What looked like a navy blue procession – an easy win and restoration of their rightful place in the competition – turned into a white-knuckle contest that could have gone either way.
The pattern of the match was that Carlton would burst clear on the scoreboard with a few goals and then just when we were ready to declare the Blues home, the more seasoned Swans would rebound – propelled by the unlikely force in Hayden McLean and Tom McCartin.
He booted two crucial goals and won important balls and at one point was, statistically, the highest-ranked player on the ground. He ran down Errol Gulden in the final quarter when the Swans were on the charge. And so, while Walsh and Cerra were among the most effective Blues – Walsh seemingly back to near his 2021 output after an injury-afflicted pre-season – and Sam Docherty and Adam Saad were steady performers, one of the most striking features of this final was the unexpected bounty that the Blues gained from either unheralded or maligned players.
, Jack Martin and Caleb Marchbank were Carlton players who discovered the best version of themselves when it mattered.Twice, Acres – who’d come to his third club as a free agent, after stints at St Kilda and Fremantle – touched balls on the goal line in the tense second half that saved likely goals. On both occasions, the score review was required .
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