Sunday afternoon football is to be played in Victoria, as a poor Carlton outfit host a striving-for-finals Hawthorn. Join The Roar for live scores and a live blog from 1:10pm AEST.
What a trying season it has been for the Carlton Football Club. Eighteen rounds in, they’ve only saluted victory once.
Their last few outings have been amongst the most disappointing football in a long while: terrible losses to Brisbane and St Kilda, neither being genuinely brilliant teams themselves.
Today’s game is where we’ll see the struggling outfit up against a team possibly of a different calibre to the previous two weeks.
Mind you, in some weird way, Hawthorn could be of a lower calibre than some of the Blues’ recent opposition given their shock Tasmanian loss to an in-form Brisbane side last weekend.
That loss severely dented their already limited finals hopes, while an unexpected loss today would see those hopes all but evaporate completely.
For all the talk about Carlton’s struggles, they’ve still got a number of good players in their side.
Charlie Curnow and on-the-field, off-the-field Harry McKay will strive to trouble the Hawks’ defensive structure (an area of intrigue, given James Sicily’s recent injury).
Then again, Luke Bruest has been in stellar form for Hawthorn.
In the midfield, in what is almost becoming a cliche to say, Tom Mitchell and Patrick Cripps should at least excite Sunday footy-goers with their head-to-head battle.
There’s changes aplenty for both the opposing clubs. Carlton’s made five.
Jed Lamb has been suspended, Jarrod Garlett and Sam Rowe are omitted, Matthew Kruezer is being managed and Dale Thomas has been injured.
Jacob Weitering, Nick Graham, Levi Casboult, Matthew Wright and Matthew Lobbe are all in – the latter for his Blues’ debut.
Hawthorn have made a trio of changes. Obviously, they’ve lost Sicily to injury, whilst also dropping Tim O’Brien and Taylor Duryea. Kaiden Brand, Ryan Schoenmakers, James Worpel all make the squad in their place.
Prediction
Hawthorn. Every day of the week, Hawthorn will win this one. They’ll win by probably about 8 goals, a largely conservative estimate. Still, though – given the Suns win yesterday, there’s still very, microscopic hope of an upset. They do happen.
Hawthorn by 53
Join The Roar for live scores and a blog of the match, starting from 1:10pm AEST.
Kane
Guest
See your mob couldn't crack the 50 point barrier again. People in glass houses
Paul D
Roar Guru
Your mob knocked them off - you needed it after all the games you have been flogged in by them at kardinia recently
Cat
Roar Guru
Who hasn't beaten Sydney in Sydney this year?
Liam Salter
Roar Guru
I've got to go off in a hurry, but thanks for joining me today. And this year, given this was my final blog for the season! Enjoy the rest of the day, and the rest of the season of footy. Have a good one! Carlton: 7.10 (52) Hawthorn: 18.16 (124)
Liam Salter
Roar Guru
And there's full time. It's Hawthorn by 72 points over an undermanned and under-performing Carlton. Carlton: 7.10 (52) Hawthorn: 18.16 (124)
Liam Salter
Roar Guru
BEHIND CARLTON Ed Curnow's rather nice shot skims the post after the siren. Carlton: 7.10 (52) Hawthorn: 18.16 (124)
Liam Salter
Roar Guru
GOAL HAWTHORN And there's another! After the previous Mitchell major, that was nineteen seconds from the bounce to the goal. Bruest sending through his fifth. Carlton: 7.9 (51) Hawthorn: 18.16 (124)
Liam Salter
Roar Guru
GOAL HAWTHORN Tommy Mitchell. Goddamn it, you're good. Fantastic tackle on Polson, before he converts the set shot into his second goal. Carlton: 7.9 (51) Hawthorn: 17.16 (118)
Liam Salter
Roar Guru
BEHIND HAWTHORN Good grab from Gunston, but he can't convert the mark into a goal. Minor score. Carlton: 7.9 (51) Hawthorn: 16.16 (112)
Liam Salter
Roar Guru
GOAL HAWTHORN Gunston -> Roughead -> Puopolo -> GOAL! Nice passage of play, Hawthorn. Carlton: 7.9 (51) Hawthorn: 16.15 (111)
Liam Salter
Roar Guru
GOAL HAWTHORN Schoenmakers! Good entry by the Hawks, Carlton look momentarily frozen, and then Schoey sends through his second! Carlton: 7.9 (51) Hawthorn: 15.15 (105)
Liam Salter
Roar Guru
BEHIND CARLTON Pickett can't mark just inside Carlton's 50, and he's forced to play on - his quick kick rolls to the right. Carlton: 7.9 (51) Hawthorn: 14.15 (99)
Liam Salter
Roar Guru
GOAL HAWTHORN Mitchell! Somewhat surprisingly, he doesn't have goal yet after a very fine afternoon. He's got one now. Carlton: 7.8 (50) Hawthorn: 14.15 (99)
The Ghost
Guest
Carlton are so far behind the rest of the AFL. Even the Gold Coast can beat Sydney in Sydney. Carlton show no effort or fight. I'm not optimistic about their future. If they were not a former powerhouse the AFL would probably ship them off to Hobart.
Liam Salter
Roar Guru
BEHIND HAWTHORN And that's a miss to Roughead. Carlton: 7.8 (50) Hawthorn: 13.15 (93)
Kangas
Roar Rookie
One absolutele geniunie upset the whole season Gold Coast yesterday over Sydney Such a dull competition this year
Liam Salter
Roar Guru
GOAL CARLTON And Carlton strike back! Blink and you'd have missed that goal, but that was a very opportunistic goal in a contest from Kennedy. Carlton: 7.8 (50) Hawthorn: 13.14 (92)
Liam Salter
Roar Guru
GOAL HAWTHORN Oh! What a tackle! Stellar tackle from Puopolo on Weitering, and the Hawk will get a free for his efforts! That's a greaaaaat goal, as well. Carlton: 6.8 (44) Hawthorn: 13.14 (92)
Liam Salter
Roar Guru
GOAL CARLTON Oooh, Cripps just redeemed himself with an awesome one-handed mark opposed to Frawley. Let's see if he can nail this one. He. Has! Carlton: 6.8 (44) Hawthorn: 12.14 (86)
Liam Salter
Roar Guru
BEHIND CARLTON Urgh! That's frustrating. Good work through Polson, to get the ball forward to Cripps, who has been pushed forward to full forward. Cripps with a great opportunity to score on the run, but he's missed the goals and that'll be a minor score. Carlton: 5.8 (38) Hawthorn: 12.14 (86)