1. Rohan hospitalised with sickening concussion
Swans speedster Gary Rohan's day went from bad to horrible in the third term, when his two-disposal afternoon faded into insignificance when he was knocked out cold after landing on the back of his neck in a sickening incident. Rohan had courageously run with the flight of the ball when he had an aerial collision with big Blue Sam Rowe. The 25-year-old laid motionless for some time and play was held up for five minutes as Swans medical staff treated the unconscious Rohan and carefully placed him on a motorised cart to remove him from the field. Rohan later regained full movement and was cleared of any serious injury, but was taken to hospital as a precaution. Teammate Heath Grundy was later assessed for concussion.
2. Blues condemn Swans to unflattering League record
By virtue of Carlton's heroics, the Swans have plummeted to the worst start to a season ever after a Grand Final appearance. The previous worst effort was 0-5, shared by Collingwood in 1959 side and Richmond in 1983. It's a remarkable turn of events given Sydney boasted 14 players from their 2016 Grand Final side and they entered the game as hot favourite after Carlton's 90-point loss to Port Adelaide. In doing so, the Blues also ended a seven-game hoodoo against the Swans, who appear completely bereft of confidence.
3. The Wright stuff
Ex-Crow Matthew Wright has certainly made an impact since becoming a Blue. He won Carlton's goalkicking award in his first season for the club last year and the 27-year-old ignited the Blues at the 'G. Wright slotted each of his four goals in the space of about 30 minutes of game time. He got the ball rolling with a banana goal in the second term, before exploding with three in the third quarter, including two opportunistic snaps, one of them from near the boundary. And he dished off a handball to Charlie Curnow for the sealer nine minutes in the final term.
4. Buddy's golden run against the Blues ends
In his previous eight games against Carlton, Franklin had tallied 38.16 – slotting at least four goals on each occasion – and amassing 15 Brownlow votes. 'Buddy' appeared set for another big day when he racked up five touches in first five minutes, but there was little to cheer about for the big fella after that, apart from a lovely angle goal from long range on the run early in the second term. However it was still an eventful game for the Swans superstar. He gave away a free kick before the first bounce for making high contact with opponent Rowe, an incident that will at least be looked at by the Match Review Panel. Franklin spent the latter part of the first term off the field with an apparent left shoulder issue.
5. Blues unveil another Silvagni
Ex-Dockers defender Alex Silvagni played his first game for Carlton after his second cousin Stephen Silvagni – the Blues list manager – threw him a lifeline in the rookie draft. The 29-year-old Victorian, who made 53 appearances for Freo in seven seasons before being delisted, battled hard in the back half and at times matched up on Franklin, earning great applause after disarming the champ three times in quick succession early in the third term. Meanwhile, his third cousin Jack copped a heavy knock in the second term and left the field with a shoulder injury and didn't return. Earlier, Blues fans were quite rightly asking how young Silvagni didn't get a free kick in the goalsquare for interference after Swans backman Heath Grundy made contact while not looking at the ball.
