Melbourne continue to impress under new coach Simon Goodwin, dominating Carlton by 54 points in their AFL pre-season match.
Young star Christian Petracca impressed with 19 disposals, six marks and four goals as the Demons won 0.17.14 (116) to 0.9.8 (62) at Casey Fields on Saturday.
Adding to a tough afternoon for Carlton, ruckman Daniel Gorringe went off in the third term with a leg injury.
TV footage showed the former Gold Coast player bashed a dressing room table in frustration and then slumped with head in his hands.
Gorringe, in his first season with the Blues, only managed four senior games last year because of injury.
The Demons upset reigning premiers the Western Bulldogs last week and Saturday’s strong all-round performance was another good sign for the top-eight contenders.
It is light years from three years ago, when Melbourne hosted Hawthorn at Casey Fields and suffered a 110-point belting
While it was Carlton’s first match of the pre-season, they struggled badly.
Their workrate in particular would have concerned coach Brendon Bolton, with Melbourne winning the tackle count 56-45.
Ruckman Max Gawn also impressed for Melbourne, going forward and kicking two goals, while Bernie Vince helped set them up across half-back and key forward Jesse Hogan booted three goals.
Star recruit Jordan Lewis again slotted seamlessly into their midfield with 23 possessions.
Former Essendon player Michael Hibberd, in his first game since returning from last year’s doping ban, played well in Melbourne’s defence
The Demons also cruised on Saturday without key position player Jack Watts, who has been unable to force his way into the senior team so far in the pre-season.
Bryce Gibbs, who unsuccessfully sought a trade to Adelaide late last year, continued his strong pre-season at Carlton with a game-high 28 disposals.
Macca
Guest
Thank Col.
Col from Brissie
Roar Guru
Fisher looked good and showed a lot of determination. He has a very good left foot kick but needs to put on a few kilos as he is very light framed. Fisher and LeBois are the smallest players on an AFL list and both need a couple of pre seasons before being able to consistently play AFL. I think the fact Fisher played in the WAFL last year against big bodies might see him play some games this year. Charlie Curnow looked OK at times and spent some time in the midfield hence the number of possessions. Unfortunately our forward line didn't function well which may have been the result of the pressure Melbourne put on our midfielders and their defence ran it out too easily. Although he missed a couple of shots at goal Casboults kicking action looks a lot better so hopefully he can kick a few more goals this year. With both Phillips and Gorringe injured it now looks likely that Levi will be doing some of the ruck work in the early part of the season. Fingers crossed that Kreuzer can stay injury free or we will be in big trouble with at this stage Levi and Sam Rowe our only other realistic ruck options.
Macca
Guest
Col- I hav to think the d fensuve structure issues were down to experimentation given we were pretty good in that area last year. I didn't see th game but C Curnow (17 possessions and a goal) and Fishers (10 possessions in about 40% TOG) stats intrigued me - hat were your thoughts?
Col from Brissie
Roar Guru
I don't tend to take the pre season games too seriously as being good in February doesn't mean you are going to be good in September. Whilst disappointed with some aspects of the Blues performance ie defensive structures I can only hope that it had more to do with a bit of experimenting by the coaching panel than what we will actually see in the season proper. I have not bought into the Melbourne hype as they have not been a side I have watched much. The last game I saw them play was last year against the Blues and they were very ordinary. What I saw yesterday however was a very skilful and quick transitioning side and if they take that form into the season proper will definitely be a finals contender. They have a very good ruckman and seem to have plenty of good midfield depth as well as a versatile forward line. I was very impressed with Petracca who has the body of a hulk with speed and great skills. As for the new Blues I was happy with Marchbank who seemed to get better as the game went on and a couple of little cameos from Le Bois and Pickett showed that given time they could become the small forwards we have lacked since Eddie left.