Carlton vs Geelong

2023 - 3 - 23

Post cover — Image courtesy of "ABC News"

Carlton hang on to beat Geelong by eight points, Chris Scott and ... (ABC News)

Carlton withstand a last-quarter Geelong fightback to post a memorable eight-point win at the MCG. Follow live as the coaches react and join the post-match ...

We had to win really tough in the end'." "I thought we had great balance in our game. We contributed to that a lot." So there's a quiet confidence about us." "I was rapt with Jack Bowes's first game for the club. "We have come to this year with the view we are going to be different, there are going to be teething problems with a few things and we've lost a couple of close games but there is still a lot to like. "I said to the players afterwards, 'it had to be that way. "It didn't quite look like the way we wanted to play, but we were always conscious we were going to be different. "I look at Tanner Bruhn and think he is going to be a good player, so we were never in the position where 'if these guys don't knock it out of the park in the first two rounds, we're going to be shattered'. "We try to make sure that we take a step back and look at it from a few different perspectives and sort of see the whole picture as opposed to getting caught in 'you know, we were really smacked in possession early', and we thought a lot of that is an easy fix. Those were two teams I expect to be playing deep in September, and though the quality of the game didn't quite live up to those standards, the spirit of the teams certainly made up for it. "But we knew it would be a hard year and we knew we would have periods playing against good opposition and it doesn't quite go your way.

AFL 2023 round 2 LIVE updates: Blues hold their nerve to beat Cats ... (The Age)

Follow along for all the major moments and reaction as the Cats take on the Blues in Thursday night AFL action.

I recognise people are seeing him for the first time in the last two or three week or month but we get to see him over four or five months and see him over four or five months and see the growth of Ollie Hollands, Lachlan Cowan and how they come along and we get to industry the infectious energy that he brings to our football team and the toughness and competitiveness that he brings and competitiveness that he brings and I said last week he’s got a role to play for us. It must be pleasing to come out and perform the way you just have? And it wasn’t quite going the way that we wanted it but in the last three and a half minutes I thought we executed really, really well. We don’t necessarily isolate it down to one moment but to be able to go back after last week and have a bit of a look at it and learn off it and there’s some...there were some guys there that had some tough learnings but what we were confident was that our system was standing up and there were few decisions we need to make better to correct it. Some aspects of our game last week which lost some critical contests and we were forced to play a game we didn’t really want to play a game we didn’t really want to play but today I thought we had great balance in our game. We can get to, I think, a similar level relative to others in the competition but the way we do it is going to be different and that’s OK. Obviously, if you are marking the ball and you’re impacting on the scoreboard you need less of it but when it does drop on the floor you’ve got guys that are getting after it really fast and it’s something that we want to make a staple in our game style and the boys really brought that today. We have come to this year with the view we are going to be different, there are going to be teething problems with a few things and we’ve lost a couple of close games but there is still a lot to like so there’s a quiet confidence about us. Some of that detail we’ve been able to spend a little bit more time on over the preseason and so there’s been lots of great conversations. Thought we were a work in progress midway, three quarters of the way through last year as well and got our game going so we’re a fair bit off where we think we’re going to get. We’ve got new guys in there the chemistry is not quite at the point where we think it will be later in the season. I guess we do have extra confidence with our more experienced players that if we do get it right that our top level is going to be hard to beat.

LIVE: 'Like a boxing match' - epic shootout stuns AFL as blockbuster ... (Fox Sports)

LIVE: 'Like a boxing match' - epic shootout stuns AFL as blockbuster goes down to wire.

He stayed on the ground for a minute and was taken to the bench for assessment, before being cleared to return. Six days later, the Blues gained the upper hand midway through the second term and kicked eight of the next 10 goals to skip out to a 28-point lead. After being cleared of any serious knee damage after Geelong’s Round 1 loss, the young Cats star copped an accidental hit to the head from Motlop during the second quarter. With the ball deep inside Carlton’s forward 50, Sam De Koning attempted to apply some defensive pressure on Jesse Motlop. If it wasn’t for Cameron, the Cats wouldn’t have been a chance. It sparked a four-goal run for the Blues. But the Cats continued to hang around, with Brad Close answering for Geelong. The ball then bounced through for a goal with the goalsquare unguarded. But every time the Cats challenged, the Blues answered. But Cameron kicked three of his six goals early in the fourth term to help Geelong draw within eight points After the free kick was paid, De Koning’s brother Tom (of the Blues) bumped him. After Max Holmes intercepted a horror handball from Blue Adam Cerra, Rohan pounced on a loose ball and unloaded a kick from inside the centre square.

Geelong blasted after poor first half vs Carlton with AFL premiers ... (Daily Mail)

A second quarter surge from the Blues put Michael Voss's side eight points in front heading into the interval, with a late Jeremy Cameron goal keeping the ...

Curnow caused headaches for Geelong for most of the night, kicking goals in each of the first three terms. 'They look like a team at the end of a long, hard campaign and the Blues should be further in front at half time.' 'Vulnerable is an understatement,' he said at half time.

Late change for Blues ahead of Cats clash. LIVE from 7.20pm AEDT (AFL)

JACK Martin will miss Carlton's clash against Geelong on Thursday night due to a calf injury. The Blues have recalled ruckman Marc Pittonet to replace ...

The Cats have held the edge over the Blues in recent times, winning five of their past six matches. The Blues played out a draw with Richmond in the season-opener and have named small forward Corey Durdin to replace the injured George Hewett (hand). Cooper Whyte will make his AFL debut for the Cats as their sub.

King Charles shines as Blues edge Jezza-inspired Cats (AFL)

The Blues did enough to hang on for a victory over the Cats at the MCG.

The 20-year-old entered the game in the last quarter. The pair engaged in one clash which caught the eye in the first half. The Cats are the first side to lose the opening two games of a premiership defence since Hawthorn in 2009. Zach Tuohy kicked the first two goals last Friday night, but it was the Irishman who created the opening goal for the opposition. Geelong premiership pair Tom Hawkins (2020) and Jeremy Cameron (2019) the two before that. Carlton stars Charlie Curnow (2022) and Harry McKay (2021) have won the past two. Sam De Koning was banged up last week and copped a few hits again on Thursday. And it was Curnow who inflicted the damage. It was a shootout between two Coleman medallists at either end of the ground. They weren't the only set of brothers on the ground, with the Curnows and Guthries teaming up. They faced each other for the first time in round 18 last year, but there was extra interest on Thursday night given all the recent speculation regarding the contract status of Carlton ruckman Tom De Koning. Cooper Whyte played his first AFL game after earning a shot following strong form late in the pre-season.

Cats refusing to yield despite Curnow brilliance (NEWS.com.au)

Charlie Curnow has Carlton on the verge of one its wins in recent memory after a five-goal haul, but the reigning premiers are not out of the contest.

Carlton v Geelong - The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly - The ... (The Mongrel Punt)

It was billed as the game of the Coleman Medallists, with the last four Coleman winners all lining up in this contest. However, it was only two that truly ...

The Blues seemed to find someone to stand up whenever the Cats seriously challenged. The only way you can ensure you get the story is to become a Mongrel member. Meanwhile, Jeremy Cameron owned the forward fifty for the Cats, slotting six majors for the evening to keep the Cats alive.

Carlton vs Geelong

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