Goalkickers: J. Garlett 3, K. Simpson 2, B. Thornton, L. Henderson, M. Kreuzer 1.

Umpires: L. Farmer, M. Leppard. S. McInerney

Injuries: Murphy (shoulder/AC joint), Henderson (groin), Duigan (soreness)

Ladder: 7th

Game Review

The second test at the dreaded Docklands stadium in a week for the Blues, this time against the red-hot Adelaide Crows, who have been surprising most with their magnificent early season form. Having suffered a disappointing loss at the hands of the Saints during the continuing Monday night footy experiment the Blues had the chance to atone with a view to improving some of the flawed areas of their woefully inadequate defensive game. Most tipsters favoured Carlton at home and that, coupled with Adelaide's horrendous record in Melbourne, seemed sound to make a sound logical case.

With a mere six day turn around the Blues had little opportunity to change anything too drastically, that in itself being something of a concern. Aside from being somewhat fatigued after the taxing physical workout dished out by St. Kilda the Blues lost Jarrad Waite from the side to face the Crows with back soreness that never quite came good. His replacement was the veteran swingman Bret Thornton. Aaron Joseph felt the axe after a disappointing Monday evening with replacement Chris Yarran finally returning from his "one week" toe injury (suffered what seems like an eternity ago) to play his 50th game in navy Blue.

The Blues exploded out of the blocks with Kade Simpson having two goals on the board inside the first five minutes in what Blues fans hoped was a sign of things to come. The first caught the Crows napping as Eddie Betts speared the ball into Simpson unattended 15m out and with not a soul in sight he waltzed in to the open goal. His second came from a strong mark and beautiful finish and the Blues were away. The head-start didn't last long though as Adelaide slowly worked themselves into the game with their improved clearance work getting them back into it. Having slowed the Blues the Crows went about gaining some momentum and answered with three consecutive goals before Carlton could respond. That response came from the elusive Jeffrey Garlett with a wonderful snapshot from just inside 50m after some good work up field from Chris Judd. Bret Thornton made it two in a row for the Blues after marking low to the ground and finishing truly from the shot at goal to give Carlton a five point edge. Not to be outdone the Crows realised it was their turn and duly answered the call in a classic see-sawing battle. With the quarter all but over the Blues managed one last thrust after Dennis Armfield commenced the attack from deep in Carlton's defensive 50m zone clearing to Mitch Robinson who involved Simpson and Judd in the rush forward before Garlett marked and goaled only seconds before the siren sounded. It was a fitting finish to a solid quarter of honest contested footy and gave the Blues a narrow three point advantage at the break.

The second quarter was one to forget for the Blues. All the good work from the first seemingly out the window as the Crows dominated stoppage after stoppage, winning clearance after clearance and controlling the game as the intensity rose. Collectively Adelaide responded to the lift in physicality and intensity, put simply too few Blues were able. To add insult to injury Marc Murphy came off second best in a bone-crunching clash with best-a-field Crow Patrick Dangerfield. Murphy's shoulder seemed to disappear somewhere into the Southern Cross Station railyards and he duly left the field. Not surprisingly he was substituted at the break. As the dust settled on the quarter Carlton had an embarrassing two rushed behinds to show for their efforts, while in response Adelaide had poured in five goals and took a well deserved 26 point lead into the rooms.

The third quarter was one to forget for the Blues. The half time pep talk (spray?) from Ratten didn't seem to conjure the magic we were praying for though he did at least try something. Lachie Henderson found himself up forward and was a key contributor in both Carlton goals for the term, first setting up Garlett for his third and then taking a wonderful mark before finishing the follow up kick perfectly. The Blues on the whole had too few contributors. Judd worked and toiled and did his bit but was not his usual clean self, perhaps still with some lingering side-effects from Thursday's sniffle? Heath Scotland saw plenty of the ball and was a solid contributor as was Michael Jamison at the defensive end, but it was hard to find too many others you could list beside them. Adelaide continued their domination with another four goals for the term and increased their lead to a commanding 39 points at the final change.

The final quarter was one to forget for the Blues. Dangerfield shattered any illusion that a comeback might be in the offing when he goaled inside the first minute upon resumption. It seemed to be the signal for the Adelaide procession to hit full throttle. Matthew Kreuzer did sneak one goal in before the real party started, but it was very much one-way traffic as the Crows humiliated the Blues during the remainder of the term slamming on the final five goals with barely a murmur from the Blues. It would be their biggest loss for the season to date and their worst loss in quite some time. A 69 point thumping leaving Carlton with much soul searching to be done. And in a postscript to a terrible weekend, it was discovered that Marc Murphy had suffered a cracked bone in his shoulder requiring surgery.

Subs: Chris Yarran replaced Marc Murphy at half time.

Team

Milestones

50 Games: Chris Yarran

Brownlow Votes

3. Patrick Dangerfield, Adelaide
2. Scott Thompson, Adelaide
1. Rory Sloane, Adelaide

Best & Fairest Votes

Chris Judd 27, Michael Jamison 24, Eddie Betts 23, Lachie Henderson 22, Heath Scotland 21, Mitch Robinson 11, Andrew Walker 4, Dennis Armfield 3, Jeffery Garlett 3

Ladder