
No mercy from Lions as Carlton's woes continue
The Blues went goalless for a 40-minute period from late in the second quarter and the reigning premiers romped to a 15.13 (103) to 9.12 (66) victory at Marvel Stadium on Thursday night.
Brisbane's Josh Dunkley (28 disposals, 13 tackles) was awarded the inaugural Robert Walls Medal, struck in honour of the dual-club great, who died in May.
The only sore point for the Lions (12-4-1) was Noah Answerth's left achilles injury, which led to the defender's substitution before halftime.
Lachie Neale (31 disposals), Dayne Zorko (28) and Will Ashcroft (28) were all influential and Charlie Cameron (three majors) led a group of 11 Brisbane goal-kickers.
A fourth straight loss poured more heat on Carlton and Voss in a tough period for the under-fire coach, who was the subject of a death threat last week.
The Blues trailed 20-0 after just nine minutes in a poor start headlined by one comical passage of play.
A Nick Haynes kick fell in Cam Rayner's lap when target Lachie Cowan collided with umpire Andrew Heffernan, and Rayner set up a Charlie Cameron goal.
The inside-50 count at one point was 14-2 in Brisbane's favour before the Blues worked their way into the contest.
Marc Pittonet gave them a lift with a 60-metre barrel that sailed through after the quarter-time siren, and the Lions led 5.4 to 3.3.
Pittonet was then part of the defence that bizarrely failed to touch a Will Ashcroft shot on the goal line in the second term, but responded by kicking his second major.
That and a 50-metre penalty against Zac Bailey, which gifted Patrick Cripps a goal, helped the Blues trim the margin to 12 points.
But defender Matt Carroll was twice caught in possession, directly leading to a pair of Brisbane goals, as they widened the gap in the blink of an eye.
A 30-point buffer at halftime grew to 52 by the final change as the Blues lost Orazio Fantasia to a hamstring injury and conceded a run of seven consecutive goals.
Carlton captain Cripps (26 disposals, nine clearances) and George Hewett (33, nine) battled against the tide, while spearhead Charlie Curnow went goalless for a fourth straight week.
Tom De Koning, who is weighing up a huge contract offer from St Kilda, received Bronx cheers from Blues fans and finished with one goal from 14 disposals playing predominantly in attack.

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