Questions to ponder ahead of Round 3: Can the Pies be re-heated, Are Port the real deal, Can Jezza's form last for the Cats?
Collingwood look far off the conquering team of 2023 and one aspect of real concern is their struggles in defence.
Carlton’s inglorious AFL campaign is finally over after a 104-point routing by Adelaide that confirmed their worst season in 117 years.
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Final score
Carlton Blues 8.13.61
Adelaide Crows 26.9.165
The Carlton Blues and Adelaide Crows will both be hoping to finish the year off with a win and give their fans some hope for 2019 when they do battle.
Join The Roar for live scores from the match in Round 23 of the 2018 AFL season at Etihad Stadium on Saturday night, starting from 7:25pm AEST.
Let’s call a spade a spade: this match is going to be entirely inconsequential in terms of the 2018 season.
In fact all but the most rusted-on supporters of these two clubs will likely instead turn the channel to the concurrent match between Sydney and Hawthorn, which promises to not only be a much more competitive spectacle but also has a top-four spot on the line.
That said, there is of course still a game of football to be played here, so let’s talk about it.
Carlton have the home ground advantage which is good because they will need every bit of help they can get to notch their third win of the season.
The club hasn’t finished a season with two wins or less since 1901 – a full 117 years ago – and that was a time where clubs played five matches less in a season than they do now.
Amazingly they didn’t even win the spoon that year, as St Kilda copped it with a record of 1-16 for the season a percentage of 32. Carlton’s percentage was just a tick below 47.
All thing considered if they lose tonight it’s going to be hard to look at 2018 as being anything other than the worst year on-field in Carlton’s history.
Adelaide too would be very disappointed with their season – last year’s grand finalists have ultimately fallen well short of finals, largely due to a bad run of injuries.
The Crows will believe they can bounce back next year, but that belief would take a hit if they fail to beat the league’s biggest battlers tonight.
Join The Roar for live scores from the match in Round 23 of the 2018 AFL season at Etihad Stadium on Saturday night, starting from 7:25pm AEST.