The AFL’s weirdest rivalry started the Fraser freight train. 31 years after THAT GF, it can get weirder

Given Carlton and Geelong have spent most of the 21st century at opposite ends of the ladder, their modern-day rivalry does not make a lot of sense.

Since the Blues thrashed the Cats by 61 points on Grand Final Day in 1995, the two sides have not met in a final.

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But they have played out some heart-stoppers in the 31 years in between September meetings.

The rivalry was dormant throughout much of the 2000s and 2010s as the Blues languished at the bottom of the ladder.

Geelong have even won 15 of 16 meetings under the roof at Marvel Stadium – which all came between 2002 and 2017 - with seven of those victories coming by 50 points or more.

But in recent times, Blues-Cats games have become unmissable contests with Carlton shaking things up by winning four of their last five meetings.

The AFL has shared the spotlight on their clashes as after Carlton were sent down the highway three years in a row from 2018 to 2020, their last seven meetings have been at the MCG.

Friday night’s sold-out elimination final will certainly set a new attendance record for games between the two clubs after 87,775 fans flooded into the home of football for a high-scorer thriller in Round 7, 2024.

Cats fans will hope for a repeat result to that Saturday twilight fixture.

Blues fans will hope for a repeat of their epic earlier in the season when Patrick Cripps snapped the winning goal in the dying minutes - the night, after two solid wins to start Josh Fraser’s run as coach, everyone began to realise Carlton was for real.

While the neutral fans will hope for more superstar showdowns and fiery moments like Carlton and Geelong have produced in the recent past.

MILBURN TAKES OUT SILVAGNI

Twenty-five years later Carlton supporters’ bad blood towards two-time Geelong premiership player Darren Milburn has not gone away.

It probably never will.

One a wet afternoon at Optus Oval in the final round of the 2001 season, Milburn made himself public enemy No.1 at Carlton’s spiritual home by taking out legendary Blue Stephen Silvagni.

When the full back of the century ran back with the flight in the final term, Milburn ran through him.

In scary scenes, Silvagni was knocked out cold, lying flat on his back on the half forward flank.

Despite their side being 71 points up at the time, Blues fans were rabid.

Milburn was reported and later suspended for three weeks for the incident.

But in the eyes of Blues fans there that day, the hit was not Milburn’s worst crime.

With tensions flaring in the dying minutes of what should have been an otherwise forgettable contest - with Carlton gearing up for an elimination final against Adelaide the following week and Geelong looking forward to their end of season trip – Milburn was whisked from the ground to try put out the spot fires.

Instead, the hard-nosed defender known as ‘Dasher’ decided to pour petrol all over the raging flame by sarcastically clapping and smiling at Carlton fans over the other side of the fence.

Outraged supporters were banging on the top of the interchange bench, and some even tried to jump the fence to confront Milburn, who needed police protection.

After the final siren, the then 24-year-old was escorted from the ground by security and to a car when leaving Optus Oval.

“I never expected the results that came from my clapping the crowd and I am now very sorry I did it,” Milburn said in a statement the following week.

As for the hit, a shirt front with the opposition player greatly exposed is a rare occurrence in the modern game.

But in the early 2000s, it was widely viewed as simply “part of footy”.

“I would have done the same thing every other time,” Milburn said in an interview two years after the incident.

“It’s just part of footy, and I’d expect someone in the same position to do exactly the same to me.”

In an episode of Open Mike with former Herald Sun chief football writer Mike Sheahan in 2012, Silvagni shared the same view.

”Look, I’ve got no issue. At the end of the day, what happens on the ground stays on the ground,” he said.

“What he did… in terms of the split second (decision) and what he did, it happened. What happened after that, with the clapping, if he had his time over again, he probably wouldn’t do it. We all make blues… we all make blues.”

RICCARDI GOAL AFTER THE SIREN

Speaking of blues, a year later under the roof at what was then Colonial Stadium, Carlton supporters still standby their belief that the umpires cost them a classic comeback.

After trailing by 37 points at the final break, Brendan Fevola inspired a massive Blues comeback to have Carlton in front by two points with less than a minute to go on the clock.

But then Peter Riccardi got the chance to live out every footy mad kid’s childhood dream.

The stylish left-footer put his after the siren kick from outside 50 through the big sticks to hand Geelong a four-point victory.

The only problem was that the Sherrin did not look to spin end over end and Carlton’s Simon Wiggins, who was standing the mark while a swarm of his teammates did their best Wiggles impressions to try distract Riccardi, was adamant he touched it.

“I actually didn’t watch the ball go through,” Wiggins told the Herald Sun’s Mark Robinson after the game.

“I turned straight to the umpire and said, ‘I touched it’, but he wasn’t convinced.

“It’s pretty disappointing ... I was trying to find a hole in the ground I could jump into.”

While Carlton coach Wayne Brittain told reporters in his post-match press conference that it was obvious the goal should not have stood.

“Riccardi has never kicked a floater in his life. He’s one of the best kicks in the game,” Brittain said.

“If a player tells you he touched the ball in a kick after the siren, then he honestly thinks he touched the ball.”

The Cats’ hero, meanwhile, offered his own explanation after the match.

“It was an ugly kick off the boot, but it had the distance,” Riccardi said.

“It came off the boot shocking, but I knew I had enough purchase on it because when you go back and you are kicking from 50-55, you have actually got to kick the footy, and I knew I got enough on it.”

It would not be the biggest kick in the guts for Carlton that season.

The Blues went on to claim the club’s first ever wooden spoon and after the season were hit with a near $1 million fine and had their first and second round draft picks stripped for historical salary cap breaches.

It would set the one-time powerhouse back years and during Carlton’s dark years, Riccardi did not hesitate to jokingly kick Blues fans while they were down about his after the siren goal.

“Simon Wiggins has said he was convinced he maybe got three or four fingers on it, but it still went through. I have no idea though, it was impossible to tell,” Riccardi said during a radio interview in 2017.

“But whenever I’m around Carlton supporters, I certainly like to say it was touched,” he added with a laugh.

CHAMPIONS MAKE THEIR MARK

While controversy reigned supreme when the two sides met shortly after the turn of the Millenium, the arrival of Chris Judd at Carlton coinciding with the emergence of Geelong as a true modern-day powerhouse set the stage for regular meetings of champions.

Before he departed for the Gold Coast, footy fans were treated to the two best players in the game at the time – Gary Ablett Jr and Judd - going head-to-head under Friday night lights.

Blues and Cats games have simply had a knack for superstars doing something special.

Despite a hamstring injury, Judd somehow picked up the ball with one hand and snapped truly on the run with his opposite foot.

Legendary caller Dennis Cometti said it best in the commentary box: “Judd, oh brilliant gather by the champ. Goes with the left. How does he manage this?”

Judd’s addition to his lengthy highlight reel would not lead to victory however as ruckman Robbie Warnock shanked a set shot from close range in the dying minutes to hand Geelong a two-point win.

Cats champion Joel Selwood had a match-winning moment against the Blues three years later.

With a little over a minute left on the clock, Selwood broke forward from a stoppage and goaled on the run from about 45 minutes out to break Blues’ hearts as the Cats prevailed by five points.

Their inspirational skipper had been subdued for much of the night, but he rose to the fore when it mattered most.

“Good players in big moments hang in there and Selwood finishing off was kind of what we come to expect from him in the end,” Geelong coach Chris Scott told reporters post-match.

“But that does not take away from the fact we were pretty fortunate.”

Speaking of inspirational captain’s, Patrick Cripps had his match-winning moment against the Cats earlier this year.

In the third game of Josh Fraser’s tenure, Cripps soared over the top of Cats superstar Jeremy Cameron – who enjoys facing the Blues having booted 22 goals in their last five meetings – to hang on to a big grab almost at the top of the goal square at the Punt Road End of the MCG.

Cripps then snapped truly to seize his opportunity and officially announce to the league that the Blues were back after their early season struggles.

“Sometimes you’ve just got to take your moment,” Cripps said post-match.

The two clubs’ best have sure known how to do that over the years and there will surely be a current star – perhaps Sam Walsh, Bailey Smith or Jagga Smith – will their team over the line on Friday night.

CATS WINS SPARK BLUES BELIEF

The added layer to the modern Blues-Cats rivalry is that until this year Carlton’s recent wins over Geelong have been a false dawn.

Carlton’s mosquito fleet sparked conversations about the Cats being too old and too slow with back-to-back wins at the MCG in 2009 and 2010.

The Blues had seemingly shown they had the ability to compete deep into September, but they crashed out in the elimination final in both years.

While the Cats went onto win the second of their three flags in five years in 2009 and made a preliminary final in 2010 before bouncing from Gary Ablett Jr’s departure to win another premiership in 2011.

Carlton would not beat Geelong again until 2016 – Brendon Bolton’s first year at Princes Park.

The Blues stunned the Cats by 19 points in Round 10 to pick up a fifth win in six games under their new coach.

Carlton would win just twice more for the season, while Geelong would go on to make yet another preliminary final.

The Blues’ next triumph would come in the eerie Covid times of 2020 at an empty Cattery in the second game back after the pandemic put the season on pause.

But Carlton’s season fizzled out to an 11th place finish as Geelong made the grand final.

Carlton’s most impressive home-and-away win of the Michael Voss turned out to be a tease too.

The Blues thrashed the Cats by 63 points in Round 15 of 2024 when both teams were battling for a top four place.

At the time, Carlton looked like the team that would host a preliminary final that September not Geelong.

Last year’s Round 7 Blues victory again teased a resurgence.

It was their third in a row after dropping their opening four games, but again later in the year it would be the Cats playing on Grand Final, not Carlton.

So far, Carlton’s win earlier this year appears to have bucked the trend.

Under Josh Fraser, the Blues have won 12 of 15 games.

Their stirring wildcard win against Melbourne has Carlton fans daring to dream of a stunning September run, and rivals worried about they can do.

But regardless of Friday night’s result, the future is bright for the Blues.

This time they will be hoping it is not another false dawn.

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