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Game Review

Carlton hit Round 7 needing a win. We were 2 1/2 wins from 6 games, and still on the cusp of the 8. For those of us that believed that the Wizard Cup win was the start of big things, we were becoming impatient with our up and down performances and close losses to Collingwood, Fremantle and Kangaroos all by 4 goals or less. For those with lower expectations, we still saw the season in the balance and a game against the Tigers was always one we felt we could win. After all, even when we were really poor in 2002 and 2003 we could beat the Tigers. Surely?

Without doubt the thumping at the hands of the Tigers in this game was a severe embarrassment. The Club had promised so much but an 85 point demolition was hard to explain. For those with Richmond in-laws you will know the pain of the confidence from Tiger fans from the perennial early season form, as well.

The Tigers dominated from the start, kicking 7.4 to the Punt Road End of the MCG to our 2 behinds in the first quarter. Their midfield was running rampant, winning the ball out of the centre every time, making it impossible for our defenders to contain their forwards. Nathan Brown kicked 2 on Jordan Bannister, and Krakouer was everywhere. In the absence of full back Livingston, Teague was given the impossible task of trying to man up on giant Stafford, conceding 16 cm. In midfield, Tigers Coughlan and Johnson were starring and the Blues midfielders could not win the ball out of the centre. The Blues were immediately put under immense pressure under this onslaught and all players, young and old, were hesitant and panicky. Even simple shots at goal that players would normally have had little trouble with were missed.

The second quarter was not much better despite a complete change of midfield personnel. 6 goals to 1 and the game was already over.

The second half proved nothing more than a sideshow as the Blues crumbled. Richmond were fast and direct, and Carlton could only manage possession out on the wings where our outside midfielders Scott Camporeale, Nick Stevens and Heath Scotland would chip and manage possession. But when the midfielders made it to the forward 50 our forwards had been smothered, largely on a 1 on 1 basis it must be said, with Jarrad Waite beaten by Hall and the resurgent Gaspar beating Lance Whitnall. It was just not our day, with mistakes made all over the field.

The only real highlight for the game was the debut of Setanta Ó hAilpín, our 198cm Irish Hurling recruit. o'hAilpin was not given much game time but late in the game, he joined a unique group in goaling from his first mark and kick in AFL, in the forward 50. Lappin was a shining light up forward, kicking 5 goals and was our only multiple goal kicker, to remind us all of how good a forward he could be if we could spare him from defence.

Some lessons were clearly learned for the return bout later on in the season, where a multi-pronged forward line would bring home a win. This was not helped in this match by the absence of Full forward Fevola due to suspension.

Richmond by 85 points- their biggest ever win ever over Carlton! After losing by no more than 20 points and promising so much during the Wizard Cup, this was a significant setback. Some thorough soul-searching was now required for the Blues. In 2004 they had generally been able to turn big losses around, so their ability to respond to this would be a major test.

Team

B:	34 Simon Wiggins	32 Bret Thornton	15 David Teague
HB:	29 Heath Scotland	26 Adrian Deluca	31 Jordan Bannister
C:	33 Ryan Houlihan	24 Nick Stevens	1 Andrew Walker
HF:	36 Trent Sporn	8 Lance Whitnall	16 Scott Camporeale (vc)
F:	6 Kade Simpson	30 Jarrad Waite	12 Matthew Lappin
Ruck:	11 Barnaby French	43 Anthony Koutoufides (c)	28 Ian Prendergast
Interchange:
	10 Brett Johnson, 17 Setanta Ó hAilpín, 19 Eddie Betts, 21 Troy Longmuir
Coach:	Denis Pagan
Emg:	Cory McGrath	Setanta Ó hAilpín*	Ian Prendergast*
In:	Ian Prendergast*, Setanta Ó hAilpín*
Out:	Andrew Carrazzo*, Callum Chambers*

-*Chambers and Carrazzo replaced in selected side by O'hAilpin and Prendergast

Milestones

Debut: Setanta Ó hAilpín
Score Records: This is Carlton's biggest ever loss to Richmond
Score Records: This was the opening loss of Carlton's equal third-longest losing streak in our history

Brownlow Votes

3: Mark Coughlan (RICH)
2: Matthew Richardson (RICH)
1: Nathan Brown (RICH)

Best & Fairest Votes

Matthew Lappin (29), Bret Thornton (25), Jarrad Waite (23), Simon Wiggins (10), Kade Simpson (5), Scott Camporeale, Lance Whitnall (4)