Walking wounded
Fremantle bore the brunt of a physical game with some big names coming to the bench throughout the game. Hayden Ballantyne received a knock to his hamstring in the first quarter before suffering a head clash after coming back onto the ground. Nat Fyfe suffered a leg injury  and Lee Spurr was forced him to leave the ground with the blood rule due to a cut above the eyebrow and played out the rest of the game with heavy taping around his head.
 
Freo youth show signs
The future of Freo looks promising with youngsters Brady Grey, Lachie Weller and debutant Darcy Tucker providing plenty of pressure throughout the game. The three combined for 20 tackles, with Grey leading with the way with ten. Tucker also played a crucial part in Jonathon Griffin’s goal late in the fourth quarter, winning the centre clearance and kicking it the better part of 60m.
 
Stats that lied
While the count evened up toward the end of the game, Freo were leading the disposal numbers heavily up until three quarter time but were unable to make any significant leeway on the scoreboard. Freo also had 23 more tackles than Carlton, but the lack of clean disposal out of the stoppages meant the ball was often in dispute, despite the often-lopsided disposal count.  

Blues by four

Stats that mattered
Carlton used the full 90 interchanges available to them while Freo were only limited to 72, in part due to the injury to Fyfe in the second quarter. Carlton had one more mark inside 50 than Freo but it proved to be the stat that mattered, as Liam Jones’s intercept mark 15m out, directly in front of goal sealed the game for the Blues.  

Liam Jones
The 199cm, 98kg Jones has been a maligned figure in his career, often flashing ability but letting himself down with his goal kicking abilities. Jones was having a quiet day before popping up in the final quarter, kicking two crucial goals in the final minutes. His physical frame and length proved to be the difference as he received a free kick for holding the man, and intercepted an errant Lachie Neale kick late in the final term.