AFL LIVE updates: Blues-Cats blockbuster off to hot start; St Kilda’s Higgins whacked with three-game ban

Max Holmes is the leading possession winner on the ground (17), days after signing a four-year extension. He now adds a goal to his name, a fine set-shot conversion. The Cats are 7-1 with set shots in front of goal. As for the Blues, the less said, the better.

Wow – this is worthy of being a classic grand final. Charlie, that is, Charlie Curnow gets in on the act with his first goal of the evening, having marked just inside the boundary in the left forward pocket. He snaps successfully. The Blues close to within six points, six minutes until the main change.

Ollie Henry appears to make over the point line, but a replay clears the mark as legal, giving the young Cat a chance to score. That he does, snapping a fine left-foot shot, extending the Cats’ lead to two goals.

Brodie Kemp has gone to Jeremy Cameron, Kemp with the ability to match Cameron’s run.

The Blues have closed the gap to six points, thanks to a fine goal from former Sun, Elijah Hollands.

His goal prompted dual North Melbourne premiership player David King to label him a “star on the rise”, who will have a “profound” influence on the Blues’ premiership push. His brother is pictured below.

Tom De Koning is now back on the bench. We’ll keep a close eye on whether he returns to the field.

Dangerfield is playing a blinder, clearly keen to show the Cats are the real deal this season.

The Cats extend their lead to 18 points after a Tyson Stengle goal.

Meanwhile, Blues’ bigman Tom De Koning has gone into the dressingroom after a heavy hit just before quarter-time when he crashed to the turf, hitting his head. De Koning may be undergoing a concussion test.

Our man Danny Russell at the MCG gives us this expert insight:

This is not a good weekend to try and take the mark of the year. Both Cam Guthrie and Patrick Dangerfield have made decent attempts, but still haven’t gone close to Jamie Elliott’s Anzac Day screamer. How could they?

Guthrie plucked a sweet one-hander in his first game back in 12 months, jumping high on Carlton’s Matthew Cottrell. His resulting kick landed in the hands of Jeremy Cameron who kicked the game’s first goal.

Dangerfield has started forward and stretched the Blues’ defence with his strength, pace and marking prowess. He leapt high over a pack, but it wasn’t Elliott high. Sorry, Danger.

Carlton has dominated the clearance – 13 to 5 – through the ruck dominance of Marc Pittonet and Tom De Koning, but have let themselves down with midfield turnovers and woeful kicking at goal.

Geelong’s pressure and tackling have been hot and as a result the Blues have turned the ball over multiple times between the arcs.

Geelong are then able to rebound with such pace it is catching out the Carlton defence. The Cats have kicked goals through Cameron, Mark Blicavs, Dangerfield, Gryan Miers and Zach Tuohy.

The Blues on the other hand have butchered the ball in front of the sticks, kicking 2.8 and one out on the full.
An even, tight contest is not reflected on the scoreboard.