Carlton matchwinner Jack Newnes channelled his inner Robbie Gray to guide the Blues to a thrilling four-point win over Fremantle.
The Blues were awarded a contentious downfield free-kick, which gave Newnes the opportunity to live every kid's dream of kicking a goal after the siren.
“When Robbie Gray kicked his goal he said he wanted to make really good contact with the ball, so I just had that in the back of my head," Newnes said after the game.
“I think we had a couple of chances before my shot so I knew I had to nail my one.
"I fortunately made good contact and we won the game which is fantastic for the club."
Carlton received the contentious free-kick after Andrew Brayshaw's bump on Sam Docherty after he kicked the ball was deemed high.
Michael Gibbons was the closest to the ball when it went out of bounds but Newnes "pulled one over the umpires' eyes" to take the free-kick from the boundary.
Fremantle coach Justin Logmuir said he did not begrudge Newnes for taking the free-kick and that all teams try to get the ball into the hands of their best kicker.
“I think they did a pretty good job of getting the right player the ball. But I would have been asking our players to do exactly the same thing in the same situation,” Longmuir said.
“Every team would have tried to do the same thing, and they probably pulled one over the umpire’s eyes. But that’s alright, that’s footy. We’ll take it, cop it on the chin, move on and get better.”
The Blues travel to Darwin to face the Gold Coast Suns at TIO Stadium on Friday Night.
