Thursday night saw the Blues and Saints do battle in the opening game of the AAMI Community Series at Marvel Stadium.
Even with the limitations, it was brilliant to see crowds back at the footy in Melbourne.
The opening term saw an abundance of action with a total of 13 goals being kicked. Zac Williams looked lively in his new strip and Adam Saad provided some of his notorious run off the halfback line. Oscar McDonald was trialled up forward for the Blues and it was seemingly paying dividends as he booted a rare major for himself as well as competing strongly against a very high-quality St Kilda backline.
Marc Pittonet was arguably the Blues’ standout in the first quarter, as he dominated former Crow Paul Hunter around the stoppage as well as kicking two goals. The Saints smalls provided plenty of energy to lead by three goals at the first change with Jack Lonie, Dan Butler and Jack Higgins all looming dangerous inside 50.
There was a lot of the same in the second term, although it started a lot slower than the first. Eventually the floodgates opened and the majors began to flow as the Saints looked the better of the two outfits.
Shaun McKernan was putting his name up in lights as Round 1 approaches with some big contested marks and the small forwards continued to dominate with Lonie kicking goals two and three for himself. Brad Hill showed glimpses of his best as he broke lines and set up teammates. The Saints owned a 27-point buffer at the main break.
Following halftime, it was evident that the Blues had more intent. They dominated the inside 50s for the quarter (21-11) and began to convert a lot more opportunities. The likes of Patrick Cripps and Zac Fisher began to show their class and Saad got on the scoresheet with a long bomb off the back of a stoppage.
Injuries began to become a concern for Carlton as Harry McKay, Jacob Weitering and Jack Newnes all departed the field, with Lachie Plowman looking to be sore later in the quarter. Hill continued to rack up possessions, Seb Ross showed great explosiveness on multiple occasions that left him with a goal and 16 disposals and Lonie kicked goal number four heading into the last.
The Saints held a three-goal lead at three-quarter time and with the Blues performing well in the third, it was set to be an excellent finish.
The Saints regathered well in the final term as they began to flex their muscles. Jack Sinclair had a splendid night all round, amassing 28 disposals and a goal, Jack Steele had 27 disposals and went about business as usual and Jack Higgins impressed with 24 disposals and one goal.
Jack Silvagni was a huge positive for the Blues as he gave them hope in the last term, booting three goals for the game as well as holding on to some impressive marks, particularly in the last quarter. There was an injury cloud around Max King, who booted three goals on the night. He was taken out of the game in the last quarter and wasn’t seen after that, the extent of the injury is unknown but assumed to not be overly serious.
The Saints should be impressed with their 26-point win. It was a gutsy finish as the Blues threatened to steal the victory late even though St Kilda led for the entire night. There are plenty of positives for both sides as the Blues prepare for their blockbuster with the Tigers in Round 1 and St Kilda get set for their clash with the Giants.
CdeB
Guest
Will wait and see. Anyone else remember 2005 (won the preseason competition and wooden spoon) or 2007 (ditto preseason and 15th). Preseason is not a good marker. Seems like 2021 is a season with some genuine promise - and really a season where that promise must be realized - anything below 10th is just not good enough, and maybe anything outside the 8. The big IF is injuries - can we get our best players on the ground? But injuries cannot and should not an excuse. Carlton made a call on Charlie C for talent, knowing he was an injury risk. Was it the right call? I hope so, but My gut tells me if they can get a decent number of games out of the best 22 they will play finals his year. If not, it's the end of the road. (If my count is right) 18 first round draft picks on the list, a good spread of age and games played. Not yet premiership-ready but need to challenge.
Macca
Roar Rookie
:laughing:
Brendon the 1st
Roar Rookie
Blues warming up nicely for their annual round one belting at the hands of Richmond. I think the Tigers owe the blues a great deal of thanks, a nice easy round one win to get the confidence up at the start of the year every year since the dynasty began, as if they need the leg up.
Brendon the 1st
Roar Rookie
Attitude and effort wise.......all of them
Bludger
Guest
All of those are better. Name one you reckon McGovern is better than? But the forward I think we cut was from the year before. Pat Kerr. I find it bewildering how they stick with non performing players and cut okay guys. I guess their own careers are something to do with it. They are doubling down to save their own backsides.
Naughty's Headband
Roar Rookie
“Brave”...”gutsy”...it was a practice match.
Republican
Guest
Way too premature to be making predictions. Footy shouldn't be played at this time of year truth be told but elite sports dependance on television has rendered seasonal demarcations a thing of the past. Currently in Australia you can follow Cricket, all Footy Codes, Basketball & Netball to name a few. This devolution defines a society of excess, while any anticipation, celebration, distinctiveness, et el are alien experiences in a generic culture.
Macca
Roar Rookie
23 touches and 2 goals for Fisher - looked really good.
Macca
Roar Rookie
These are the players that left Carlton at the end of last year Hugh Goddard (delisted), Matthew Kreuzer (retired), Darcy Lang (delisted), Harrison Macreadie (delisted), Callum Moore (delisted), Finbar O’Dwyer (delisted), Fraser Phillips (delisted), Cameron Polson (delisted), Ben Silvagni (delisted), Kade Simpson (retired) Which ones were better players than McGovern?
Macca
Roar Rookie
Putting aside the horror show of having Williams possibly on report and McKay and Weitering both injuring themselves these are my takeaways from the game; 1) Our centre square work was terrible - Steele, Ross, Crouch & Gresham are quality clearance players and we didn't have the Cripps or Ed attending as many centre bounces as we would in season but it was disheartening to watch them waltz out of the centre and get the quick reply time and time again. 2) Setterfield was again amongst the best. Looks like he really belongs now, works hard and his ball use has really improved. 3) Kicking almost 100 points without McKay, Casboult, Charlie or McGovern having a touch is a real cause for optimism. Yes it was only pre-season and defence didn't seem a high priority for either team but it is a still a good achievement. 4) Dow was impressive again. Pretty slow to get going but his ability to find the ball in congestion and fire off a handball that set us out into space was top shelf. His kicking wasn't too bad either. I think he will build nicely through the year. 5) O'brien might seize his chance - with Newnes possibly joining Newman & Marchbank on the sidelines O'brien might sneak into round 1 calculations - he certainly hasn't hurt his chances in in limited game time in the last two weeks. 6) Fogarty makes things happen - I would love for him to get more of the ball but when he popped up in a passage of play he used it well and made good decisions, throw in his tackling pressure and I think he will play round 1. 7) Murphy is loving his new role - once again really impressed being dangerous around goal and pushing up to give an option through the middle. 8) JSOS is a competitor - this kid just keeps working - still not sure how he fits in if we had a full list to choose from but he won't let us down when he gets his chance. 9) Fisher looks set for a break out year - seems confident in his ability and knows his role, going to be fun to watch 10) Gibbons looks a long shot for round 1 - less than a quarter of play in 2 pre-season games doesn't bode well especially when a few of his direct competitors have seemingly taken the next step. 11) SPS's foot skills were superb and just open the game up for us.
Ash Vulikh
Roar Rookie
I thought Carlton as individual players performed really well, but cohesion in defence seemed to be the thing that let them down. Guys like King, Lonie and Membrey seemed to dominate throughout the night and create havoc for the Blues. I think considering Carlton had a plethora of key injuries (Curnow, Betts, Newman, McKay, Weitering, Plowman, Newnes, Casboult, McGovern, De Koning, Kemp), some really positive signs can be taken out from last night.
Vercetti1986'
Roar Rookie
It is hard to take much away from a preseason game but I thought both teams played quite well last night. The Saint's ball movement was very slick and they have a very potent forward line. Their defence did not play with as much system as it should have last night, especially when the Blues got some momentum in the 2nd half but Frawley not playing most of the game didn't help and it looks like Carlisle will return to replace him. Really liked what I saw from Jack Higgins and will be fun to watch when he is up and about. Sinclair is set for a breakout year off half-back and Lonie looks like he will be more than just a depth forward. On Carlton, they will be a tough opponent to stop when they have some confidence. Saad and Williams appear to be good recruits that will make a big difference to their squad. Richmond will be an interesting test for them in R1 and they can win that game if they bring their best based off of last night and who they were missing but still need to work on some areas.
Bludger
Guest
Not good signs for Carlton. To be honest, I lost faith in Teague last year. Tactically he seems to be lacking the moves and just unable to get enough of this squad up. He talks all the right jargon, but when it is match day they fall on their faces and struggle to hold sides from getting run ons. It always seems to be he is having to follow other coaches tactics and unable to dictate to these other teams. To be really fair, I reckon by mid season we will know if the coach will be still around. If they are not at least 50 percent wins and losses then it is time to make a move. He might please the media, like Bolton did before him but that is not winning us matches. As for good old SOS, how is his 3 year rebuild going now? I can see what he was trying to achieve but he seems to have been unfortunate to recruit a number of guys we really needed to step up that are very injury prone and never available. Why did they need to recruit Stoker as an example? It just seemed he wanted to show everyone how clever he was in making a complicated trade from some new league drafting law they brought in. Nothing has come from it yet and noone else was interested in the bloke they got. The current list has a bunch of blokes that should have been cut last year. McGovern as a perfect example. They are doubling down on a bad bet in his situation. Whenever he is near the ball which is rare, he runs under the ball and not in a position to mark it time and time again. That just means he doesn't have it. They had other blokes on the list that they cut who were better players. I question who are list managers are. They are great at picking duds I'll give them that.
Diesel-747
Roar Rookie
A few saying that a long painful season on the horizon with carltons performance last night- It’s a practice match- an opportunity to try a few things& test a few things Blues were good & strong 2nd half - Anyone have any idea on where marchbank is at? The real stuff starts in 13 days- can’t wait . Zac fisher could snag 25-30 goals this yr- very hard to match up on.