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Venue: MCG | ||||||||||||||||||
| Date: Thu 20 March 2008, 6:10pm | Result: Loss by 30pts | ||||||||||||||||||
| Umpires: Margetts McBurney Meredith | Crowd: 72,522 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Goalkickers: Betts, Fevola, Scotland 2; Edwards, Houlihan, Murphy, Ó hAilpín, Stevens | |||||||||||||||||||
| Reports: Hartlett (striking Cameron Howat, 2 weeks) | Injuries: Hartlett (concussion) | ||||||||||||||||||
Game Review
Carlton, the darlings of the off-season, courtesy of the stunning recruitment of Chris Judd, had much to look forward to in this match. Not only because of Judd's debut as both Carlton player and captain, but with the return of Nick Stevens after his long injury lay-off, it was expected that younger players, such as Marc Murphy and Bryce Gibbs, would have more freedom to develop. Early on the game followed the script, Judd, accompanied by a huge roar from the strong crowd, won the first centre clearance. Shortly afterwards Carlton took the lead after a sharp handball from debutant Jake Edwards hit a running Brendan Fevola who set up Murphy for the opening goal of the 2008 AFL season.Richmond hit back and scores in the first quarter see-sawed with neither team really taking control. Setanta Ó hAilpín kicked a late goal to tie the scores up at the first change. In the second, Carlton were clearly the better team and extended the lead out to 4 goals, before Richmond started their climb back into the game. The Blues took a slender seven point lead into the main break and probably felt entitled to a greater margin, as was their quality at times in the second.
The third quarter saw a lot of unattractive and scrappy footy. Carlton's skills were okay in the first half, but they began to fall away in this quarter and Richmond established a slender lead which they would not relinquish for the rest of the match. It took the Tigers a while to put the game away, but they kicked on late for a deserved win. Carlton started most quarters resonably well, but were unable to maintain the required intensity and were disappointing in the end.
Major ball-winners for the Blues were Bret Thornton, with a career-high 28 disposals; Andrew Carrazzo with 25, Kade Simpson with 23 and Carlton debutant Chris Judd with 22. Jake Edwards would kick his first goal in AFL football, kicking a loose ball through from 2 metres out in the opening quarter.
At the tribunal during the week, both Carlton's Adam Hartlett and Richmond's Cameron Howat were cited for behind the scenes strikes against each other in separate incidents. Hartlett took the 2 week rap, and Howat challenged his 2 week penalty and in doing so cost himself another week.
Team
| B: | 16 Shaun Grigg | 40 Michael Jamison | 32 Bret Thornton |
| HB: | 18 Paul Bower | 30 Jarrad Waite | 44 Andrew Carrazzo |
| C: | 4 Bryce Gibbs | 5 Chris Judd (c) | 6 Kade Simpson |
| HF: | 33 Ryan Houlihan | 23 Adam Hartlett | 31 Jordan Bannister |
| F: | 29 Heath Scotland | 25 Brendan Fevola | 37 Jake Edwards |
| Ruck: | 28 Cameron Cloke | 24 Nick Stevens (vc) | 3 Marc Murphy |
| Interchange: | 10 Richard Hadley | 17 Setanta Ó hAilpín | 19 Eddie Betts |
| 38 Ryan Jackson | |||
| Coach: | Brett Ratten | ||
| Emg: | 36 Darren Pfeiffer, 2 Jordan Russell, 9 Jason Saddington | ||
Milestones
Debuts: Jake EdwardsDebut (Carlton): Chris Judd, Richard Hadley
Debut (As Captain): Chris Judd
Last game: Ryan Jackson
Interesting fact: This was the 200th game between these 2 Clubs in the VFL / AFL.
Brownlow Votes
3. Matthew Richardson, Richmond2. Jake King, Richmond
1. Nathan Foley, Richmond
Best and Fairest Votes
33 Bret Thornton, 31 Kade Simpson, 29 Marc Murphy, 28 Chris Judd, 13 Jordan Bannister, 5 Cameron Cloke, Nick Stevens, Jarrad Waite2008 | Round 2