Carlton Dominates West Coast Early in AFL Round 16 Match at Docklands

The siren sounds at Docklands and that's a very good quarter for Carlton - but it could have been better!

The Blues are dominating, with double the number of disposals of West Coast, and it's showing up across the board.

The Blues have had plenty of chances, and while they've kicked six - including a late one to Patrick Cripps - they've left a few on the table.

West Coast will need to raise their game here, or this could start getting late really early.

What did we just say?

The Blues intercepted the ball and won a clearance, fed the ball inside 50, and George Hewett was in place to kick his second!

The Blues are looking comfortable and confident here at Docklands. They have five on the board already.

The Blues have double the inside 50s (12-6) of the Eagles, and one of the reasons for that is the clearance numbers.

Carlton has 12 clearances to West Coast's four so far, and five centre clearances to two.

The Eagles will need to try and narrow that gap here.

There's plenty going on here for both teams, some to and fro.

And now we have some fro, after a couple of West Coast goals, the Blues break and hit inside 50. It comes off hands and Francis Evans grabs it and snaps a nice goal from 30m out.

We're halfway through the first term, and we've had four goals to two in Carlton's favour. What's next?

And the Eagles get another!

They've been under the pump for a lot of this quarter, but it's their two young guns - first Harley Reid, and now Willem Duursma - who get them back in the contest.

Duursma showed composure there, slipping over but regathering himself to kick the Eagles' second.

It's back to just over a goal.

All right, that's better from the Eagles!

The defence has been having issues, so maybe try and attack instead.

West Coast win the centre clearance through Bailey Williams tap to Harley Reid. The Eagles star runs away and bangs one through from inside the arc!

That's a team-lifter there!

Josh Fraser would be very happy with how his team has started. The Blues are up and about, and moving the ball well.

They shift it inside 50 again, and it's Mitch McGovern who turns up to finish it. Two goals in pretty quick time for the home side.

The Eagles are struggling early to get the ball into the attacking half, and Carlton's defence is up to it.

The Blues intercepted and went forward, but a poor hospital handball left Patrick Cripps in strife, and he was wrapped up in a great tackle by Harley Reid!

The two number nines weren't keen to stop the wrestle, but the Eagles went away with the ball. Good play from Reid, but a missed chance for the Blues.

R14, 2025: Carlton by 34 (Perth Stadium)

R5, 2025: Carlton by 71 (Adelaide Oval)

R23, 2024: Carlton by 65 (Perth Stadium)

R19, 2023: Carlton by 71 (Docklands)

R7, 2023: Carlton by 108 (Perth Stadium)

R17, 2022: Carlton by 63 (Perth Stadium)

The Blues have dominated this matchup, winning the last six encounters by margins ranging from big to huge.

However the previous seven meetings were all won by West Coast.

With the way the Eagles have begun to play at times this season, they might have fancied their chances. But Carlton are taking the "new coach bounce" to new heights, with five in a row under interim coach Josh Fraser.

There are no late changes for either side, and you can check out how the teams look in the line-ups above.

It's not exactly unexpected, but the Blues have made no changes from the team that beat GWS for their fifth straight win under interim coach Josh Fraser.

On the West Coast side, however, there are a number of outs.

Midfielder Tim Kelly misses through hamstring tightness, while the trio of Tom Gross, Josh Lindsay and Harvey Johnston are omitted.

There's some quality in the ins, though: Jack Graham, Willem Duursma, Tom McCarthy and Jack Hutchinson

Hello, good afternoon and welcome to ABC's live online coverage of round 16 of the AFL.

We have another three games today, starting in Melbourne with Carlton hosting West Coast at Docklands.

Next up is a clash at the MCG, with Collingwood taking on Richmond.

And we're leaving the best till last, with the focus turning tonight to the City of Churches, with Port Adelaide hosting the Crows in Showdown 60 at Adelaide Oval.

My name is Andrew McGarry, and I will be taking you through the opening part of today, before handing over later to my friend and colleague Luke Pentony.

Let's get into it!