Carlton can cement its spot in the top two as Geelong tries to relaunch its season, powered by returning captain Patrick Dangerfield, in an MCG blockbuster.
The Blues (9-4, 109.8%) sit second on the ladder having won four of their past five games, and can claim the position outright with victory tonight.
The Cats (8-5, 108.9%) meanwhile are sliding, having lost five of their last six matches, only beating lowly Richmond since they downed the Blues by 13 points back in Round 8.
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The match gets underway at 7:40pm from the MCG.
Watch it live on Fox Footy (channel 504), streaming on Kayo or via Hubbl from 7pm.
ROLLING MATCH UPDATES
There were no late changes, with Corey Durdin (Carlton) and Gary Rohan (Geelong) named the starting subs.
Patrick Dangerfield’s first play in his return game was a tackle on Carlton star Sam Walsh — and it was penalised as a dangerous tackle.
“That’ll be looked at (by the MRO),” commentator James Brayshaw said.
Brothers Tom De Koning (Carlton) and Sam De Koning (Geelong) lined up on each other in the ruck, leading to some early niggle. And it was Tom who got the early bragging rights, beating Sam to the ball at a forward 50 stoppage then snapping the opening goal of the game.
The Blues maintained their early-match dominance, with Charlie Curnow kicking a goal before Matt Owies snapped a ripper major to give Carlton a 19-point lead.
“This is a hot start for Carlton,” Brayshaw said.
The Cats produced an impressive response, with quick goals to Zach Tuohy and Max Holmes chopping the margin.
But a goal to Alex Cincotta — who had the tagging role on Tom Stewart — followed by Curnow’s second major extended the Blues’ lead to 19 points at quarter-time.
Ollie Dempsey, though, gave Geelong the ideal start to the second term, pouncing on a loose ball to snap Geelong’s third major.
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Source Agencies
