Sam Rowe and Patrick Cripps personified the heart and courage that drove Carlton to their outstanding 15-point AFL win over old rivals Essendon.
The Blues posted their first win for the season in atrocious conditions on Sunday at the MCG, upsetting the Bombers 7.15 (57) to 6.6 (42).
While captain Marc Murphy was best afield, it was only a week ago that Rowe and Cripps suffered heavy knocks in incidents that led to two Melbourne suspensions.
On Sunday, Rowe shut down Essendon key forward Joe Daniher and Cripps racked up 24 possessions - half of them contested.
Rowe suffered concussion after a blow that cost Jesse Hogan a two-game ban, while Cripps played against Essendon with a jaw fracture, thanks to the hit that earned Jordan Lewis a three-game suspension.
Their spirit was contagious - Jacob Weitering's head was split open in the second term after an accidental clash with Essendon defender Michael Hurley, but the No.1 draft pick from 2015 played out the game.
"Cripper comes from tough farming stock," said coach Brendon Bolton.
"That sort of approach rubs off on people like Weitering - he got split open today, came back on and did a role for us up forward.
"We needed to play with grit and he did."
Bolton said he was extremely proud of his developing team, which was expected to struggle this season.
But after being well-beaten by Richmond in round one - Bolton said their pride was dented - the Blues pushed Melbourne and now have the scalp of their fierce rivals.
"When you have conditions like that, it comes back to a little bit of old-school days - I felt like I was back in Tassie ... with all the wet weather," Bolton said.
"You just have to win the contested possession, win the tackle count - it's not pretty, but it's a bit about heart."
Murphy's game was punctuated by 10 tackles and a freakish snapped goal in the third term.
The Blues only led by four points at three quarter time, but it may as well have been four goals, and they sealed a memorable win with two goals to nil in the last term.
Carlton won all the crucial statistics in the wintery conditions - they had 22 scoring shots to 12, 111 tackles to 88 and 60 inside-50s to 37.
But what mattered most to Bolton was they trailed in contested possessions 85-67 at halftime, before winning that category 160-158.
Coach John Worsfold said after opening the season with two wins, Essendon's loss highlighted areas of concern.
"There were no surprises in some of the things that happened today," he said.
"Obviously Carlton just used the ball so much better early on and created their forward 50 entries.
"We were scrambling - we didn't play anywhere near the way we'd like to play."
Carlton host Gold Coast next Saturday, while Essendon have a massive interstate assignment against top side Adelaide.
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