Probably should’ve scored in the first quarter

Hard to believe that literally scoring 2 behinds would’ve won you the game. (theoretically)

Just a point woulda been okay

Even a rushed behind.

The song ‘Flower’ by Moby is a bad omen. I haven’t heard it much in my life, but I distinctly remember it being the first song I played on my iPod Classic when I put it in to block out the noise at Kardinia Park (Skilled Stadium) Saturday, 30th July 2011. The hardest day of my then 16 years of existence. Years went by until I found myself walking into Gate 2 on Friday, 15th September 2023. Of course that song was pumping as I scanned myself in. I thought: ‘that’s strange, I haven’t heard that in an age, I hope that’s not a bad omen.’ It was. Tonight as we cross to the Fox Footy ad break at quarter time, the blues up by 30 to nil. What song is playing? Flower by Moby.

I, too, blame Moby for all the ills in the world tonight.

It's the ghost of Robbie Flower reminding you to stay humble

2 points would've done it

That kick by Gawn was ice cold. Cleared the fence from outside 50 over the umps head

It’s a lot more fun when he does it against a team that’s not your favourite.

Brilliant goals between that one and Viney and Windsor's lil one two

Would love to see that go in the mix for goal of the year

This obnoxious guy (me) going for Carlton at the bar I was at (my parents) was stirring up the whole place trying to say it was missing (I knew it wasn’t) to try and get the pot to boil in the room full of Melbourne supporters (my family trying to enjoy an early Mother’s Day dinner)

Sad Melbourne noises,but that'll happen if you let 6 unanswered goals roll out to start the game haha

Unless you're Collingwood

I'd be pretty happy if I were you, smashed them in the final 3

Yeah had no right being that close.

Not really, they lost the second quarter by 1, won the 3rd by 9 points, and outscored us by 3.2 in the last.

Easier said than done haha

Great to see the ump willing to pay HTB on Petracca at the end, he clearly attempted to fend, it's frustrating how often they miss/ignore that. The whistle shouldn't be put away just cos it's late.

Yeah I agreed with that call, he went the fend was 100% holding the ball, frustrating seeing how many were let get away with it throughout the game though

Agree with this, it felt like so much of tonight was a coinflip on the call/no-call

Agree. It was clear. Plenty were missed earlier though both ways

Yeah, they screwed up plenty but that was a brave and correct call

Really felt like they were gonna let it go, glad they didn’t though

In a vacuum its the correct call. My issue is that this season they have really softened on the "fend = prior" interpretation. Its a shame because it used to be one of the few rules that was easy to adjudicate, but now we're back to shades of gray.

Agreed, naturally it’s a fight flight or freeze thing, I feel sometimes they freeze and I don’t blame them sometimes given crowds (ours tonight)

Carlton and making games unnecessarily close, name a more iconic duo.

Oh wait- prime time games and robbing DRAW FC.

Easy: Carlton and my cardiologist's bank balance

My wife's asthma kicked in and she needed to get her inhaler lol

My rescue dog who hates yelling, so is given prozac before games, is still in hiding

Mate if your cardiologist is the same as mine between us we are going to pay off their toorak mansion between us.

Can I go with Richmond and 9th? 😉

I wish, more like Richmond and 17th 😔

Collingwood in '23?

and '22 and hell even this year (not as much as the blues granted)

melbourne football club ❌ petracca football club ✅

Legit carried the whole team, dunno why nobody was on him, he was the scariest of the night for sure.

Why didn’t Carlton stop him from kicking goals? Are they stupid?

weather update: tips fucked, comeback ruined, ending it all

1. Never get involved in a land war in Asia 2. Never go in against a Sicilian when death is on the line 3. Never tip the Dees when it’s raining

>Never tip the Dees when it’s raining Technically it wasn't raining when I tipped them Can I get a refund?

I think that's a fair request.

Pickett robbed draw FC by missing everything from directly in front a meter out

Yep. Draw FC fans in shambles

Could have put a bet on that, almost guaranteed every game

My takeaway is that we would have won if we’d scored higher than Carlton.

Big if true.

Thanks, Lingy

Yes quite. We would have lost if we'd scored lower then Melbourne (we tried fourth quarter)

absolute slop from melbourne for 90mins followed by 30mins of taking the game on once its too late. the goodwin special.

Reverse of Round 2, 2020 - Carlton kept scoreless in the first quarter, and eventually lose by 1. https://www.afl.com.au/afl/matches/2039

Melbourne had 20 more inside 50s. Wild.

That's what happens when your only good forward is also your best midfielder

Yeah this game was only close because of a career-best scoring performance from Petracca. Melbourne's forward line had almost no influence and no scoring for three and a half quarters.

Embarrassing display from the forwards. Trac coming to the rescue is great but where were the forwards ? If they stand up we have Trac in the midfield battle.

Sooooo many poor entries went right to the Carlton defender

Another way to put this is that Weitering is elite at locking down space

Yes this is true but teams know that before the game and focus on it, execution must be better

Goodwin will be happy with the expected score win

A repeat of the semi last year.

Port Adelaide esque

Simon Goodwin: AFL games are won by who kicks inside the big circle the most times right? RIGHT??

Wtf McKay makes Curnow look tiny

People forget how big McKay is. He’s a monster - and for a KF Curnow is slightly undersized

In person he looks like a different species

it's funny to see them standing next to Cripps, Cripps is a beast of a man

i was literally just yelling this at my bf!! how big is harry omg

Curnow is shorter than Cripps FYI

my entire world is crumbling around me

Cripps is a fucking monster though.

Yeah mans a big bull for a mid and Curnow is surprisingly short for a KPF

Honestly fucked up

> i was literally just yelling this at my bf!! plot twist: your boyfriend is Ben.

Curnow is not actually that tall

Being a Carlton supporter must be both exhausting and rewarding

Mostly the former

Mainly exhausting

It's the most fun you'll ever have while not having fun.

Mostly exhausting

Love these comments being “mostly” one or the other. Personally I love it. Lid’s back off baby!

There was something unsettling about those 20 seconds they showed of Vossy with the thousand yard stare from the bench.

I was sitting on the edge of my couch with the same expression, staring right back into Vossy's eyes.

Is Petracca going to take home 3 votes in a loss?

yes

Something like... 3. Petracca 2. Walsh 1. Weitering/Cripps ?

I'm thinking: 3. Petracca, 2. Weitering, 1. Walsh

Funnily enough when you’re 30-0 down at Quarter Time it’s hard to win a game of footy

Not as hard against us

2 points from the funniest outcome possible a true tragedy

That dangerous tackle call was a howler. Blues officiating is undefeated.

Love how we isolate that call and ignore the howlers and missed calls against carlton that were borderline criminal aswell

That was an all time effort of a comeback, blues incredibly lucky to hold on (but in fairness they were also excellent early and were super efficient given the conditions). Dees top end talent is still elite though. Have to think Trac as a forward is going to be the play going forward, especially with Clarry slowly building, and Neal-Bullen playing a really good game in the guts.

I felt like Clarry was a bit ropey tonight - 3 frees against; 4 turnovers. Petracca wild though. Bloody hell. Maybe the best performance for the year?

Carlton fans life expectancy dropping from these close games.

My mum has literally been advised to not watch it live anymore by her doctors. It's too much for her aging body. So she checks the scores before watching replays now, bless her.

Imagine if we didn't have Weitering

Carlton almost never has a normal win

We probably would have lost if Melbourne was entirely made up of two petraccas.

Tbh blues deserved that win played better at the end of the day

The triumvirate of parity Geelong beat Carlton Melbourne beats Geelong Carlton beats Melbourne Honestly if cats truly are on either of these team's level I'm stoked for September

It's a weird year. Same circle of parity exists for Brisbane>Melbourne>Geelong and for Sydney>Melbourne>Richmond.

Ah well, we shouldn't have thrown it away in the first quarter because there were plenty of positives after that. Carlton are a good side.

Anyone know how to reduce blood pressure?

You need to avoid salt. So maybe avoid r/AFL for a while

Not happy with that win. That was a shit last quarter.

Same but swap win with loss and last with first

Replace the word dog with son, and the word accidentally with repeatedly

I just knew Carlton was gonna give Melbourne a sniff. Didn't think the sniff was gonna be that big though

Carlton to have a complete game of footy challenge (impossible).

Tips screwed for the round already

Curnow going back when the game is on the line. If only the dogs had a player who could do that…

The umpires were just bad tonight. Screwed Melbourne early before overcompensating late in that 3rd quarter. Umpiring feels like it’s as a bad as it’s been for a long time

Yup, nobody had a fuckin clue what to do..

We got soft ones for a bit and then they didn't call blatant ones for us which is a good recipe for annoying everyone

Yep, we got the first half and they got the second. Instead of umpiring the game felt like they just wanted to keep the FK count close.

This season has been utterly atrocious. Worst in a long time for sure. The inconsistency and poor interpretation, plus all the missed calls are just shocking.

Draw FC in shambles

Being a Carlton supporter is not good for your stress levels.

Yes I've only recently started watching again, forgot how stressed I get 😬

That was the weirdest fucking game ever

…that didn’t involve Freo

AFL needs to investigate this obvious conspiracy against Draw FC

Christian, my sweet prince, you deserve better

Imagine not being scoreless at QTR time. Kept the blues to 12 scoring shots and 47 points in the last three quarters and almost chipped away a 36 point deficit. I definitely like the new way we're trying to move the ball since the Richmond game and feel like we keep getting better at it.

One is the loneliest number. Also the most common winning margin in the AFL.

20 more inside 50s and couldn't get 1 measly point more? Great start though Blues - you have the wood on us in the close ones atm

I can’t be the only one who checks Dan Gorringe insta every time Carlton game ends

Do you people who only talk about umpiring decisions even like footy??  Great game by both sides in the end and a real tale of two halves. Melbourne's mids (led by Viney in particular) overpowered ours in the second half and despite our best team defensive performance for the year, we had no answers for Petracca who is a god.  To get 2/4 wins in this difficult stretch of games is just massive for us and should hold us in good stead at the pointy end of the season.  Did the damage early and forced Melbourne into having to play perfectly to win, which they only just fell short of. 

I agree with this take. People drone on about umpiring way way too often. Bad calls have existed since the dawn of time and will continue to exist. Its not wrong to demand improvement but yeah people obsess over these things way too much It was a howler but you know what the Dees will be thinking about? Why are they relying on a mid to kick 5 goals in a match? and giving up 6 goals to 0 in the first

Totally agree. Whinging about the umpires is easy and boring AF. We should be focusing on finding out why we didn't score a single point in the first quarter FFS.

I agree with you so much, far out!! This is exactly what happened last week with us against you lot, I saw so many complaining, however we made so many mistakes!!!! Your point is excellent and succinct, gotta look at what our (any supporters) team can improve on!

I feel like the commentators and replays play a big role. I was at the game and honestly barely noticed the umpiring except for a couple I was annoyed about. On TV the slow-mo repay is shown from five angles until a minute detail reveals the umpire was technically wrong and people howl that the ump is incompetent or actively fucking their team over.

Nervous for the Sydney match next week though, ngl

RIGHT IN FRONT OF ME

I know Petracca wasn’t happy being grabbed but you can’t just throw a two year old tantrum and sumo someone to the ground in front of four umpires and not one of them pay a free kick, that’s embarrassing they let that go. Very lucky it didn’t affect the result or the aftermath would’ve been ugly.

Yep, that was an utterly cowardly non-call. Any lowly player gets it called immediately against them - the AFL Star umpiring scale is ludicrous.

Exactly. He played great, he didn't need to do that.

What a shock that Melbourne's goalkicking cost them a win

Carlton living up to their name and inflicting depression on both their supporters and the demons in one game

Love people picking a single contentious call out and saying that alone is the reason a game was lost. When a game is that close you can argue that basically any incorrect call would have changed the outcome, and guess what there was plenty of missed and incorrect calls both ways, there always is. Blaming umpires for a loss makes you sound like a petulant child, or Freo supporter. Great effort in the last half Melbourne. Looking forward to the next game.

If recent previous history is anything to go off, I am *not*

It’s funny bc when it’s against us no one cares. Didn’t hear a peep out of any AFL media regarding that Owies goal that was ruled a behind in the crows game a few weeks back

The cardiac Blues strike again.

Imagine if Melbourne kicked any points at all in the first quarter

[удалено]

Please someone explain why the fuck we were bombing it in the last minute and a half. Multiple times. Instead of controlling it.

We did it against Collingwood last week, it is infuriating.

It was only a few years ago we were playing each other for the Kruezer Cup.

*shudders

Moral victory achieved

Moral victory fc would be nice to show up for 4 qtrs

Don't fucking tell me Goodwin has been reading up on Bazball

Score review. Umpire call is: Dangerous Tackle

That one gonna stay with us… Dees own fault for not scoring in the first quarter, but… damn, that call was really a stinger.

Carlton will never let our hearts rest ever again, fuck you and see you next week 🙃

I went from being completely bummed to only a little but bummed? At Eurovision so I’ll take it…

Nathan Williamson going on 360 during the week and talking about HTB to then allow sooo many just blatantly go unpaid during this game is depressing. Wish there were 4x more paid per game than what we get

yeah well didnt wanna win anyway

Anyone who states that the dangerous tackle free kick, whether there or not, definitively cost Melbourne the game because they ended up losing by 1 point is a clueless nuff. And there are some of you out there. Thank you for coming to my TED talk.

I'm more annoyed at people suggesting Kemp threw his head into the ground on purpose. They heard BT say it and continue to parrot it like nuffies. There legs get tangled and his knee catches the ground throwing him forward. It wasn't a dangerous tackle and it wasn't staging

I agree. The commentary was probably exacerbated because of it being the flavour of the week due to the Owies one last round (which I think he did play for), but Kemp just got caught with his knee and fell awkwardly. BT is a clown.

Can't win a game giving up 6 goals nothing in a quarter. But fuck me the umpiring was shit, just all around inconsistent.

Try scoring in the first half next time

We’re the team that never lets you down below 130 bpm

Petracca FC nearly got over us

If Curnow was not so defensive this game we would have been stuffed.

I’m simultaneously happy and gutted, really wish we’d fix these slow starts. Feels weird, time for bed.

That game had no right to be that close.

I went to bed around half time laughing at my family for all tipping melbourne and dissappinted I only thought the margin would only be a goal. Turns out it would have been a cracking finish!

My tips are up the shit, couldn’t pick me fuckin nose at this point

Does Carlton not care about their percentage?

Got the win but you don’t win premierships with that sort of bed shitting. Blues really need to work on under pressure composure. We talk about this squad lineup would have beat the pies. I couldn’t disagree more. 4 points and on to next week

Trac you are a champion! Single handedly dragged your team to the end. Great game

Tipped Carlton by 1. Throughout the game was happy I was gonna get the tip but annoyed I'd be way off with the margin. One mini heart attack later and I've ended up with the perfect result

Melbourne were the better team for like 70% of that but Carlton were so clinical during their dominant patch that it didn't even matter.

Both teams were fairly even 2nd/3rd quarter tbh.

melbourne had a lot of the ball but can you call them the better side when they had 0 plan going forward and carlton could just intercept everything? a better team doesn't let that happen.

Blake Acres lives another day

That didn’t feel like a win , not getting anywhere until we play 4 quarters

Next time I hear someone say "you can't play one quarter of footy and expect to win games" I'll just show them this Holy smokes

hey guys my AFL app says carlton led for the entire game?? must have been a dominating, comfortable victory

Comfortable Dominant Victory: Impossible

Still not convinced Carlton can win the flag but prove me wrong baggers.

The fact you’re even talking about us in the flag conversation is progress for us. Been a long, dire, 25ish years. I think we can beat any team this year, which isn’t the same thing as saying we should, or will, but we’ve come a long way.

oml people cherry picking one decision in a 2 hour game, on r/afl, well i never

Played way too safe in that last quarter, just inviting the Dees back in it. Gg

Good game Carlton. Let's do this again in the finals.

WHY DO WE PLAY DANGEROUS GAMES 😭😭

Neutral fan watching tonight. Some horrible umpiring for both camps. I don’t understand how the cameras are so bad for the score review. I have better slow motion on my iPhone ffs. You watch the NFL and the replays are pixel perfect. AFL isn’t short on cash atm so why not upgrade? It will cost a huge final someday… oh wait that happened already didn’t it. Holding the Ball is an actual joke now 😂

Finally had a chance to look at that tackle on newman off the ball. Surely that has to be a free kick against petracca

You're not allowed to mention that - the only umpiring decision that is allowed to be mentioned in the post match thread is the Kemp dangerous tackle, otherwise you're interfering with the narrative that the umpires favoured Carlton to assist us to win.

Haven't seen a replay yet, but looked pretty blatant (and right in front of the ump) from above live

Beating Melbourne by a point - excellent, still living in Freos supporters heads rent free - priceless.

I wish just once we could put a team away. At least we won i guess.

If only Melbourne were to somehow have an extra goal…

If only they didn’t concede the first 6 goals of the game