Hometown Brown sends Blues to icy hell
North Melbourne 18.8 (116) d. Carlton 4.6 (30)
The excitement generated from a stirring first-up effort against Richmond has well and truly been exhausted. Carlton fans will be getting restless. Very restless.
North Melbourne were widely tipped in the preseason as a big show for the wooden spoon. On Saturday night in Hobart they crushed Brendon Bolton’s Carlton, turning chilly Blundstone Arena into an icy hell for the Blues, who remain winless in 2018.
This wasn't the Harlem Globetrotters, this was rebuilding North.
The result made it 13 defeats in 14 matches for Carlton, and while the Blues' leadership have publicly committed to stay the course, the patience of their supporters is wearing increasingly thin. These sorts of defeats can quickly change the landscape.
Of course there were some extenuating circumstances. Carlton’s injury list was already getting longer than comfortable, and when skipper Marc Murphy was a late withdrawal due to a foot issue minutes before the bounce, the situation got substantially worse.
The Blues were at least kicking with the breeze in the first term, but it didn’t seem to make any difference. At quarter-time North had nine scoring shots to one, led by 23 points, had doubled the Blues for inside 50s and led the contested possession count by 19.
By half-time North’s lead was 39 points, and it only got worse for Carlton after the long break as North went for the jugular.
After a week in which Bolton said the much-hyped Harry McKay simply wasn’t ready to play in the AFL, the Blues got a close-up view of the damage that can be done by a commanding key forward.
It’s hard to believe a 200 centimetre man with an afro and a killer leap could fly under the radar, but so off-Broadway have North been for the last 18 or so months, Ben Brown probably still isn’t getting the plaudits he deserves.
Brown took direct opponent Liam Jones to the cleaners, taking contested marks, drilling goals with bananas, and knowing just where to lead. He was more than ably complemented by Jarrad Waite, who tormented his former side with his enduring athleticism, and skipper Jack Ziebell.
The service had been good too, with Shaun Higgins and Ben Cunnington providing the inside grunt, allowing the likes of Shaun Atley, Billy Hartung and Jed Anderson to provide plenty on the outside. Former Hawk Anderson has had a frustrating time of things since moving to Arden Street but looks to have turned the corner, winning plenty of ball himself while finishing nicely too.
Conversely Carlton didn’t handle the slippery conditions well, with their ball movement rarely looking fluid going into attack. Too often they played into the hands of North’s spare man Scott Thompson, while neither Levi Casboult nor Charlie Curnow had much influence.
Matt Kennedy needed to step up at the coalface in Murphy’s absence was went without a disposal in the first quarter. There was too little help for the tireless Ed Curnow, Dale Thomas and Patrick Cripps, who had his hands full with the diligent Ben Jacobs.
NORTH MELBOURNE 4.5 9.6 14.7 18.8 (116)
CARLTON 1.0 3.3 3.4 4.6 (30)
GOALS
North Melbourne: Brown 5, Waite 3, Atley 3, Ziebell 3, Anderson, Simpkin, Hartung, Higgins
Carlton: Garlett 2, Wright, Silvagni
BEST
North Melboure: Brown, Higgins, Cunnington, Anderson, Hartung, Atley, Ziebell, Waite, Thompson
Carlton: E.Curnow, Garlett, Cripps, Thomas
UMPIRES
Ryan, Findlay, Gianfagna
CROWD
14,266 at Blundstone Arena
VOTES
B. Brown (NM) 9
S. Higgins (NM) 8
B. Cunnington (NM) 7
J. Anderson (NM) 7
B. Hartung (NM) 7