All the news from Ikon Park as the GIANTS get set to head south to take on the Blues at Etihad Stadium on Sunday afternoon.
Coming off their bye last weekend, Carlton will be refreshed and ready to take on the GIANTS, who have had the wood over the Blues since 2014, winning the last four encounters in a row.
The split bye gave journalists the opportunity to take stock of Carlton’s season thus far which sees them in 17th on the AFL ladder with three wins in 2017.
Jon Anderson at the Herald Sun wrote: “Any season in which you beat arch rivals Essendon and Collingwood can’t be bad, even during a rebuilding (sorry, reset) year.
“And aside from the 90-point debacle against Port Adelaide in round 5, Carlton has largely been competitive.”
Blues Assistant Coach John Barker told the paper: “We’ve been given a pretty decent look at what our future looks like, being able to blood some players who we know are going to be good for a long period of time.
“Their exposure to some really competitive games of AFL football will hold them in good stead. But there is still an expectation of high performance from them. And there could be possibly more to debut this year.”
This week, the Herald Sun took a look at the 30 players traded in or out by Carlton over the past four seasons.
With the return of former GIANTS List Manager and Carlton great Stephen Silvagni to the Blues at the end of 2014, is it a coincidence that of the 12 players to join the Blues in trades in the past four years, nine are former GIANTS?
Mark Whiley, Andrew Phillips, Jed Lamb, Liam Sumner, Kristian Jaksch, Lachie Plowman, Jarrod Pickett, Rhys Palmer and Caleb Marchbank have all swapped the orange and charcoal for the navy blue over recent seasons with Carlton also picking up GIANTS Academy graduate Harrison Macreadie in the most recent draft.
Plowman and Marchbank have both played every game for the Blues this season while Pickett (five games) is the only other former GIANT to feature regularly with Phillips, Palmer and Sumner managing just one game each so far.
Macreadie originated from Henty in southern NSW and came through the GIANTS Academy system, moving to Sydney and playing for the GIANTS Reserves in the NEAFL last season. The Blues bid on the key defender at pick 47 in the 2016 NAB AFL Draft with the GIANTS opting not to match the bid. Macreadie has gone on to play six games this season after debuting in round one.
In a reversal of fortunes to the GIANTS, the Blues have a near-full squad to choose from with only Sam Rowe (ACL - season) unavailable to play.
Ciaran Byrne will play in the VFL in his return from a serious knee injury while Dale Thomas, who broke his nose against Fremantle, will be available and Liam Jones faces a fitness test.
Former number one draft pick Matthew Kreuzer is set to notch his 150th game milestone against the GIANTS on Sunday.
Since debuting in round 3, 2008 the ruckman has his sights set on Lance Whitnall, the club’s current games record keeper in the famous number 8 guernsey.
The GIANTS take on Carlton in round 12 at Etihad Stadium this Sunday with first bounce at 3.20pm.
