That game in summary
Well, I’m sure we’ll see plenty more comment on the Goodes moment throughout the coming week but to finish off tonight, I suppose I better give you a brief summary.
Brief summary: Carlton is still rubbish.
Okay, they tried in patches and while outgunned, they had a decent crack for sustained patches of the game and even got a mini-run on there for a while early in the third term.
Some stats: Sydney won the disposal count 398-337, the stoppages 35-33, inside 50s a whopping 62-45, marks inside 50 15-8, tackles 82-62 and the hit-outs in a landslide, 70-34.
The positives for the Blues: Patrick Cripps is class, they won the clearances and almost doubled their tackling effort from last week.
Lance Franklin finished with 7 goals in a commanding display and the Swans had 5 other multiple goal-scorers. Kieren Jack, Tom Mitchell, Lewis Jetta, Dan Hannebery and Luke Parker all had plenty of ball in the midfield.
For the Blues, Levi Casboult and Andrejs Everitt kicked a pair of goals each with the latter an earnest trier all night, while Andrew Carrazzo, Tom Bell and Cripps all contributed heavily.
The Swans are home by ten goals and though this game is bound to spark plenty of chatter, that’s all from me tonight. Thanks for your company and be sure to join us for more live AFL action throughout season 2015.
A Goodes update
Matthew Richardson interviews Adam Goodes at the end of the game and after some brief chit-chat about the match itself, Goodes diffuses the earlier situation and says there was nothing in it.
To be specific, he says his dance wasn’t a reaction to Carlton fans, but a tribute to some Under 16s “Boomerang kids” who’d taught him the dance during the week. “Just a little tribute to those guys,” he says.
Updated
Full-time - Sydney win by 60 points
Sydney 19.8 (122) vs Carlton 9.8 (62)
It’s over. Sydney win it by an even ten goals. The last six minutes of this game boasted an aesthetic that wouldn’t even draw onlookers as a video installation at a student art show, no matter how much cheap cask wine you plied them with. But Sydney have done the job in a game that’s sure to spark a week of breathless controversy.
Seven has revealed that the Carlton fan was not ejected for his behaviour towards Adam Goodes and video footage tends to suggest the offending behaviour occurred when security staff spoke to Blues supporters at half-time.
Speaking of Goodes, it appears as though Seven are about to interview him. More on that in a minute.
Sydney goal! 4th quarter (6:30 remaining) - Sydney 19.8 (122) vs Carlton 9.7 (61)
As Bruce McAvaney keeps a straight face calling Tom Bell “an Anthony Koutoufides lookalike”, the man himself (Bell, not Kouta, that would be weird) proceeds to butcher a set shot from 30 metres out on 45-degree angle. This game is really degenerating at the end; it’s like that last 5 minutes on the cross-trainer when you’re convincing yourself that you’re doing something useful.
Anyway, Kurt Tippett picks himself up another goal, wisely deciding to avoid picking it up off the ground and complicate things.
Sydney goal! 4th quarter (10:16 remaining) - Sydney 18.8 (116) vs Carlton 9.5 (59)
Franklin answers straight away to kick his seventh, waiting out the back of the pack near the Swans fifty, receiving a handball in space and then lacing it through in beautiful style. That was like watching Jackson Pollock theatrically apply a streak of paint across a canvas.
Well, Ed Harris as Jackson Pollock in that terrible biopic but you get my drift, I’m sure.
Carlton goal! 4th quarter (10:37 remaining) - Sydney 17.8 (110) vs Carlton 9.5 (59)
Andrejs Everitt gets another! It’s Everitt fever here at the SCG! Not really, they all just sort of look like they wish it was over. He took a wonderful leading mark at full stretch before he kicked that one. He can really play, Everitt.
Carlton goal! 4th quarter (11:30 remaining) - Sydney 17.8 (110) vs Carlton 8.5 (53)
Zach Tuohy goals from 55 metres out with a booming set shot and in the aftermath he looks almost apologetic to be troubling the scoreboard operators.
Brendan Brown is back. “I predicted correctly last week at 3/4 time that Mick Malthouse would be sacked and my prediction tonight is the Adam Goodes celebration dance will be a media sh** storm for the next week.” Geez, you’re really putting it on the line, Brendan.
Chris Yarran carried off with an ankle injury
Sydney goal! 4th quarter (13:16 remaining) - Sydney 17.8 (110) vs Carlton 7.5 (47)
A bad night gets worse for the Blues when Chris Yarran looks to have seriously crocked his right angle on Sydney’s half-forward flank. Andrejs Everitt and his top knot are doing a little better and again he marks within range but this time hooks it well short of goal from 40 metres out.
Sydney swing it down the other end soon after and once he’s marked in front of Sam Rowe, Lance Franklin takes off like he’s an NBA Jam character on fire, out-running his man in tragi-comic style to boot an open goal. Rowe chased him in lung-busting style but he never had a hope, the poor kid.
Buddy’s got six and we’ve got a real rout on our hands.
Carlton goal! 4th quarter (16:16 remaining) - Sydney 16.8 (104) vs Carlton 7.5 (47)
Andrejs Everitt has given it a fair crack tonight and though I instinctively cringe at his hipster top knot, I can’t really begrudge him a junk-time goal here. He celebrates it like he’s just got $37.20 back on his tax return.
Sydney goal! 4th quarter (17:30 remaining) - Sydney 16.8 (104) vs Carlton 6.5 (41)
Lewis Jetta has been the nearly-man tonight and again falls just short of an eye-catching goal before the ball ping-pongs around the goal face and Carlton clear. Dan Hannebery then gets a fortunate goal, snapping across the face on his left and then watching the ball take a bigger leg break than that insane delivery Shane Warne unleashed on Shiv Chanderpaul in 1996-97
Blues goal! 4th quarter (19:17 remaining) - Sydney 15.8 (98) vs Carlton 6.5 (41)
Our man Dylan Buckley does indeed get straight into it, poking a goal through off the ground to get the final term under way. Ah, the vigor of youth.
Updated
Sydney lead by 63 points at three-quarter time
Three-quarter time - Sydney 15.8 (98) vs Carlton 5.5 (35)
Has there been much joy in this much for all you Bluebaggers tonight bar the efforts of Patrick Cripps? I’m struggling here. Maybe Dylan Buckley will do something. He’s out of the green vest on the ground now for the largely anonymous Troy Menzel.
With the ball in congestion in the Carlton forward 50, the siren sounds and Sydney now lead this by 63 points at the last break with Carlton looking well on track for another 70-something point loss in John Barker’s first game as stand-in coach.
Sydney goal! 3rd quarter (3:37 remaining) - Sydney 15.7 (97) vs Carlton 5.5 (35)
Carlton’s on the back foot again here, seeming to have expended everything that was left in the tank with their fast start to the second half. More sloppy play here opens the way for Jarrad McVeigh to gather 35 metres from goal and get on the board himself. That’s four goals from the last six forward entries from the Swans. Lethal stuff.
Sydney goal! 3rd quarter (6:34 remaining) - Sydney 14.6 (90) vs Carlton 5.5 (35)
Goodes has been quiet since that incident in the second term but marks within range here and again the Blues give away an even softer goal when Patrick Cripps concedes a 50 metre penalty for stepping over the mark.
Goodes’ celebration is far less noteworthy this time, a nod and a smile to teammates as he gently pumps his fist. It’s been a ragged five minute period for the Blues, unfortunately undoing the hard work that characterised the early stages of the quarter.
VIDEO: Adam Goodes celebrates goal with war cry directed at Carlton fans. http://t.co/O510tyQNT0 pic.twitter.com/oVmElZOtjx
— FOX FOOTY LIVE (@FOXFootyLive) May 29, 2015
Sydney goal! 3rd quarter (7:22 remaining) - Sydney 13.6 (84) vs Carlton 5.5 (35)
There’s a clash of bodies between Sam Rowe and Kieren Jack with the latter coming off second best and there follows a bit of push and shove between the enormously large Lance Franklin and the not-so-enormously-large Andrew Carrazzo. I know who I’m back there.
Dan Hannebery has been well held by Ed Curnow and has to risk life and limb to mark bravely inside 50 for the Swans and in the heated aftermath to that his shot at goal is made a certainty by a 50 metre penalty. The Swans are flexing again now.
Sydney goal! 3rd quarter (9:32 remaining) - Sydney 12.6 (78) vs Carlton 5.5 (35)
Just as Carlton start getting some momentum, Kurt Tippett arrives like a freight train to kick his first goal of the game and stretch the Swans lead back out to 43 points.
Carlton goal! 3rd quarter (11:44 remaining) - Sydney 11.6 (72) vs Carlton 5.5 (35)
Lewis Jetta misses the opportunity to have me scrambling through another fast update when he misses a tough chance and Harry Cunninghan also spurns a chance, his far simpler from only 25 metres out.
Carlton swing it down the other end and Levi Casboult marks 45 metres out on a 45-metre angle and though Andrejs Everitt’s suggestion that his teammate go back and take the kick seems a little foolhardy, Casboult again makes a mockery of my cynicism and threads it. The Blues are really fighting here.
Carlton goal! 3rd quarter (14:20 remaining) - Sydney 11.4 (70) vs Carlton 4.5 (29)
This is ridiculous. Now it’s the turn of Patrick Cripps to get a quick one when his 45 metre set shot does just enough to tumble its way over the line after holding off the more mature-bodies Dane Rampe in a marking contest. He’s an absolute gem, Cripps. Pay him whatever he wants, Mr Trigg.
Sydney goal! 3rd quarter (15:21 remaining) - Sydney 11.4 (70) vs Carlton 3.5 (23)
Franklin goals again, this time with a raking long goal from a set shot on the edge of the 50-metre arc. It’s a veritable shoot-out at the moment.
Blues goal! 3rd quarter (16:24 remaining) - Sydney 10.4 (64) vs Carlton 3.5 (23)
Now big Cameron Wood - as unlikely a goal-scorer as any for the Blues - gets on the board with a very homespun snapping technique, wobbling one through completely against the run of play. Seven helpfully reveal that his favourite film is The Butterfly Effect and on account of the sheer unlikelihood of that passage of play, I hope Ashton Kutcher’s just spilled a drink down his shirt.
A Carlton supporter appears to have been ejected from the SCG
Swans goal! 3rd quarter (17:50 remaining) - Sydney 10.4 (64) vs Carlton 2.5 (17)
Further update: Seven have just aired an unconfirmed report that a Carlton fan has been ejected from the crowd and escorted away by police in the aftermath of the Goodes incident.
With that, the second half is under way as well and Carlton get started with a minor score before Franklin gets going like he did in the 1st quarter, gathering the ball inside 50 and with a wet sail, charging through to goal on the run. He’s rapt with that one.
Adam Goodes earlier
More on that first half and the Goodes ‘moment’
...and a question for you, readers. Is this worthy of fuss? It definitely felt like a ‘moment’, for want of a better word and Seven has since shown footage and audio that indicates Goodes was reacting to more sustained booing from opposition supporters and the traditional dance he performed after the goal was definitely directed at a bay of Carlton supporters.
Until I have any further updates on this, back to the game itself, which Sydney is dominating.
Sydney has had 43 more possessions, won the inside-50s 33-17 and contested possessions 69-59, but the Blues have battled away hard even when they didn’t look like scoring. Carlton lead the clearances 22-17, centre clearances 8-2, and actually lead the tackle count marginally, 35-34. That’s as many in a half as they had in the whole game last week against Geelong.
Some individual stats: Lewis Jetta and Tom Mitchell have 16 touches for the Swans and Rhyce Shaw 15, while the Blues major ball-winners have been Patrick Cripps (16), Kade Simpson (15) and Andrew Carrazzo (13).
Goal-kickers for Sydney: Franklin 3, Rohan and McGylnn 2, Goodes and Robinson 1 each.
Blues goal-kickers: Armfield and Casboult with 1 each.
Half-time - and more on Goodes
Half-time: Sydney 9.4 (58) vs Carlton 2.4 (16)
Lachie Henderson has a set shot from 50 metres out on the siren and falls short, leaving Carlton 42 points in arrears at half-time, but that feels secondary to the Goodes issue right at the moment.
Here is some of the aftermath of his goal, though this doesn’t include the final element, which I’ll try and get a hold of as well for you.
Adam Goodes celebrates uniquely #AFLSwansBlues http://t.co/Q0JD4T4goz
— AFL #IndigenousRound (@AFL) May 29, 2015
Carlton goal! (2nd quarter - 1:51 remaining) - Sydney 9.3 (57) vs Carlton 2.4 (16)
Finally Carlton score when Armfield runs into an open goal from ten metres out but the game feels secondary at the moment. Something is happening at the MCG. It would appear that the Goodes celebration was a reaction to a bay of visiting Blues fans.
That Goodes celebration was directed right at the Carlton supporters bay. I'm at the game. Can anyone shed light on why he did it at them?
— Tom Chadwick (@TomChadwickFox) May 29, 2015
An Adam Goodes moment!
Sydney goal! (2nd quarter - 4:35 remaining) - Sydney 9.3 (57) vs Carlton 1.4 (10)
Surely even Carlton supporters would be laughing at the sight of Kade Simpson trying to tackle Lance Franklin here. It was like a Prairie Dog trying to take out a Rhinoceros.
Franklin shrugs him off and then his long-range shot on goal fall just short, but soon enough an unmanned Adam Goodes has marked 30 metres from goal, threads a goal and then embarks on what to my untrained eyes looks like some kind of traditional dance towards the Swans fans. That was very interesting. Very interesting.
That’s going to be the talking point of the weekend, you can bet your bottom dollar. He’s fired up the crowd in a big way. I haven’t seen anything like that before in the middle of a game. I like it. Plenty won’t, you can also bet on that.
Updated
Sydney goal! (2nd quarter - 9:35 remaining) - Sydney 8.3 (51) vs Carlton 1.4 (10)
Gary Rohan’s in the thick of it again now, marking in the centre of the ground and then angling a lovely pass onto the chest of Tippett but the big man shanks his set shot badly for a point. Barker’s thrown Casboult into the ruck to get him involved but that’s a pretty hard slog against a behemoth like Mike Pyke, the Canadian rugby player from Canada who played rugby for Canada.
Did I mention that Ben McGlynn’s playing his 150th tonight? He reminds me when he scoots inside 50, receives a handball from Tippet and snaps a very smart goal. That was slick work.
Whisper it, but Carlton haven’t looked like scoring in this term. Bleak.
Sydney goal! (2nd quarter - 13:47 remaining) - Sydney 7.2 (44) vs Carlton 1.4 (10)
That new big-screen at the SCG is a bit of an eyesore, isn’t it? Do you think players ever turn around and watch it, momentarily forgetting that it’s showing the game they’re playing in? Maybe they should show another game or maybe a movie tonight to give the Carlton forwards some entertainment.
“It’s a very measurable stat,” says Wayne Carey of some prediction that Cameron Ling’s made. Measurable statistics? The game’s just a marvel these days, isn’t it? Speaking of marvels, that’s not quite how you’d describe the goal that Sydney get here when the new boy Robinson belts it forward and Franklin shepherds it through, but it’s a nice moment for him nonetheless. His teammates swamp him like he’s kicked a game-winner. Great stuff.
Truly one of the best things in footy when a first-gamer kicks a goal in his first game #AFLSwansBlues
— Smokie Dawson (@smokiedawson) May 29, 2015
Updated
Sydney goal!! (2nd quarter - 17:06 remaining) - Sydney 6.2 (38) vs Carlton 1.4 (10)
The second term gets under way with a perfect bounce and a very imperfect mass of players diving all over the ball like it’s a bar of soap. John Barker presses a couple of fingers to his lips and looks on intently but his men are up against it right now.
Ben McGlynn marks 45 metres from goal on a tight angle and tries to spear a low pass in to Franklin but it falls inches short of the diving forward. No matter, Dane Rampe acts as an impenetrable wall for Carlton’s rebounding kick and caresses a beautiful pass down the corridor for McGlynn to mark and goal.
Some quick stats from the first term
Swans lead the inside-50s 15-9, contested possessions 33-24, the stoppages 8-4 and the all-important tackle count 21-17, but that still qualifies as a huge improvement in intensity from the Blues.
Lance Franklin has three of Sydney’s goals and Gary Rohan the other two.
Sydney goal on the siren! (the 1st quarter is done) - Sydney 5.2 (32) vs Carlton 1.4 (10)
Reader Brendan Brown is a gambling man and tonight he’s lost out. “First four goals to Sydney. My son won the bet. I thought fairer odds were the Swans getting the first six. I lost so I’m doing the dishes tomorrow.” Takeaway, Brendan?
Speaking of special deliveries, Lewis Jetta almost kicks a wonder-goal from where the 50-metre arc meets the boundary but it drops just wide for a minor score. It was as brilliant a single-pointer as you’ll see tonight. Then there’s more drama when Gary Rohan chases down Ed Cowan like the Swan is a leopard and the Blue some kind of slow-moving land mammal in a National Geographic documentary. It needed commentary from David Attenborough to be honest, but Bruce McAvaney will do.
Worse still is that Carlton give away a 50-metre penalty in the aftermath, so Rohan’s second goal is a cinch and gives the Swans a 22-point buffer at the first break. Ouch.
Carlton goal! 1st quarter (2:37 remaining) - Sydney 4.1 (25) vs Carlton 1.4 (10)
Carlton’s midfielders are trying valiantly to get back and give their defensive colleagues a hand at the moment but it’s mostly one-way traffic until Tom Bell converts himself to an improvised leading forward to mark 30 metres from goal, bang in front. He really needs to kick this one but yanks it to the right.
Things slow down a bit so Bruce McAvaney starts reminiscing about “the early days when Dustin [Fletcher] wasn’t 40.” Ah, time’s relentless march. Death, always creeping closer. Speaking of death, Levi Casboult normally manages to murder his set shots and gets another chance with an intercept mark 35 metres from goal. He stutters, he stumbles, he edges his way in, tossing the ball onto his boot like it’s the first time he’s seen a Sherrin and then he PUTS. IT. THROUGH! Well done that man. I always had faith in him.
Sydney goal! 1st quarter (8:17 remaining) - Sydney 4.1 (25) vs Carlton 0.3 (3)
The Swans can smell blood in the water now and continue to press forward with purpose. Gary Rohan takes off on a lead and gets tackled to the ground in comical style by Patrick Cripps, earning himself the most clear-cut of free kicks only 25 metres from goal on a slight angle. He’s never going to miss from there, the gangly ginger wizard.
Carlton are winning the centre clearances 4-0, by the way. You wouldn’t think it looking at the scoreboard.
Sydney goal! 1st quarter (11:24 remaining) - Sydney 3.1 (19) vs Carlton 0.3 (3)
Troy Menzel almost kicks a miracle goal with a speculative banana from the pocket but in the blink of an eye Sydney have swung it back down the other end with menacing intent. They’ve really stepped up their intensity a notch or two after the Blues had put it to them early. It’s all bone-jarring tackles and grit until Gary Rohan tries to nutmeg his opponent on the forward flank and with the ball on the turf. That was cheeky.
Moments later Dale Thomas has a red-hot go at trying to re-arrange Josh Kennedy’s face with his elbow but thankfully for all concerned, misses. That’s followed by a mark and raking long set shot goal from Franklin, who is double-dacking Simon White at the moment He’s already got three goals to his name and there’s still 11 minutes left in the term.
Predictably, Sam Rowe is switched onto the rampaging Swan. White switches to Adam Goodes, which hardly counts as a more desirable job.
Sydney goal! 1st quarter (14:12 remaining) - Sydney 2.1 (13) vs Carlton 0.2 (2)
Oh dear. Simon White was unlucky a moment ago because Jack’s ‘pass’ to Franklin was actually a mis-kicked shot at goal that caught him off guard and there’s not much he can do when the ball comes tumbling artlessly into the path of the big Swans forward again here. He marks thirty metres out and dobs it. So much for the joy of that 50-game milestone. He’s copping a bath in the last 2 minutes.
Sydney goal! 1st quarter (14:55 remaining) - Sydney 1.1 (7) vs Carlton 0.2 (2)
There’s a promising start for the Blues when Dale Thomas wins a free kick and a 50 metre penalty early to get Patrick Cripps within range. The latter bombs his set shot long towards goal but big Mike Pyke leaps at the line and gets a finger to the ball before it crosses the line.
As far as key match-ups go, Andrew Carrazzo has the job on Luke Parker and human glove Ed Curnow gets tto mind Dan Hannebery after his stellar work last week against Joel Selwood. Speaking of pressure, Carlton are applying plenty to start with and even creating scoring opportunities. Thomas misses to the right and soon Sydney make their first sustained foray forward through the new man Robinson.
Parker nearly takes an absolute screamer when Frankling falls short with a long set shot from outside fifty but it’s scrappy stuff in the greasy conditions. Finally Kieren Jack scrubs a kick forward to Franklin who marks in front of an out-positioned White and then snaps truly yo get the Swans under way. Not a pretty start, that’s for sure.
Updated
The toss
Adam Goodes wins it as he and Andrew Walker swap boomerangs and an Aboriginal painting. We’re only moments away from the first bounce now and there’s plenty of jostling among the two teams, Simon White and Buddy Franklin in particular.
Carlton somehow 45 points down before opening bounce. #AFLSwansBlues #afl #IndigenousRound
— adam rozenbachs (@arozenbachs) May 29, 2015
More body blows for the Blues
Quite a stat, that.
10 years & 16 days since Carlton fielded a side w/o any of Judd, Murphy, Gibbs, Carrazzo. @FeathertopDT @RileyBev @BenCuzzupe @areas_shane
— Ethan (@ethan_meldrum) May 29, 2015
Simon White brings up his 50th game tonight, by the way
How excited are Blues fans about that one? No Judd, no Gibbs, no Murphy, but White’s on board and Seven have even gone to the trouble of supplying some highlights of their caretaker coach John Barker playing for Fitzroy in Tasmania, lest they require a worst-case scenario.
“We’re going to go in as named,” Barker says to Matthew Richardson. “It’s a good learning opportunity for them,” he says of the younger brigade, telling Richardson that he “expects an improvement” on last week’s embarrassing tackle count of 35. You’d certainly hope so.
“We really don’t know what to expect of our opposition tonight,” says Swans coach John Longmire, “it’s more about what we do.” Seek and destroy, I’m guessing. As he says that Carlton run through their banner and I’m happy to report that none of their senior players have fallen over and injured themselves. That’s a positive.
Sydney’s Indigenous Round guernsey tonight
...is a beauty
Congratulations @McGlynn_21 who will pass a magical milestone when he plays his 150th game tonight! #proudlysydney pic.twitter.com/6XNG6ousf9
— Sydney Swans (@sydneyswans) May 29, 2015
...and Carlton’s ain’t bad either in its own understated way
Our Old Dark Navy Blue guernsey has transformed into a work of art for #IndigenousRound. #AFLSwansBlues https://t.co/Mqkgss1I2c
— Carlton FC (@CarltonFC) May 29, 2015
Your teams tonight
As Carlton President Mark LoGiudice circles the SCG boundary wearing the ashen-faced expression of a Victorian-era undertaker, it’s time to take a look at the line-ups.
LATE CHANGE: Heath Grundy is out for the Swans (early indications: a quad injury) and has been replaced by Brandon Jack. The latter will wear the green vest and debutant Daniel Robinson moves into the starting line-up. Not much time left for him to get nervous, I guess.
Carlton
Sam Rowe, Simon White, Zach Tuohy, Dennis Armfield, Chris Yarran, Kade Simpson, Ed Curnow, Andrew Carrazzo, Lachie Henderson, Dale Thomas, Andrew Walker, Andrejs Everitt, Troy Menzel, Levi Casboult, Liam Jones, Cameron Wood, Tom Bell, Patrick Cripps, Sam Docherty, Jason Tutt, Nick Graham
SUB: Dylan Buckley
Sydney
Rhyce Shaw, Ted Richards, Nick Smith, Gary Rohan, Brandon Jack, Dane Rampe, Lewis Jetta, Josh P. Kennedy, Dan Hannebery, Jarrad McVeigh, Lance Franklin, Ben McGlynn, Adam Goodes, Kurt Tippett, Sam Reid, Mike Pyke, Luke Parker, Kieren Jack, Tom Mitchell, Harry Cunningham, Jeremy Laidler
SUB: Daniel Robinson
The captain with his game face on with just an hour to go until the bounce. #aflswansblues #hcfgoswans pic.twitter.com/06cn0VqI0q
— Sydney Swans (@sydneyswans) May 29, 2015
Hello cruel world (well, if you’re a Carlton supporter in 2015)
Russell Jackson here and I have indeed been entrusted with the honour of bringing you all the live action from John Barker’s baptism of fire. Sydney in Sydney. Doesn’t get much tougher than that for a struggling side.
As you might have gathered, you can get me on russell.jackson@theguardian.com with all of your comments, quips and character assassinations. If you had your photo taken with the Mick Malthouse statue today, feel free to send it in.
I’ll be back in a moment with tonight’s line-ups, but I’ll preface that with some bad news for Blues supporters; they’re still only able to pick your side from the 38 senior players on the 2015 Carlton list. Sorry.
Mick Malthouse is gone and Carlton is a club in crisis (not according to the Blues’ top brass, mind, but considering their position on the ladder – last – and the fact that they don’t have a full-time coach or, some might say, the playing staff to help claw themselves off the bottom rung, it would appear on the face of it to be a pretty indisputable claim). Whatever the labelling though, there can be no denying that their first assignment of the post-Malthouse era is a tough one – a trip to the Sydney Cricket Ground to face the Swans, who currently sit in third after winning their last three outings. How will the Blues respond to their week of turmoil? Russell Jackson will let you know over the course of the evening – he’s on his way into the hotseat, but before he arrives, have a read of his excellent piece on the news that rocked the AFL world this week.
Staggeringly, it seems that few in Carlton’s senior management team heeded any lessons from Malthouse’s ugly departure at Collingwood, apparently bumbling their way along under the misguided assumption that the league’s most abrasive and opinionated media performer would just silently endure this undignified coda to his record-breaking career.
Read the full article here.
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