The Blues celebrated their first win of the 2017 season on the back of a spirited four-quarter performance against Essendon at the MCG on Sunday.

In torrid conditions, Carlton's former No.1 draft picks Matthew Kreuzer, Marc Murphy and Bryce Gibbs led the way to record career-high numbers.

Here are the top-five player stats from Round 3:

Matthew Kreuzer
Career-high 8 clearances 

This was the kind of game tailor-made for Matthew Kreuzer. ‘The tractor’ revelled in torrid conditions, bulldozing his way through the traffic to record a career-high eight clearances and game-high 11 tackles (Carlton’s 111 tackles were a new club record). The big man is often Carlton’s barometer, and when he fires, the Blues are hard to beat. 

Marc Murphy
Career-high 23 kicks 

The skipper showed his mettle with a team-lifting performance, finishing with 32 disposals, 10 tackles and two goals. Marc Murphy’s 23 kicks were the highest he’s recorded in his 217 AFL games, and he made them count, creating two goals out of nothing and recording a team-high 521m gained and seven score involvements. It was a complete performance from the No.3, who has started the season in emphatic fashion.  

Bryce Gibbs
Career-high 20 contested possessions 

While his disposal efficiency (46 per cent) was down on his usual output, Bryce Gibbs’ hard work in the contests proved telling. Contested possessions were always going to be king in wet conditions, and the Blues won this count 160-158 after trailing by 18 at half-time. Gibbs led the way, recording a career-high and game-high 20 contested possessions, including 12 in the second half.

Simon White
Game-high 4 intercept marks 

The Blues’ defence was resolute for the entirety of the contest, with every defender playing his part. One of those key contributors was Simon White, who consistently put himself in the right positions to finish with an equal game-high four intercept marks alongside Sam Docherty. He also had an equal game-high 10 intercepts in one of his best performances in the navy blue.
 

Sam Rowe
Game-high 11 one-percenters

Sam Rowe showed enormous courage to recover from a concussion sustained against Melbourne and perfom the way he did on Sunday. Once again, he led all players for one-percenters, refusing to surrender an inch in defence. Whether it was a spoil, knock-on, smother or shepherd (all considered one-percenters), Rowe did whatever it took to win his one-on-one battles and quell Essendon's dangerous forward line.


Who got your 3-2-1 votes against Essendon? Click here to vote in the Hyundai Fans' MVP.