In what was tipped to be a one-sided affair, Carlton's shock 13-point loss to Richmond has taken the football world by storm.
The Tigers unveiled three debutants on Thursday night at the MCG and fielded one of the youngest sides for some time (24.8 years old), with expectations set at a minimum.
Aside from the Kiss of Death and the die-hard Richmond fans, the unwavering support for Carlton to claim the Round 1 victory was everything but set in stone, with betting companies ranking the rebuilding side's chances at 10-1.
How wrong they'd be.
Despite a first-half capitulation of the Tigers that had the MCG murmuring 'Here we go', it was the Blues who consistently failed to capitalise on their dominance, albeit holding a 41-point lead midway through the second term.
Carlton outscored the Tigers 32-12 from stoppages and led turnovers 18-13 in the opening two quarters.
But Thursday evening was a tale of two halves.
The Blues failed to strike a punch in the third and fourth quarters, limited to a pair of goals and seven behinds, as the "spirit and energy" of the Richmond cubs overwhelmed Michael Voss' men.
The dominance from stoppage dissipated in a flash whilst the turnover count headed for the skies, with the Tigers outscoring the opposition by 21 points from that score source on the night.
Carlton conceded five goals from defensive 50 turnovers, which contributed heavily to the loss and everything started to unravel for the finals aspirants.
"They had five goals from defensive 50 turnovers, it's hard to win if you are just giving goals back to the opposition like that," Voss said shaking his head.
"There were silly errors, fumbles. It was starting to get dewy and slippery and we made costly mistakes in the part of the ground that tends to hurt," the returning Jack Silvagni said post-match.
Alarm bells were ringing all over.
But in a game where innovative and creative game style methods are required to stay ahead of the pack, Carlton's Thursday outing was reminiscent of years gone by.
The long, high ball inside 50. A spare behind the play. A heavy reliance on stoppage supremacy. Key forwards or bust.
Carlton recorded 25 more inside 50s (65-40) at the MCG, but rarely tested the Richmond defence with meaningful entries.
Their conversion, which has been an issue of the past, was at a low 38.5 per cent. Last year's AFL average was 45.6.
The Blues orchestrated a loose in defence more often than not, but aside from Jacob Weitering's nine intercept marks, there was little presence in the air. This was reflected by Nick Haynes' uncharacteristic dropped mark that resulted in a Richmond goal.
Despite Patrick Cripps, Tom De Koning and Adam Cerra combining for 22 clearances, the Tigers won the count by four, spreading the majority of the load over half a dozen players.
Lastly, a substantial expectation on Harry McKay - and Charlie Curnow - to kick bags of goals.
The Blues let go of small forward Matt Owies (West Coast) after delivering 60 goals in the past two seasons.
Francis Evans debuted for the club, but after one goal and one tackle from 70 per cent game time, the lewd list management decision could bite Carlton on the proverbial backside.
McKay was kept to one major on the evening as nine individual goal kickers took to the scoreboard, of which two of them were defenders.
As Richmond roared back into the contest, it was evident that more cracks had appeared, leaving Carlton fans with more questions than answers.
The Blues conceded 82 points. Last year, they ranked fifth for scores against.
Carlton delisted defensive duo Caleb Marchbank and Sam Durdin in the hope that Haynes would be an instant upgrade.
But when applied serious heat and pressure, their backline crumbled, referring a lot to their method and coaching.
"It was pretty disappointing. Yeah, I'm not going to sugarcoat it. To be in the position that we were in early in the match and give up that lead and that position was – yeah, couldn't be more disappointed," Voss said in his post-match address.
Yes, admittedly it was only Round 1 and the first four quarters of any season is too small a sample size to make any lasting assertions.
But, if the Blues want to be taken seriously as a genuine premiership contender, then Thursday night just can't happen.
"Gee, I really hope not, because humility has been a significant thing for us," Voss said in response to his men being complacent against the youthful Tigers.
"It may be talked about externally, but there's never a comment about where an opposition team are, other than it's round one."
And what's worse, clashes against Hawthorn, Western Bulldogs and Collingwood to come could spell a time of reckoning for the success-starved club.
