Finals edge step closer
Blues keep pace with top sides
IT was the game Carlton simply had to win at any cost.
Win, and the Blues don’t lose pace with the finals peloton. Lose, and suddenly they’re edging ever closer to being thrust into a battle to keep their place inside the top eight.
But in the words of Cosmo Kramer, the Blues took care of business. They saw off a resilient performance from Greater Western Sydney to run away with a 36-point win at Marvel Stadium off the back of a sensational final term.
Carlton took its chances when it mattered, putting behind it a string of wasted opportunities to kick away late in the contest, as the Blues piled on the hurt with four goals to one in the final quarter and edged closer to a first September appearance in nine years.
Coleman Medal leader Charlie Curnow, in particular, got going, booting two of his four goals in the last quarter.
His key-forward partner in crime Harry McKay chimed in with two for the match.
Along with Curnow and McKay, who also combined for 20 marks between them, the Blues’ usual suspects got to work. Adam Saad (25 disposals, 12 marks, 581m gained) led the charge from half-back, while midfield generals Patrick Cripps (34 disposals) and Sam Walsh (31 disposals) took over in the middle.
The Giants, who are playing
for nothing more than pride at this stage of the season, lost no admirers for their effort as they beat Carlton at the coalface (39-32 clearances). They stuck with the home side right until the early stages of the fourth quarter as Tim Taranto (30 disposals, eight marks) led the fight in the middle, while Toby Greene booted three.
GWS brought the heat early, but its pressure died off as the game wore on.
SCARES FOR WALSH AND WEITERING
THE last thing Carlton needed from Sunday afternoon’s contest was more injuries.
Blues fans had their hearts in their mouths for a few moments as both Sam Walsh and Jacob Weitering went down into the rooms during the third term with ankle and thigh injuries, respectively.
Walsh, who had already missed time with a syndesmosis injury earlier this year, was helped from the ground by two trainers.
Weitering suffered a corky only minutes later that also required plenty of treatment.
However, the duo wouldn’t be sidelined for long, returning to a raucous ovation under the roof that helped galvanise the Blues at an integral juncture of the contest.
GREENE AND SAAD TRADE HANGERS
THERE was a game inside a game on Sunday afternoon as Toby Greene and Adam Saad made exchanges in their own contest of ‘whatever you can do, I can do better’.
Greene initially added yet another highlight to his already impressive ‘best of’ showreel, with a sure-fire contender for mark of the year.
He rose highest on the shoulders of Lewis Young to complete an incredible grab early in the game.
However, Saad wasn’t to be outdone. The Blues defender capped off a brilliant all-round game by putting forward his own case to be included among the season’s best grabs with a spectacular mark in the third quarter on an unknowing James Peatling.