Roar Guru
The third round of the season is upon us and we’ve got a blockbuster Friday night game to get the weekend underway – join us for live AFL scores and blog of Carlton vs Collingwood
A crowd of close to 80,000 (or more) will descend on the MCG tonight for the clash between the traditional rivals.
There have been plenty of classic clashes between these teams before with no shortage of golden moments. Who will ever forget the tap-in from the boundary line for Carlton to kick the winning goal in the 1979 grand final?
Or the footage as Alex Jesaulenko flew to the sky to pull down a brilliant mark, the call “Jesaulenko, you beauty”.
Or Mick McGuane’s amazing run with seven bounces to kick one of the all-time best ever goals.
Will we see something amazing like that tonight?
The Blues have opened the season strongly. In the opening round, it took them some time to shake off the attentions of a determined Richmond before a one-sided final quarter blew the final margin out to 44 points.
In round two, the Blues traveled to Brisbane but the unfamiliar surrounds of the Gabba were no problem for them as they put in a dominant performance to demolish the Lions by 91 points.
Collingwood suffered a 22-point loss to Hawthorn in a high-scoring shootout in the opening round, but bounced back with a dominant burst at the start of the second half to run away from Richmond in an otherwise low-scoring Easter Saturday clash best remembered for its half-time melee.
The battle of the midfield will be one to watch and is likely to prove pivotal to the outcome of this clash.
There’ll be plenty of observers watching this one to see their Dream Team captain in action. For Carlton, dual Brownlow Medallist Chris Judd has been a ball magnet in both their games, while his midfield partner Marc Murphy has produced his best football. For the Magpies, reigning Brownlow Medallist Dane Swan and Scott Pendlebury will be the players to watch.
Jarrad Waite proved himself a handy target up forward for the Blues last week, to produce a five-goal return. But the highlights for the Blues were two electrifying marks by Eddie Betts that are sure to appear in discussion of the golden moments of this season.
Collingwood’s devastating burst against Richmond was inspired by Dale Thomas and Travis Cloke, and the Magpies will be looking for positive contributions from that pair again in their quest for a winning score in this match.
The Magpies have lost Chris Tarrant to injury, but will see the return of captain Nick Maxwell.
The Magpies have had the wood on the Blues in recent clashes, with Carlton having not beaten their biggest rivals since 2009. But the Blues are a side on the rise and after making the finals for the last three seasons are looking for 2012 to be the year they take the next step, joining Collingwood as genuine premiership contenders.
This is a game not to miss. Stay online with The Roar tonight as we bring you all the action from the MCG. Post your thoughts in this thread, as we live out another chapter in one of footy’s great rivalries.