Sydney’s season has come to an end at the hands of Carlton in a thrilling elimination final at the MCG on Friday night. 

The Swans were 29-points down at half time and clawed their way back in the second half but fell just short at the final siren. Sydney will rue missed opportunities in front of goal, kicking 9.14, including 1.5 in the opening term.

Carlton led from start to finish, but could never clinically put the Swans away before outlasting last year’s Grand Finalists to win its first final since 2013, booking a semi-final with Melbourne after closing out the 11.8 (74) to 9.14 (68) win in front of a crowd of 92,026.

After kicking just two goals in the opening half, Sydney kicked seven goals to four after half-time, with a goal from Hayden McLean in the final minute ensuring the game went down to the death before Nic Newman took a contested mark just before the final siren to end Sydney’s final charge towards goal. 

Sam Walsh rolled up his sleeves and was immense in the middle alongside Blake Acres, George Hewett and Adam Cerra, who helped Carlton win the crucial midfield battle in a game of warfare.

It took the best part of ten minutes for Sydney to settle after a shaky start. Errol Gulden made Nic Newman pay for turning over a kick-in when the All-Australian wingman slotted the Swans’ first from just inside 50, but Sydney didn’t take its chances. 

Callum Mills, Sam Wicks and Joel Amartey all missed opportunities, before McKay somehow hit the post from three metres out after collecting the ball on the run out the back. Fortunately, Matt Cottrell got some reward for effort deep in time-on to give the Blues a nine-point lead at quarter-time after Chad Warner missed a shot after the siren. 

The ARC intervened early in the second quarter after Matt Owies nearly wasted another opportunity from an unmissable angle when he ran into an open goal, started to handball towards Curnow but then kicked a ball that hit the goal umpire, however, the ball had cleared the line to confirm Carlton’s fourth. 

By the time rain started to fall late in the second quarter, the Blues were on course for victory when Jack Martin kicked Carlton’s third goal of the quarter, although Amartey gave the Swans a feint pulse just before the main break, kicking Sydney’s only goal of the second term. It was always going to be a long way back for a side that has come from a long way back in 2023. 

Just when the game could have been beyond Sydney’s reach, Gulden caressed a shot from the pocket on the run that silenced the crowd and kept the Swans in with a glimmer of hope. When Logan McDonald kicked two in a minute the margin was reduced to 11 points and last year’s Grand Finalists had all the momentum.

Carlton then hit back with back-to-back goals of their own to swing the momentum back their way.

With the superior finals experience, Sydney refused to recede into the off-season however, and Carlton’s lack of big game exposure was on display, most clearly in the last quarter when Brodie Kemp and Tom De Koning made a meal of a moment deep in defence, allowing Luke Parker to reduce the margin to single digits. 

Gulden almost made it a one-kick game with 10 minutes to play but the ARC stepped in for a third time, and for a third time it went Carlton’s way after Acres was judged to have got a fingertip on the Sherrin, before the West Australian kicked Carlton’s last goal to seal the deal.

The Swans fought all the way to the final siren with a Hayden McLean goal making it a one-goal game with 25 seconds left on the clock. The Blues were able to hold the ball in the contest as the seconds ticked away however and hung on to book a spot in the Semi-Final next week.

CARLTON    3.2    7.5     10.6     11.8    (74)
SYDNEY      1.5     2.6      7.9      9.14    (68)

GOALS
Carlton:   Cottrell 2, Martin 2, Owies, Docherty, Curnow, Cuningham, Cripps, Cerra, Acres
Sydney:  McDonald 2, Gulden 2, Parker 2, Hayward, Amartey, Hayward

BEST
Carlton:  Walsh, Acres, Cerra, Cottrell, Saad, Hewett, Newman
Sydney:   Gulden, Mills, McCartin, Parker, Blakey

INJURIES
Carlton:  Newman (nose), McKay (TBC)
Sydney:  Heeney (nose)

SUBSTITUTES
Carlton:  Jesse Motlop (replaced Harry McKay at three-quarter time)
Sydney:  Robbie Fox (replaced Joel Amartey in the fourth quarter)

Crowd: 92,026 at the MCG