The Wrap Up | Round 23 v GWS

Written by Helena Petrou

The curtain has been drawn on Carlton’s 2021 season after suffering a 14-point loss to the GWS Giants at an empty Marvel stadium. The Blues showed plenty of fight in Eddie Betts’ and Levi Casboult’s final games but ultimately lacked the capacity to get the job done, particularly in the midfield. Despite the loss positive takeaways from the game included exciting glimpses from youngster Brodie Kemp in his second match, Corey Durdin slotting his first AFL goal as well as Liam Stocker having an influential game. Veteran Ed Curnow also finished his season on a high gathering 25 disposals, 8 marks and 4 goals. 

First Quarter:

The Blues had an opportunity to start the game in the best way possible through Adam Saad, who in the first play of the game launched a bomb from outside 50 but it was unluckily touched on the line. 

Carlton ruled possession for the opening term but failed to convert their pressure onto the scoreboard. The Baggers pressure around the ground was extremely high, allowing only 33% of the Giants’ forward half possessions to be effective. Halfway through the term Corey Durdin laid an excellent tackle on Sam Taylor to catch him dropping the ball on the wing, Eddie Betts took advantage and handpassed to Fisher who kicked into space inside 50 for Ed Curnow to run onto and kick the first goal of the game. Carlton had been aggressive with their kicking, wisely looking for and hitting up their targets resulting in them going at 70% kicking efficiency with under ten minutes to go in the quarter. Soon after in what was a great look ahead to the future Brodie Kemp spun around his opponent and exploded off half back through the centre, sending a tumbling ball inside 50 which Durdin got on the end of to kick his first AFL goal. The Giants got their first goal of the game through Daniel Lloyd in-between some missed shots from the Blues. The Blues fiery start was thanks to their great stoppage work where they won first stoppage possessions 13-9 and clearances 11-7. Patty Cripps had an influential first term, collecting four clearances and six contested possessions. Despite their dominance the Blues failed to gain a major lead on the scoreboard due to their rushed efforts going inside 50 which saw Isaac Cummings take four intercept marks. On the other hand, the Giants were struggling to retain the ball inside their forward 50 with 21% of their kicks resulting in turnovers and 43% of them not retained. The Baggers took a 7-point lead into quarter time. 

Second Quarter:

The Giants started the second term hot with repeat forward entries but only managed two behinds. The Blues then went coast to coast from a kick in, working their way up the wing then aggressively attacking the corridor before heading inside 50, resulting in Ed Curnow kicking his second of the match. In the following minutes GWS responded through Jesse Hogan but it wasn’t long until Levi Casboult took a strong mark and went back and kicked his first goal of the night, pulling out his iconic ‘double cobra’ celebration for one last time. The Blues had set up well defensively, covering all defensive outlets forcing GWS long down the line multiple times. Jacob Weitering racked up his 5th spoil of the match in a strong contest on the wing. Carlton had taken 14 uncontested defensive half marks midway through the term and were able to rebound promptly out of defence. The Blues had been using the ball extremely well by foot and again were able to work their way from defence to attack smoothly, this time resulting in an Eddie Betts goal thanks to a flick on over the top from Casboult. The Giants had only been retaining 57% of their kicks inside 50, whilst 100% of Carlton’s forward entry kicks had been retained by a teammate. Jacob Hopper and Harry Perryman kicked consecutive goals for the Giants as they began to win the stoppage clearance count, while also gaining repeat forward entries. Mitch McGovern was awarded a free kick in the goal square and kicked his goal for the day. GWS then kicked the last two goals for the half, both resulting from stoppages, a category which they were beginning to dominate. Although they had been the more efficient side this quarter, the Blues had also been conservative as shown through their 32 uncontested defensive marks and took a slim 1-point lead into half time. 

Third Quarter:

The third term began with a goal to Zach Sproule which gave GWS the lead for the first time in the game. The Giants had registered 5 inside 50s in the first 5 minutes of the game to Carlton’s singular entry, demonstrating their aggressive start to the half. The Blues were lively in their forward half but failed to register any major scores. Midway through the term skipper Patrick Cripps was subbed off due to a foot injury and replaced by Paddy Dow who immediately got into the thick of it, firing away quick handballs in the contest. It was only a matter of time until the Blues conceded their weekly five consecutive goals, which resulted from a lift in intensity from GWS who had also been inaccurate in front of goal. The Giants’ defence had been holding up strongly, gathering 10 spoils and only allowing the Blues 1 point from their 8 inside 50 entries with under 10 minutes remaining in the quarter. With just 40 seconds remaining in the quarter Ed Curnow was able to bang one home from 50 to stem the bleeding for the Blues and create a shift in momentum heading into three quarter time. Despite leading points scored from intercept possessions earlier in the game, the Blues were now trailing 15-6. The swing in momentum which favoured the Giants was sparked in the contest, where they led contested possessions 43-27 this term, allowing them an extra 6 inside 50s than Carlton to take a 15-point lead into the final break. 

Final Term:

Lachie Fogarty won the first centre clearance for the Blues and sent the ball in the Eddie Betts direction who handed it off to Dow on the run, his shot going through for a behind where a goal could’ve sparked a comeback. The Blues had been winning contested possession early, allowing them repeat forward entries. Carlton’s forward pressure awarded them to keep the ball in their half, soon resulting in a goal to Ed Curnow, his fourth for the day bringing back the margin to 8 points with 18 minutes remaining. The Giants soon replied through Callan Ward who capitalised from an Adam Saad clanger. Toby Greene missed a shot to bring his tally to 1.3 for the day but it wasn’t long till Harry Himmelberg kicked a goal of his own pushing out the lead to 22 points. Lochie O’Brien used his speed to outrun his opponent on the wing, allowing Durdin to hit up Caboult inside 50 for his second goal of the game. Causing a turnover from a kick in, Honey was able to look inside and hit up Zac Fisher inside 50, who was then paid a 50m penalty to kick the Blue’s second in a row. Cal Ward instantly replied with a goal down the other end, ruling out a comeback for the Blues. With two minutes remaining Eddie Betts poked the ball into space, gathered it and began running into goal, reached into his bag of tricks one last time to sell some candy on the goal line before slotting his second of the match, a moment that no doubt brought smiles to the thousands of fans watching at home. 

Ed Curnow was Carlton’s most impactful for the day, kicking 4 goals and gathering 25 disposals, yet again putting his heart and soul into his performance. Brodie Kemp showed drastic improvement from his first AFL game just last week, gathering 14 disposals, 6 marks and 4 rebound 50s including some great evasive work in traffic. Nic Newman was crucial in defence, gathering 7 intercepts and 27 possessions while Sam Walsh worked hard as always in the midfield, collecting 29 disposals, 5 clearances and 3 tackles. In a textbook Carlton performance the Baggers tried their hearts out for their two retiring teammates, but ultimately fell short against a determined GWS. That’s all she wrote for season 2021.