They Carlton Blues secured an impressive 39-point win against the Gold Coast Suns on Saturday afternoon.
They won the game in the first half and then coasted in the second.
Malthouse won’t be happy with that but he will be happy with the win.
Gold Coast are nothing without Gary Ablett. They struggle without his leadership and his hardness at the ball.
They won’t make the finals this year.
FINAL SCORE:
CARLTON 14.13 (97)
GOLD COAST 8.10 (58)
The Gold Coast Suns will be looking to move back into the top eight with a victory over the Carlton Blues at Etihad Stadium. Join The Roar for live scores and commentary from 2:10pm AEST.
A win by the Suns would move them as high as sixth if results go their way.
Losses to North Melbourne and Collingwood this round, after Essendon was defeated by Richmond last night, would keep the Suns in that position.
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Looking to stop them will be a resurgent Blues outfit that have been in impressive form over the last few weeks.
Taking away the big loss to Sydney – despite playing a solid half of football against them – Carlton have won two of their last three matches.
In seven matches at Docklands this season, Carlton have won five of them. The Suns also hold no fear of Etihad Stadium or Melbourne, they are undefeated in Victoria this season.
For the important clash the Suns have made two changes. Brandon Matera and Kade Kolodjashnij return from injury with Louis Herbert and Tim Sumner out for Gold Coast. It could be three, with David Swallow in doubt for the clash. He trained on Friday but time will tell if he recovers from that session, and the injury, to play. Swallow will captain the Suns for the first time if he does play today.
The Blues have also made two changes for the home clash. Lachie Henderson is out with a fractured eye socket with Blaine Johnson joining him on the sidelines this week. Troy Menzel and Ciaran Sheehan are the two players in for the Blues this week.
Sheehan, who is from Ireland, will make his debut for Carlton this weekend. He was selected with the 60th pick in last year’s Rookie Draft.
The battle in the match will be in the midfield.
The clearance battle will be pivotal for the Blues if they are to win the match, the Suns ranked equal second in the competition with 40.6 clearances per game.
For the Suns it is all about disposal efficiency. They get enough of the ball during the match, but are ranked 18th in the competition for the use of it. If they do that against the Blues then they will be punished.
Carlton has improved nicely over the last few rounds and they will be too strong for the Suns. While the Suns won for the first time without Gary Ablett last weekend, his absence will play a big part in this match.
Carlton by 24 points.
Shane Jones
Roar Guru
Carlton defeat the Gold Coast Suns and almost certainly end the finals chances of the Suns. The first half from the Blues was fantastic. The second half was littered with errors from both teams. BEST PLAYERS: CARLTON - Waite, Bell, Judd, Simpson, Gibbs GOLD COAST - Bennell, O'Meara, Lynch, Kolodjashnij, Stanley That is all from me in this game. Thanks for joining in. I will be back tomorrow for the clash between St Kilda and the Western Bulldogs.
Shane Jones
Roar Guru
FULL TIME STATS: PLAYER STATS: CARLTON: Simpson 30, Gibbs 28, Murphy 28, Judd 27, Thomas 27 GOLD COAST: Bennell 27, O'Meara 26, Lynch 24, Lemmens 22, Kolodjashnij 20 TEAM STATS: DISPOSALS – CARLTON 374 GOLD COAST 336 CONTESTED POSSESSIONS – CARLTON 145 GOLD COAST 124 UNCONTESTED POSSESSIONS – CARLTON 224 GOLD COAST 212 MARKS – CARLTON 111 GOLD COAST 92 TACKLES – CARLTON 61 GOLD COAST 64 INSIDE 50′S – CARLTON 55 GOLD COAST 47 HIT OUTS – CARLTON 54 GOLD COAST 32 CLEARANCES – CARLTON 39 GOLD COAST 35
Shane Jones
Roar Guru
Yeah sorry for that. Nothing was mentioned by the commentators, the AFL app, or the Carlton twitter feed. When I saw him in the action, I made the comment he was back in the game and mentioned in the call.
Shane Jones
Roar Guru
FULL TIME and Carlton win by 39 points. They won the game in the first half and then coasted in the second. Malthouse won't be happy with that but he will be happy with the win. Gold Coast are nothing without Gary Ablett. They struggle without his leadership and his hardness at the ball. They won't make the finals this year. CARLTON 14 13 97 Waite 5, Bell 4, Judd 2, McLean 1, Gibbs 1, Thomas 1 GOLD COAST 8 10 58 Harbrow 2, Lynch 1, Martin 1, O'Meara 1, Stanley 1, Swallow 1, Hall 1
Shane Jones
Roar Guru
Q4 - 1:50 Gold Coast kick the ball out of bounds on the full as they try to rebound out of their defensive 50. Gibbs gets the ball and finds Waite 15 metres out from goal. He kicks the goal. It is his 5th for the game. CARLTON 14 12 96 GOLD COAST 8 9 57
Shane Jones
Roar Guru
Q4 - 4:15 McLean hits the post with a shot on goal from 35 metres out. Carlton lead by 33 points. CARLTON 13 12 90 GOLD COAST 8 9 57
Shane Jones
Roar Guru
Q4 - 7:00 Gold Coast win the ball from the middle of the ground and rebound from the kick-in. They enter the 50 and find O'Maera with a nice long kick to the goal square. He goes back and kicks his first goal for the game. CARLTON 13 11 89 GOLD COAST 8 9 57
Shane Jones
Roar Guru
Q4 - 7:35 Tom Lynch has a chance to kick his third goal for the day for the Suns. He shanks the kick and misses to the right. CARLTON 13 11 89 GOLD COAST 7 9 51
Shane Jones
Roar Guru
Q4 - 9:00 Both teams add another behind to the tally. Carlton lead by 39 points. CARLTON 13 11 89 GOLD COAST 7 8 50
Shane Jones
Roar Guru
Q4 - 10:20 Tom Lynch makes it two goals in two minutes for the Suns. He gets a nice pass from Sexton and kicks truly from 10 metres out. CARLTON 13 10 88 GOLD COAST 7 7 49
Shane Jones
Roar Guru
Q4 - 11:10 Harbrow kicks his second goal of the game with a lovely shot from 45 metres out. Good to see both teams disposal better in the last few minutes. CARLTON 13 10 88 GOLD COAST 6 7 43
Macca
Guest
You keep saying Graham has an injury concern but he got possessions in the third what is going on?
Shane Jones
Roar Guru
Q4 - 12:30 Brock McLean gets the first goal of the final quarter. Jarrad Waite gets the ball in the 50 but can't shake his defender. He passes to Judd who then finds a free McLean 10 metres out. He kicks the goal and the Blues lead by 51 points. CARLTON 13 10 88 GOLD COAST 5 7 37
Shane Jones
Roar Guru
Q4 - 14:00 Stanley has a shot for goal from 35 metres out for the Suns but misses to the right. Carlton lead by 45 points. CARLTON 12 10 82 GOLD COAST 5 7 37
Shane Jones
Roar Guru
Q4 - 15:40 Both teams are turning the ball over consistently as they head towards their 50. These last two quarters have been poor from both teams.
Shane Jones
Roar Guru
Q4 - 18:00 Gold Coast have dominated the first two minutes but haven't put it on the scoreboard. Graham is back on for the Blues as well.
Shane Jones
Roar Guru
THREE QUARTER TIME STATS: PLAYER STATS: CARLTON: Gibbs 23, Judd 23, Simpson 21, Thomas 21, Curnow 19 GOLD COAST: Bennell 19, O'Maera 19, Lynch 17, Kolodjashnij 16, Swallow 16 TEAM STATS: DISPOSALS – CARLTON 290 GOLD COAST 241 CONTESTED POSSESSIONS – CARLTON 107 GOLD COAST 97 UNCONTESTED POSSESSIONS – CARLTON 181 GOLD COAST 143 MARKS – CARLTON 89 GOLD COAST 62 TACKLES – CARLTON 54 GOLD COAST 48 INSIDE 50′S – CARLTON 44 GOLD COAST 34 HIT OUTS – CARLTON 41 GOLD COAST 23 CLEARANCES – CARLTON 27 GOLD COAST 26 Hopefully the fourth quarter is better than the third. One more bit of news. Trent McKenzie is out for the rest of the game with concussion. Casboult pushed him into the contest and he was kicked in the head by his team-mate. He may struggle to be fit for next week too. Carlton have dominated this match and deserve the lead at half time. They have wanted the game more and have been harder at the game. I can’t see how Gold Coast can get back into the game. The only concern for the Blues is their rotations. They are down by 1 with Graham under an injury concern.
Shane Jones
Roar Guru
Three Quarter Time and Carlton lead by 46 points. The quarter was not one for the highlights reel. The Blues did kick three behinds late in the quarter. CARLTON 12 10 82 Waite 4, Bell 4, Judd 2, Gibbs 1, Thomas 1 GOLD COAST 5 6 36 Swallow 1, Martin 1, Hall 1, Harbrow 1, Stanley
Shane Jones
Roar Guru
Q3 - 5:00 The Suns finally get a goal for all their effort in the last few minutes. They move inside their 50 and David Swallow gets the ball ten metres out. He snaps truly and kicks his first for the day. CARLTON 12 7 79 GOLD COAST 5 6 36
Shane Jones
Roar Guru
Q3 - 7:00 The Suns add another two behinds but need goals if they are any chance. The margin is 49 points. CARLTON 12 7 79 GOLD COAST 4 6 30