Full match coverage and stats<\/a><\/p>\nThe triumph moves them to a 2-1 record, while last season\u2019s runners-up are in an early hole, losing both matches at home to sport a 1-2 mark.<\/p>\n
Carlton\u2019s pressure was wonderful all game, and coupled with their composure and slick ball movement, did enough to outlast their more fancied opponents.<\/p>\n
Abbie McKay was incredible, gathering 12 of her 32 disposals in the match-shaping second term, mixing excellent hands in tight with good decision-making when she had space.<\/p>\n
Dayne Finn was everywhere, finishing with 29 disposals, that included a goal, while Mimi Hill was also highly involved with her 25 touches.<\/p>\n
Tara Bohanna was an excellent target in the forward line, kicking three goals, with Erone Fitzpatrick (18 touches, eight tackles and two goals) also an excellent contributor, although she was helped from the field in the dying seconds with a leg injury.<\/p>\n
Carlton\u2019s second quarter was as good as any footy we\u2019ve seen against a quality opponent this season.<\/p>\n
After Dakota Davidson gave the Lions the lead early in the term, the Blues ran riot, kicking five unanswered goals on the back of infectious pressure and composed ball movement.<\/p>\n
Keeley Sherar kicked a memorable goal from the right forward pocket, Finn was on the end of a perfect Keeley Skepper pass, and when Bre Harrington took a powerful mark and converted from 40m, the visitors led by 29 points.<\/p>\n
Brisbane kicked three goals in the third term to cut the margin to nine points at the final change, but Carlton deservedly held on.<\/p>\n
The Lions were fumbly in the first half, missed too many tackles, and far too often bombed the ball into the forward line without much thought \u2013 much to the glee of a well-structured Blues backline who gobbled up entry after entry.<\/p>\n
Some Sherar magic
In the midst of Carlton\u2019s blistering second quarter came a little piece of magic from Keeley Sherar. After trying to square the ball from deep in the right forward pocket, the Sherrin found its way back into her hands from a more acute angle. But, as the saying goes, if at first you don\u2019t succeed, try again, and Sherar threaded the needle from an almost impossible angle for a wonderful goal.<\/p>\n
Early struggles for Brisbane
The Lions are no strangers to slow season starts \u2013 they did likewise in 2023 before going on to win the premiership \u2013 but Craig Starcevich has some headaches. They generated 49 inside 50s to the Blues\u2019 31, but rarely looked like troubling the well set-up Carlton defence. A few players are struggling for consistency through the early stages of the year, and with Adelaide (away) and premier North Melbourne (home) in the next fortnight, they have to find some answers fast.<\/p>\n
Up next
Carlton will be out to solidify its spot in the top eight when it hosts the Western Bulldogs at Ikon Park next Saturday at 3.05pm. It doesn\u2019t get any easier for Brisbane, off to Norwood Oval on Sunday (12.35 ACST) to face old rivals, Kuwarna.<\/p>\n
BRISBANE\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 1.4\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 2.4\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 5.7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 6.8 (44)
CARLTON\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 2.1\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 7.3\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 7.4\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 9.4 (58)<\/p>\n
GOALS
Brisbane:\u00a0Hodder, Davidson, Smith, O\u2019Dwyer, R.Svarc, Davison
Carlton: Bohanna 3, Fitzpatrick 2, Sherar, S.McKay, Harrington, Finn<\/p>\n
BEST\u00a0
Brisbane:\u00a0Dawes, Grider, Hickie, Ellenger
Carlton: A.McKay, Hill, Finn, Bohanna, Harrington, Fitzpatrick<\/p>\n
INJURIES
Brisbane:\u00a0Nil
Carlton: Fitzpatrick (leg)<\/p>\n
Reports:\u00a0Nil\u00a0<\/p>\n
Crowd:\u00a02805 at Brighton Homes Arena<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Tara Bohanna celebrates a goal during round three, 2025. Picture: AFL Photos\/Getty Images CARLTON has pulled off a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":108813,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[560],"tags":[638,64,63,55,639,85,83],"class_list":["post-108812","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-afl","tag-afl","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-australian-football-league","tag-australianfootballleague","tag-sports","tag-text"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/108812","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=108812"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/108812\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/108813"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=108812"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=108812"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=108812"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}