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Blue miracle: Breaking down the last two minutes of Carlton’s thrilling win over Fremantle

Whether you think the umpires were right or wrong is irelevant: Jack Newnes’ remarkable after-the-siren goal that gave Carlton victory over Fremantle is stamped in the history books forever. Here’s a blow-by-blow account of how it happened.

Michael Randall
4 min read
August 17, 2020 - 7:56AM
Carlton in a rapture after Jack Newnes stunning finish.
Carlton in a rapture after Jack Newnes stunning finish.

Carlton is no stranger to tight finishes in 2020, Saturday night’s clash its sixth decided by less than 10 points.

With neither side able to kick a goal in the final term and Fremantle clinging on to a three-point lead with two minutes to go, here’s how the Blues’ pulled off a miracle.

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SCORE: Fremantle 36 v Carlton 33

TIME: 2 minutes left, Q4

02:00 - Docker Ethan Hughes takes an intercept mark from Blue Sam Docherty’s kick inside the forward 50m. He’s stationed smack bang in the middle of the arc.

01:51 - Hughes kicks out to the wing, the ball is punched away from the contest by Blues star Patrick Cripps. Veteran Marc Murphy crumbs and begins a chain of handballs to Will Setterfield, back to Cripps and then to Michael Gibbons, whose kick lands in the hands of big forward Harry McKay, close to the boundary in the forward pocket.

Harry McKay’s mongrel landed on the chest of Liam Jones. Picture: AFL Photos/Getty Images
Harry McKay’s mongrel landed on the chest of Liam Jones. Picture: AFL Photos/Getty Images

01:19 - McKay’s left foot across the body is all sorts of ugly as he hits the wrong side of the ball but, somehow, defender Liam Jones marks uncontested on his chest in the opposite pocket. Sneaky Eddie Betts probably knows Jones — once a forward — hasn’t kicked a goal since 2016, so he strolls over and points at the former Western Bulldog, who gives the quick hands, but the umpire pulls it back. Jones hits his across the body snap skinny and it’s one behind.

SCORE: Fremantle 36 v Carlton 34

00:49 - Luke Ryan takes the kick out with a long ball out to half back where the big men contest. The crumb is nabbed by Zac Fisher who kicks across the body back into the forward 50 to about 25m out. McKay contests, the ball hits the deck and bounces, Betts double fists it forward and Levi Casboult taps it over the back, but it’s collected by Docker Taylin Duman, whose handball is snatched away by Betts. The little wizard runs out of room hard up against the boundary and point post and the ball spills over the line for a throw in.

00:30 - Young Blues tall Tom De Koning beats Docker mountain Sean Darcy in ruck but his tap lands in Hughes’ hands, whose scrambled kick only goes about five metres, but it’s cleared by Freo Rolls Royce Michael Walters.

00:20 - The chase is on with tall defender Jacob Weitering and Docherty for the Blues up against Matt Taberner, the Docker declines to take possession, instead tapping it over the boundary line. There are plenty unhappy with the deliberate decision by the umpire but everyone watching in a two on one, Taberner wants that ball over the line and we’ve seen far lesser indiscretions paid.

00:14 - As the sold out Perth Stadium crowd loses its mind, Docherty plays on quickly, but the ball skews off his right boot and out on the full — mini goalsneak Gibbons the man closest to the footy when it crosses the line. The game is over, the Dockers have possession and a two-point lead. Or do they?

00:10 - Plot twist: Docherty is cleaned up late after he kicked by Docker Andrew Brayshaw, who jumped in the air to spoil but ended up making front on contact with the Blues’ co-captain as the ball sailed into the stands — there is confusion as everyone is looking at everyone trying to figure out what’s happened. The confusion on the field is nothing compared to the blow up on social media. The umpire says “down field, down field, it’s a late hit, it’s down field, OK.”

00:09: - “I’m not sure there was much Andy Brayshaw could have done,” Uncle James protests in the Seven commentary box as the umpire awards the free kick to former Saint Jack Newnes — not Gibbons. The umpire throws the ball back to Newnes, who is hard up against the fence — with a cameraman and security guard sitting in the way. The clock ticks down.

00:04 - Clearly frustrated with the two men in his way, Newnes first directs his anger at the cameraman, who stares back at him with a blank look when clearly being asked to move. Newnes starts moving some of the camera equipment as the cameraman makes a small shift. Luke Darcy: “The cameraman won’t move, he’s saying ‘this is my spot’, he’s saying ‘get him out of there’ he refuses to move.”

00:00 - The siren sounds just as Newnes sets up to take his kick, the mark about 42m out right on the boundary line. He settles, takes two steps back and puts his arm out at the cameraman, as if to urge the umpire to intervene. Eddie Betts jogs over and tells Newnes what he would do in this situation. Newnes probably wishes it was Eddie taking the kick. The umpire finally intervenes telling the cameraman and the security guard to move. They both do, but Newnes is left with a plastic chair and a pile of camera leads to shift himself. The security guard almost comes a cropper on his own plastic chair after Newnes threw it behind him as he stood up.

Jack Newnes remonstrates with the umpire over the cameraman's failure to move.
Jack Newnes remonstrates with the umpire over the cameraman's failure to move.
Jack Newnes moves camera leads as the security guard nearly comes a cropper on his own plastic chair.
Jack Newnes moves camera leads as the security guard nearly comes a cropper on his own plastic chair.

GAME OVER - Newnes is on a mission. The 27-year-old probably dreamt of a moment like this when he was running around in the juniors at Ivanhoe. He wastes no time beginning his approach, a couple of slow steps followed by a few skips, before crushing the Sherrin from about 47m outside the boundary line. He’s hit the thing probably better than even in those dreams and he splits the two big posts with perfection, Taking off with arms outstretched and a fearsome look on his face. Eddie Betts drags him to the ground and the Blues pile on top of him. Carlton keeps its season alive. A smiling but exhausted Newnes says after the match: “(I) Just went through my routine, there was a couple of cameras in the way, so tried to get them moved and then just wanted to make good contact. (It was from a) similar spot to where Robbie Gray kicked his against us about a month ago, so it’s exciting.” Fans hail the kick as one of the best ever.

Newnes prepares to strike the biggest kick of his life. Picture: AFL Photos/Getty Images
Newnes prepares to strike the biggest kick of his life. Picture: AFL Photos/Getty Images
It’s on line! Picture: AFL Photos/Getty Images
It’s on line! Picture: AFL Photos/Getty Images
Eddie knows before Jack. Picture: AFL Photos/Getty Images
Eddie knows before Jack. Picture: AFL Photos/Getty Images
Now Newnes realises. Picture: AFL Photos/Getty Images
Now Newnes realises. Picture: AFL Photos/Getty Images
The Blues pile on top of the matchwinner. Picture: AFL Photos/Getty Images
The Blues pile on top of the matchwinner. Picture: AFL Photos/Getty Images
Newnes is somewhere on the bottom of the pile. Picture: AFL Photos/Getty Images
Newnes is somewhere on the bottom of the pile. Picture: AFL Photos/Getty Images

Originally published as Blue miracle: Breaking down the last two minutes of Carlton’s thrilling win over Fremantle

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