In front of over 67,000 expectant fans at the MCG – the second-highest home and away crowd between these two teams, Carlton did exactly what was expected of them.
They blew it.
They had some pretty significant help from a Melbourne outfit that smelled blood in the water and went for the kill, and as the Demons circled, the Blues did what the Blues do.
They lay down.
The first quarter looked like it was going to be a rout, Carlton were all over the Dees, running rampant through the midfield to the point their back six could have sat and had a cup of tea. They built a wall across the middle and denied Melbourne any significant outlet from their defensive 50. In Godfather-like fashion, just when the Dees thought they could get out, the Blues kicked it back in. It was 23 inside 50s to just five, and it appeared as though the Blues were finally ready to go on with their work for a change.
Yeah… it looked that way.
Carlton still led by 38 points at the main break, but the Dees had halted their momentum in the second, and an eerie feeling started to circulate amongst Bagger fans. They’d seen this movie before – the alarm goes off, they wake up, and everything is the same again. They were in trouble – they could feel it. The team could feel it.
Their opponents could feel it.
Behind an inspired Kysaiah Pickett, and a belligerent Tom Sparrow, the Melbourne Football Club threw caution to the wind and went all-out on the attack. Carlton were shellshocked. They shouldn’t have been – they should have been well-versed in how to combat this scenario by now. After all, they live it just about every week!
However, the Dees would not be halted. They pressured, harassed, tackled, and bumped their way back into the contest, and with every Carlton mistake, and every Carlton missed shot at goal, you could feel the tide of red and blue rising.
And it washed over a hapless Carlton in the final quarter.
So much to get through in this one… how to do it.
Let’s go with the Good, Bad, and Ugly of the Demons’ big win.
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Oh… a Mongrel paywall… the worst of all paywalls. We’re all in on the 2026 AFL season. Player articles, stats, awards, game coverage. Dump the mainstream lip service and dive into articles like this – you will never look back. If you don’t want to, that’s fine. I consider it your loss as we get into the grind of the season, and you’re stuck with the stuff that’s frustrated you for years.
