A FLAT performance from Carlton has seen the Blues slip to a 48-point defeat at the hands of Collingwood at the MCG on Saturday. 

The Pies set up the big win with a polished first half, but Carlton at least fought back to win the last quarter before the siren sounded on the 15.15 (105) to 9.3 (57) loss.

In a further blow to Carlton, skipper Chris Judd spent the majority of the final term on the bench with a suspected shoulder injury.

Perhaps the only concern for the winners was a leg injury to Sharrod Wellingham. After starring in the first half with 19 possessions, he didn’t return after the main break and must be in some doubt for next week’s blockbuster against Geelong.

Ruckman Robbie Warnock battled hard against Darren Jolly, and Kade Simpson, Shaun Grigg and Heath Scotland also tried hard, but the Blues struggled to find a clear winner on the day.

Brad Fisher had a quiet first game back from knee surgery, but appeared to finish the game unscathed.

The Pies had winners everywhere on the ground.

Dane Swan (31 disposals, eight clearances) helped establish his team’s mammoth early lead, fellow midfielder Luke Ball (28, seven tackles) was great while forwards Travis Cloke (12 marks, 2.5) and Alan Didak (31 touches, two goals) were also outstanding.

A week after booting one of the goals of the season, Didak provided fans with the game’s highlight mid-way through the last term by launching a torpedo through the sticks from 60m out near the boundary.

Swan overcame his tightest tag for some time to get the Pies rolling in the first term. When he goaled from a free kick after opponent Andrew Carrazzo was pinged for interfering at a stoppage, Collingwood was out to an 11-point break at quarter time.

The writing had been on the wall early as Collingwood controlled play, the inside 50s and general play while Carlton struggled to penetrate its forward 50.

With Swan gathering seven possessions inside the first three minutes of the resumption, the Pies quickly resumed with Chris Dawes booting the first of his team’s 6.4 for the term, while the Blues could manage just 0.1.

Carlton’s only score, which came 26 minutes into the term, was its first since the seven-minute mark of the first quarter.

By half time, Collingwood led by 50 points.

Carlton rarely went forward and, when it did, it was under immense pressure and generally turned the footy over.

The Blues managed to boot six goals in the final term to add some respectability to the scoreboard.

Collingwood   3.5   9.9   11.14   15.15 (105)
Carlton   2.0   2.1   3.2   9.3 (57)

GOALS
Collingwood: Beams 3, Davis 3, Dawes 2, Cloke 2, Didak 2, Swan, Wellingham, Pendlebury
Carlton: Hampson 2, Walker 2, Grigg, Fisher, Betts, Simpson, Johnson

BEST
Collingwood: Swan, Ball, Pendlebury, Cloke, Davis, O’Brien, Didak,
Carlton: Simpson, Warnock, Grigg, Scotland

INJURIES
Collingwood: Wellingham (knee)
Carlton: Armfield (concussion) out, replaced in selected side by Ellard, Judd (chest/shoulder)

Reports: Nil

Umpires: Stevic, Meredith, Pannell

Official crowd: 76,980 at the MCG

The views in this story are those of the author and not necessarily those of the clubs or the AFL.