Round 21, 2019

Carlton 0.2 2 1.6 12 4.6 30 6.9 45 Richmond 3.2 20 6.4 40 8.6 54 11.7 73
Venue:	MCG.
Date:	Sunday 11th August, 2019 (3.20 pm).
Result:	Lost by 28 points.
Crowd:	51,039
Goalkickers:	M. McGovern 2, M. Kreuzer, M. Murphy, L. Casboult, M. Gibbons 1.
Reports:	Toby Nankervis (RICH) was fined $3000 for striking Marc Murphy (CAR).
Umpires:	Curtis Deboy, Robert Findlay, Alex Whetton.
Injuries:	Nil.
Ladder:	16th

Game Review

Tigers back inside top four after scrappy win over Blues
In a weird round of football, there is something to be said for a conventional 28-point win. We've seen snow, two record low scores, a handful of goalless quarters and a 21-consecutive goal run, but two traditional rivals played a typically soggy winter game at the MCG on Sunday afternoon. Richmond, recording its seventh consecutive win, was just a little bit too good for an outclassed Carlton, winning 11.7 (73) to 6.9 (45). Intermittently heavy rain sent poncho-clad fans scattering throughout the game, with Carlton's decision to play three tall forwards in Harry McKay, Mitch McGovern and Levi Casboult an issue at ground level at times. The Tigers don't play pretty football. It can be exhilarating, high-octane and at times, confusing and over-possessive, but it's not a classically beautiful game. And initially, it didn't need to be. The Blues struggled to get run out of defence, constantly thwarted in the first half by the loose defender in their forward line, whether that be Nick Vlastuin, Bachar Houli or Dylan Grimes. Vlastuin lived up to his nickname of "Tigger"; at one point almost literally bouncing out of defence, complete with a don't argue, change of angle and bounce of the ball, before finishing with a perfect pass to Sydney Stack. Carlton seriously struggled in front of the big sticks in the first half. In fact, the Blues' first goal eventually came in the 27th minute of the second term, when ruckman Matthew Kreuzer showed no signs of his two-week break for soreness, scooping up a poor Richmond kick off the deck and converting.

Without Dustin Martin (soreness) and Trent Cotchin (hamstring), milestone men Dion Prestia (150 games) and Shane Edwards (250) seemed to bring their own rain-resistant footballs, while unlikely scorer Jack Graham (14 tackles) booted four goals in the first half. Nuggetty midfielder Prestia (35 disposals, 11 clearances) dominated the stoppages, while Edwards (27, nine tackles) floated between the middle and half-back. Draftee Jack Ross' return to the AFL after close to a three-month layoff with an ankle injury was a tough battle, the midfielder (21 touches) playing a run-with role on Brownlow Medal fancy Patrick Cripps. The Blue was typically dominant, recording 37 disposals (20 contested), while Sam Petrevski-Seton (18) and Kade Simpson (33 and nine rebound-50s) provided good run out of defence. Carlton came out in the third term with a renewed endeavour to move the ball quickly, denying Richmond the opportunity to set up a loose man behind the ball. Marc Murphy is no stranger to a curling goal from an MCG pocket in the wet, and after his shot was cleared by the goal-review system, duly saluted and rewarded his team's efforts. With the margin at 24 points at three-quarter time, Carlton had three failed shots on goal to open the fourth quarter. Jack Riewoldt settled the nerves with a classic pack mark and conversion in the pouring rain. But a fierce McGovern tackle on David Astbury was rewarded with a free kick, and the resultant goal cut the margin to just 17 points with seven minutes left on the clock. Aside from Mitch McGovern spending the opening eight minutes of the second half on the bench, it was a quiet day for the Blues. - Sarah Black.

Best players; P. Cripps, K. Simpson, D. Thomas, S. Petrevski-Seton, J. Silvagni.

Note; the Carlton team wore black arm bands in respect to Ken Kleiman who died at the age of 93 after a short illness, Kleiman was a property steward of 30 years for the Blues.

Team

B:	20 Lachie Plowman	14 Liam Jones	24 Nic Newman
HB:	5 Sam Petrevski-Seton	23 Jacob Weitering	6 Kade Simpson
C:	43 Will Setterfield	9 Patrick Cripps (c)	3 Marc Murphy
HF:	1 Jack Silvagni	11 Mitch McGovern	47 Josh Deluca
F:	41 Levi Casboult	10 Harry McKay	40 Michael Gibbons
Ruck:	8 Matthew Kreuzer	18 Sam Walsh	35 Ed Curnow
Interchange:	4 Lochie O'Brien	16 Darcy Lang	25 Zac Fisher
	39 Dale Thomas
Coach:	David Teague
Emg:	7 Matthew Kennedy, 21 Jarrod Garlett, 34 Andrew D Phillips, 45 Hugh Goddard,

In: Liam Jones, Mitch McGovern, Matthew Kreuzer, Dale Thomas
Out: Hugh Goddard, Angus Schumacher, Matthew Kennedy, Andrew D. Phillips (all omitted).

Milestones

Interesting Fact 1: It was the 50th time that Jack Silvagni has worn the number 1
Interesting Fact 2: Marc Murphy moved into 7th on the overall VFL/AFL list for most games worn wearing the No.3 guernsey when he played his 266th game.

AFLCA Votes

9 - Dion Prestia (RICH)
8 - Jack Graham (RICH)
6 - Shane Edwards (RICH)
4 - Nick Vlastuin (RICH)
3 - Liam Jones (CARL)

Brownlow Votes

3. Dion Prestia (Richmond)
2. Patrick Cripps
1. Jack Graham (Richmond)

Best & Fairest Votes

Liam Jones 15, Jacob Weitering 9 Kade Simpson 8, Lachie Plowman 6, Patrick Cripps 5, Mitch McGovern 5 Josh Deluca 4, Dale Thomas 4, Ed Curnow 3, Sam Walsh 3, Will Setterfield 2, Levi Casboult 1, Matthew Kreuzer 1, Lochie O'Brien 1, Jack Silvagni 1.

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Round 20 | Round 22