{"id":857855,"date":"2026-08-17T00:26:11","date_gmt":"2026-08-17T00:26:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/857855\/"},"modified":"2026-08-17T00:26:11","modified_gmt":"2026-08-17T00:26:11","slug":"afl-2026-carlton-blues-played-for-draw-against-bulldogs-potential-wildcard-matchup-with-crows-in-adelaide-video","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/857855\/","title":{"rendered":"AFL 2026: Carlton Blues played for draw against Bulldogs, potential wildcard matchup with Crows in Adelaide, video"},"content":{"rendered":"

Carlton has secured an improbable finals berth under Josh Fraser, but it might have \u201cmissed a trick\u201d by settling for a draw on Sunday night<\/a>. <\/p>\n

Because unless several unlikely results unfold in Round 24, a daunting wildcard road trip looms for the 10th-placed Blues in two weekends\u2019 time. <\/p>\n

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Carlton\u2019s pulsating draw with the Western Bulldogs at Marvel Stadium qualified it for a wildcard final, but as things stand, that\u2019s set to be a meeting with the Crows at Adelaide Oval. <\/p>\n

It\u2019d be far less optimal than an MCG showdown with arch-rivals Collingwood, which, if the Blues had beaten the Dogs, would be the likelier outcome. <\/p>\n

Instead, their draw means the Blues have to beat Fremantle at Marvel Stadium and hope the Bulldogs lose to Melbourne at the MCG in Round 24 to finish ninth and set up that tantalising prospective Pies bout. <\/p>\n

Because the Crows are highly likely to be the unlucky seventh-place finisher, with Hawthorn, Melbourne and Geelong all with favourable final-round fixtures. <\/p>\n

But as dual All-Australian Leigh Montagna explained on Fox Footy\u2019s First Crack, the Blues passed on a chance to try and win the game against the Dogs. <\/p>\n

\u201cI want to ask whether they missed a trick by getting the two points instead of the four, and instead of most likely going to Adelaide Oval to play the Crows instead of playing in Melbourne,\u201d he began. <\/p>\n

\u201cBecause this (save-the-game mode) is how they decided to play out the last minute, once word got out to the playing group that a draw was enough. <\/p>\n

\u201cThey said, \u2018Right, we\u2019ll just take it, we are happy to take the wildcard; we won\u2019t worry about what it looks like scenario-wise \u2026\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/p>\n

TALKING PTS: Pies\u2019 $100k wildcard \u2018middle finger\u2019; Butters trade twist to spark rival\u2019s Brownlow \u2018Plan B\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n

THE RUN HOME: Every contender\u2019s best and worst finish, and AFL\u2019s first 10-team finals bracket predicted<\/a><\/p>\n

DONS FALLOUT: He just beat Essendon. He could be their coach within days. And the Swans have just spoken out<\/a><\/p>\n

With 14 seconds left, Harry McKay drew a free kick roughly 70 metres away from goal, and could have launched the footy inside 50 for a chance at a winning score. <\/p>\n

Instead, he lobbed the ball 20 metres backwards to Blake Acres, who had the Sherrin in his hands as the final siren sounded. <\/p>\n

\u201cBut I thought this was the moment, when McKay gets a free kick \u2026 with 20 seconds to go, and you\u2019re 70 metres out from your own goal, you couldn\u2019t get beaten,\u201d Montagna said. <\/p>\n

\u201cCould McKay have gone in deep and try to salvage a point, to give themselves more of a chance in the wildcard of playing Collingwood at the MCG, instead of a place where they\u2019ve never won. <\/p>\n

\u201cI think that was maybe the only little knock in what was a pretty special day for the Blues.\u201d<\/p>\n

Even with 1:15 left in the game, Harry Dean marked and immediately took a conservative approach. <\/p>\n

Blues lock in finals after draw | 06:06<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019ll try and take on Adelaide (in Adelaide), it\u2019ll be (an) \u2018anywhere, anytime\u2019 (mentality),\u201d the Herald Sun\u2019s Jay Clark said. <\/p>\n

\u201cI think at that part of the game, they\u2019re just trying to put the result in their pocket, aren\u2019t they?\u201d<\/p>\n

But with Fremantle more likely than not to bring a strong squad to Docklands next week, it appears an uphill climb for the Blues to snag ninth spot. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019ll be interesting to see whether (the Blues) decide to go chips-in to beat Fremantle and still give themselves the chance of playing at the MCG,\u201d Montagna said. <\/p>\n

\u201cOr whether they rest some players as well. <\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think the teams that have got the (wildcard) week off will rest too many players. I don\u2019t think they\u2019ll want to have two weeks off. <\/p>\n

\u201cI reckon most of the top six will keep playing their best team.\u201d<\/p>\n

Carlton has lost all five Adelaide Oval clashes with the Crows. It hasn\u2019t beaten Adelaide in South Australia since Round 4, 2010. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Carlton has secured an improbable finals berth under Josh Fraser, but it might have \u201cmissed a trick\u201d by…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":857856,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[560],"tags":[638,64,63,55,639,85],"class_list":["post-857855","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"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/857855","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=857855"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/857855\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/857856"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=857855"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=857855"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=857855"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}