Carlton vs Essendon

The Blues took great joy in raining on the 150 year celebrations of the Bombers with a 26-point win. The Slugger gives you The Stuff.

It was interesting to see the Blues midfield hurt the Bombers in a different way. He reads the ball well and got to some good spots as a small forward. The Bombers were flayed through the middle of the ground, particularly in the first half, like the man on the banners of House Bolton from Game of Thrones. Too often the Blues caused the turnover off halfback and found free players running through the middle of ground, or in open space with a simple switch. Be the man.” And gosh darn it, he WAS the man for Carlton in defence in terms of repelling the Bombers’ attacks. Adam Cerra was subbed early and the Bombers were leading the blues in the contested footy, tackles and clearances in the first half. The major issue with Shiel is I’m not sure if he knows that he is a left-footer. On the flip side, the Blues’ ball movement was far too slick for the Bombers and their potent forward line salivated at the amount of opportunities being presented to them. They came out after halftime and scrapped and clawed the Blues as they brought some serious pressure. Essendon looked to be doing well in the contest and I thought their stoppage work was good, particularly out of the middle, but it just wasn’t clean enough. It was a celebration of 150 years of existence for the Bombers. The entire pre-match was dedicated to celebrating the success and legends of years gone by, which included some fairly famous names. Essendon get the ball out, try and take it down the wing in an outnumbered situation, the Blues win the footy back, switch it, and hit up Curnow on the open side in space. Sure, their 150th year has not gone according to plan, but the evocation and presence of names like Watson, Hird, Sheedy, Fletcher and Daniher must be such a point of pride for Bombers fans.