Goalkickers: H. McKay 2.2, M. McGovern 2.0, M. Pittonet 1.1, B. Kemp 1.1, Z. Williams 1.0, C. Lord 1.0, G. Hewett 1.0, W. Hayward 1.0, J. Smith 0.1, E Hollands 0.1, L. Fogarty 0.1, C. Chesser 0.1, M. Carroll 0.1, Rushed 0.4.

Reports: Jonty Faull (RICH) was suspended for 1 match for striking Jacob Weitering (CARL).

Umpires: John Howorth, Nathan Toner, Jacob Mollison, Andrew Adair.

Injuries: Nil.

Ladder: 11th.

Game Review

Blues hold on for first 2026 win

Carlton has survived a scare to prevail by four points against Richmond. - By Cristian Filippo, Carlton Media.

Carlton has survived a scare to prevail by four points against Richmond. Leading from the opening minute, the Blues were challenged in the second half, clinging on after a 27-point half-time lead to prevail 10.15 (75) to 9.17 (71). Jagga Smith was brilliant for Carlton in his first win with 32 disposals (the same amount as Patrick Cripps), while the Blues had a spread of eight goal kickers. There was a clear moving of the magnets for the Blues, with Matthew Carroll’s return to the side seeing him line up on the wing and Ollie Hollands across half-back. At the other end of the ground, Mitch McGovern swung forward, with almost immediate effect. The Blues were winning the ball out of the middle regularly in the opening term, with their marking targets reaping the benefits. McGovern himself kicked two goals, while Brodie Kemp and Harry McKay also hit the scoreboard with crafty work at ground level - although there was some confusion over McKay’s opener, with Ben Ainsworth making it a sure thing just as the Sherrin past the paint.

The story of the first quarter was clearly Jagga Smith, who couldn’t have been more impressive in his first outing at the MCG. At the venue where his mum Kimelle has worked “basically all her life” (in her son’s words), Smith was everywhere, accumulating 15 disposals (originally 16, before a late recount) and seven score involvements to be the most influential player on the ground. Carlton took a 19-point lead into the first change, but could’ve been excused for thinking it could and potentially should have been more, missing chances going forward in the second half of the term. Richmond continued to press early in the second term, having the momentum and drawing within 13 points at one point, before McKay steadied the ship in front of goal. Ollie Florent was a composed head behind the ball, accumulating nine disposals for the quarter, as his best mate Will Hayward joined in on the act by kicking his first MCG goal in Navy Blue.

Marc Pittonet continued his strong start to the season in a first half that yielded 12 disposals, five clearances and seven score involvements (including a goal), as the Blues gained the ascendancy in the second half of the quarter. After re-signing earlier in the week, Cooper Lord kicked a crucial goal on the eve of half time, before Harry Dean had a key moment with a telling spoil on the last line to thwart a Richmond attack. It meant the Blues took a 27-point lead into the main break. The Blues looked to take the initiative in the third, but missed a pair of gettable chances in the early minutes - and the Tigers made them pay. Richmond kicked the only two goals of the third quarter as the ball lived inside their forward half, with Carlton unable to clear its defensive lines. It meant the game was delicately poised at the last change, with the Blues only managing 0.4 for the term to take a 12-point lead into the last term. When Richmond kicked the opening goal of the final quarter, memories of last year’s corresponding fixture loomed large. But after being swung forward late, Zac Williams was the man for the moment, nailing a set shot from the pocket after a strong mark to give the Blues breathing room. It wasn’t without some more nervy moments, when Tom Lynch converted from a free kick that had the crowd of both sides in full voice. The Blues were able to see the game out, with a late intercept mark from Lewis Young and repeat stoppages meaning the Blues held on for their first win of the season.

Blues hold on to edge Tigers in thriller

The Blues have held on to beat the Tigers - By Sarah Black.

The roar on the siren was more a sigh of relief than the growl of victory. After threatening to collapse in another mortifying defeat at the hands of a young Richmond, the boot of Zac Williams and the intercepting hands of Lewis Young have guided Carlton to an agonising four-point win. Tom Lynch was locked in a morbidly fascinating internal battle between Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde for the entire match, giving away frees, arguing with umpires, marking well and having a whopping 10 shots at goal. But he kicked 2.7, the first Tiger to score seven behinds since another tortured spearhead, Matthew Richardson. Lynch's second, with just two minutes remaining, cut the margin to four points, but the Blues clung on with every remaining fingernail to secure the 10.15 (75) to 9.17 (71) victory and douse the growing flames of discontent. It wasn't exactly champagne football, with errors aplenty from both sides, but it was quick and entertaining, with the Blues having a smidge more class and composure than the Tigers in their period of dominance. After a week of headlines for all the wrong reasons, Carlton burst out of the blocks, showing off the fast footy that served it well in the first half against Sydney last round, and crucially, hitting the scoreboard this time. Second-gamer Jagga Smith had an astonishing 16 touches in the first term, with 12 handball receives, bursting through the contest time and time again.

By contrast, Richmond's top accumulator for the quarter were half-backs Jayden Short and Sam Banks, with a mere seven each, and Carlton's talls – Harry McKay, Mitch McGovern and Brodie Kemp – were looking dangerous with the constant, quick supply. Rain (and a fresh autumn chill signalling footy is truly back) rolled in at quarter-time, and the Tigers started to even up the contest, but second-year keys Jonty Faull and Harry Armstrong missed very gettable shots, blowing an opportunity to even up the scoreboard. The question coming into the match had simply been: it couldn't happen again, could it? Leading by 27 at half-time (it was 25 when Richmond mounted its epic comeback in the corresponding match last year), Carlton's run and gun dissipated in the third, with Lachie Fogarty hitting the post from directly in front.The screws tightened, inch by inch, behind by behind. The Tiger cubs hassled and locked the ball in their front half, feasting on the chaos as the Blues panicked. To paraphrase the now-infamous Sam Docherty rant, as soon as teams match Carlton in the middle, the rest of the game just [insert expletive of choice] falls to pieces, and the Tigers won the third quarter contested possessions by 10, and clearances by four. But the hammer kept skewing off the head of the final nail, with Richmond kicking 2.6 for the term, missing chance after chance. Short tried to nurse his first shot, and opted to bomb his second in much more customary style, and it was just six points the difference to open the fourth. But Williams' goal – Carlton's sole for the second half – was enough to do the job.

Jagga and L4lor
It's going to be a fun 15 years, watching these two go head-to-head. Lalor, the first pick in the 2024 draft, and Smith, the third selection. It was Lalor's MCG debut in the No.4 personally handed over by Dustin Martin, and Smith's actual MCG debut. The Blue couldn't have looked calmer if he tried, bouncing onto the field and causing havoc in the first half, before "quietening down" to finish with a game-high 32 touches. Lalor was key in Richmond's comeback, recording 16 high-impact disposals and two goals.

Lynch v Lynch
Tom Lynch spent the night in a battle against both Carlton and himself. For the most part, it was a dirty, frustrating night for the veteran spearhead, and the Blues defenders let him know about it. Lynch's job in this young Tigers line-up is to shield and direct his 19-year-old key forwards, and bring the ball to ground. He kicked 2.7 and gave away five free kicks – the most egregious a push in the face to second-gamer Harry Dean, who sucked in Lynch to a push and shove while Tim Taranto was attempting a set shot.

Best: J. Smith, J. Weitering, P. Cripps, S. Walsh, O. Florent, H. McKay.

'This one was for our club': Voss pleased for Blues after Tigers thriller.

Blues coach Michael Voss was relieved after the hard-fought win over the Tigers. - By Sarah Black.

After another week in the headlines, and a nailbiting win, Carlton coach Michael Voss sat down for his press conference with a sigh. "Who'd be a coach, hey? Who wants to do this? Seriously, you've got to be mad." It was an unprompted remark, straight from the heart, after the Blues beat Richmond by four points, despite kicking just one goal in the second half as the Tigers sprayed shot after shot. Sam Docherty's leaked remarks, the looming presence of Dan Gorringe and his vocal online fan base, the threat of successive lead collapses against a rebuilding Tigers, and the contested ball woes all melted into the background with four points in the bag. "Tonight was a little bit about our club. We've been targeted the whole week, both inside and out, and we get away for a win, and I'm just pleased our supporters can walk away and have a smile on our face and wear their jumper with pride and wear their scarf around their neck," Voss said. "I feel like this one was for our club, I really do. It was hard fought, it wasn't exactly the way we wanted it. There was no bow on it. We had to work for it, and we got it. I'm just really pleased for my club that we were able to do it.

"I can't stress enough that we spent a lot of time within our group ensuring we value what is happening on the inside. We see what's happening on the inside, and we've seen the shift in that energy. "This meant a lot for our players tonight, to get the job done. But we're not looking at it through rose-coloured glasses, either. There's some realness in where we are, we accept that we're not the finished product. We have work to do. But what we won't do, is not celebrate when we need to." Docherty highlighted the contested ball as a significant area of concern for the Blues, and Thursday's efforts backed it up, with the Tiger tide turning as the yellow sash began to win the hard contests. "If you look at the contested number, we were minus -15 or 16 in the third quarter, and we were +6 in the last quarter. We were still up against it in the last quarter, and we won contested possession," Voss said. "I think that's at least a shift in the right direction, and probably why it gave us a chance to win. We were losing way too much contest. Our LDLs (long down the line) we were losing, our stoppages we were losing, we just couldn't get field position. And when we did, it just came out too quick. "There's a few things to go away (with). But when we talk about expectations and we talk about getting wins, we're going to celebrate these. We're going to make sure we acknowledge it, and get the four points and now we've got effectively two weeks before our next game, and we go into our little bye 1-1."

Third-term Blues need to stop the slide
Carlton is going to come up against competition that has far more runs in the legs (and can kick straighter) than Richmond throughout the season. After two games - against both a seasoned Sydney and rebuilding Tigers - it’s clear the third-quarter switch-off needs to be addressed now, before it becomes a season-defining trend in all the wrong ways. In both matches, the opposition has out-hunted and out-hustled Carlton in the contest after the long break, and been able to then swarm the ball forward, overwhelming the Blues' defence. Coach Michael Voss said there were differing areas of concern week-on-week, but with similar results (in terms of ball-winning, the Swans clearly converted at a much higher level), and the early bye may provide the desperately needed time to study the tapes before things get too out of hand. - Sarah Black

AFL Media
IF...
when it's all said and done this game is about wins and losses ...

THEN ...
the Blues can celebrate. Somehow got the W against the Tigers despite just one goal – in time-on of the final quarter - after half-time. No idea what to make of it. But loved Jagga's post-match interview on Channel 7. Others might be jaded about the Blues' plight. He radiated positivity in ticking off a kid's dream in winning a game at the 'G. Gotta love the innocence of youth.

Team

In: Matt Carroll, Lachie Cowan, Hudson O'Keeffe.
Out: Adam Saad (hamstring), Ashton Moir (omitted), Liam Reidy (omitted).

Milestones

Rising Star Nominees: Jagga Smith

Interesting Facts

1.This was the first time since 2010 that Carlton has started a season with a 50/50 record after two games. This was the longest ever streak of any VFL/AFL team not being 1 win and 1 loss after two games into a season.
2. This was Richmond's 800th game at the MCG

Free Kicks

Carlton 18
Richmond 21

Front Runners

1 - Seth Campbell (Richmond) 14.8km
2 - Cooper Lord (Carlton) 14.6km
3 - Sam Walsh (Carlton) 14.4km
3 - Oliver Hollands (Carlton) 14.4km
3 - Hugo Ralphsmith (Richmond) 14.4km

AFLCA Votes

10 Sam Walsh (CARL)
6 Patrick Cripps (CARL)
6 Jayden Short (RICH)
5 Jagga Smith (CARL)
2 Tim Taranto (RICH)
1 Jacob Weitering (CARL)

Brownlow Votes

3 Jagga Smith
2 Patrick Cripps