CARLTON 4.3 Â 8.4 Â 12.4 Â 16.6 (102)
BRISBANE LIONS 0.3 Â 1.7 Â 5.7 Â 9.10 (64)
Goals: Carlton: D Armfield 3 J Lamb 3 M Wright 2 P Cripps 2 D Gorringe E Curnow L Casboult S Kerridge S Rowe Z Tuohy. Brisbane Lions: D Rich 2 B Keays J Freeman J Jansen J Schache S Martin T Cutler T Rockliff.
Best: Carlton: Tuohy, Curnow, Weitering, Docherty, Cripps, Kerridge
Brisbane: Robinson, Rockliff, Zorko
Umpires: Chris Kamolins, Shane McInerney, Jack Edwards.
Official Crowd: 30,722 at Etihad Stadium.
As part of their preparation for a visit to Etihad Stadium, the Brisbane Lions sought to replicate the expected unfriendly atmosphere by having a mixture of music and crowd noise blaring at training through the week. But  by late Saturday afternoon, the Lions were left only singing the Blues after Carlton's unexpected rebirth continued with a 38-point win.
The Lions were deplorable in the first half, and their tactics highly questionable as they sought to hold on to the ball at every opportunity, even if it meant an aimless approach towards goal. It seemed their preferred option was to chip around and kick backwards at every opportunity.
Lions chief Greg Swann said pre-match that Justin Leppitsch would be the long-term coach but, on Saturday's tactical performance, and their efforts on the road this year, that may not be so clear cut.
The Blues, determined to maintain their stirring recent form, summed up the Lions' tactics midway through the first term - and from there the contest was never in doubt. The Blues were ready to pounce and intercept and carry the ball from defensive 50 to inside their attacking arc as quickly as possible. Rebounding half-back Zach Tuohy was instrumental in this, and his teammates followed.
Trailing by 39 points at half-time, the Lions did change their style and looked to attack through the corridor. This resulted in four of the first five goals for the third term - with the Blues clearly missing a sick Matthew Kreuzer, who remained in the dressingroom. He did not return. The Lions enjoyed an early 11-3 advantage in clearances but, by three-quarter-time, the Blues had restored a 39-point break.
The afternoon was best summed up in a passage of play midway through the second term. After the Lions had ample opportunity to score, the Blues were able to carry the ball from one end to the other, with a handball from Patrick Cripps and a pass from Simon White leading to a goal to Jed Lamb on the fast break.Â
The Blues were also tougher in the contest, with Andrew Walker's determination to win a loose ball leading to a bone-crunching legal bump on Allen Christensen - and the Lion being helped from the field. He did not return because of a damaged shoulder and was taken to hospital for scans, where it was later confirmed he had a broken collarbone.
Brendon Bolton has been able to strike the right balance between attack and defence in his teaching methods, and the Blues have prospered. They are firmly in the hunt for September because so many players have improved this year.
Ed Curnow was superb. He had the job of running with Daniel Rich but, again, found plenty of his own ball. Rich, one of the Lions' prime movers, had only four touches to half-time; Curnow had 14. Given the job of curbing Lions' skipper Tom Rockliff in the second half, he duly deserved a clever goal in the final term.
Rockliff, back from injury, had amassed 26 disposals by the main break (and 48Â for the match) but the Blues, on the whole, would not have minded this - for they had little penetration. Of these, only two were inside 50s before half-time and he did not trouble the scorers. Neither, really, did the Lions, with only the one major until half-time.
They had opportunities but wasted these. One of the more fascinating sub-plots was the battle between last year's top two draft picks, Lions' forward Josh Schache and Blues' defensive counterpart Jacob Weitering. The latter spent some time on Schache but so, too, did Sam Rowe, who would later pinch hit in the ruck.
"We kicked ourselves out of it – I think I might have said that a few times this year – particularly in the early part of the game," Leppitsch said.
"Contested footy, clearance stuff was terrific and you could almost say (we) dominated that part of the game, but that's not everything.
"We just let ourselves down with some skill errors which they capitalised on."
chache butchered two set shots in the first half at a time his team desperately needed a calming conversion. An assured kick for goal as a junior, Schache has had the yips this year.
"Our young forwards can't turn those numbers into something efficient that gives us easy goals," Leppitsch said.
"It's hard scoring for us at the moment, it really is, and that fluency comes over time.
"I thought for the first 10 minutes of the third quarter we did have some fluency and looked like we were scoring easily, but those patches aren't enough in the game for us.
"But the beauty is the effort and endeavour is there and I'm liking that, and I want to keep the boys continuing to do that."
Weitering's ability to judge the flight of the ball and his body positioning for someone so young will make him the anchor of the defence for the next decade.Â
Former Blues Tom Bell and Mitch Robinson had a mixed afternoon, Bell had no impact, while Robinson, a week after restricting Sam Mitchell, held the playmaking Gibbs to 12. That Gibbs was quiet on a day when skipper Marc Murphy was missing highlights the depth a team initially figured to be  misfits and cast-offs now has. Sam Kerridge, half-back Ciaran Byrne and reinvented small forward Dennis Armfield also lively.
"After a six-day break and, obviously ,losing Kreuz for a fair chunk of that game, it's pleasing to get a result," Bolton said.
"It was probably fair to say we were a little inconsistent at times. We turned some balls over that we would like to use better. We have been building with our ball movement and I think we would have just got 100 points today - that's a good sign."
For the Lions, debutant Jarrad Jansen was promising - but much soul searching remains. It's been a horror month, losing by 77 points to Port Adelaide, 78 to Collingwood, 63 to Melbourne, 48 to Hawthorn and now this. The on-and-off-field worries for the northern club show no sign of abating.
Votes:
8: Ed Curnow (Carlton)
8: Zach Tuohy (Carlton)
7: Jacob Weitering (Carlton)
7: Sam Docherty (Carlton)
7: Mitch Robinson (Brisbane)