Despite a second half comeback, the Sydney Swans have fallen short against the in-form Blues at Marvel Stadium on Friday night.
The Swans cut the deficit to 8 points in the final quarter after being down by 38 points at half time but the Blues dug deep in the final stages of the rollercoaster clash to win by 15 points - 15.12 (102) to 13.9 (87).
Tom Papley and Logan McDonald were both lively in the Swans forward half with 3 goals each and Luke Parker was busy as usual with 26 disposals.
John Longmire lamented the Swans' second term as the key point in the contest, but was otherwise satisfied with his side's effort against the Blues.
"Our second quarter we went down by 39 points but we won the other three quarters, won the inside 50 count 37-16 in the second half and didn't have the last finishing bit that we needed and required in that last quarter," he said.
"It felt like we were coming home really hard and to our players' credit they didn't give up at half-time even though Carlton was fantastic in that second quarter."
"We came home hard in that second half, we just couldn't quite execute particularly that last quarter."
Swans veteran Josh Kennedy is set for a long stint on the sidelines after suffering a hamstring injury.
Kennedy was substituted out of the game in the second term with the injury.
"They said it was a bad hamstring. I don't think there's ever such thing as a good hamstring but if they say it's a bad hamstring it's going to be quite a few weeks you'd imagine," Swans coach John Longmire said post-game.
