Brett Ratten has coached his first ever victory as the head coach of Carlton. The young blues side came out on top winning by 15 points against last year’s grand finalists Port Adelaide. The lead changed a total of 5 times over the duration of the match but a third quarter slump by Port gave Carlton a handy lead which they couldn’t pull back, the final scores being 1.13.13 (100) to 0.12.13 (85).
The game was played in extreme conditions with the temperature reaching a maximum of 37 degrees at one point. The new NAB Cup interchange rule was again made a controversial topic with both coaches trying to make the most of the interchange in the hot conditions. At one stage late in the first quarter Port Adelaide had used up its total of 16 interchanges yet Greg Bentley had to go off with the blood rule and they could not send on a replacement.
Port Adelaide went into the game with a very inexperienced side with several high profile players such as Chad and Kane Cornes, Brendon Lade and Brett Ebert all sitting on the sidelines. Ruckmen Dean Brogan and veteran forward Warren Tredrea played well in the time they spent on the ground.
Everyone was keen to see how Matthew Kruezer would go after he was the #1 pickup in last year’s draft. While he wasn’t a standout he managed to kick a goal with his first kick in AFL Football. Jarrad Waite starred for the blues in his new home down back covering plenty of ground. Also impressive for the Blues were young ruckman Shaun Hampson and ex-Crow Darren Pfeiffer who were impressive.
The blues will now take on the winner of tomorrows match between Sydney and Hawthorn on the 24rd of February at the Dome
Carlton 1.3.7 1.5.9 1.10.11 1.13.13 (100)
Port Adelaide 0.3.5 0.8.7 0.8.11 0.12.13 (85)
GOALS
Carlton: Nine-point goals: Jackson. Goals: Fevola 2, Thornton 2, Hampson 2, Edwards, Pfeiffer, Cloke, Kreuzer, Gibbs, Russell, Murphy
Port Adelaide: Nine-point goals: Nil. Goals: Salopek 3, Tredrea 2, Cockshell 2, Logan, Pearce, Brogan, Cassisi, Thomas
Best
Carlton: Pfeiffer, Houlihan, Fevola, Waite, Hampson, Scotland
Port Adelaide: Salopek, Brogan, Thomas, Cassisi
Injuries
Carlton: Fisher (dislocated finger)
Port Adelaide: Chaplin (broken hand), Surjan (rolled ankle)
Reports: Nil
Umpires: S McLaren, S Jeffrey, C Bowen, S Hay
Official crowd: 9,133 at AAMI Stadium
