TAKE a look at these lesser-known facts as Carlton prepares to face St Kilda at Etihad Stadium tonight:
- For just the 11th time in its history and the first since Round 19, 1945, Carlton will have guernsey numbers 1-10 represented in a game. This happened for the fourth time in the 1916 VFL Grand Final defeat to Fitzroy, where the Blues fielded three players - Charlie Fisher (No.7) and Paddy O'Brien (No.10) - whose surnames feature in tonight's line-up.
- Coincidentally, Carlton's last game on July 13 came against St Kilda at Etihad Stadium in 2013. The Blues prevailed by 36 points on that Saturday night in Round 16, with Kade Simpson polling three Brownlow votes.
- Carlton has never beaten St Kilda on a Friday night from four attempts. The last Friday-night clash between the two sides came in Round 12, 2009 at Etihad Stadium, with St Kilda prevailing by nine points before a bumper crowd of 50,820.
- Prior to last week's game against Brisbane, Matthew Wright and Kade Simpson hadn't missed a match under senior coach Brendon Bolton. A tight calf brought an end to Simpson's 58-game streak last week, while Wright's 59-game run is over with soreness ruling out the small forward tonight.
- Matthew Shaw will become the seventh player in history to make his Carlton debut against St Kilda in a Round 17 match. Jim Marchbank, the first to do so in 1903 at the Junction Oval, was the father of Caleb Marchbank's great aunt Ellie.
- Carlton will field 11 players aged 21 or under to St Kilda's four tonight. Based on the selected sides, the Blues have an average experience of 82.7 games to St Kilda's 89.3.
- Returning after a week's rest, Paddy Dow is averaging 7.4 contested possessions a game this season, ranked first among the AFL's teenagers and 14th on the all-time teenager leaderboard.
- Patrick Cripps has the best goal ratio against St Kilda of any current Blue, with an average of 1.25 per game from four matches.
Facts with thanks to the Blueseum
