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The Carlton Blues have recorded one of the biggest upsets and handed the Geelong Cats their second straight defeat, winning by 29 points at Eithad Stadium.
REPORT: BLUES STUMP CATS IN MAJOR UPSET
Final score
Carlton Blues 16.8.104
Geelong Cats 12.13.85
WHAT’S NEXT? FOLLOW OUR COLLINGWOOD VS WESTERN BULLDOGS LIVE BLOG
After a shock loss last week the Geelong Cats are primed to bounce back, but the new-look Carlton Blues will put up a mighty fight at Etihad Stadium. Join The Roar from 1:10pm (AEST) for live scores and rolling commentary.
I don’t think there was a person in the country who foresaw what happened to Geelong in the opening quarter last week. Torn apart from the get-go by a far more determined Collingwood outfit (where have you been?), the Cats played catch-up all day but were always going to be too far behind to close the gap. The game finished as one of the seasons most shocking upsets to date, and has perhaps shown a few chinks in the Cats’ armour.
On the other hand, disappointingly for their supporters, Carlton’s game went pretty much to script, as the ladder-leading North Melbourne ended the Blues’ four-game win streak quite comfortably to the tune of 67 points.
In stunning team selection news, Matthew Kruezer and Levi Casboult have both been named, making shock early returns from injury. Kristian Jaksch has also been named on an extended bench, which at the time of writing has not yet been whittled down to a final four.
The Cats have lost Daniel Menzel to soreness, while Tom Lonergan will make a welcome return. Billie Smedts, Jake Kolodashnij and Jordan Murdoch have also made the extended squad.
On paper, it looks like a fairly predictable match – we have one team at the beginning of a true rebuild against a genuine premiership contender at a neutral venue which both teams are familiar with. Recent history doesn’t help the Blues either; they haven’t beaten the Cats in six years, and copped an almighty hiding last time they met.
However, this Carlton team has already proven that they’re well and truly on the mend, already shirking the ‘easybeats’ tag before the season’s halfway point. The named team is certainly close to their best 22, a luxury they’ve not had in a long time. They’ll certainly need to lift their goalkicking accuracy (currently 17th in the comp) and tackling (last) if they’re going to be a shot, but there’s a lot of talent brewing down at the Blues, and they undoubtedly won’t go home without a fight.
The Cats were downright embarrassed on Saturday, and as always, we can only judge them on the response. For the second week in a row it was a story of missed chances, so it will be interesting to see how the Cats have worked on that throughout the week. Steven Motlop and Shane Kersten were in electric form before quiet games last week, and are two important players that need to return to that level and have a big say in this game’s result.
Right now, Geelong is far-and-away the better team – but you never quite know what might happen when they get out there.
Prediction
A comfortable but not-too-comfortable win for the Cats. Geelong by 41.
Will the Cats get their top-two aspirations back on track or will the Blues deal them a second straight loss? Join the Roar from 1:10 for all the action, and join in the discussion below!
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