Two Teams Enter, One Team Leaves
For the winner of this clash of the underachievers, their season officially begins today, while for the loser, they can look forward to a ton of scrutiny for the next week.
I might be one of the very few left who doesn’t buy the narrative that Carlton’s season is over, however, if they lose today my faith in the 2025 Blues will be broken.
Never has a club needed a win more than Carlton, well arguably, except for the Eagles.
For the winner, the pressure valve will be turned off for a week, and for the loser, hell has no fury like a media gallery looking for blood.
Old School – The Truth, Sunday Observer, The Sun
I’m going old school for today’s review, imitating the format once used by The Truth, Sunday Observer, The Sun, and other print media outlets to review this game. The modern-day footy punter is spoiled for information with football shows by the dozen, but back in the day, information was scarce. The gospel according to the VFL/AFL was covered by the aforementioned newspapers, and World of Sport with Ron Casey and his panel of characters providing our Sunday morning fill on the old Rank Arena television which took about four people to lift.
Pathetic Eagles Thrashed by Ruthless Carlton
Carlton: 17:19:121 defeated
West Coast: 6:14:50
Goals Carlton: Durdin 4, P Cripps 3, Walsh 3, Curnow 2, Fogarty, White, Docherty, Lord, McGovern.
Goals West Coast: Ryan 2, Owies, J Cripps, Allen, A Reid.
Best Carlton: Hewitt, Walsh, McGovern, Cerra, Saad, P Cripps, Haynes, Curnow.
Best West Coast: Ryan, Graham, Duggan, Baker, Maric, Gross.
The margin should have been over 100 points if the Blues had kicked straight.
Oscar Allen
Oscar Allen started this game like he had a cracker up his clapper with a goal and four possessions in the first five minutes of the match. However, he fizzled out from that point on. He only had another four possessions for the entire game. The performance of Allen was not at the level of an AFL Captain, nor at the level of a senior AFL player.
Further, Carlton couldn’t drop a mark in their forward half, where the ball resided for the majority of the game, so I question why Andrew McQualter did not swing the out of form Allen to the back line to try and get some form.
If Allen can be bothered learning, he need look no further than Charlie Curnow at the other end of the ground, who consistently willed himself to the contest. Charlie has not fully hit his straps this year, but nobody could question his heart, his work rate and his ability to still attack the contest and do the unrewarded grunt work.
Even if you are leaving at the end of the season, there is no excuse for putting the cue in the rake for the entire season. McQualter made a statement with Tim Kelly for this match and it may be necessary for McQualter to make another statement for next by dropping the co-captain.
Enough said.
The Game
A fully fit Sam Walsh cutting a swath through the middle of Adelaide Oval must have warmed the hearts of Bagger fans. Walsh was ably serviced by George Hewett, Adam Cerra, and others. When the game was in the balance in the second quarter, it was Walsh who ran the Eagles into the ground and kicked three superb goals.
Walsh is not a noted goal kicker, but if he can add goal kicking to his repertoire this season, it takes his game to another level. Between Walsh and Patrick Cripps, the Blues received six goals for the match.
What makes Patrick Cripps a great player is his ability to play in different roles to bring himself into a game. While Cripps was not his dominant self in the middle (Liam Baker got him on points in the middle), he moved himself forward and ended up with three goals.
George Hewett, Adam Cerra, Adam Saad and Sam Docherty played their best individual games for the season and as a cohesive unit. It was Carlton’s run through the middle and from defence that cut the Eagles to pieces.
Hewett was a possession (37) beast under the hot Adelaide sun, as he continually found room to pinpoint players further up the field. If this wasn’t Hewett’s best game for the Navy Blues, please send me the video.
Bambi Becomes an Alpha Buck
I have to give credit where credit is due. After labelling Mitch McGovern as being all arms and legs and the almost footballer with the moniker of Bambi during the week, he proved me wrong against the Eagles being the alpha Buck up back finishing with an impressive 23 (quality) possessions, seven marks and a goal.
Chapeau Mitch, now do it on a consistent basis.
Nick Haynes is another Carlton back who has had the blow torch applied to him this year, but with 21 possessions and 10 marks, the Blues faithful finally saw the best of him since his move from the Giants.
Carlton’s back six obliterated the Eagles impotent forward line. The only Eagle forward who looked like getting off the chain was Liam Ryan.
Weitering and Silvagni are the week-in-week-out brick wall for the Blues, but when they have Zac Williams, Saad, McGovern, Haynes and Oliver Hollands performing their roles, suddenly the Blues backline matches up with the best in the competition.
My Kingdom for Jeremy McGovern
What Andrew McQualter would give for a fit and ready Jeremy McGovern?
With McGovern missing from the Eagles backline, it throws all the other pieces of McQualter’s back six way out of kilter. Reuben Ginbey is a beauty, but the veteran of under 50 games is now called upon to fill the void left by Jeremy McGovern and this is on top of the departure of Tom Barrass. The Eagles backline is in disarray.
Harry Edwards, Brady Hough, Sandy Brock, and Jack Hutchinson are all learning on the job, without a natural leader up back to guide them. As unlikely as it may sound, Jayden Hunt may need to adapt to be the on field General up back.
I am yet to mention Master Harley Reid, but his performance from the half back was very team-orientated against the Blues, and when he did break free, he used his explosive dash through the middle to deliver the ball to Liam Ryan. Without any controversy, Reid played a serviceable, team-orientated game.
The Smalls
A four-goal return from Corey Durdin backs up the faith Michael Voss has shown in him. Durdin was the leader of the Blues mosquito fleet as he soaked up the sun with goals aplenty, while Jesse Motlop, Lachie Fogarty and a couple of younger wiling types, Will White and Cooper Lord all got their 15 to 20 possessions for the game.
The game of Copper Lord was eye-catching and his effort was rewarded with a goal to go along with his 15 possessions. Will White finally got his first goal in the big time after five behinds to date in his games played. It is to be hoped sooner or later the commentators stop saying he barracked for Carlton as kid – say it once, we get it.
Liam Baker and Jack Graham must be thinking, what the…..
Liam Baker and Jack Graham both had the luxury of choosing the Eagles as their destination for season 2025, but I wonder if they are now suffering from buyer’s regret. Both are fulfilling their roles for the Eagles with professionalism, and pride in their game, but it is going to take time for a few within the team to follow suit. Two youngsters who did follow the lead of Baker, Graham and Liam Duggan, were Tom Gross and Ryan Maric.
77 Contested Possessions – an Unwanted Record
The Eagles now hold the record of the lowest number of contested possessions as a team since such records have been kept. A mere 77 contested possessions is a team playing absolute bruise free football, and by any standing that is just not good enough.
The talking heads within the media will tear that stat to pieces, as they should, as not having a fair dinkum dip is a non-negotiable in life, never alone on the sporting field.
Pretty piss-poor effort Eagles.
Andrew McQualter has only been in charge for five weeks, but the team has gone backwards this season under his stewardship, and if they are now failing the non-negotiables as a team, then the culture of this once proud club is shattered.
We come back to where this review started, co-captain Oscar Allen only had four lousy possessions for the match after the five-minute mark of the first quarter. Did he do the one-percenters? Did he crash a pack? Did he land a hard tackle? Did he lead by example? Did he look interested?
Sadly, for Mr Allen, the answer is an emphatic ‘no’.
Everything starts at the head, or in the head, and in the case of the Eagles – both.
Next weekend the Blues take on an embattled North Melbourne at Marvel Stadium on the Friday night to which some commentators will classify as a so-called eight-point match.
Does anybody care who the Eagles play next weekend? Unless the axe is swung then the Eagles will unmercifully be slaughtered by another team. For the record, the Eagles host the Bombers in a match that just doesn’t inspire.
My, how the mighty have fallen.
