Round 19, 2012

Carlton 3.1 19 5.3 32 6.6 42 10.11 71 Sydney 4.4 28 8.6 54 11.8 74 14.9 93
Venue:	Docklands
Date:	Sunday August 5, 2012
Result:	Lost by 22 points
Crowd:	36,942
Goalkickers:	J. Waite 3, D. Armfield 2, J. Garlett 2, L. Casboult, B. Gibbs, M. Murphy 1.
Reports:
Umpires:	J. Bannister*, M. Leppard, M. Stevic (*Bannister replaced J. Mollison before the game)
Injuries:	M. Jamison (hamstring)
Ladder:	11th

Game Review

Carlton's season 2012 aspirations were still alive, if only barely, as they entered their round 19 clash with top of the ladder Sydney Swans. As gritty and hard-fought as Carlton's consecutive wins have been, their "run" pales against that of the Swans' on a red (and white) hot streak of eight. To have any realistic chance of playing beyond round 23 the Blues desperately needed a victory over the Swans, but despite some recent good form against them it was going to be quite a test given the absence of some key personnel.

Aiming to break that winning streak and keep their slim finals hopes alive the Blues welcomed back two front-liners in Kade Simpson and Jarrad Waite. Simpson's jaw was given the all-clear by the medicos and having made it through the final training session unscathed was made available for selection. His inclusion, albeit with most unfashionable headwear, was a big plus for the Blues depleted midfield. Waite's season has been dogged by injury (again) so much so that his last appearance was way back in round seven. Sitting on 149 career games for the duration of the season since, this would be a well earned 150th - a victory for persistence. The other inclusion was Simon White, not seen for quite some time and making his first appearance for 2012. Making way for the return of the big names were youngster Frazer Dale, veteran Bret Thornton and the out of sorts Nick Duigan.

In the gloomy confines of a closed-roof Etihad Stadium the game got underway something akin to a bout of boxing with the teams seemingly circling, sparring and feeling each other out. The Swans landed the first blow in the fifth minute but it wasn't long before the Blues responded thru Waite. A strong mark drifting across the front of the pack followed by a well-executed set shot underlined one of the major ingredients Carlton had been missing in his three month absence. That was about as close as the Blues got for some time as Sydney started to dominate the stoppages with clearance after clearance coming from fast, precise handball in close until their runners could be found. The Blues had little answer to the Swans' strong midfield and quickly found themselves 20 points behind as Sydney kicked three in a row. The response finally came when Levi Casboult found himself in the domain of the small forward as he crumbed a lovely front and centre ball from the pack's spillage before hacking through on his left. Dennis Armfield provided one of the highlights of the term with a blistering run-down of Sydney speedster Lewis Jetta that prevented a near certain goal. The Blues finished the term on a high when Armfield featured again late in time-on. His bullet pass inside 50 found Jeff Garlett about five metres in the from the boundary. Garlett made no mistake with a composed and well taken finish to narrow the gap to nine points by quarter's end.

The Carlton resurgence at the end of the first term seemed a distant memory after the Swans added four on the trot in first half of the second quarter. The Sydney dominance at the stoppages continued and their forward 50 entries were that of a well organised and disciplined unit in stark contrast to Carlton's hap-hazard bomb it long approach inside 50. Carlton finally stopped the Sydney run when Andrew Carrazzo found Waite open out the back of the Swans' defence after a wonderful tackle from the quiet Eddie Betts created the turnover. That man Armfield was in the action again producing the highlight of the term for the Blues with a stunning run from the wing that involved a couple of give 'n go moves with Aaron Joseph and Marc Murphy before finishing truly on the run from about 45. It was a rare treat that reduced the Swans' lead to 21 points at the half.

With the margin not really reflecting Sydney's dominance of the first half Carlton were well and truly in the game but made little of their opportunities during the premiership quarter. The Swans opened the third as they had the first two quarters with a couple of goals to add some breathing space with a five goal lead. Carlton's only goal for the quarter came from Armfield after he was cleaned-up in a marking contest about 40m out directly in front. After dusting himself off and getting all his faculties together, Armfield calmly slotted through his second to keep the Blues in touch. The goal came against the flow and when the Swans booted their response a couple of minutes later normal service had resumed. To rub salt into the wound the Blues then lost Michael Jamison to what looked like a hamstring strain which saw him substituted from the game and perhaps the next couple as well. Sydney's goal gave them a 32 point break at the final change and the Blues were going to need a major form reversal (and minor miracle) to have any chance in the last.

Some wondered how Waite might run the game out, but when he guided through his third from a tight angle inside two minutes of the resumption it was clear he'd held up well in his return. Though Carlton hopes were kept alive momentarily they were dashed soon after when the Swans answered with two in a row. Carlton fought on doggedly for the remainder of the term, never getting blown away, but never looking like winning either. With Bryce Gibbs, Garlett and Murphy all chipping in with goals as the clock ran down the final margin was respectable, yet quite flattering, at 22 points when the final siren sounded. It effectively signalled the end of Carlton's 2012 campaign with only mathematical possibilities left to ponder during the final four rounds of the season.


Interesting Fact: Carlton used the 6 numbers between 40 and 45.

Subs: Marcus Davies replaced Michael Jamison late during the third quarter.

Team

B:	4 Bryce Gibbs	40 Michael Jamison	42 Zach Tuohy
HB:	13 Chris Yarran	26 Andrew McInnes	45 Aaron Joseph
C:	29 Heath Scotland	14 Brock McLean	27 Dennis Armfield
HF:	6 Kade Simpson	16 Andrew Collins	38 Jeffery Garlett
F:	19 Eddie Betts	30 Jarrad Waite	41 Levi Casboult
Ruck:	8 Matthew Kreuzer	44 Andrew Carrazzo	3 Marc Murphy (Acting Captain)
Interchange:	28 Tom Bell	35 Ed Curnow	43 Simon White
Substitute:	31 Marcus Davies
Coach:	Brett Ratten
Emg:	9 Kane Lucas, 32 Bret Thornton, 46 David Ellard

Milestones

150 Games: Jarrad Waite
Last Game: Andrew Collins
Guernsey Games Record: Eddie Betts broke Ian Collins' record of 161 games in guernsey 19.

Brownlow Votes

3. Daniel Hannebery, Sydney
2. Kieren Jack, Sydney
1. Jarrad McVeigh, Sydney

Best & Fairest Votes

Dennis Armfield 32, Michael Jamison 25, Jarrad Waite 25, Tom Bell 14, Ed Curnow 13, Bryce Gibbs 13, Brock McLean 10, Andrew McInnes 7, Marc Murphy 7, Simon White 6, Heath Scotland 4

Ladder

Pos	2012 Rd 19	Plyd	W	L	D	For	Agst	U/D	Strk	%	Pts
1	Sydney	18	15	3	0	1880	1252	+0	W 9	150.16	60
2	Adelaide	18	14	4	0	1921	1504	+1	W 1	127.73	56
3	Collingwood	18	14	4	0	1822	1483	+1	W 2	122.86	56
4	Hawthorn	18	13	5	0	2194	1416	-2	L 1	154.94	52
5	West Coast	18	12	6	0	1867	1507	+0	L 1	123.89	48
6	Geelong	18	12	6	0	1770	1552	+0	W 3	114.05	48
7	North Melbourne	18	11	7	0	1984	1751	+1	W 4	113.31	44
8	Essendon	18	11	7	0	1826	1628	-1	L 3	112.16	44
9	Fremantle	18	11	7	0	1538	1381	+0	W 5	111.37	44
10	St Kilda	18	9	9	0	1890	1572	+0	Lt 1	120.23	36
11	Carlton	18	9	9	0	1633	1584	+0	L 1	103.09	36
12	Richmond	18	8	10	0	1739	1606	+0	W 1	108.28	32
13	Brisbane	18	7	11	0	1500	1740	+0	L 2	86.21	28
14	Port Adelaide	18	5	13	0	1355	1677	+0	L 2	80.80	20
15	Western	18	5	13	0	1243	1749	+0	L 7	71.07	20
16	Melbourne	18	3	15	0	1293	1924	+0	W1	67.20	12
17	GWS Giants	18	2	16	0	1020	2290	+1	W1	44.54	8
18	Gold Coast	18	1	17	0	1175	2034	-1	L 3	57.77	4

Game	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12
Agst	Rich	Bris	Coll	Ess	Frem	Gws	St.Kilda	Adel	Melb	Port	Geel	W.Cst
Carl	125	154	122	79	65	110	98	55	107	54	85	69
Opp	81	63	62	109	57	43	122	124	49	99	97	79
Ladder	4	2	2	4	3	2	4	7	6	7	9	9
%	154.3	193.7	194.6	152.3	146.51	157.8	140.2	122.2	128.8	118.6	115.3	113.1
Game	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23
Agst	BYE	Haw	Coll	N.Melb	W.Bull	Rich	Sydney	Bris	Ess	G.Cst	St.Kilda
Carl	.	70	85	96	84	95	71
Opp	.	120	62	149	102	91	93
Ladder	9	:10::	9	12	11	11	11
%	113.1	107.1	108.7	103.7	104.7	104.7	103.0

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Round 18 | Round 20