Australian Football

Match Report

This was supposed to be a blockbuster match-up, played in front of a massive crowd and ending with only a goal or two separating the two sides. But Carlton again showed why they appear to be a genuine premiership contender in 2012 with a commanding 60-point thumping of Collingwood. It was the Blues’ first victory over their arch-rivals since 2009. More importantly, the result took Carlton to 3-0, the first time they have started the season with three wins since 1995, which happened to be the year of their last premiership. The Blues were dominant in all areas of the game and led from start to finish and were only challenged by the Magpies for a brief period in the second quarter. The speed of the Blues across the ground devastated Collingwood. Captain Chris Judd and Marc Murphy were again irrepressible through the midfield with 35 and 39 possessions, respectively, while Heath Scotland was also terrific across half-back with 35. Eddie Betts and Jeff Garlett created havoc up forward for the Magpies defenders. But really, it was an ultimate team performance from the Blues and the umpires will have some trouble working out the Brownlow votes. A season-ending knee injury to midfielder Luke Ball and a quad strain to key defender Ben Reid further soured the night for the Magpies. Ball became the third Magpie to be ruled out for the entire year due to a knee injury after Andrew Krakeour and Brent Macaffer went down in the pre-season. Many in the football world were already firing potshots at new coach Nathan Buckley’s methods after the game, most notably former Magpies coach Mick Malthouse.

GOALS:

Carlton: Betts 5, Waite 3, Garlett, Murphy, Hampson 2, Tuohy, Carrazzo, Yarran, Judd

Collingwood: Sidebottom 2, Cloke, Fasolo, Beams, Goldsack, Dawes, Shaw, Thomas



BEST - AFL.COM.AU

Carlton: Judd, Murphy, Kreuzer, Carrazzo, Betts, Waite, Scotland

Collingwood: Sidebottom, Swan, Shaw

BEST - HERALD SUN
Carlton: Carrazzo, Judd, Murphy, Scotland, Betts, Waite, Robinson, Gibbs, Henderson
Collingwood: Swan, Shaw, Blair

COACHES COMMENTS
Brett Ratten (Carl): It's only round three. There's a lot of footy to be played and people can get carried away with things. We don't want to be getting fat heads or anything like that; we want to make sure we stick to the task. It will be really important, and this group will be outstanding in making sure we stay focused on what we have ahead of us.

Nathan Buckley (Coll): We've had a fairly big wake-up call tonight. Things just don't happen in this game; things change pretty quickly. You're either moving forward or you're moving backwards, or you might stagnate. We clearly haven't got the gap that we enjoyed towards the end of 2010 between where the club was and the competition.


Umpires: Donlon, Farmer, Meredith