Match

Carlton vs North Melbourne

Commentary / 28 May 2017

Pre Game

59:30

Welcome to Etihad Stadium for the Carlton v North Melbourne Round 10 clash.

59:33

Outs for Blues: S.Rowe, D.Thomas

59:34

Ins for Blues: L.Sumner, H.Macreadie

59:35

Outs for Kangaroos: A.Swallow

59:36

Ins for Kangaroos: T.Dumont

59:40

Don't forget to enter your tips for this match, you have until the bounce to make your selection.

00:00

North Melbourne has generated a score from 32 per cent of its centre bounce clearances this season (ranked first) while Carlton has not performed so well, launching a score from 21 per cent of its centre clearances (ranked 13th).

Quarter 1

00:00

Q1 is now underway.

01:24

SCORE GOAL - Kangaroos (Nathan Hrovat)

03:10

SCORE BEHIND - Kangaroos (Ben Brown)

03:13

North Melbourne has made a bright start with two scores already in the first four minutes, while Carlton has only managed one disposal. The Kangaroos early scoring attempts have been set up by winning the first two clearances of the game.

05:55

SCORE GOAL - Kangaroos (Jarrad Waite)

06:39

The Kangaroos have been been efficient in the early stages, generating scores from all three of their forward 50 entries. North Melbourne has already amassed eight uncontested possessions in its first half compared to just one by Carlton.

08:53

SCORE GOAL - Blues (Levi Casboult)

09:03

Levi Casboult has marked strongly inside 50 and converted to put the Blues on the board. From set shots this season, the Carlton forward has now kicked 14 goals and two behinds, with five misses not registering a score.

09:29

Kangaroos Interchange - Todd Goldstein off due to the blood rule.

10:52

SCORE GOAL - Kangaroos (Taylor Garner)

11:00

North Melbourne is out to a 13-point lead after just over the first ten minutes of the game. This follows a trend for Carlton this season, who on average trail by six points after ten minutes of the first quarter in 2017 (the worst result in the league).

12:31

SCORE GOAL - Kangaroos (Taylor Garner)

13:26

Back-to-back goals for Taylor Garner as the Kangaroos are starting to skip away, equalling his highest goal tally in his 23-game career. North Melbourne has scored from all but one of its first six forward 50 entries.

15:18

SCORE GOAL - Kangaroos (Lachlan Hansen)

17:03

SCORE GOAL - Blues (Bryce Gibbs)

17:45

Carlton is hanging in there with two goals from only three entries inside 50. This season the Blues average a goal from 22.1 per cent of forward 50 entries, the third-worst conversion rate in the league.

20:20

SCORE GOAL - Kangaroos (Kayne Turner)

20:38

Both teams have won seven clearances apiece, however even with Goldstein off the ground and Kreuzer winning most of the hitouts (ten), it is the Kangaroos who have launched four of their six goals from clearances.

23:37

Blues Interchange - Sam Petrevski-Seton off due to an injury.

24:33

SCORE GOAL - Kangaroos (Shaun Higgins)

25:13

Coming into this match North Melbourne was the highest scoring team in first quarters this season, average 29.9 points in opening terms. For the fourth time in ten matches in 2017 the Kangaroos have kicked six goals or more in the first stanza.

29:04

SCORE BEHIND - Kangaroos (Jack Ziebell)

32:08

The siren has sounded to end Q1.

32:18

It was a dominant opening quarter for North Melbourne, with the visitors enjoying their largest quarter time lead (32 points) over Carlton since 1990. The Kangaroos were damaging from stoppages, generating six scores and 31 points from 12 clearances.

Quarter 2

00:00

Q2 is now underway.

02:59

SCORE GOAL - Kangaroos (Ben Brown)

03:24

The Kangaroos are have been exceptional creating scoring opportunities from stoppages around the ground. They have won ten clearances from ball ups and throw ins and transitioned inside forward 50 on eight occasions, launching six straight goals.

05:53

SCORE GOAL - Blues (Bryce Gibbs)

06:25

Bryce Gibbs has been one of Carlton's best so far, with four kicks and six handballs at 100 per cent disposal efficiency, three clearances and now his second goal. This year Gibbs averages 4.7 clearances per game, ranked third at Carlton.

09:15

SCORE BEHIND - Kangaroos (Shaun Atley)

09:44

SCORE GOAL - Kangaroos (Shaun Higgins)

11:18

SCORE GOAL - Kangaroos (Trent Dumont)

11:25

North Melbourne has again been extremely efficient this term with scores from all four of its forward 50 entries. Across the match the Kangaroos have now kicked 10 goals from 18 entries (56 per cent), well above their season average rate of 25 per cent.

13:59

SCORE GOAL - Blues (Charlie Curnow)

15:46

SCORE GOAL - Kangaroos (Kayne Turner)

16:31

As well as creating goal opportunities from clearances, the North Melbourne forward press is starting to create opportunities. The Kangaroos have won 19 midfield intercepts and have now launched their fourth resulting goal from them.

17:32

Kangaroos Interchange - Aaron Mullett off due to the blood rule.

20:16

SCORE GOAL - Blues (Matthew Wright)

22:33

SCORE GOAL - Blues (Levi Casboult)

22:50

Carlton has steadied via possession football this quarter, increasing its kick-to-handball ratio to 1.90 after it was just 0.98 in the first term. As a result the ball has been inside the Blues' forward half for 69 per cent of the second quarter.

27:20

SCORE BEHIND - Blues (Rushed)

27:23

The Blues have controlled the bulk of the past ten minutes of play, with 19 more kicks (24 to five) and 13 more marks (14 to one). Carlton has created all five forward 50 entries in this time and have kicked 13 points while North Melbourne hasn't scored.

30:25

SCORE BEHIND - Blues (Jack Silvagni)

31:27

SCORE GOAL - Blues (David Cuningham)

31:45

Carlton has applied 24 forward half tackles in this quarter in comparison to just three by North Melbourne. As a result the Blues have launched 14 possession chains from inside their forward half and kicked all five of their goals from these.

32:24

Blues Interchange - Marc Murphy off due to the blood rule.

33:26

The siren has sounded to end Q2.

33:36

North Melbourne got out to a 45-point lead midway through the quarter but Carlton's high pressure and careful kicking game got them back into it. The Blues took 25 more uncontested marks and laid 13 more tackles than the Kangaroos for the term.

Quarter 3

00:00

Q3 is now underway.

03:05

SCORE BEHIND - Blues (Sam Docherty)

04:55

SCORE GOAL - Blues (Sam Docherty)

05:07

Carlton has started the second half the way it ended the first, with 22 more disposals and a kicking efficiency far superior (71 per cent to 25 per cent) than North Melbourne.

11:37

SCORE GOAL - Blues (Bryce Gibbs)

11:40

Bryce Gibbs is the most prolific player on the ground, with a game-high 22 disposals at 91 per cent disposal efficiency. This is the first time the Carlton midfielder has kicked three goals in a game since Round 7 2016 against Collingwood.

12:45

SCORE BEHIND - Kangaroos (Luke McDonald)

13:28

The behind to McDonald is North Melbourne's first score since the 16th minute of the second quarter. In that time the Blues have recorded double the disposals (120 to 60) and almost double the tackles (30 to 16) of the Kangaroos.

14:59

SCORE BEHIND - Blues (Zac Fisher)

16:30

SCORE GOAL - Kangaroos (Taylor Garner)

16:43

Taylor Garner has kicked a career-high third goal as North Melbourne finally gets its first goal in over a quarter. The Kangaroos generated 11 goals from their first 21 forward 50 entries but it required nine following entries to kick their 12th major.

18:24

SCORE BEHIND - Kangaroos (Lachlan Hansen)

19:27

SCORE GOAL - Blues (Patrick Cripps)

19:38

Patrick Cripps has added a wonderful goal on the run to his strong inside game. The Carlton midfielder has won a game-high eight clearances, above his season average of 5.8 per game (which ranks him first at the Blues and 19th in the league).

24:35

SCORE GOAL - Blues (Marc Murphy)

26:15

SCORE GOAL - Blues (David Cuningham)

26:18

The Blues are within a point as they look to run all over the Kangaroos. Since it trailed by 45 points, Carlton has gathered 55 more uncontested possessions and taken eight more running bounces than North Melbourne.

29:20

SCORE BEHIND - Kangaroos (Rushed)

31:36

The siren has sounded to end Q3.

31:46

The last time Carlton overcame a quarter time deficit of 32 points for victory was back in Round 3 2007 against Essendon (38 points). North Melbourne hasn't lost from such a quarter time margin since Round 16 2001 also against the Bombers (58 points).

Quarter 4

00:00

Q4 is now underway.

03:33

SCORE GOAL - Blues (Sam Docherty)

03:36

Carlton is finally in front after North Melbourne has led for over 99 minutes of this match. Since the Kangaroos last led by 45 points, the Blues have won 14 midfield intercepts and launched four resulting goals including the second to Docherty.

04:42

SCORE BEHIND - Kangaroos (Jarrad Waite)

05:40

SCORE BEHIND - Kangaroos (Shaun Higgins)

09:40

Kangaroos Interchange - Trent Dumont off due to an injury.

09:52

SCORE GOAL - Kangaroos (Mason Wood)

10:33

This has been a game heavily impacted by sides spreading from the stoppage following a clearance. With the goal to Wood, North Melbourne has now 8.5 (53) from 34 clearances, with ruckman Todd Goldstein responsible for four of those launches.

10:50

SCORE BEHIND - Blues (Matthew Kreuzer)

12:23

Blues Interchange - Jack Silvagni off due to an injury.

14:06

SCORE GOAL - Kangaroos (Shaun Atley)

14:12

Shaun Atley only managed two disposals across the second and third quarters combined, however in the final term he leads all comers with seven disposals and now his first goal of the game.

15:30

SCORE BEHIND - Kangaroos (Shaun Atley)

17:23

SCORE GOAL - Kangaroos (Mason Wood)

18:17

With Mason Wood's second mark inside forward 50 this quarter, North Melbourne has now taken 14 marks inside the arc for the match, just eclipsing its season average of 13.1 forward 50 marks per game (ranked fourth in the league).

19:08

SCORE BEHIND - Kangaroos (Lachlan Hansen)

20:04

SCORE BEHIND - Blues (Tom Williamson)

21:10

SCORE GOAL - Blues (Charlie Curnow)

22:26

SCORE GOAL - Kangaroos (Luke McDonald)

23:19

From its 66 disposals this term, Carlton has turned the ball over on ten occasions and North Melbourne has launched three goals from the resulting intercepts. The Kangaroos have limited their turnovers to just six from 77 disposals in the final stanza.

26:26

SCORE GOAL - Kangaroos (Lachlan Hansen)

26:42

North Melbourne has won 42 clearances for the match (three fewer than Carlton) but have launched 9.7 (61) and outscored the Blues by 18 points generated from this source.

27:49

SCORE BEHIND - Kangaroos (Ryan Clarke)

30:39

SCORE GOAL - Blues (Liam Sumner)

31:31

The siren has sounded to end Q4.

31:41

In a topsy-turvy match, North Melbourne has kicked five of the last seven goals of the game to run out 17-point winners. In the final term the Kangaroos gathered 23 more uncontested possessions than the Blues and generated nine more forward 50 entries.