AFL round 4 Collingwood v Carlton: All the news, analysis, fallout from the Magpies’ 17-point win

The Blues had the lead at half-time. Cue the inevitable as the Pies piled on the pressure in the second half to move to 3-1 and put Carlton’s season on the canvas.

Ronny Lerner

2 min read

19 hours ago

News Sport Network

April might only be a few days old, but Carlton’s season is already teetering on the edge of oblivion after they were blown away by arch rivals Collingwood at a wet and windy MCG on Thursday night.

In what has become an all-too-familiar story for the Blues, they led at half-time for the fourth game in a row, but were utterly outplayed thereafter as the Magpies smashed them in the second half to shoot out to a 33-point lead in the final quarter before settling for an 8.15 (63) to 6.10 (46) win.

Carlton were mercifully spared a heavier defeat by virtue of the Magpies’ inaccuracy. When the game was up for grabs, Collingwood’s ferocious pressure completely overwhelmed the listless Blues and early in the final quarter, the Magpies were convincingly leading scores from turnover 4.10 to 1.2.

HOUSTON IN HOT WATER

But the victory could come at a cost for Collingwood because star defender Dan Houston might be cited by MRO Michael Christian for collecting Carlton’s Lachie Fogarty in the head in the second quarter. Fogarty had to leave the field temporarily, but returned to the action, which might help Houston’s cause.

Dan Houston's bump on Lachie Fogarty

CARLTON HOLE DEEPENS

The result has left the Blues languishing at the foot of the ladder with an 0-4 record for the first time since 2019. Ominously for coach Michael Voss, on that occasion one of his predecessors Brendon Bolton was sacked seven games later.

The Blues have a massive job ahead of themselves if they want to make the finals, and although Hawthorn showed last year it is possible to get there after climbing out of a similarly big hole, Carlton can probably only afford six more losses for the rest of the year. They’ve managed only two wins from their past 13 outings.

The heat will continue to rise on the Blues. Picture: Michael Klein

OLDIES BUT GOODIES

Meanwhile, the Magpies are experiencing no such issues, having now won three games in a row after fielding the oldest team in VFL/AFL history against the Blues with an average age of 28 years and 275 days per player. Collingwood have now won 11 of their last 13 games against Carlton.

Ageless Collingwood duo Scott Pendlebury and Steele Sidebottom were influential yet again. Pendlebury had 30 disposals (12 contested) and seven tackles, while Sidebottom accrued 24 touches (13), seven tackles and six clearances.

Meanwhile, Lachie Schultz was instrumental in the decisive third quarter, and finished the game with 18 disposals, seven tackles and two goals.

Scott Pendlebury stood tall against the Blues yet again. Picture: Morgan Hancock/AFL Photos/via Getty Images

And Magpies ruckman Darcy Cameron had a competitive duel with Carlton counterpart Tom De Koning as well. Cameron had 22 possessions (11), 33 hit-outs and eight clearances, while De Koning registered 18 touches (16), 30 hit-outs and six clearances.

BLUES CAN’T CAPITALISE

The Blues were a lot more competitive in the first half, but were let down by their execution, scoring just 1.2 from their first 14 forward-half intercepts, and the Magpies kept coming.

MAGPIES TURN UP HEAT

After six consecutive behinds, Collingwood piled on five goals in a row as their pressure reached game-breaking levels.

Craig McRae’s men came out breathing fire after half-time, and dominated around the coal face with the first six clearances, as they shot out to a 13-3 lead in forward entries in the third stanza to completely overwhelm the Blues, who could barely get their hands on the ball.

Collingwood ended up smashing the Blues for inside 50s (31-17) in the second half and convincingly won the overall tackle count 87-67 in a testament to their unrelenting heat.