In Carlton's favour this time around is the comparative strengthening of the forward line.  Early last season, Corey McKernan was horribly out of form, Brendan Fevola was marking time until his inevitable delisting and Lance Whitnall was coming off an injury ridden preseason, extremely out of shape and forced to play down back to cater for the loss of SOS and the inexperience of the backline.  Entering this game, Corey is set to be permanently stationed at full forward and reap rewards from a long kicking game plan.  Fevola has found a new lease on life and is a preseason standout.  Whitnall is possibly in the best shape of his career at this stage of the year.  The imposing Blues forward line can also take heart in the fact that rough and ready Swans fullback, Andrew Dunkley, has retired to pasture leaving a huge gap in the Sydney back half.  Also set for a big season is Ryan Houlihan while Matthew Lappin will appreciate not having to carry the Blues attack.

To answer part two of the puzzle, new Carlton coach Denis Pagan has recruited Mick 'Gorilla' Martyn for the express purpose of playing on the Big Bad Bustling types, while at the same time showing the young ones what to do and freeing them up to play their own games.  The situation is delicate, as on the surface any injury to Martyn means we are back exactly where we were before.  Micky has declared that he is right to play round 1 and regardless of match fitness, it seems that Pagan will not leave him on the sidelines. On top of that, it looks like McKay, Sporn, Thornton and Beaumont should have the ability to counter O'Loughlin, Davis and the occasional foray by Adam Goodes on the Swans forward line.

Now, I mentioned the defensive problems 'on the surface' because the reality is that Carlton was slaughtered in the ruck in 2002.  For the round two match, we now know that Matthew Allan was keeping a serious injury rather hush hush, Mark Porter was wearing blue and white vertical stripes and Corey was forced into the ruck as a result.  Don't even get me started on the merits of Merrington and Hotton as first choice ruckmen! Now with Allan apparently over his injury (will believe it when I see it though) and Barnaby French leaping out of his skin to make every post a winner and providing a rare physical presence in the middle, the Blues ruck stocks are soaring.  Conversely the Swans are relying on Jason Ball and Adam Goodes to get the job done while relying on the latter to plug holes all over the ground as well.

The midfield contests look intriguing.  The Swans have some real drive in this area despite losing Captain Courageous Paul Kelly to retirement.  New skipper Stuart Maxfield, Paul Williams, and Darren Cresswell possess a lot of talent and running ability.  The Blues are relying on out of sorts skipper Brett Ratten and an equally out of sorts Scott Camporeale, comeback kids Darren Hulme and Anthony Koutoufides and an inconsistent Justin Murphy.  Murphy himself is considered to be pivotal to the long kicking game plan and as such a lot of our effectiveness will rely on his at times fragile attitude.

Traveling to Sydney has never been a happy occasion for Carlton.  We seldom win there and whether we even know how to put a winning performance together after last season is a huge question in itself.  We have every motivation in the world to start the year on a positive note but every other team is motivated to start well and there is a certain stigma associated with losing to the wooden spoon side.

That tag will sit with us all season until we can shed the title and win back some respect.  I consider this one as dangerous as any other game this year but I have to have faith in the work of the players and in the difference Denis Pagan has made to the belief around Optus Oval.