2026 AFL Season Round 1: Sydney v Carlton

This is the match report for the match played on 5 March 2026 between Sydney and Carlton during round one of the 2026 season of the Australian Football League. Sydney hosted Carlton at the SCG. Callum Mills captained the hosts with Isaac Heeney as vice-captain. Patrick Cripps captained the visitors. The hosts were coached by Dean Cox and the visitors were coached by Michael Voss.

Sydney (20.12.132) defeated Carlton (10.9.69).

Match Details

Season: 2026 AFL Season
Round: Round 1
Teams: Sydney v Carlton
Date: Thursday 5 March 2026
Time: 7:30 PM
Venue: SCG
Attendance: 40,372

Match Results

Outcome: Sydney def. Carlton
Score: 20.12.132 - 10.9.69

Quarter Breakdown

Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Final
Sydney 0 . 3 2 . 6 14 . 9 20 . 12 20 . 12 (132)
Carlton 2 . 2 4 . 4 8 . 6 10 . 9 10 . 9 (69)
Margin CARL by 11 CARL by 10 SYDN by 39 SYDN by 63 SYDN by 63
Duration 28:27 29:28 40:59 31:31 2:10:25

Score Worm

This chart is oriented such that the margin is positive when the hosts (Sydney) are in the lead and is negative when the visitors (Carlton) are in the lead.

Honour Roll

Sydney

Captain: Callum Mills
Vice-Captain: Isaac Heeney
Coach: Dean Cox

Carlton

Captain: Patrick Cripps
Coach: Michael Voss

Brownlow Votes

Player Team # Votes
Justin McInerney SYDN 27 3
Errol Gulden SYDN 21 2
Brodie Grundy SYDN 4 1

AFLCA Champion Votes

Player Team # Votes 5 4 3 2 1

Player Statistics

Sydney

# Player Pos. ToG% GL BH DI KI HB MK HO TA CL CR FF FA RF IF
36 Amartey, Joel FPL 75% 3 1 7 6 1 4 2 1 0 2 2 0 0 2
26 Bice, Riley WL 86% 0 0 16 11 5 5 0 3 0 5 1 2 1 1
22 Blakey, Nick CHB 88% 0 0 21 12 9 3 0 1 0 6 0 2 4 5
35 Curnow, Charlie FF 77% 3 2 10 10 0 3 0 2 0 2 2 1 0 1
4 Grundy, Brodie RU 79% 1 0 16 5 11 2 46 4 3 5 1 2 2 3
21 Gulden, Errol RR 82% 0 2 27 16 11 3 0 11 5 6 1 0 2 8
5 Heeney, Isaac (vc) FPR 77% 2 0 20 10 10 3 0 8 6 6 1 2 0 5
17 Jordon, James INT 79% 0 0 16 7 9 4 0 2 1 3 0 1 3 1
44 Lloyd, Jake HFFR 82% 0 0 18 8 10 6 0 0 0 2 0 0 2 2
30 McCartin, Tom FB 94% 0 0 16 3 13 4 0 0 1 3 0 0 3 0
6 McDonald, Logan INT 69% 1 0 11 4 7 2 0 2 2 4 2 1 0 1
27 McInerney, Justin C 88% 3 1 32 16 16 5 0 3 3 3 1 1 0 6
43 Melican, Lewis HBFL 85% 0 0 7 4 3 1 0 1 0 1 2 0 0 2
14 Mills, Callum (c) BPL 72% 0 1 25 10 15 3 0 0 0 4 0 1 4 2
11 Papley, Tom INT 57% 1 1 9 4 5 1 0 3 0 2 0 1 1 1
24 Rampe, Dane BPR 81% 0 0 14 6 8 0 0 3 1 1 1 1 3 0
34 Roberts, Matt WR 80% 2 1 18 12 6 5 0 1 1 0 0 0 3 4
10 Rosas, Malcolm HFFL 67% 1 0 10 4 6 0 0 3 0 1 1 1 0 1
8 Rowbottom, James CHF 77% 1 0 20 11 9 1 0 9 7 3 2 2 4 3
13 Serong, Jai HBFR 84% 0 0 19 10 9 2 0 5 2 4 1 1 2 3
12 Sheldrick, Angus INT 56% 1 0 23 13 10 1 0 1 3 5 1 1 2 6
1 Warner, Chad RO 83% 1 3 20 16 4 3 0 2 4 2 0 2 1 8
15 Wicks, Sam INT 84% 0 0 9 5 4 3 0 2 1 3 0 1 2 2
Rushed 0
Total (23 players) 20 12 384 203 181 64 48 67 40 73 19 23 39 67

Carlton

# Player Pos. ToG% GL BH DI KI HB MK HO TA CL CR FF FA RF IF
12 Ainsworth, Ben HFFL 74% 2 0 14 7 7 3 0 1 1 2 0 0 0 3
31 Chesser, Campbell WR 75% 0 0 17 8 9 5 0 2 0 3 1 2 2 0
9 Cripps, Patrick (c) C 80% 0 1 19 8 11 2 0 3 4 4 1 3 0 2
35 Dean, Harry INT 80% 0 0 14 7 7 1 0 2 0 2 2 0 4 1
14 Florent, Oliver HBFR 84% 0 0 22 16 6 7 0 1 2 1 0 0 5 2
8 Fogarty, Lachie INT 66% 0 0 14 5 9 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 0
19 Hayward, Will HFFR 75% 1 2 11 9 2 3 0 3 0 2 1 1 0 1
29 Hewett, George INT 65% 0 0 19 9 10 2 0 6 2 5 1 1 1 1
20 Hollands, Elijah WL 79% 1 0 19 12 7 1 0 1 0 6 3 1 2 3
4 Hollands, Oliver RO 82% 0 0 18 12 6 4 0 2 3 3 1 0 4 4
17 Kemp, Brodie FF 92% 1 1 15 8 7 3 0 1 0 5 1 1 0 2
36 Lord, Cooper INT 74% 0 1 26 11 15 3 0 0 1 2 3 0 3 7
11 McGovern, Mitch CHB 79% 0 0 16 12 4 5 0 0 0 3 0 0 5 2
10 McKay, Harry CHF 96% 1 0 13 10 3 5 0 0 0 5 1 3 0 3
43 Moir, Ashton FPR 78% 1 0 10 7 3 3 0 4 2 0 1 0 0 0
27 Pittonet, Marc RU 67% 3 0 18 8 10 3 17 2 8 3 2 2 1 1
25 Reidy, Liam INT 61% 0 1 5 3 2 1 17 2 1 1 1 1 0 1
42 Saad, Adam HBFL 64% 0 0 11 5 6 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 0
7 Smith, Jagga FPL 79% 0 0 27 11 16 3 0 2 3 4 0 0 1 4
18 Walsh, Sam RR 77% 0 0 32 16 16 3 0 2 6 4 2 0 0 9
23 Weitering, Jacob FB 95% 0 0 15 12 3 5 0 0 0 1 1 0 4 1
6 Williams, Zac BPL 79% 0 1 16 10 6 1 0 3 6 3 1 3 4 3
33 Young, Lewis BPR 100% 0 0 11 6 5 4 0 1 0 3 0 1 4 0
Rushed 2
Total (23 players) 10 9 382 212 170 69 34 38 39 63 23 19 46 50

Legend

ToG%: Time-on-Ground Percentage, GL: Goals, BH: Behinds, DI: Disposals, KI: Kicks, HB: Handballs, MK: Marks, HO: Hitouts, TA: Tackles, CL: Clearances, CR: Clangers, FF: Free Kicks For, FA: Free Kicks Against, RF: Rebounds Inside 50, IF: Inside 50s

Player Line-Up

Sydney Coach: Dean Cox
BACK FOLLOWER INTERCHANGE
6 Z. Williams 23 J. Weitering 33 L. Young 4 B. Grundy 17 J. Jordon
5 I. Heeney (vc) 35 C. Curnow 36 J. Amartey 21 E. Gulden 6 L. McDonald
FORWARD 1 C. Warner 11 T. Papley
HALF-BACK

12 A. Sheldrick
42 A. Saad 11 M. McGovern 14 O. Florent

15 S. Wicks
44 J. Lloyd 8 J. Rowbottom 10 M. Rosas



HALF-FORWARD



CENTRE



20 E. Hollands 9 P. Cripps (c) 31 C. Chesser



34 M. Roberts 27 J. McInerney 26 R. Bice FOLLOWER INTERCHANGE
CENTRE 27 M. Pittonet 35 H. Dean
HALF-FORWARD 18 S. Walsh 8 L. Fogarty
12 B. Ainsworth 10 H. McKay 19 W. Hayward 4 O. Hollands 29 G. Hewett
13 J. Serong 22 N. Blakey 43 L. Melican

36 C. Lord
HALF-BACK

25 L. Reidy
FORWARD



7 J. Smith 17 B. Kemp 43 A. Moir



24 D. Rampe 30 T. McCartin 14 C. Mills (c)



BACK



Carlton Coach: Michael Voss

Score Timeline

Quarter Team Scoring Event Score Time
Q1 CARL Brodie Kemp behind 0.0.0 - 0.1.1 00:54
SYDN Charlie Curnow behind 0.1.1 - 0.1.1 05:35
CARL Brodie Kemp goal 0.1.1 - 1.1.7 06:08
SYDN Charlie Curnow behind 0.2.2 - 1.1.7 07:28
CARL Will Hayward goal 0.2.2 - 2.1.13 08:07
CARL Zac Williams behind 0.2.2 - 2.2.14 09:30
SYDN Joel Amartey behind 0.3.3 - 2.2.14 26:28
Q2 SYDN Chad Warner behind 0.4.4 - 2.2.14 01:52
CARL Will Hayward behind 0.4.4 - 2.3.15 06:44
SYDN Joel Amartey goal 1.4.10 - 2.3.15 08:57
SYDN Callum Mills behind 1.5.11 - 2.3.15 12:16
SYDN Tom Papley behind 1.6.12 - 2.3.15 14:13
SYDN Malcolm Rosas goal 2.6.18 - 2.3.15 17:30
CARL Ben Ainsworth goal 2.6.18 - 3.3.21 22:25
CARL Marc Pittonet goal 2.6.18 - 4.3.27 26:52
CARL Will Hayward behind 2.6.18 - 4.4.28 29:10
Q3 CARL Ashton Moir goal 2.6.18 - 5.4.34 01:28
CARL Marc Pittonet goal 2.6.18 - 6.4.40 03:17
SYDN Justin McInerney goal 3.6.24 - 6.4.40 05:17
SYDN Justin McInerney goal 4.6.30 - 6.4.40 07:21
SYDN Logan McDonald goal 5.6.36 - 6.4.40 09:26
CARL Patrick Cripps behind 5.6.36 - 6.5.41 11:28
SYDN Isaac Heeney goal 6.6.42 - 6.5.41 12:38
SYDN Charlie Curnow goal 7.6.48 - 6.5.41 15:32
SYDN Joel Amartey goal 8.6.54 - 6.5.41 17:34
CARL Elijah Hollands goal 8.6.54 - 7.5.47 22:26
SYDN Matt Roberts goal 9.6.60 - 7.5.47 25:21
SYDN Justin McInerney goal 10.6.66 - 7.5.47 28:25
CARL Marc Pittonet goal 10.6.66 - 8.5.53 30:20
SYDN Errol Gulden behind 10.7.67 - 8.5.53 31:34
SYDN Matt Roberts goal 11.7.73 - 8.5.53 32:32
SYDN Isaac Heeney goal 12.7.79 - 8.5.53 33:39
SYDN Justin McInerney behind 12.8.80 - 8.5.53 35:05
SYDN Tom Papley goal 13.8.86 - 8.5.53 36:43
SYDN Charlie Curnow goal 14.8.92 - 8.5.53 38:31
SYDN Chad Warner behind 14.9.93 - 8.5.53 39:49
CARL Cooper Lord behind 14.9.93 - 8.6.54 40:56
Q4 SYDN Brodie Grundy goal 15.9.99 - 8.6.54 01:27
SYDN Chad Warner goal 16.9.105 - 8.6.54 05:54
CARL Harry McKay goal 16.9.105 - 9.6.60 07:46
SYDN Joel Amartey goal 17.9.111 - 9.6.60 11:09
CARL Rushed behind 17.9.111 - 9.7.61 13:00
SYDN Errol Gulden behind 17.10.112 - 9.7.61 15:34
SYDN Angus Sheldrick goal 18.10.118 - 9.7.61 17:46
SYDN Charlie Curnow goal 19.10.124 - 9.7.61 20:43
CARL Ben Ainsworth goal 19.10.124 - 10.7.67 21:53
CARL Liam Reidy behind 19.10.124 - 10.8.68 24:07
SYDN James Rowbottom goal 20.10.130 - 10.8.68 25:32
SYDN Chad Warner behind 20.11.131 - 10.8.68 26:38
CARL Rushed behind 20.11.131 - 10.9.69 30:44
SYDN Matt Roberts behind 20.12.132 - 10.9.69 31:26