The Western Bulldogs have overrun the Blues in a thriller, eclipsing Carlton by eight points as the Blues relinquished another half-time lead.
The Blues seemed to finally have turned a corner with their inside 50 entries by not blazing away, highlighted by a composed Zac Williams whose dash from half back turned into a cooly chiselled kick to Charlie Curnow for the opening goal of the match.
Carlton continued a flourishing start but as the game wore on, their tendencies to blaze away at the forward arc crept back into their possessions, resulting in just four second-half goals.
Curnow and Brodie Kemp's hot start but tempered finish was emblematic of another poor second half and wastage of inside 50 entries, with the Blues scoring just 20 times from 56 inside 50s, compared to the Bulldogs' 23 from 51.
Michael Voss said post-game it was an improved effort, but not sustained for long enough.
“It did tonight (improved lowering of the eyes heading inside 50). But progressively across the night, it sort of dropped off as well,” Voss said.
”So again, it's just the consistency of being able to reinforce the way we want to be able to play.
“We had some great moments and ones we'd like back. It's glaring what we need to get better at.”
The battle within the war was perhaps the most intriguing contest of the night, as Weitering had an evident focus to engage with contact on red-hot key forward Sam Darcy. Weitering had Darcy in the palm of his hand in the first half but a third-quarter free kick for holding symbolised the turn of the tide, as Darcy ended the game with two goals and eight marks.
Luke Beveridge was proud of Darcy's resilience in the Weitering battle and ability to keep his head in frustrating moments.
“Yeah, he did (come into his own in the second half). Sometimes when Sam gets a rush of blood from a mark or a free kick, he can pull the trigger a bit early and I thought he held his composure and even stayed disciplined when there was a little bit of argy bargy,” Beveridge said.
”So that's another good sign that he held his nerve and helped get across the line.”
The Bulldogs will look to start with a promising 3-1 start to the year against a hungry Fremantle side, while Carlton are tasked to beat an in-form Collingwood team if they are to avoid a dreaded 0-4 record.
