Round 1, 1996

Carlton	5.3	33	9.6	60	14.11	85	16.13	109
Collingwood	2.2	14	6.7	43	9.13	67	12.15	87

Venue: MCG

Date: Sunday March 31, 1996

Result: Win by 22 points

Crowd: 70,152

Goalkickers: B.Pearce 4, S.Kernahan 3, G.Manton 2, S.Camporeale 2, E.Spalding 2, J.Murphy 1, B.Heaver 1, G.Williams 1.

Best: G.Manton, J.Madden, P.Dean, M.Hogg, B.Ratten, A.Hickmott, A.Christou, S.Silvagni.

Umpires: Mitchell, McKenzie, Sheahan

Reports: C.Kelly (Coll) striking G.Williams - cleared, J.Hassall (Coll) charging - 1 week.

Injuries: Nil

Game Review

Carlton rolled into Season 1996 as it had ended Season 1995, after unfurling their flag – supreme, strong, and on the back of the forward efforts of Stephen Kernahan and Brad Pearce, who would kick 7 goals, 6 between them. The Blues shot to the lead early, kicking the first 3 goals and were able to hold the Pies at bay throughout the game, in one of those matches that seemed to always sit at a 3 goal margin.

Former Tiger Justin Murphy set out to impress in his first game at Carlton, knocking up 19 possessions, one goal and 7 tackles, something he seemed to only be able to achieve against Collingwood (on 3 occasions- including both meetings in 2002). Also in the team for his first game was Adrian Hickmott, the former Cat and one of our opponents in Carlton’s previous game, the 1995 Grand Final.

Other than these changes, it was business as usual for the Blues – Stephen Silvagni, Michael Sexton, Peter Dean & Glenn Manton leading the defence, Greg Williams, Brett Ratten, Scott Camporeale and Anthony Koutoufides in the midfield and the Pearce / Kernahan / Spalding combination up forward, making the most of their opportunities.

Team

B:	32 Adrian Whitehead	1 Stephen Silvagni	14 Michael Sexton
HB:	9 Adrian Hickmott	35 Peter Dean	39 Ang Christou
C:	16 Scott Camporeale	2 Greg Williams	43 Anthony Koutoufides
HF:	22 Glenn Manton	11 Earl Spalding	23 Dean Rice
F:	19 Brad Pearce	4 Stephen Kernahan (c)	17 Brent Heaver
Ruck:	44 Justin Madden	7 Brett Ratten	33 Matthew Hogg
Interchange:	18 Justin Murphy	15 Tony Lynn	24 Matthew Allan
Coach:	David Parkin