Blues through to pre-season semi-final

Reaching the semi-finals of the AFL pre-season competition won't sway Carlton coach
Brett Ratten from his plan to give his stars adequate rest before the season proper.
The Blues secured their place in the last four by coming back to beat reigning
premiers Hawthorn by 24 points at Docklands on Sunday night, 2.13.16 (112) to
2.10.10 (88).
But Ratten flagged the possibility of stars Chris Judd, Brendan Fevola and Marc
Murphy either sitting out Saturday night's semi against Geelong or having reduced
roles given the focus is entirely on the March 26 season-opener against Richmond.
Carlton trailed by 30 points early in the second quarter, but rallied with seven
goals in the third term on the back of Fevola's four goals and the influence of
Judd, Murphy and Bryce Gibbs against under-strength Hawthorn.
Although pleased with the fightback, Ratten said he was not compelled to field his
strongest team next weekend.
"No ... we've headed with this agenda for the start of the NAB Cup series," he said.
"Geelong yesterday, they gave (Gary) Ablett and (Cameron) Ling and (Matthew)
Scarlett and all these blokes a rest, and if it means we have to do something
similar for our preparation for round one, we'll do that."
Asked who he might be granted the night off against the Cats, Ratten said: "Maybe
Juddy might, Brendan will be looked at and we're keen to have a look at the loads
that Murphy and (Kade) Simpson have had because they played the (international)
rules series.
"Then we'll see what game time other players get, like Gibbs and so forth, whether
they're just subs ... we'll assess what happened tonight and what the output was
from the GPS and stuff like that."
Geelong reached the semi-finals with an 18-point win over Port Adelaide on Saturday.
The winner of the Cats-Blues game will play the winner of Friday night's semi, to be
played between Collingwood and Essendon.
The Magpies opened the second round of the pre-season competition by beating
Richmond by 46 points last Thursday night, although Ben Cousins made an encouraging
debut for the Tigers.
The Bombers beat the Brisbane Lions by two points on Friday night.
In the next round of practice games, the Lions and Melbourne play in Cairns, St
Kilda and Richmond clash in Shepparton, Sydney host the Western Bulldogs, Adelaide
and Hawthorn meet in Berri, West Coast and Fremantle play a derby at Subiaco and
North Melbourne and Port clash at Princes Park.