CARLTON has kept its post-season chances alive with a 44-point win over St Kilda in a crucial match on Sunday evening.
Conversely, the Saints' hopes of contending for a wildcard spot took not only a hit in premiership points, but they are almost certainly going to have to make up a two-win gap without their best player after Nasiah Wanganeen-Milera injured a hamstring early in the contest.
SAINTS v BLUES Full match coverage and stats
Making it a club double following on from the Blues' AFLW win to kickstart the double-header, Carlton ran out 16.10 (106) to 8.14 (62) winners under the Marvel Stadium roof for the sixth annual Spud's Game.
It started dreadfully for St Kilda. First, Wanganeen-Milera pinged a hamstring in the opening 10 minutes, then Liam Ryan spent some time in the rooms with a left shoulder concern, and Tom De Koning got some medical attention on field for a right shoulder issue.
But once they recalibrated to a Nas-less version of the Saints, things levelled out a little. Mattaes Phillipou was thrown into the middle and Jack Higgins got dangerous ahead of the play. But it wasn't to last long.
And amidst all of St Kilda's injury issues, the Blues just did their thing.
They found moments of time and space through the middle of the ground, able to clean up fumbles or errors with seconds to spare and continue the transition downfield. There was a genuine composure about how they operated and it allowed them to do damage in attack.
That first-half control was evident in the uncontested possession count, which Carlton won 143-89, and the uncontested mark count of 60-30. Those metrics both finished well in the Blues' favour, winning the uncontested possession by 65 and uncontested marks by 48.
So entertaining was Carlton's method, that the 'we want Fraser' chant went up around the stadium as fans had their say on their preferred choice as head coach next year.
But it was Harry McKay who offered the highlight of the match. Known for his snap set shots from directly in front, when tight up against the boundary in the third, he threaded the needle with a drop punt from the impossible angle.
Interestingly, the ebbs and flows of the game somewhat reflected the earlier AFLW match. An early Carlton lead, a St Kilda fight back after the main break, but ultimately a Blues win.
Will Hayward's capacity to mark anything in his vicinity was immense, resulting in 19 disposals and two goals for the evening, and Francis Evans (22 disposals, 10 score involvements) was a clean conduit going forward.
Sam Walsh (26 disposals, seven clearances, one goal) powered through stoppage to create opportunities ahead of the play, causing problems for St Kilda's defence as it became disorganised and unable to contain the number of free players Carlton was getting ahead of the play.
And even when the Saints dialled up the pressure and maintained some forward territory, they struggled to make it count on the scoreboard.
Shaking off an early knee scare, Bradley Hill (31 disposals, eight score involvements) was the distributor from half back, doing all he could to carry both his and Wanganeen-Milera's load from the position, and Max Hall (30 disposals, 10 clearances, two goals) worked exceptionally hard higher up the field to break the lines.
Unsurprisingly, the theatre bubbling underneath it all was the displeasure Carlton fans showed former Blues Jack Silvagni and Tom De Koning, culminating in a third-quarter goal to Brodie Kemp coming by way of a free kick against Silvagni.
ST KILDA 1.6 6.4 5.9 8.14 (62)
CARLTON 3.3 9.12 11.8 16.10 (106)
GOALS
St Kilda: Owens 2, Hall 2, Higgins, Ryan, Marshall, Lake
Carlton: McKay 3, Pittonet 2, Hayward 2, McGovern 2, Kemp 2, Ainsworth 2, Evans, Walsh, Byrne
BEST
St Kilda: Hall, Hill, Wilson, Windhager
Carlton: Walsh, Dean, Wilson, Evans, Cowan, Cerra
INJURIES
St Kilda: Wanganeen-Milera (left hamstring), Wood (left calf)
Carlton: Nil
Crowd: 43,434 at Marvel Stadium
