Game Review

Carlton falls short against a fast-starting Melbourne.
Carlton has fallen painfully short against Melbourne, losing by one point on Saturday afternoon at Marvel Stadium. After a disappointing start, which saw the Demons lead by as much as 42 points, the Blues were able to regain composure and work themselves back into the contest to lose by the narrowest of margins. The Blues backline led by co-captain Sam Docherty and Jacob Weitering helped drive the resurgence, while Marc Pittonet's efforts on debut gave the team a fighting chance.

Q1 breakdown: It was all Melbourne in the first quarter, as it piled on five goals to none in the opening half of the first term on the way to a 32-point lead at the first change. The quarter was further soured with an injury to Nic Newman seeing the defender stretchered from the field.

Q2 breakdown: The Blues worked hard to tame the pressure of the rampaging Demons. A more methodical approach saw the Blues claim early ascendency in clearances, tackles and inside 50s. Jacob Weitering patrolled the half-back line with great intent and provided the hosts with some important stability. The hard work would pay off late in the term as David Cuningham and Darcy Lang slotted quick goals to cut Melbourne's lead to 29 points at the main break.

Q3 breakdown: It was a more certain start from the Blues, as they looked to pick up from where they left off at the end of the second term. A stunning rove from Jack Martin set up Levi Casboult for his first goal of the day, and brought the Blues to within 24 points. Momentum stayed with the Blues as they wrestled back control in the midfield, winning the clearances and controlling the backline. A goal to Mitch McGovern saw the Blues come within 17 points, as they began to put together their most consistent football for the evening. However, a late Christian Petracca goal saw the margin pushed back out to 23 points.

Q4 breakdown: The Blues played with nothing to lose as the final term started. Eddie Betts' quick toe-poke to Michael Gibbons, who finished truly, gave the Blues an early spark. Betts and Martin were lively early in the fourth quarter, and the former's first goal back in Navy Blue was just the spark Carlton needed. A late captain's goal from Patrick Cripps brought the Blues within a point, but he and Martin were both denied by the goal post to give the Blues the lead. A late point to Bayley Fritsch was ultimately the decisive one as Carlton proved to be its own worst enemy.

Moment of the match: Cometh the moment, cometh the Eddie Betts. After looking dangerous early in the final quarter, Betts rose to the occasion winding back the clock to kick his first goal back in the Navy Blue. The veteran used his experience to his advantage, as he patiently waited at the back of the back collecting the ball as it spilled out the back, running into an empty goal.

Three things from the game:
1. It was a baptism of fire coming up against the league’s best ruck in Max Gawn, but Marc Pittonet didn’t give up the fight in Navy Blue debut. The former Hawk was able to claw back some of the impact of Gawn as the game transpired. Shouldering the majority of the ruck load, Pittonet would finish with 23 hitouts and 14 disposals, playing a big part in the Blues’ midfield resurgence.
2. When the game needed a hero, there was only one man to put his hand up. Patrick Cripps took the Blues, put them on his back and willed them forward. Aside from a dominant second-half display in the midfield, the co-captain moved forward to kick a clutch goal when the game was in the balance.
3. The combination of Jacob Weitering and Sam Docherty across the backline is one that Blues' fans will be able to look forward to watching for years to come. The dominant aerial performances of Weitering worked well with Docherty's elite ball use and smarts to help the Blues combat the Demon's fast forward entries.

A tale of two halves for the Blues: Carlton went from flawed, to fantastic. Having gone nearly 50 minutes without a goal to start the match, the Blues then kicked seven of the game's final eight majors to eventually draw level. However, the slow start was costly and would ultimately prove the difference. Scoreless in the first quarter, the Blues managed just five inside 50s and laid only eight tackles for the entire opening term. Meanwhile, three players (Mitch McGovern, Eddie Betts and Darcy Lang) didn't have a single touch for the quarter. Bizarrely, McGovern then led the charge after that. He finished with seven grabs and a goal, as the tables somehow turned. Limping from the field after a brave fightback that fell just short, Carlton could be forgiven for having flashbacks to round one's loss to Richmond. David Teague will undoubtedly now need to sort out the slow starts. - Julian Wallace, Carlton Media.

Best: M. Murphy, S. Docherty, J. Weitering, S. Petrevski-Seton, M. McGovern, E. Curnow.

Footnote

Another poor start by the Carlton team, who had to play catch-up football only to squander winning opportunities with poor kicking and decision making late in the game.
The Demons kicked two early goals in the second quarter, with 5.42 minutes remaining in the term the Blues were 42 points in arrears. Carlton's first goal was kicked by David Cunningham deep in time-on with just 1.30 minutes remaining.
For the match, from set shots the Blues could only manage a paltry return of 3.7
Three of Carlton's shots at goal hit the post, first, Jacob Weitering in the second quarter with Paddy Cripps and Jack Martin shots both deep in the final quarter.
Will Setterfield in the second quarter and Mitch McGovern in the third were wide of the target, both shots going out of bounds on the full.

Team

B:	6 Kade Simpson	20 Lachie Plowman	14 Liam Jones
HB:	15 Sam Docherty (c)	23 Jacob Weitering	5 Sam Petrevski-Seton
C:	18 Sam Walsh	9 Patrick Cripps (c)	43 Will Setterfield
HF:	11 Mitch McGovern	41 Levi Casboult	21 Jack Martin
F:	19 Eddie Betts	10 Harry McKay	28 David Cuningham
Ruck:	27 Marc Pittonet	35 Ed Curnow	3 Marc Murphy
Interchange:	16 Darcy Lang	24 Nic Newman	32 Jack Newnes
	40 Michael Gibbons
Coach:	David Teague
Emg:	4 Lochie O'Brien, 7 Matthew Kennedy, 31 Tom Williamson, 34 Sam Philp,

-*On Friday Darcy Lang replaced Jack Silvagni (illness) in the selected side, with Lochie O’Brien replacing Lang as an emergency.

Changes:
In: Darcy Lang, Eddie Betts, Harry McKay, Marc Pittonet
Out: 1 Jack Silvagni (illness), 2 Paddy Dow (knee), 8 Matthew Kreuzer (ankle), 25 Zac Fisher (leg)

Milestones

Debut: Marc Pittonet (Carlton)
Last Game: Darcy Lang
First Goal (on return): Eddie Betts
Interesting Fact: The last time Melbourne held Carlton scoreless in the first quarter was nearly 61 years ago in the Semi Final, 1959
Interesting Fact: It was Patrick Cripps 100th game in Guernsey No. 9 (his first 3 games were in No. 16).
Interesting Fact: For the second game in a row Carlton lost a player thru injury for the rest of the game before quarter time (and probably the season).
Interesting Fact: David Cuningham again scored Carlton’s first goal.
Interesting Fact: The last time Ray Chamberlain officiated in a Carlton H&A game was Round 23, 2017 (45 games or 2 years and 291 days -He had umpired in the 2nd JLT game against Collingwood at Morwell in 2019 and the AFLW Round 1 match against Richmond in 2020).

AFLCA Votes

10 - Christian Petracca (MELB)
8 - Max Gawn (MELB)
6 - Jacob Weitering (CARL)
3 - Clayton Oliver (MELB)
2 - Sam Docherty (CARL)
1 - Christian Salem (MELB)

Brownlow Votes

3. Christian Petracca (Melbourne)
2. Max Gawn (Melbourne)
1. Sam Docherty