There were plenty of positives for Carlton supporters from the Blues first match in 2008. While it was an Exhibition match in South Africa the game against Fremantle marked the return to the game for Nick Stevens who has not played a match since round 3 last year at the MCG. (Stevens missed the remainder of the 2007 season with a neck injury). Stevens played most of the first half of the match at SuperSport Stadium in Pretoria before sitting out the remainder of the game. After the main break he joined Chris Judd, Brendan Fevola and Brad Fisher who were some of the Carlton players who did not take part in the game.
The Blues went down to the Dockers by 14 points, 9.10 (64) to 11.12 (78) in front of over 5,000 fans. However the result was not of great concern as this was an opportunity to see the development of a number of the younger players against another AFL side.
Coach Brett Ratten believed taking off some of the more experienced players disrupted the line-up and enabled Fremantle to kick away before the Blues came back in the final quarter.
“I think when we did have a more experienced team out there we showed that we could move the ball with a lot more precision. I think we lost our structure a little in the second half with the young kids that came on, but that’s what it was about for us, the experience that each player would get from the game,” he said after the match.
Talking with the media after the game Ratten pointed to Michael Shields’ first game of AFL and the performances of Shaun Hampson, Jake Edwards and David Ellard as positives.
Hampson was involved in a collision with the Dockers Kepler Bradley that stopped the game for ten minutes while the ambulance came onto the ground to take Bradley to hospital. Hampson, who was impressive in the ruck, made contact with Bradley and then Bradley’s head hit the firm surface. There were concerns for the injured Docker who was taken to hospital with concussion but the good news is that he was back at the game by three quarter time.
Adam Hartlett kicked two of his three goals for the game in the opening quarter and a look at the media’s list of best players for Carlton is a real bonus with the young players prominent. Marc Murphy, Adam Hartlett, Shaun Hampson, and Jordan Russell were the four players listed by the media as Carlton’s best.
The team will travel home to Australia, arriving on Monday and will have two days break before training at MC Labour Park on Thursday and then spending time with Carlton supporters at the Hyundai Blues Family Day at MC Labour Park next Sunday, February 10th between 10.30am and 4.00pm.
Final Scores
Carlton: 2.4 5.6 5.9 9.10 (64)
Fremantle: 1.2 6.4 10.6 11.12 (78)
Carlton Goals: Hartlett 3, Bannister, Betts, Cloke, Kreuzer, Russell, Stevens
