THE POPULAR narrative as Carlton's competitiveness took a giant leap early this year was that the Blues were tracking about 12 months behind Brisbane.
It was considered a major compliment, given Chris Fagan's Lions won their first three matches and sat fifth with a 7-4 win-loss record entering Saturday's clash with Carlton.
BLUES BOUNCE BACK Full match coverage and stats
The comparison wasn't as readily rolled out in the final weeks before Brendon Bolton's sacking on Monday morning.
It might now be revisited thanks to the Blues' Patrick Cripps-inspired 15-point triumph – after trailing by 37 points in the second quarter – in caretaker coach David Teague's first game in charge.
This was huge from the Carlton skipper! Carlton are back in this game.#AFLBluesLions pic.twitter.com/PXOLIjDmYs
— AFL (@AFL) June 8, 2019
Numbers can be deceiving, sometimes irrelevant and often conveniently bent to suit an argument, but it's hard to ignore some of the similarities in this case.
Fagan post-match acknowledged exactly that.
"They're going to be a good football side and we didn't come in here today thinking this would be easy for us by any stretch of the imagination," Fagan said of Carlton.
"They're very capable, and they showed it today and gave us a lesson.
"They remind me a lot of us last year, that's for sure, and they'll be a dangerous team for the rest of the year, don't worry about that."
Chris Fagan gives Archie Smith a spray! #AFLBluesLions pic.twitter.com/SO4JeDmdXX
— AFL (@AFL) June 8, 2019
Brisbane was 1-10 with a percentage of 79 through 11 rounds last season, while the Blues were 1-10 with a percentage of 74 going into round 12 this year.
The Lions lost three games by single-digit margins and two others inside 20 points in that time, and Carlton has suffered two single-digit defeats and four by 19 points or fewer.
They've each had their shockers in these periods.
Brisbane scored only 17 points in going down by 93 to Richmond, along with a nine-goal hiding at North Melbourne's hands.
The Blues fell 93 points short of Greater Western Sydney, lost by almost 10 goals to the Roos and there was, of course, the 44-point defeat to Essendon that prompted Bolton's exit.
Dejected Carlton players contemplate their heavy loss to the Giants. Picture: AFL Photos
The two clubs' victories were both convincing, too: the Lions by 56 points over Hawthorn, and Carlton by 44 points against the Western Bulldogs.
Bolton's weight of losses proved his downfall – that was the definitive club line – having won just four times in his previous 43 chances.
BARRETT How Bolton's demise unfolded behind closed doors
Brisbane's situation wasn't quite as dire as that, but Fagan's men still had only five successes from their past 32 outings to that stage.
No playing list is the same, yet it's not a fruitless exercise to line up players from each side.
The below comparisons factor in various things that aren't apparent in each match-up, but include playing style, position, role in the side, draft selection, attributes and age.
Compare the pair: Carlton v Brisbane
CARLTON | BRISBANE |
Jacob Weitering | Harris Andrews |
Charlie Curnow | Eric Hipwood |
Harry McKay | Daniel McStay |
Paddy Dow | Jarrod Berry |
Sam Petrevski-Seton | Hugh McCluggage |
Marc Murphy | Dayne Zorko |
Kade Simpson | Luke Hodge |
Sam Walsh | Cam Rayner |
Sam Docherty | Alex Witherden |
Zac Fisher | Zac Bailey |
Matthew Kreuzer | Stefan Martin |
Caleb Marchbank | Darcy Gardiner |
Ed Curnow | Nick Robertson |
Dale Thomas | Mitch Robinson |
Will Setterfield | Rhys Mathieson |
David Cuningham | Lewis Taylor |
Liam Jones | Josh Walker |
You could even look at how Carlton traded Bryce Gibbs to his native South Australia two years ago and the Lions sent Dayne Beams to Collingwood at the end of last season.
In came Lachie Neale at Brisbane, whereas the Blues missed out on what could have been their Neale midfield equivalent in Dylan Shiel.
There are obvious variables and players who can't be matched, such as Carlton superstar Cripps and teammates Mitch McGovern, Lachie Plowman, Lochie O'Brien and Jack Silvagni.
Charlie Cameron, Daniel Rich, Jarryd Lyons and Linc McCarthy are in a similar boat for the Lions.
"Charlie's too good!"#AFLBluesLions pic.twitter.com/4UgE3HXgOk
— AFL (@AFL) June 8, 2019
What Brisbane of 2018 definitely did differently to the Blues of 2019 was the age demographic in the midfield.
Now-Magpie Dayne Beams, Dayne Zorko and Mitch Robinson absorbed the most centre attendances among midfielders for the Lions.
On the flipside, behind Cripps in that statistic for Carlton in the first 11 rounds this season were Zac Fisher (aged 20), Paddy Dow (19), Sam Petrevski-Seton (21), Will Setterfield (21) and Sam Walsh (18).
TEAGUE'S RECIPE A little belief and a lot of Cripps
Perhaps pivotal on Saturday was that the seasoned Ed Curnow, who was refashioned into a forward for much of this year, was second for centre attendances behind Cripps.
"Captain Fantastic if you don't mind at Marvel Stadium!"#AFLBluesLions pic.twitter.com/bWbiBodZKy
— AFL (@AFL) June 8, 2019
"Hopefully this instills some belief," Teague said.
"I said to them all week – I believed in the list we had. I just needed them to go out there and bring their strengths, and we saw that today."
Now the watch resumes to see how long it takes the Blues to join Brisbane as a finals contender.
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