Carlton and Richmond have fought out a thrilling draw to start the AFL season in front of nearly 90,000 spectators at the MCG, 8.10 (58) to 8.10 (58).
The Blues led by seven points in the final minutes, but ultimately a set shot from Tom Lynch with under 30 seconds remaining tied the scores.
It’s the first draw between the sides since 1972.
QUARTER-BY-QUARTER RECAP
It was a brilliant start for the Tigers, with Dustin Martin pouncing on a fumble from Mitch McGovern before putting through the first goal of the game.
Carlton responded almost immediately, with Zac Fisher hitting the scoreboard to level the match.
It was then Jack Silvagni’s turn to get on the board, taking a hanger and drilling the resulting set shot.
Richmond had chances to kick a second goal, but four straight opportunities were missed.
Carlton made no such mistake at the other end, with Harry McKay snapping through his first goal of the evening.
Martin continued to loom large over the match, with Brian Taylor saying on Seven the former Brownlow medallist looked “menacing”.
It was the Blues who took the lead into quarter-time, leading by nine points.
Richmond got within a goal of the Blues early in the second quarter after a flawless set shot from Maurice Rioli Jnr, then added another highlight to the night via a soaring mark from Shai Bolton.
It was a stalemate of sorts from then on, with neither side maximising opportunities in their forward half.
That stalemate was finally broken in the 21st minute via Matthew Owies.
Carlton took a 14-point lead into half-time 4.6 (30) to 2.4 (16).
“It’s incredible (the score),” Garry Lyon said on Fox Footy.
“We had two goals in the first two minutes.”
Richmond came out of the first half firing, with Jack Riewoldt and Shai Bolton booting back to back goals to get within two points of the Blues.
Tom Lynch slotted a set shot not long after to put the Tigers in front.
Charlie Curnow steadied the ship for the Blues, however, overcoming a quiet first half and kicking two goals in a row.
Rioli Jnr kicked the next as the match finally began to open up, with Lyon labelling it an “avalanche”.
A string of behinds was broken by a goal to Tom Lynch, with a couple of desperate efforts by the Blues preventing another couple of majors.
Tempers flared for Lynch and several Carlton defenders, who were involved in a scuffle near the end of the third term.
Marlion Pickett was subbed out of the match, with Jack Ross coming in, while for Carlton, Lachie Cowan was subbed out for Lochie O’Brien.
Richmond led by five points at the final change.
Sam Docherty kicked a huge goal to put Carlton back in front, taking a set shot from roughly 55 metres out and clearing the goal line.
Some desperate work from Charlie Curnow saw the star forward soccer the ball through for a goal, which was eventually paid after a score review and put the Blues up by seven points.
A point to the Tigers was followed by a contested mark from Lynch, who put through the set shot with under 30 seconds remaining.
Carlton had the final foray forward, but the Tigers’ defence held firm for the final time of the night.
THE 3-2-1 (by Ben Waterworth)
3. STILL THE MOST HOLLOW FEELING IN FOOTY
Never had Denis’ Pagan famous footy saying seemed more appropriate.
The legendary North Melbourne coach once described draws in sport were like “dancing with your sister”.
That was the feeling at the MCG on Thursday night as the siren sounded with Carlton and Richmond on 8.10 (58) apiece in front of over 88,000 fans.
It was the first opening-round draw since 2011. Remarkably, it was the eighth time Jack Riewoldt had played in a draw – a league record.
On a night full of behinds, fumbles, miskicks and general footy rust, the polished and silky Shai Bolton consistently threatened to be the difference between the two sides. He showed ample class particularly in the third term and finished with 18 disposals.
Tigers legend Matthew Richardson said Bolton “has got the complete skillset for a footballer” and “can do absolutely anything on the ground”.
But when he had a chance to put the Tigers within one point midway through the final term, he opted to rush a snap attempt from 30m out, rather than kick a drop punt from a set-shot.
In the final minute, Tiger Tom Lynch took a towering contested mark deep inside 50 then calmly slotted a set-shot goal to level the scores with 17 seconds left.
A frantic centre clearance followed, with Blake Acres dropping a mark just outside 50 before players piled on to force a ball-up as the siren sounded.
On the numbers alone, Richmond should’ve won. It had an extra 21 inside 50s than the Blues.
But the Blues suffered so many close losses last year when their 2022 campaign collapsed late, so this would’ve been a golden opportunity to flip that script.
Ultimately, it was an emotional rollercoaster of an evening – and it ended with the most bizarre emotion in footy.
2. SUBTLE YET SHREWD TIGERS TWEAK THAT SPARKED BLITZ
The Tigers in the first half tried to move the footy at breakneck speed. In fact Fox Footy’s Jordan Lewis declared: “It even felt like Richmond were playing too quick for Richmond.”
But a subtle yet shrewd strategy tweak after half-time prompted a breathtaking Richmond blitz in the third term.
During their recent premiership era, Richmond’s forward handball game became its trademark. But early on Thursday night, the Tigers over-possessed the footy. This was personified in the second quarter, where Richmond had 47 handballs but just 10 inside 50s.
But the Tigers’ decision to drop down a gear in the third term paid big dividends. They only had 25 handballs for the term, which led to 5.4 from 20 inside 50s as the Tigers took the lead into three quarter-time.
“Richmond definitely kicked it more, but I just thought they took the foot off the pedal a little bit,” Collingwood legend Nathan Buckley told Fox Footy.
“They were prepared to give themselves an extra second or two with ball-in-hand, they found targets and they worked the ball up with a little bit more care and precision. Then they were able to execute going inside 50.”
1. BIZARRE, ‘CHAOTIC’ HALF WE DIDN’T EXPECT
Collingwood legend Nathan Buckley on Monday night’s episode of On The Couch boldly predicted Richmond and Carlton would both kick over 100 points in the MCG season-opener.
After a “chaotic”, according to Fox Footy’s Jordan Lewis, yet inefficient first half – which started with the Tigers playing at breakneck speed before the Blues generated some momentum with controlled ball movement – Carlton led Richmond 30-16.
The numbers were staggering. Richmond created 16 forward-half turnovers in the first quarter alone – no team had created that many in a quarter in that part of the ground in any game last year – yet couldn’t capitalise, scoring just three points from the source.
In fact the Tigers’ only opening-term goal came in the first 10 seconds when Dustin Marin pounced on a Mitch McGovern dropped mark and snapped a goal.
Conversely, the Blues kicked three goals from 13 inside 50s, compared to Richmond’s one from 21.
“It’s a Richmond game, but Carlton are actually taking their chances when they’ve gone forward,” Buckley told Fox Footy at half-time.
“Richmond want high transition, they want the ball to be moving up and down the field … They’ve got the game the way they want it, except for that last kick and except for the finishing.”
Scoring was even harder to come by in the second term, with both teams scoring just one goal for the quarter. But importantly for the Blues, the footy spent more time in their forward half as they had six scoring shots to one and flipped the momentum of the game.
“They’ve actually looked better when they’ve had a little bit of control,” triple premiership Lion Jonathan Brown told Fox Footy.
“In the first quarter, Carlton wanted to send everything through the centre square too often, it was sloppy and made mistakes … They were a little bit rushed, probably fell into that Richmond speed of ball movement game. That’s not Carlton.
“I think Michael Voss wants a bit more control – he doesn’t want to go slow … but build the uncontested marks and then allow the forward to get back inside 50 so you have even numbers inside 50. You go when you have confidence and have good representation.”
