CHRIS Fagan has been involved in football for decades, but the Brisbane coach doesn't think he has seen too many better performances than what star recruit Josh Dunkley produced at Marvel Stadium on Friday night.
Dunkley arrived in Queensland following a deadline day trade that sealed his move from the Western Bulldogs in a move that cost Brisbane pick No.21 and a future first-round selection in a complex deal that included a later pick swap.
BLUES v LIONS Full match coverage and stats
The 26-year-old went to reigning Brownlow medallist Patrick Cripps at the first bounce and nullified him across 120 minutes, holding the Carlton skipper to a season-low 17 touches while amassing a season-high 33 disposals, 14 contested possessions, 13 tackles, 11 marks, six clearances and 555 metres gained in the 26-point win over Carlton.
"I've got to say it is one of the great games I've ever seen," Fagan told reporters on Friday night.
"If you weigh it all up, he played on Cripps all night, he had 33 touches, he had 13 tackles and he kept Cripps to a quiet game. I would have settled for Cripps having a quiet game, to be honest with you. Josh's influence on the contest was exceptional.
"His leadership since he got to the club has been outstanding. He is happy to roll his sleeves up and do a role for the team. He sets a great example to everyone in that regard; he studied Cripps all week and Josh did one of the really great offensive and defensive performances, I reckon.
"Our recruiters deserve a pat on the back for getting Josh Dunkley to our club; he has made an enormous difference and he should feel very proud of his performance tonight."
While Dunkley was the marquee performance and will draw the headlines, and co-captain Harris Andrew continued his great start to 2023 by beating Harry McKay, low-profile key defender Jack Payne continued his emergence as a star of the future.
The 23-year-old had 27 games next to his name at the start of the season but has stood up in the absence of Marcus Adams and Darcy Gardiner across the first eight rounds. This time he held reigning Coleman medallist Charlie Curnow to just one goal while hauling in nine marks and eight intercepts.
"He is going really well, isn't he? We needed some of our young blokes to step up. Jack has been around for a while now. He is such a big man and he is so athletic, I just thought he did an amazing job tonight," Fagan said.
"He played well in finals last year and he has followed up again now. I think like a lot of young fellas they need to feel that sense of belonging that they can play at the level and then their confidence rises. He has worked hard on his game, worked hard on his mental approach to the game, as well. You can see that.
"I'm pleased for Jack, he looks like he could become one of the really good defenders in the competition. There is a long way to go in his career, but the signs are there."
Brisbane will return to Queensland on Saturday morning top of the ladder after banking a fifth straight win, following a devastating burst in the third quarter that resulted in thousands of Carlton supporters booing and even more heading for the exits.
Fagan was thrilled with the reward his men got during a five-goal-to-none term that all but ended the game by the final break.
"In the second and third quarter I thought we played exceptionally well. We didn't get it on the scoreboard in the second quarter as much as we would have liked. We were a bit inaccurate.
"We showed real character in the third quarter; that didn't defeat us the fact that we didn't get the bang for buck that we should have; that third quarter was exceptional. A little bit disappointed with the finish, but it is never easy on the road. We played a desperate Carlton side tonight and we got a good win."
Carlton coach Michael Voss had no issue with the mass exit at three-quarter time following a frustrating third quarter for the Blues' faithful who eclipsed the membership record earlier this week and turned up in big numbers on Friday night – 45,848 was a record home and away crowd between these two sides.
"We've got a very passionate group of supporters. We hit our membership record today. When you've got that wave of support, you want them to bring the noise, and with that there is good and there is some things that you're going to have to go through as well," Voss said.
"What they should know is they have a group here that have a really strong desire to get better. We got some feedback today that says we need to go to work on a few things. We understand the frustration and we'll get after it."
After dropping the final four games of 2022 to miss out on finals by percentage, Carlton has won four of its first eight games – it drew round one against Richmond – and hasn't played to Voss' satisfaction to this point.
"I would like to be playing better, we would like to be playing better," he said. "Right now, we are not playing at the level we want."
