It would have been no real surprise, and certainly no disgrace, if Carlton had gone down to West Coast. The Eagles had been playing well and the Blues took a bare-boned team to Perth. They selected 11 players who had played fewer than 50 games, and very few who needed extra leg room on the flight back home.
It was a team almost unrecognisable from the Carlton of earlier in the year, the Carlton that drew four crowds of more than 80,000, the Carlton that dismantled Port Adelaide in 10 minutes, the Carlton that pulled off one of the great comebacks against Brisbane, the Carlton of Charlie Curnow, Harry McKay and Tom De Koning.
