CARLTON has continued its winning Melbourne form with a sixth win of the season against Adelaide.

Making it six from six in their home state, it was a dominant performance from the Blues, who at one stage kicked 15 of 18 goals throughout the course of the game.

Equalling their most inside 50s ever recorded, Charlie Curnow kicked six goals and Zac Fisher produced one of the best games of his career in the 48-point triumph.

Quarter one

After early goals from Taylor Walker and Josh Rachele, it was left to Harry McKay - at his favourite venue - to get the Blues on the board from a scoreboard point of view. McKay’s conversion from the set shot was reciprocated by Patrick Cripps and Charlie Curnow, who gave the Blues the lead leading into the first change. The captain picked up from where he left off, collecting seven disposals and four clearances to go with his goal, while Adam Cerra was particularly prolific: the midfielder recorded 10 disposals and three score involvements in the opening half hour. It was also a good start for inclusion Jordan Boyd, who took a courageous mark in defence and got involved in offence, operating at 100 percent efficiency. The Blues’ pressure was evident early after a slow start, with 12 individual players recording a tackle in the first term.

Quarter two

Not for the first time this season, it was the big targets up forward who were doing the job for the Blues. While it was the running Jack Newnes who opened proceedings with a classy goal, Curnow and McKay in attack contributed four of Carlton’s six goals for the term. The key duo and Carlton’s remaining forwards were the beneficiaries of some outstanding work further afield, with the Blues registering 38 inside 50s for the first half: the second-most of any team this year. It was a strong quarter for the Blues in totality, which came about on the back of their contested possession dominance (+15 for the term). Sam Docherty continued his strong form behind the ball with 14 disposals at the half, operating at 93 per cent efficiency.

Quarter three

The third term started with Matthew Cottrell activated into the game in the place of Jack Martin, who experienced some calf tightness in the closing stages of the second term. However, the classy forward’s injury was the only blemish in what was a blistering third quarter from the Blues. After it was their bug bear over the course of April, last week was seemingly the reset the Blues needed, kicking 6.6 to just two behinds to the Crows. Zac Fisher was at his lively best with two consecutive goals and Jack Silvagni repeated the feat soon after: Silvagni’s second was full of quality, as Cripps barged through four Crows before assisting a running Silvagni banana. Jacob Weitering held up increasingly well when Adelaide entered its forward 50, and the end result was the Blues taking a 66-point lead into the final change.

Quarter four

Carlton dominated the early stages of the final term, but an inability to put a score on the board - a change from the opening three quarters - ultimately saw Billy Frampton break the run of eight consecutive Navy Blue goals. It proved to be a frustrating term for the Blues as the Crows kicked four consecutive goals, but the damage was very much done on the scoreboard from the home team’s perspective on their way to a sixth victory from eight games. It was left to one player only to bring up their highest score of the season, as Curnow kicked the Blues’ final two majors for a six-goal haul.

Three things we learned

1. The Blues continued to lift in the absence of one of their star midfielders. Without George Hewett for a second consecutive week, the likes of Jack Carroll and Zac Fisher had more midfield minutes and rose to the occasion. That was particularly the case of the latter, who had over 20 disposals and kicked multiple goals for the second time in a month: he hadn’t achieved that at any stage of his career before Round 5.

2. ‘Learned’ may be a bit of a stretch given his form leading into the game, but this is the perfect chance to once again mention how good it is to see Charlie Curnow back in action. Taking his season tally to 25 and reaching over 100 for his career in the process, Curnow achieved a career-best for score involvements and put six on the board against the Crows. The combination of him and Harry McKay at Marvel Stadium continued to provide, with the pairing kicking three goals each from all matches at the venue this season.

3. It may not be recorded on the stats sheet, but the influence of Carlton’s smalls are crucial to Michael Voss’ side. The Blues ended with 74 inside 50s, equalling the most by a Carlton team since the stat was first recorded, and the pressure the Blues were able to put on was crucial to that. Carlton’s shape behind the ball was also brilliant for the duration of the contest, recording 16 intercept marks, registering a season-high for points from defensive half intercepts.

CARLTON       3.2     9.6     15.12       17.14 (116)       
ADELAIDE      2.2     5.4     5.6          10.8 (68)

GOALS
Carlton: Curnow 6, McKay 3, Cripps 2, Fisher 2, Silvagni 2, Kennedy, Newnes

BEST
Carlton: Curnow, Cripps, Fisher, Cerra, Docherty, McKay, Kennedy, De Koning