Blues march towards September leaving Saints' hopes hanging by a thread
Carlton moves two games clear in 10th spot after its 44-point win over St Kilda

Carlton has kept its post-season chances alive with a 44-point win over St Kilda in a crucial match on Sunday evening. Conversely, the Saints' hopes of contending for a wildcard spot took not only a hit in premiership points, but they are almost certainly going to have to make up a two-win gap without their best player after Nasiah Wanganeen-Milera injured a hamstring early in the contest. Making it a club double following on from the Blues' AFLW win to kickstart the double-header, Carlton ran out 16.10 (106) to 8.14 (62) winners under the Marvel Stadium roof for the sixth annual Spud's Game. It started dreadfully for St Kilda. First, Wanganeen-Milera pinged a hamstring in the opening 10 minutes, then Liam Ryan spent some time in the rooms with a left shoulder concern, and Tom De Koning got some medical attention on field for a right shoulder issue. But once they recalibrated to a Nas-less version of the Saints, things levelled out a little. Mattaes Phillipou was thrown into the middle and Jack Higgins got dangerous ahead of the play. But it wasn't to last long. And amidst all of St Kilda's injury issues, the Blues just did their thing. They found moments of time and space through the middle of the ground, able to clean up fumbles or errors with seconds to spare and continue the transition downfield. There was a genuine composure about how they operated and it allowed them to do damage in attack. That first-half control was evident in the uncontested possession count, which Carlton won 143-89, and the uncontested mark count of 60-30. Those metrics both finished well in the Blues' favour, winning the uncontested possession by 65 and uncontested marks by 48. So entertaining was Carlton's method, that the 'we want Fraser' chant went up around the stadium as fans had their say on their preferred choice as head coach next year. But it was Harry McKay who offered the highlight of the match. Known for his snap set shots from directly in front, when tight up against the boundary in the third, he threaded the needle with a drop punt from the impossible angle.

Interestingly, the ebbs and flows of the game somewhat reflected the earlier AFLW match. An early Carlton lead, a St Kilda fight back after the main break, but ultimately a Blues win. Will Hayward's capacity to mark anything in his vicinity was immense, resulting in 19 disposals and two goals for the evening, and Francis Evans (22 disposals, 10 score involvements) was a clean conduit going forward. Sam Walsh (26 disposals, seven clearances, one goal) powered through stoppage to create opportunities ahead of the play, causing problems for St Kilda's defence as it became disorganised and unable to contain the number of free players Carlton was getting ahead of the play. And even when the Saints dialled up the pressure and maintained some forward territory, they struggled to make it count on the scoreboard. Shaking off an early knee scare, Bradley Hill (31 disposals, eight score involvements) was the distributor from half back, doing all he could to carry both his and Wanganeen-Milera's load from the position, and Max Hall (30 disposals, 10 clearances, two goals) worked exceptionally hard higher up the field to break the lines. Unsurprisingly, the theatre bubbling underneath it all was the displeasure Carlton fans showed former Blues Jack Silvagni and Tom De Koning, culminating in a third-quarter goal to Brodie Kemp coming by way of a free kick against Silvagni. Francis Evans was one of Carlton's best, posting team-highs for score involvements (10), inside 50s (12) and metres gained (613), as well as 22 disposals and booting one goal.

Oh no, Nas
A mere eight minutes into the must-win clash for St Kilda, the worst-case scenario played out. Dashing to the wing to link up with midfielder Max Hall, Saints star Nasiah Wanganeen-Milera pulled up short and immediately grabbed his left hamstring. He limped from the ground and immediately went down into the club's rooms, emerging soon after with heavy icing on his leg and took up residence at the back of the bench.

Harry Dean
It's not often a team's best kick inside 50 comes from a first-year key defender, but that's exactly what Carlton has in Harry Dean. Loved internally for his aggression and competitive nature, Dean's silky skills to hit up teammates close to goal were game changing amongst a flurry of rushed entries. Establishing a balance between his deep defensive duties and his neat ball use will be Carlton's biggest asset as it presses to an unlikely wildcard spot.

Fraser on "a terrific night for our footy club"
Josh Fraser's post-Round 22 press conference. - By Carlton Media

Eight points under the roof. Carlton's AFL and AFLW sides both came away from a Marvel Stadium double header with big wins, prompting AFL Interim Coach Josh Fraser to label it "a terrific night for our footy club". Speaking to media post-match, here's what he had to say.

On what the game meant for him:
“My preference tonight is to not make it about me if possible. The reason I say that is it’s a terrific night for our footy club. “Our AFLW team got a win tonight and you see the work they put in consistently. On-field, it was another step forward for our playing group. Right now, I feel a lot of gratitude for the people that surround me, an incredible coaching staff and people internally. “A lot of the credit for tonight’s performance should be shared.”

On the appreciation from the Club’s fans:
“That’s real. We want to play a style of football that energises our fans - we’ve been open about that. “Each week, it’s felt like that energy has built just that little bit more. It plays a part: our players love playing in front of our supporters, they turn up unconditionally and that energy we’ve created has been a real thing for us. “I appreciate they feel connected to us as a club at the moment, and that’s a really important thing for us moving forward. We live in reality, we’ve got work in front of us and continue to build our style and build something sustainable.”

On the AFLW-AFL double header:
“You talk about being a product of so many great people: the work that goes into a day like today is huge, for a lot of people that don’t get a lot of credit for the work they do behind the scenes. “It was fantastic to turn up and watch the AFLW team play an exciting brand of footy. I’ve seen the work they’ve put in: they’re in the building daily and a really important part of our footy club. To connect their performance, our performance and combined with the crowd, it was special to be part of.”

On the Club’s wildcard chances:
“I don’t know about ‘daring to dream’. The thing taking us forward is attaching ourselves to the work we need to do. Pre-game I was asked about us being favourites, and I don’t look at that: we have to make sure we turn up on game day and prepare as well as we possibly can. “One of the things that has pleased me enormously is we’re coming up against quality opposition, which you do every week - this competition is hard to win in. You’ve got to be good enough and prepared enough to take things away from other teams, and you’ve got to be good enough and prepared enough to play your style of football. “That’s the space we’ve grown in. Maybe in the past, the Club has ridden the wave of outcomes. We’re more around what we can build and remain sustainable. “I’m sure [the players] have a high awareness of where this sits in the scheme of things. It’s important we sit in the wins, but not ride this wave. Enjoy what tonight represented, understand how we got the result and then get back to work.”

On the team’s growth each week, and how they will approach the next fortnight:
“It’s been about managing momentum when we don’t have it and managing momentum when we do. The connection piece on-field has also been really important to us. “Part of that is getting your job done, part of that is also helping someone else get their job done. That’s another space where we’re growing. “Performances and results this week don’t guarantee anything next week. We have to be good enough to review the game in a balanced fashion and get to work on the parts of the game we need to and continue to reinforce the parts of the game we’re doing well. “We’ve been consistent enough for a while with what our Monday to Friday looks like for me to think that we’re building something, but we’re far from finished.”

On a widespread team performance:
“The growth in this group is we’re not heavily reliant on three or four individuals. We’re starting to spread that load. Importantly, our leaders are starting to empower others and don’t feel like they have to put the cape on and do miraculous things. “It looks like an even spread of contributors and players playing their role. That’s been pleasing.”

It's got to be Fraser, right?
It is one of the more remarkable stories in footy. A club down and out, going so poorly that its coach is sensationally sacked mid-year, and an assistant is handed the reins for the remainder of the year. But this time, Josh Fraser has all but led Carlton from a 16th-placed, 1-8 result line, to have one foot in the door of the wildcard round. And he has done so by bringing in the kids, and instilling a fun, attacking style of play. It hasn't been perfect, and there have been blips along the way, but the clear look to the future has the fans onside. As "we want Fraser" chants went up around Marvel Stadium on Sunday evening, it became obvious; Carlton's choice is clear. - Gemma Bastiani

In: Nil.
Out: Nil.

Milestones

1. 300 Goals: Harry McKay's first goal was his 300th in AFL competition.
2. 250 Goals (AFL): Will Hayward
3. 50 Goals (AFL): Francis Evans
4. 100 Games (AFL): Former Blue Liam Stocker played his 100th AFL game (28 with Carlton and 72 with St Kilda).

Interesting Facts

1. Marc Pittonet won the inaugural Danny Frawley Golden Fist Award.
2. Late in the last quarter, the pro Carlton crowd was chanting, "We want Fraser".
Tuesday 12th August, interim coach Josh Fraser officially nominates for the Carlton head coach position.

Free Kicks

Carlton 16
St.Kilda 10

Umpires

Daniel Johanson, Brett Rosebury, Andrew Stephens, Jamie Broadbent.

Front Runners

1. Darcy Wilson (St.K) 15.9 km
2. Max Hall (St.K) 14.5km
3. Mitch Owen (St.K) 14.3km
3. Ryan Burns (St.K) 14.3km
4. Sam Walsh 14.0km

Disposal Efficiency

According to AFL Stats,
1. Harry Dean 100%
2. Oliver Florent 96%
3. Cooper Lord 94%
3. Wade Derksen 94%

AFLCA Votes

10 - Francis Evans (CARL)
7 - Max Hall (STK)
6 - Marc Pittonet (CARL)
4 - Oliver Florent (CARL)
2 - Patrick Cripps (CARL)
1 - George Hewett (CARL)

Brownlow Votes

3 Sam Walsh
2 Patrick Cripps

Best and Fairest Votes

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