Game Review

37-point defeat for Blues

A summary of the Round 18 AFL clash. - By Cristian Filippo, Carlton Media

It was a 37-point defeat when Carlton met the Brisbane Lions at Marvel Stadium. The returning premiers led from start to finish under the roof, with the Blues unable to stand up under the Lions’ heat in the 9.12 (66) to 15.13 (103) defeat. Marc Pittonet fought all night in the ruck while finishing with two goals, while George Hewett (33 disposals) and captain Patrick Cripps (26 disposals) attacked the contest all night. However, the Blues couldn’t stifle the Lions’ options and run around the ground, making costly turnovers at pivotal times and unable to capitalise when the situation presented itself. Brisbane raced out to the hot start, kicking the first three goals of the game - including a bizarre incident where Cam Rayner capitalised from a collision between Lachie Cowan and the central field umpire. The Blues were able to rally, kicking two goals but leaving a few more on the board with misses from gettable chances. But Marc Pittonet produced one of the moments of the AFL season when - after winning a holding-the-ball free kick - he launched a torpedo from well beyond 50 to the raptures of the Marvel Stadium crowd.

The Lions started the better of the two sides in the second term again, but Pittonet was on hand again to mark and goal from close range to energise the Blues. The second term saw some back-and-forth football, with the Blues drawing within two goals but unable to capitalise when they could put the pressure on. To make matters worse, the Lions kicked three in a hurry to end the term to open up a 30-point gap. In a term where inside 50s were even, the Lions managed six goals to the Blues’ three. Brisbane hammered home their advantage in the third term with four unanswered goals, with the Blues only mustering six behinds from the halfway mark of the second term to the end of the third term to demonstrate their inefficiency. Lachie Cowan continued his strong form since his return from injury, holding up well in the third quarter with eight disposals alone on the way to 22 for the night. Cooper Lord was subbed into the game late in the third term for Orazio Fantasia, who - after a bright showing on the wing with 14 disposals and a goal - came from the ground with a hamstring injury. The Blues added some goals in the final term but the damage was largely done on the scoreboard, with the Blues falling by 37 points under the roof.

'Common sense': Voss on ump collision'

Michael Voss insists play should have been halted after a Blues player collided with an umpire during Thursday night's loss. - By Phoebe McWilliams at Marvel Stadium

Carlton coach Michael Voss believes that play should have stopped after a collision between Blues defender Lachie Cowan and a field umpire led to a Brisbane goal during the first quarter of Thursday night's match. Cowan ran into the back of the umpire as he was running for a mark, with the ball spilling out to Cam Rayner, who handballed to an open Charlie Cameron for an easy goal. Asked whether he thought the umpires should have called for a ball-up, Voss replied: "Yeah, absolutely." "You couldn't ask me what the ruling is on that, sorry. Other than if you're interrupting the passage of play, I would have thought it's common sense to make that a ball-up. It didn't cost the game, so we move on. "But if there's an adjustment that I'd be suggesting, I'd say that if your general interference in the play and the direct line of the ball, then, yeah, I would have thought the common sense thing to do there is to ball that up. "So maybe that's something they need to make an adjustment on in the future if there's a different interpretation on that." Brisbane coach Chris Fagan saw the irony in the incident considering that umpire contact has been a point of discussion lately since the AFL changed the rules regarding umpire contact at the start of this month. "It's funny in footy how suddenly something becomes a topic and then things keep happening to keep it going as a topic," Fagan said. "We've got to look after the umpires and protect the umpires, but sometimes accidents happen, which I figure that was an accident tonight. But I think the things that the AFL are talking about that we've now put in place, I think they're good."

Carlton suffered injuries of its own with livewire forward Orazio Fantasia subbed out of the game with a hamstring problem and swingman Mitch McGovern coming to the bench later in the game with hamstring awareness. "He (McGovern) had some awareness, but it was like in the last five minutes. So it was probably more just, you know, what's the point of putting him back out there?" Voss said. "So we're more cautious. But like all these, I always tend to hold that opinion until we get the scans back on Monday." Star ruckman Tom De Koning spent most of the night playing as the Blues' deepest forward, limiting his impact on the game. The in-demand tall finished with 14 disposals and a goal, while fellow ruck Marc Pittonet spent most of the time in the middle finishing the game with 35 hitouts to De Koning’s 10. Voss was asked whether fans should read into the Pittonet being the preferred ruck considering De Koning’s future at the Blues is uncertain, with the tall weighing up a huge offer from St Kilda. "No, it's pretty black and white for us. I think you read well and truly too much into it. So I don't tend to play in that sort of area. We need a role filled forward of the ball at the moment," Voss said. "We're challenged with some talls right now and Pitto's in great form, so he deserves to be in the team. So we need some tall timber forward of the ball that can draw the footy. "There's a need to have Tom there at the moment. So that's the role we're asking him to play. Just make it black and white. You don't need to read into it too much more than that."

Lions outclass Blues to continue march towards top-two finish

Brisbane has easily accounted for struggling Carlton at Marvel Stadium. - By Phoebe McWilliams at Marvel Stadium

A ruthless Brisbane has comfortably beaten Carlton by 37 points as the heat continues to rise on embattled Blues coach Michael Voss. The reigning premiers led at every change, holding the Blues goalless in the third term before running out 15.13 (103) to 9.12 (66) winners in front of 32,898 people at Marvel Stadium on Thursday night. Lions midfielder Josh Dunkley was awarded the inaugural Robert Walls Medal for his 28 disposals and 13 tackles. But the win came at a cost with premiership defender Noah Answerth leaving the ground in the second term with an Achilles injury. The defender was unable to put any weight on his foot and was assisted off the ground by Lions medical staff. Brisbane's physicality had come into question this week having laid just 35 tackles in their round 17 win over Port Adelaide just five days ago, but the Lions were relentless against the Blues, surpassing that total by half-time and finishing the match with 69 tackles. Oscar McInerny made a successful return to the line-up in his first game at AFL level since round nine, while Blues tall Tom De Koning had a quiet night playing predominantly forward, finishing with one goal and 14 disposals. Dual Coleman medallist Charlie Curnow was held goalless for the fourth consecutive game.

Carlton's defence was under fire from the start with Brisbane's repeat inside 50s putting Blues players under pressure. The Lions' pressure led to poor decision making and Brisbane capitalised with the first three goals from turnovers through Jarrod Berry, Charlie Cameron and Eric Hipwood. Cameron's goal came after a collision between Lachie Cowan and field umpire Andrew Heffernan inside Brisbane's 50. The Blues finally got on the board when Orazio Fantasia squeezed through a checkside snap from a contest and Zac Williams put together some fancy footwork to get their second. But the quarter's biggest highlight came after the siren when Carlton ruck Marc Pittonet launched a torp from 55 metres out, with the ball sailing over the line and reducing the margin to 13 points at the first break. Blues defender Matthew Carroll had five minutes that he will want to forget just before the main break when he was caught twice holding the ball in front of goal, putting the Lions 30 points up at half-time. The game well and truly broke open in the third quarter, with the Lions kicking four unanswered goals for the term while the Blues squandered their opportunities by missing gettable shots in front of goal. To make matters worse, Fantasia was subbed out in the third term with a hamstring injury.

Cowan and umpire collide
After a week of scrutiny on umpire contact, another incident on Thursday night is bound to raise eyebrows when field umpire Andrew Heffernan and Carlton defender Lachie Cowan collided inside Brisbane's forward 50. With Cowan on the ground, the kick that would have hit the Blue lace-out became a turnover and resulted in a Charlie Cameron goal.

Pittonet goes bang
When Blues ruck Marc Pittonet was granted a free kick on the top of Carlton's 50 after the siren. The 202cm ruck launched a torp on goal and much to the delight of his teammates and Carlton fans, the ball floated across the line for one of the highlights of the game.

Charlie
We all lauded big Charlie in 2022 and 2023 when he was winning Coleman Medals ... THEN ... I have no idea what has happened to that player. I realise the delivery to him has been abysmal, but he now has stage fright around goal. Hasn’t kicked one in the past four matches, and has horrendously missed some chances. 0.9 in that stretch.

Best: G. Hewett, P. Cripps, L. Cowan, M. Pittonet, N. Haynes.

Team

B:	39 Alex Cincotta	23 Jacob Weitering	4 Oliver Hollands
HB:	2 Lachlan Cowan	26 Nick Haynes	15 Sam Docherty
C:	32 Matthew Carroll	9 Patrick Cripps (c)	6 Zac Williams
HF:	11 Mitch McGovern	30 Charlie Curnow	8 Lachie Fogarty
F:	3 Jesse Motlop	43 Ashton Moir	14 Orazio Fantasia
Ruck:	12 Tom De Koning	5 Adam Cerra	29 George Hewett
Interchange:	27 Marc Pittonet	45 Flynn Young	36 Cooper Lord
	22 Harry O'Farrell
Substitute:	19 Corey Durdin
Coach:	Michael Voss
Emergencies:	13 Blake Acres	44 Francis Evans	31 Harry Lemmey

In: Alex Cincotta, Corey Durdin.
Out: Blake Acres (omitted), Francis Evans (omitted)

Substitute: Cooper Lord (replaced Orazio Fantasia in the third quarter)

Free Kicks

Carlton 20
Brisbane 25

Front Runners

Oliver Hollands 14.1km
Sam Docherty 13.9km
Nick Haynes 13.9km

Milestones

Last Game: Alex Cincotta, Orazio Fantasia

Interesting Fact:

1. Marc Pittonet equalled his best of two goals in a game.
2. Orazio Fantasia first and last game for the Blues was against the Lions.

AFLCA Votes

10 - Josh Dunkley (BL)
5 - Jarrod Berry (BL)
4 - Darcy Wilmot (BL)
3 - Zac Bailey (BL)
3 - Cameron Rayner (BL)
3 - Lachie Neale (BL)
2 - Dayne Zorko (BL)

Brownlow Votes

3 - Josh Dunkley BL)
2 - Lachie Neale (BL)
1 - Darcy Wilmot (BL)