Blues Resigned To Their Fate As Dockers Run Away

The first quarter proved a real revelation and it seemed Carlton had the desire and the talent to discover the winning formula.  Every Blues player was as desperate as we have seen them this year and they seemed to be reaping the rewards.  From the outset it was obvious how much we had missed Brett Ratten as he not only picked up plenty of the ball but inspired those around him as only he can do.  Immediately Camporeale and Bradley rediscovered some time and space that had not been experienced for many a game.  Another revelation was Simon Fletcher who came out totally pumped to make a mockery of his form to date.  But perhaps the best first quarter performer was Justin Davies who was slaying the Dockers in the middle of the ground.  A collision between Davies and McKernan lead to Corey leaving the field, never to return.  From this point the sinking feeling was that the lack of another ruckman to help out the courageous Trent Hotton and a genuine forward matchwinner, may just catch up with the Blues as the game wore on.  Incredible how most of our injuries this year have happened very early in the match, thus robbing us of depth on the day and again for further weeks.  If a few of those injuries this year had have happened late in the game, the Blues may have found themselves in a winning position and gained a few more wins.  When your luck runs against you, it really runs against you!

And so it went for the next two quarters.  The heavens opened up and though the Blues were considered to be advantaged by this, I note that the Blues were by far the better team before the rains came.  The heavy conditions combined with the Blues tiring flooding game hurt our ability to run the game out and the Dockers who had conserved their energy better worked their way on top.  Well worked might be too strong a word as they basically pulled some amazing goals out of their respective clackers to hit the front by half time.  From that point on, every time the Blues tried to create some momentum, the tide was invariably stemmed by a soft free kick to the Dockers while the Blues were not afforded the same consideration in similar situations.  An incredibly soft free against Thornton to Longmuir broke our backs from the outset of the third quarter and a bewildering decision in the last where Prendergast threw his fist at the ball successfully but also collected Jeff Farmer running in from behind him and Fremantle was awarded another shot at goal.  Surely the contact was incidental and Farmer contributed to it as well?  My gut instincts were all but confirmed when Norrish collected the ball in space for Freo, propped, looked, waited and eventually dropped it as a result of a heavy Ratten tackle.  Result?  Play on.  Seems prior opportunity is a relative thing.

It's not all about luck and umpiring however as the Blues had an opportunity to change their game plan and save their legs but instead followed the pattern of most of their losses by flooding, clearing from defence in a panic and sitting back watching the Dockers sned the ball inside 50 with ease from another direction.  It would be nice that we would change something when the familiar pattern starts happening and I don't mean throwing Simon Beaumont up forward either!

If we can find any positives from the game, we can again look to our youngsters who have taken yet another step in their development for the most part.  Admittedly Livingston struggled on Croad at times but praise has to go to Thornton who showed a lot of heart for the whole match.  Wiggins also looked very good and provided sound judgement and attack on the ball at vital times.  Justin Davies was B.O.G up to quarter time but faded out after that while Blake Campbell didn't get a lot of ground time but will be better for the run.

We have perhaps our best chance of breaking the ice against Geelong next week but will be watching to see what comes out over a confusing bit of byplay between Farmer and Ratten in which the finger was pointed at Ratten for an indiscretion of some sort.  Surely we are due for a break? And as our rush towards an almost certain wooden spoon gathers momentum, about the only positive I can offer is that it can hardly get any worse from here.

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REVIEW

CARLTON
v
Fremantle

Round 10

2 June 2002

Subiaco Oval

SEASON 2002