - Tom De Koning (CARL)
5 - Matt Kennedy (CARL)
5 - Patrick Cripps (CARL)
3 - Harry McKay (CARL)
1 - Shannon Hurn (WCE)
Brownlow Votes
Best and Fairest Votes
Video
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