Brisbane star Josh Dunkley delivers classy message to beaten Carlton players
Dunkley racked up 28 possessions (14 contested), 13 tackles and six marks in a brilliant performance that won him the inaugural Robert Walls Medal.
Walls, 74, died in May following a battle with cancer.
Carlton and Brisbane loom large in his football career. The centre half-forward was a three-time premiership player at Carlton from 1968-72 and also coached the Blues to the '87 premiership.
Walls coached Brisbane from 1991-95 and was a pivotal figure in club history, helping turn them around from the 'Bad News Bears' to their first finals appearance.
Dunkley was judged best afield and presented the medal by Walls' son Daniel.
'Firstly, I just want to say thank you, it is an absolute honour to win the first one of these,' he told Daniel and the crowd from the podium.
Channel 7 commentator Kane Cornes also paid tribute to Walls.
'What a moment that is with Daniel ... No more popular figure than Wallsy in this game. For both clubs and one of the best media performers that I've ever seen. A huge loss to the game,' he said.
Dunkley then spoke to Channel 7 and immediately sympathised with the Carlton players, who were left to lament another loss.
'Carlton have been so strong this year and the way they are still backing up after all of the pressure on them,' he said.
'A great night for us, but at the same time I feel for boys because they are trying their absolute hearts out.'
Carlton's horror run continued with the 37-point loss as embattled coach Michael Voss desperately seeks to release a pressure valve.
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.
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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