1. Menzel aggravates a dicky knee
The knee sagas of the Menzel brothers – Carlton's Troy and Geelong's Daniel – are well known, and in the first term against the Suns it seemed another sad chapter was about to be written. The talented 20-year-old entered the game with his right knee heavily strapped and Blues fans had their hearts in their mouths when he hobbled to the bench. After being assessed for a considerable period, during which substitute Nick Holman warmed up, Menzel returned to the field in the second term, with more strapping, and understandably wasn't quite himself. At one point he had a set shot from 35m that went across the face and didn't make the distance. Menzel was subbed off late in the third quarter.

2. Raines reported
Just as the game appeared to be petering out to a tame conclusion with Carlton five goals clear, things fired up. Young Blue Patrick Cripps was on his haunches just 30m from goal and a scuffle ensued, after which Suns tagger Andrew Raines was reported for striking Cripps to the stomach. Cripps missed the set shot from the resultant free kick. The incident seemed to breathe new life into the contest, albeit briefly, with the Suns edging back to within 24 points before Andrejs Everitt iced the game with his third goal.

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3. Blues attack from the back
After eight minutes Carlton led 2.1 to nil and it seemed a blowout result might eventuate, but the Suns responded with five of the next six goals and suddenly the Blues needed a spark. It came from dashing half-backs Zach Tuohy and Chris Yarran, who both waxed with teammates before drilling superb running goals just 90 seconds apart to level the scores. Dennis Armfield and Lachie Henderson also slotted majors in a four-goal burst in just six minutes in which the Blues had 31 disposals to the Suns' two. Another pacy Blues backman, Dylan Buckley, hammered home a 60m goal on the run in the third term.

4.The Suns go bang-bang
Early in the third term the Suns trailed by 20 points – a game-high deficit to that stage – but they were back within eight points seemingly in the blink of an eye. The combative Charlie Dixon kicked his third goal, prompting some push-and-shove that resulted in an immediate free kick, and a soft one at that, to Dixon's forward partner Tom Lynch for holding. Lynch slotted his third, to the boos of angry Carlton fans. Lynch had been instrumental in getting the Suns back into the game in the first term when he kicked two quick goals. The Suns' forward duo was stretching the Blues, so it was a major disappointment when Dixon was subbed off late in the third term with a left ankle problem. Lynch finished with a game-high four goals.

5. The old, dark, bruising Blues
Last round Carlton star Bryce Gibbs received a two-game suspension for his brutal sling tackle that concussed Port Adelaide star Robbie Gray, but the Blues vowed to continue their aggressive attack on the ball carrier, which has been a central focus under interim coach John Barker. Early in the second term came a moment of truth when Blues backman Sam Docherty applied a version of the sling tackle on Kade Kolodjashnij. The young Sun was buried over the boundary line but regained his feet immediately without any ill effects.