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CARLTON 21.11 (137) d NORTH MELBOURNE 12.9 (81)
Charlie Curnow takes a mark.Credit: Getty Images
KEY POINTS
The other Hollands shines
Former Sun Elijah Hollands’ Carlton debut, alongside brother and fellow first-round pick Ollie, could hardly have gone better. He had an inauspicious start to his Navy Blue career with a drugs charge dating to his time on the Gold Coast, but is already looking a more-than-handy recruit. Hollands, 21, finished with 22 disposals – 16 in the second half – six marks, five tackles and a goal to illustrate the value he can bring to Michael Voss’ side. The Blues will be without ACL victims Sam Docherty and Jack Silvagni all season, Jack Martin is battling hamstring and knee issues, while Sam Walsh is still sidelined with a back injury, so they need others to stand up. Hollands looks like one who will.
Elijah Hollands of the Blues celebrates a goal with teammate Matthew Owies.Credit: AFL Photos
Injury carnage
North Melbourne’s difficult Good Friday was made worse when ruck-forward Callum Coleman-Jones went down with a suspected ruptured achilles early in the second term. The Roos initially reported it as an ankle problem but soon corrected that to an achilles, after he was stretchered from Marvel Stadium. Coleman-Jones has struggled to make his mark at the Roos but his likely long-term absence only exacerbates the shortage of key-position options on the playing list. On the Carlton side of things, the perennially unlucky Caleb Marchbank looked to have suffered a concussion after falling backwards and crashing his head into the surface in an aerial contest. Marchbank copped a double blow when teammate Jordan Boyd landed on him in the same play.
North Melbourne’s Callum Coleman-Jones is taken from the ground.Credit: Getty Images
Carlton’s unbeaten run continues
The Blues are undefeated through three matches but this one was far more straightforward. They rallied from a 46-point deficit to stun Brisbane Lions at the Gabba in Round Zero before barely surviving a plucky Richmond by five points only six points later. North Melbourne made a spirited start to lead early, but Carlton quickly reeled them in to lead by 16 points at quarter-time, then gradually blew out the margin throughout the night, thanks to nine combined goals between spearheads Harry McKay and Charlie Curnow. They can improve on their early 2024 form, but wins in the bank are golden for a club with serious flag ambitions after storming into a preliminary final last season.
