Friday Fallout: Cripps pulls Carlton over the line amidst ARC controversy

Carlton v Geelong

What a rousing night back at the MCG for Carlton and their ever-passionate supporter base.

When Patrick Cripps leapt over Jeremy Cameron and went back to snap the sealer, Blues fans had the stands rocking once again.

It feels like the first proper win that comes with no caveats against a premiership contender in some time for Carlton and it was largely due to Cripss' 10 disposals and that match-winning mark and goal.

You can't help but wonder how Michael Voss was feeling sitting at home watching that...

Wins at Adelaide Oval and Marvel Stadium in the last couple of weeks had been huge momentum swingers, but lacked the extra wave of emotion that comes when the Blues win at the home of footy.

Add to this, they have now beaten Geelong in four of their last five outings.

As positive as these weeks have been, Carlton have a direct recent example of why the interim coaching affect may not translate to long-term success.

David Teague won two of his first three games as interim, including a wins against Brisbane and Fremantle, when he took the reigns over the likes of current interim Josh Fraser and John Barker in 2019.

Will the GM of Football Chris Davies heed the lessons of recent times and go with a fresh start in 2027, or ride the Fraser-train if these performances continue?

Geelong would feel rather perturbed about the decision early in the game by cult goal umpire David Rodan to not review an Ollie Dempsey goal attempt while he was falling over/on the ground.

If it had gone upstairs, it was clear that Dempsey got the ball to his lower shin and the Cats would have been awarded a goal.

The fact it was so early in the game reduces the immediate fury from Cats fans, but you can't help but imagine Rodan would have referred that to the ARC if this occured in the last few minutes of a game decided by less than a goal.

The Cats would be displeased with dropping a second game to a bottom 10 team (lost to Port Adelaide by 30 points) but after toppling Sydney and Brisbane in back-to-back games in the last two games, they should be able to get back on track wjhen they head to Adelaide next week.

Carlton should be able to make it four in a row as they face a flailing and injury-riddled Essendon at the MCG.

Ethan Clark

St Kilda v Hawthorn

Last Friday we wrote about Hawthorn needing a win to keep themselves entrenched in the top six.

They did it over the Crows in grinding fashion in Tassie. 

This week they probably wanted a performance that would help re-establish their premiership credentials. 

Against St Kilda - not necessarily a top six contender, but a side hanging around the 10 - the Hawks would have wanted to turn it on.

And that they did at Marvel Stadium in their commanding 52-point (119-67) victory. The Hawks were up by 50 points at half-time after holding the Saints goalless for two quarters.

Sam Mitchell didn’t think his Hawks were that dominant, admitting the Saints missed some chances.

He said: “The perfect game doesn’t exist.”

It was nearly perfect but there were a few things to tidy up.

Hawthorn’s scores per entry weren’t good enough, according to Mitch, but overall he was fairly pleased with how things panned out.

Pleased enough to bring Jack Gunston off despite having five goals to his name.

The game was in a situation where he was again able to throw Blake Hardwick forward and he agin delivered with four majors in the final term.

Nine goals from two full-forwards in one night, thanks very much.

Add 3.3 from Mitch Lewis and two each from Nick Watson (should have been three) and Mabior Chol and there are avenues to goal plenty.

Throw Will Day’s return in and the sublime form of co-captain James Sicily and the Hawks are positioned nicely ahead of next Friday night’s clash with the Western Bulldogs.

The Saints won the third quarter after entering the main break without a major. That would be seen as a win given how poor they were prior.

Ross Lyon said they lacked composure and balance with ball movement which hurt them.

There was bad and good for the Saints. The bad was that Sam Flanders copped a nasty achilles injury.

They also went goalless in an opening half for the first time since 1987. Their 0.5.(5) at the main break was their equal lowest HT tally since 1957.

The good was that Jack Silvagni went forward and was as competitive as it gets by kicking 3.3. They also won the third quarter and were only outscored by two points in the second half.

The negatives did outweigh the positives even if the second half was much better.

But as Ross said: “I don’t think we leave after feeling as bad as we did at half-time.”

It doesn’t get any easier though. The Swans in Sydney next Sunday as they strive to avoid dropping three in a row.

Andrew Slevison