Injury carnage as Blues beat Eagles in the wet
Star Carlton forward Charlie Curnow suffered a calf scare and West Coast captain Oscar Allen went down with what looked to be a painful knee injury in Carlton's 34-point AFL win over the Eagles in Perth.
The Blues kicked 10 of the first 11 goals of Sunday's match to set up the 12.14 (86) to 7.10 (52) victory in wet and slippery conditions at Optus Stadium.
Carlton improved their season record to 6-7, a massive improvement from their 0-4 start to the season.
There was plenty of injury drama in the final quarter, starting with Allen crumpling to the turf in pain behind play.
Allen looked to be favouring his heavily-strapped left knee as he slowly hobbled to the bench with the help of two trainers.
Eagles defender Harry Edwards, who damaged his shoulder earlier in the match, went off a short time later with a hamstring injury.
Allen is a high-profile restricted free agent, and is being heavily chased by Hawthorn and Brisbane.
But if his knee injury is serious, it would heavily affect his bargaining power for either a new deal at West Coast or a fresh start elsewhere.
Carlton's official line was that Curnow had suffered calf tightness, and the key forward did his best to play down any concerns after the match.
"It's fine," Curnow told Fox Footy.
"I've never really had a soft tissue before. I had a bit of awareness ... so we'll see how we go.
"It looks like it's going to be pretty fine. So I look forward to getting out against North Melbourne next week.
"You've just got to be really careful with those things."
Fellow star forward Harry McKay missed his second straight game with a knee issue, while gun midfielder Sam Walsh is out for five to six weeks after a hot spot in his foot was discovered on Friday.
Nic Newman (knee), No.3 draft pick Jagga Smith (knee) and Brodie Kemp (achilles) are already out for the rest of the season.
Blues ruck-forward Hudson O'Keeffe went down with a hamstring injury in the second half.
George Hewett racked up 35 disposals and seven clearances for Carlton, while Lachie Fogarty and Mitch McGovern kicked three goals apiece.
Harley Reid battled hard for West Coast with 28 possessions and five clearances.
But he could come under scrutiny for a swinging elbow that connected to the head of Lachie Fogarty after being chased down by the Carlton forward.
The Blues made harder than it needed to be 😅#AFLEaglesBlues pic.twitter.com/lr0Ri8pj1b
— AFL (@AFL) June 15, 2025
Eagles debutant Tom McCarthy, who was snared with pick No.1 in the mid-season rookie draft, was arguably his team's best with 31 disposals and 571 metres gained, while Bailey Williams kicked three goals.
West Coast's defence was simply overwhelmed in the first quarter as Carlton unleashed wave after wave of attacks in the slippery conditions.
Fogarty cashed in with three goals, while Mitch McGovern, Curnow, Tom De Koning and Zac Williams also got on the goal sheet in a 46-7 romp.
Hewett and Patrick Cripps combined for 22 disposals in the first quarter.
In contrast, West Coast had a whopping 11 players with two possessions or less to their name.
"We were pathetic in the contest," West Coast coach Andrew McQualter said of the first-quarter flop.
The lead raced out to 57 points midway through the second quarter before West Coast finally put up a fight.
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