The Giants are learning the hard way — not that they have any choice — about what to expect in the big time, losing 29.9 (183) to 4.2 (26).
GWS had 10 17-year-olds in its squad of 26, with captain Dylan Shiel one of those.
For a short time in the second quarter, Carlton captain Chis Judd lined up on a wing on the Giants' Gerald Ugle, who turned 18 last month.
Mostly, Shiel played on Judd, and acquitted himself well, showing poise and leadership.
Others to show something for the Giants included defender Curtly Hampton and midfielder Steve Clifton, who at 23 was one of the oldest in the team.
The two other 23-year-olds were ruckman Jonathon Giles, who took a few strong marks, and Marcus Crook, a defender from Canberra club Ainslie who was brought in as a ring-in and did quite well, throwing himself headlong at the ball before his lack of AFL conditioning found him out.
The Giants' inexperience was especially visible when Carlton bombed long to 206cm Robbie Warnock in attack.
Warnock stuck his long arms into the air and marked with ease. His four goals were all from grabs at the top of the goal square.
The Giants' key defender, 17-year-old Jack Hombsch, persisted in his efforts to curb Warnock, as well as Levi Casboult, who rotated between the ruck and the key forward post, but the lack of pressure on the Blues showed in the fact that they kicked only nine behinds in such a huge score.
Giants coach Kevin Sheedy took the positive from his team's performance.
"We kicked more goals than we did last week against the Suns," he said.
His target for his team was eight goals but he was not too fussed about falling short. "We just told them, 'Take out of the game what you can. Then throw it in he bin and move on.' "
Carlton's best included Marc Murphy, who scythed through the centre square on his way to 30 possessions, and Chris Yarran, who did as he liked while floating across half-back in the first half before being rested.
Judd took a while to warm up but showed a few trademark breakaways before sitting out the last quarter. He played about 60 per cent of the game.
Rookie-listed Zach Tuohy showed plenty of dash off a wing and half-back, while Ed Curnow picked up his share of possessions. Andrew Collins (ex-Richmond) and Jeremy Laidler (Geelong) showed enough, especially early, to suggest they'll be excellent acquisitions.
Blues coach Brett Ratten was not complaining about the fact that his team had to play such an overwhelmed opponent. "You have the opportunity to win the first round of the NAB Cup and we lost," he said.
He was happy to give game time to young players such as Tuohy and Matt Watson, the Blues' first-round draft pick in 2010, whose accuracy over 50m was a treat.
The game was also an opportunity to ease Judd, Collins and Jeff Garlett into the season after interrupted preparations.
Carlton was missing Andrew Walker, Jordan Russell, Kade Simpson, Matt Kreuzer, Kane Lucas, Lachie Henderson, Jarrad Waite, Ryan Houlihan and Andrew Carrazzo from its best line-up.
Greater Western Sydney 1.0 3.1 4.1 4.2 (26)
Carlton 5.3 16.6 26.7 29.9 (183)
GOALS
Carlton: Betts 6, Thornton 5, Warnock 4, Yarran 2, Judd 2, Kerr 2, Scotland, Murphy, Casboult, Carter, Laidler, Gibbs, Duigan, Armfield
GWS: Crook, Cameron, Stevens, Tunbridge.
BEST
Carlton: Murphy, Yarran, Betts, Scotland, Collins, Warnock, Laidler, Thornton, Tuohy
GWS: Shiel, Hampton, Clifton, Giles, Crook
Injuries
Carlton: Nil
GWS: Nil
Crowd: 5991 at Manuka Oval, Canberra
The views expressed in this article are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the AFL or its clubs
