It looks increasingly likely Bryce Gibbs will turn his back on free agency and re-sign with the Blues, and the midfielder underlined why Carlton has been so determined to keep him with a dominant performance on Monday night. With his skipper Marc Murphy manned by Saints tagger Tom Curren, Gibbs stood up to lead the Blues' midfield. The South Australian was his usual classy self in the open, but also did a lot of hard work at stoppages, winning 17 contested possessions and eight clearances. Together with Murphy, Gibbs now looks ready to lead the Blues' midfield for years to come.

 

The Saints' record 145-point loss to Hawthorn was a tough one for the club and Nick Riewoldt, but we've come to expect the Saints skipper to bounce back quickly over his glittering career and Monday night was no exception. Held goalless against the Hawks, Riewoldt bounced back to kick a team-high four goals against the Blues and, more importantly, help his team bounce back with a commendable 32-point loss. The 31-year-old was well supported by his long-term partner-in-crime Lenny Hayes, who had 30 possessions and 11 clearances.

 

Chris Yarran produced one of the goals of the season at the 23-minute mark of the second quarter. It started when Brock McLean grabbed the ball directly from a ball-up at half-back and handballed to Kade Simpson, who then passed to Andrejs Everitt. Enter Yarran. Running to take a handball from Everitt, the Blues speedster put on the afterburners and took off through the middle of the ground. Taking four bounces, Yarran led the Saints a merry dance as he burst inside the Blues' forward 50 and steadied to convert from 40m. It was Yarran at his mercurial best.

 

Carlton dominated general play early on Monday night but was so inaccurate in front of goal that when Saints skipper Nick Riewoldt kicked his second major at the two-minute mark of the second term St Kilda trailed by just five points. That's when second-year Blue Troy Menzel stepped up to show his older teammates how it's done. At the five-minute mark of the quarter, he converted from deep in the forward pocket with a classy left-foot banana. Ninety seconds later, he ran onto a loose ball in the Blues' forward 50, sidestepped two Saints and snapped truly. Ten minutes later, Menzel was more conventional, marking a Marc Murphy pass on the lead and converting without any problems from 45m.

 

Is Monday night footy on the nose with fans or was the crowd of 26,708 at Etihad Stadium a reflection that the Blues and Saints have both been struggling on-field of late? Monday night's crowd was the worst between Carlton and St Kilda, since the two began playing an annual Monday night fixture in 2010. That first game attracted the best crowd, 42,866, with attendances steadily decreasing since then, with last year's crowd 34,054. New AFL CEO Gillon McLachlan has already said he prefers Thursday night over Monday night as an alternative timeslot, so it will interesting to see whether any Monday night games are scheduled when the AFL releases its 2015 fixture.