The stars of the Sydney Swans, such as Charlie Curnow, Isaac Heeney and Chad Warner, show the gap to the Carlton Blues as the reset begins for Michael Voss and his side

For the third time in their history, seven players took to the field with Carlton shooting for the first time in a team that has made 13 changes from the last team in 2025.

The blue-collar Blues were up against the star power of the Swans as the two philosophies clashed.

But when Carlton scored their second goal of the third quarter and increased their lead to 22 points, it looked as if a goal might come out of the blue.

Curnow barely touched the ball. Ainsworth and Hayward had scored. Opener Harry Dean was playing deep in defence, proving that Deepdene was not just a leafy suburb of Melbourne. Carlton’s contested possession advantage was wider than Sydney Harbour’s and Isaac Heeney had just returned from a head injury assessment.

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Then everything changed.

In and around the middle of the stop, the situation changed. The shift was led by star draft pick Chad Warner, who ran riot with two new recruits from the academy, Heeney and Errol Gulden.

Carlton lost his shape during the competition. Although the change they had been working on in the off-season was evident in the first half, old habits re-emerged as players retreated into football and there were players with the time and space to wreak havoc in the shootout in Sydney when they failed to win.

Curnow set the stands on fire with his first goal and the Swans showed that quality and athleticism will prevail in the modern game where transitional football is king.

Carlton couldn’t make it. They had spent their tickets. They looked shocked. The effects of the 13 changes are starting to be seen. Sydney scored 12 goals in the quarter. The prime ministerial district, which had been Carlton’s property a century ago, was in their hands.

Curnow would not have made any difference to the Blues’ fortunes even if he had stayed as the ball never went beyond the centre.

Warner was the difference maker. He handled the slippery ball better than his teammates, who appeared to be holding water in the first quarter.

He was very fast and clean, he was an inside and outside player in one shot. There are many players in Sydney with that capacity.

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The Blues, by contrast, have players who are all inside and all outside, apart from Sam Walsh. They too had some fumbles when the pressure was off.

Smith will be a star but they will have to pay more for Cody Walker in the national draft than the Swans are paying their captain and vice-captain.

Sydney’s superb third quarter was built on centre-frame goals, line-breaking runs and angle-changing handballs; They became the third team in the history of the game to score more than 10 goals in one quarter and not score in another quarter in the same game.

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Carlton have limited horsepower but with a change in direction players will be sought who can excel in the modern game.

The market was right.

Sydney is once again among the candidates and Curnow has a chance of capturing the port city’s premiership which has eluded both Tony Lockett and Lance Franklin.

Both can gain from the deal, but results will take time at Carlton as Florent certainly understood this when he told Sydney captain Callum Mills what he thought of chasing victory at all costs after the siren sounded.

The Blues’ season starts in the first round. Their transformation as a football club began in October.

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