The Wrap Up | Carlton v Fremantle | AFL Round 3, 2021
Written by Ari Stamatakos
Each week, Blue Abroad’s “The Wrap Up” takes a different perspective on Carlton’s post-match review. “The Wrap Up” provides insights and stats supporting the key trends, moments and patterns of the game that held the most influence over the final result. This is your Round 2 Wrap Up following a comprehensive victory over Fremantle Dockers
MATCH SUMMARY
After back-to-back disappointing losses, the Blues needed to bounce back against a depleted, yet hungry Fremantle side who just came off a very impressive win against GWS the week prior. Sunday afternoon with the roof closed at Marvel Stadium was the setting for what promised to be an intriguing encounter.
The Dockers got off to a good start with the returning Michael Walters (2 goals, 4 tackles) kicking their first goal. The Blues got their first goal the hard way as a scrappy inside 50’s saw Jack Newnes (23 disposals, 8 marks) get a quick snap at goal to get the first on the board for Carlton. Harry McKay (7 goals, 9 marks inside 50) kicked his first of 7 goals to end the quarter and to give the blues a 4 point lead at the first break.
The Blues put on a clinic in the second term, and it started with a miraculous goal from Ed Curnow (25 disposals, 4 inside 50’s) which set the tone for a dominant second quarter. 3 McKay goals in a row got the Blues fans up and about which was capped off with Eddie Betts (1 goal) turning back the clock to kick a vintage Eddie special. A Marc Murphy (1 goal, 7 marks) goal late saw a 6 goal to 1 second term which all but iced the game for the Blues. The only goal for the Dockers in that term came from Sean Darcy (1 goal, 5 tackles)
The third term started in a similar vein to the second as Patrick Cripps (2 goals, 34 disposals) got his first of the afternoon and the domination from the Blues continued as Harry kicked 2 near-identical goals to have him on 6 goals halfway through the 3rd quarter. Cripps added to his tally not long later and Marvel Stadium was bouncing as the Blues extended their lead to 61 points. Walters and Matt Taberner (2 goals, 8 marks) kicked 2 goals to cut the margin before the last break.
A slow start to the last term saw the first score registered 6 minutes into the last, with Jack Silvagni (1 goal, 10 score involvements) finally get reward for a good, solid performance. A 7th goal for Harry not long after and it was party time for the Blues. The Dockers kicked 3 goals in a row in the last after a pretty disappointing and frustrating last term, but that was finished off with a Michael Gibbons (24 disposals, 8 marks) goal from directly in front put the full stop to a near-perfect day for the Blues.
BREAKING IT DOWN: KEY MATCH INSIGHTS
Defence Is The Best Form Of Attack
How good was the defence on Sunday afternoon, granted the match was set up for them, as Taberner was the only dangerous key forward for the Dockers and no Nat Fyfe hindered the Dockers ‘tall’ forwards stocks. With that saying, the Blues back line were exceptional, both in defence, and generating attack. Liam Jones, Jacob Weitering and Lachie Plowman all had arguably their best game of the season and it shows in the stats. Jones’ 9 marks, 16 intercept possessions, 6 inside 50’s, 5 rebound 50’s, 11 one percenters and a staggering 605 meters gained proved that he can be a real weapon both offensively and defensively. Weltering’s 16 disposals, 8 marks, 12 one percenters and 7 rebound 50’s again proved while not having the best game of his career, he is still one of the premier defenders in the competition. Lastly, Lachie Plowman. Plow needed to have a big week, after his performance and behaviour last week, he needed to make an impact, and he did it in spades. 21 disposals, 10 marks, 8 intercept possessions and keeping Walters pretty absent for the entire game, showed again how much of a consistent player he is for us and how one bad game doesn’t mean that he should be dropped.
Keep Possession At All Cost
David Teague spoke pregame about pressure and how Carlton had to bring grunt from the start, whilst that was a key facit of why the Blues got over the line, the notion of keeping possession at all cost was another key factor. Carlton had 428 disposals going at 73% efficiency to the Dockers 317 going at 71%, displaying fully how the Blues were able to dominate the game and have it on their terms. The spread that the Blues were able to produce was another facit of how they were able to control the game, 281 uncontested possessions to 187 of the Dockers again showed how the Blues were able to play the games on their terms. The Blues patient and possession based game style was personified by them having 40 more marks then the opposition, and more obvious, 37 more uncontested marks. The Inside 50 count being 64 to 43 again displayed the Blues ability to translate their around the ground dominance to an ability to punish the Dockers. This game plan could only work if the Blues were efficient with the ball, and they were. 73% disposal efficiency to the Dockers 71% was the catalyst for the Blues dominance.
FINAL SCORES
Carlton: 3.5 (25), 9.9 (63), 13.11 (89), 16.13 (109)
Fremantle: 3.1 (19), 4.4 (28), 6.7 (43), 9.10 (64)
Carlton Goals: McKay (7), Cripps (2), Silvagni, Murphy, Betts, Fogarty, Newnes, Curnow, Gibbons
Carlton Best: Walsh, Cripps, McKay, Fogarty, Jones, Docherty, Gibbons, Newnes.
