With Matthew Kreuzer leading the way, Carlton destroyed the young Suns at the coal-face and once again showed just how potent its midfield could be. Kreuzer showed glimpses of his best against North Melbourne last week and continued his resurgence against the Suns, feeding his midfield with some sublime ruck work. His hit-out dominance (41 on his own to the Suns' total of 27) translated into a smashing in the clearances (41-29). Brock McLean (eight), Chris Judd (seven) and Mitch Robinson (six) all profited from his rucking. The Suns were undermanned with Dion Prestia (hamstring) and David Swallow (knee) unavailable, but they would have made no difference with such a dominant ruck performance.
2. Bad kicking, but not bad enough to lose
Carlton did its best to keep the Suns close with poor goal-kicking, but got enough chances to scratch out the win. Just like Collingwood did against the Suns last week, the Blues were wasteful for most of the match. It was a minor miracle the Suns trailed by just eight, 11 and 19 at the first three changes with Carlton dominating most facets of play. But Mitch Robinson missed on the run from 25m in the second term, and Lachie Henderson, Sam Rowe and Jeff Garlett all fluffed very gettable shots within 35m in the third quarter. However, the weight of opportunity was just too much in the end and some late snaps from Dennis Armfield and Eddie Betts gave the margin a shine.
3. Forward line functioning beautifully
No Jarrad Waite, no worries for the Blues. With Lachie Henderson (16 touches, seven marks, four goals) again showing how skillful he is in the front half, the Blues generated 40 scoring shots against the vastly-improved Suns. He was a great tall target – admittedly against a defence minus Rory Thompson (ankle) – and the fleet footed brigade of Betts (three goals and three goal assists), Chris Yarran (two) and Jeff Garlett (one) were there for any scraps. With the ball flowing out of the middle, Carlton's forwards look well and truly capable of kicking a winning score.
4. Tagging Ablett a stalemate
After Collingwood admitted they got it wrong last week by not tagging Gary Ablett and watching him run around for a 49-possession, two-goal performance, Carlton was not about to make the same mistake. Ed Curnow went to him at the first bounce and barely left his side all day. Ablett still finished with 32 disposals and seven tackles, a great game for mere mortals, but his impact was less profound than last week's heroics, particularly forward of centre. Curnow can be satisfied with a job well done that helped his team go a long way to victory.
5. No luck for Nicholls, but Dixon back with a bang
Just when Tom Nicholls was establishing himself as one of the best young ruckmen in the competition, the big Gold Coast Sun has been hobbled with a knee injury. The 21-year-old went to the dressing room during the second quarter and despite trying to carry on for the first five minutes of the third, was quickly subbed out for Jacob Gilbee. On a positive note for the Suns, Charlie Dixon played his second game since round six after returning from an ankle injury and was superb. Starting forward, he kicked two first quarter goals and finished with 17 disposals, six marks (four contested) and 10 hit-outs after shifting to the ruck to cover Nicholls' loss.
