The big names starred to break the Northern Blues’ run of consecutive losses, recording a 56-point win over Frankston at Preston City Oval on Saturday afternoon.
Staring down the barrel of three straight losses after a 3-0 start to the season, the Blues’ fixture against the second-bottom Dolphins played out exactly as it was previewed on paper.
The Blues’ jumped out of the blocks with a five-goal-to-one quarter, with Luke Mitchell, Jeremy Laidler and Shaun Hampson opening-term contributors.
All three shots were quality set shots, with Hampson’s coming from 45 metres on a tight angle. He would finish with two goals and plenty of ball around the ground; the big Queenslander finishing with 21 disposals and arguably goal of the day.
An inside 50 bounced uncontested for the big man to swoop in and pouch the ball in his right hand, before dribbling his second goal with the outside of the foot from deep in the pocket with the ease of a small forward. It capped off a confidence-boosting day.
In tandem with Rob Warnock, the two-prong giants gave the Frankston ruckmen nightmares, but great service to the likes of Tom Bell and Nick Graham at their feet.
Bell (18 disposals) played a more defensive game than usual to great effect, allowing the likes of Dylan Buckley (21 disposals, 1 goal) and first-gamer Graham (23 disposals) to run rampant.
Returning to competitive footy after a three month layoff recovering from knee surgery, Graham demonstrated the reason why he was so highly touted during the pre-season with a magnificent debut at just over 60 per cent game time.
To compliment having it 23 times, Graham also made use of those possessions with six clearances, five inside 50s and two goals to go with four tackles.
Frankston drew within ten points kicking four of the first five goals in the second quarter, yet that would be as close as they could manage.
The Blues would kick five of the next six goals of the quarter as Warnock, Graham, Bell and Tom Temay got into the action, while Mitchell slotted his second of four goals as the Blues led by 36 points at the half.
Graham and in particular Mitchell would continue to hit the scoreboard as the Blues converted their statistical domination of the major areas.
Mitchell’s fourth goal came off the back of one of the great highlights from Northern’s day.
A crunching run-down tackle from Tom Bell saw the ball spill and Troy Menzel swoop in, clasp the ball with one hand and deliver a searing pass on his non-preferred foot under searing pressure to Mitchell on a lead inside 50. The young forward did the rest.
For Menzel, it was a class performance from the young South Australian as he finished with 20 classy touches and a goal.
Defensively, not much came the way of the back six, though Nick Duigan, Simon White and Andy McInnes were eye-catching in their composure and rebounding, ensuring the Blues were never headed once they established their lead.
Chris Yarran performed a serviceable role across half back and forward finishing with 15 touches (11 contested), a goal and a match-high seven tackles.
Speaking post-match to carltonfc.com.au, the debutant Graham said his own performance meant little in comparison to him simply returning to football.
“I was out there to try and get used to the tempo again and work my way into it, which I felt I did reasonably well,” Graham said.
“We went well in the areas we needed to go well in, which we felt we’d been building towards for a while…it was nice to get the win.
“Obviously, it’s much nicer being out on the park. Andy (McInnes) has been great support for me doing the rehab on his knee; so…it kind of spurred me on to get back to playing footy.”
The Northern Blues next week return to Visy Park on Saturday afternoon to host the fifth-placed Williamstown.
NORTHERN BLUES 5.5 11.8 15.10 19. 15. (119)
FRANKSTON 1.1 6.2 8.5 11. 7. (73)
GOALS: Mitchell 4, Hampson 2, Graham 2, Wilson 2, Lambert 2, Yarran , Laidler , Bell , Menzel , Temay , Buckley , Warnock
BEST: Lambert, Graham, Taglieri, Buckley, Duigan, White, Mitchell, Hampson, Menzel
Matthew Lodge covers Northern Blues games for Carltonfc.com.au. You can follow him on Twitter: @MatthewSLodge
