A young Carlton side was at the hands of a rampant Port Adelaide, going down to the Power by 90 points at Adelaide Oval on Friday night.
In a five-goal display from Robbie Gray, who was also awarded the Peter Badcoe Medal for the best on ground, Port dismantled the Blues 20.17 (137) to 6.11 (47) in front of a crowd of 43,120.
The youthful Blues featured seven teenagers in their 22, but it was all the Power early as they booted four unanswered goals in the first 12 minutes.
Despite being kept scoreless in the third quarter, forward Levi Casboult kicked four of the Blues’ six goals for the evening.
"What you're seeing is what we said we were going to do a year and a half ago, we said we were going to reset our footy club," Blues coach Brendon Bolton said.
"This opportunity, on a Friday night, a lot of viewers, good crowd, good opposition, we were never going to miss that opportunity.
"There are some tough lessons to learn out of tonight, but I've got no doubt those lessons will help us grow."
In a dream start for pacy forward Aidyn Johnson, the youngster kicked a goal with his first touch in the AFL and finished with two majors for the game.
The 19-year-old was a late addition to the Power after half-back flanker Hamish Hartlett was ruled out with a quad injury.
The Blues started to find more of the ball in general play, but were unable to capitalise despite multiple entries inside their forward 50.
It took a wonky kick from Casboult from 60m out, taking a wicked bounce and evading the outstretched hand of Power defender Tom Clurey to register the Blues' first goal of the game at the 28-minute mark.
"It was quite an even performance over the whole night. When we had moments when Carlton was challenging us and we were able to get back to the style of footy we like to play," Power coach Ken Hinkley said.
"The third quarter was pleasing (when the Power kicked 4.6 to 0.0).
"Obviously we would have liked to have converted a bit better than that, but you take the good with the bad."
Leading by 23 points at quarter-time, Justin Westhoff showed great soccer skills to kick a goal off the ground before Casboult took a wonderful mark in the goal-square for his second major.
Apart from Polec kicking his second with a beautiful shot from 50m out on the boundary, the Blues tightened up defensively and used the ball better with more short kicking.
But it was their inaccuracy when it mattered – kicking just two goals from 11 scoring shots in the first half – that kept them at arm's length.
Casboult should have done better when he strolled inside 50, but shanked his kick wide.
At the other end, Charlie Dixon took a brilliant contested mark and converted for a 12-point swing, giving the Power a 33-point half-time lead.
The Power started the third term as they did the first, booting three goals in the first eight minutes to kill off any faint chance the Blues had.
MEDICAL ROOM
Port Adelaide: Power captain Travis Boak left the ground in the third quarter with a cork to the hamstring and will have scans on Monday to assess the damage. Defender Hamish Hartlett was a late scratching with a quad injury, but is likely to return next week.
Carlton: Blues midfielder Bryce Gibbs had his thumb strapped early, but returned to the game.
NEXT UP
The Power are back on the road as they take on the Brisbane Lions at the Gabba next Saturday. Meanwhile, the Blues return to the MCG when they host Sydney, also on Saturday.
PORT ADELAIDE 5.3 8.6 14.16 20.17 (137)
CARLTON 1.4 2.9 2.9 6.11 (47)
GOALS
Port Adelaide: R.Gray 5, Trengove 3, Johnson 2, Dixon 2, Polec 2, Young 2, Wingard, S.Gray, Broadbent, Westhoff,
Carlton: Casboult 4, Silvagni, Gibbs
BEST
Port Adelaide: R.Gray, Ebert, Trengove, Broadbent, Wingard, Pittard, Wines
Carlton: Casboult, Cripps, Simpson
INJURIES
Port Adelaide: Boak (hamstring), Hartlett (quad) replaced in side by Johnson
Carlton: Nil
Reports: Nil
Umpires: Rosebury, Stephens, Hoskin
Official crowd: 43,120
