There will be a lot of discussion about where this game was won and lost. It’s the nature of the analysis in a close game to focus on things down the stretch – the work of Nick Daicos, the big moments of Brayden Maynard in defence, the brain fade from Josh Daicos, or the final shot at goal, and final miss, from 18-year-old Talor Byrne. But there are so many moving parts in a game like this – it is difficult to pinpoint just one that caused the cards to fall where they did.
So to open things up, I’ve found three, and they didn’t occur in the frantic final quarter.
Early in the third quarter, Carlton had a legitimate chance to put the game beyond the reach of the Pies, but consecutive misses from Brodie Kemp, Adam Cerra, and Harry McKay in the space of three and a half minutes, left the door open.
And the Pies barged right on in.
Right then and there, I noted that the Blues may have just let this game slip. When you have your turn with the window to do damage, you simply have to use it, and missing three kickable shots in a row is like shooting yourself in the foot.
And not missing… this time.
This game will likely be spoken about as another “modern classic” by the media because of the close finish.
If that is the case, we need to start defining what “classic” means, because for the first two and a half quarters, this was shaping as another shocker. The Pies had managed just three goals to that stage, meaning that over their last six quarters, they’d managed just eight goals in total.
All Carlton had to do was punish the Pies’ inability to convert, but they froze up in front of goal and they paid.
Forget the kid missing late in the game.
Forget the fact that Michael Voss sent arguably the least physical player in his team to tag Nick Daicos.
And forget that Elijah Hollands had exactly the same number of possessions for the first 90 minutes as I did
If you leave the door open for Collingwood, they’re going to use it. You’d think Carlton would have learnt this by now.
And yes, it was the Nick Daicos show when the Pies needed him most – the sign of a champion to stand up when the team called on him.
On with the Good, Bad, and Ugly from this one.
This is just the introduction – the remainder of this article is for our members. They support me, and I provide for them. It’s a good deal.
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.
