A haul of seven goals straight from Brendan Fevola and a dazzling cameo by Jeff Garlett has powered Carlton to a comfortable 57-point win over wooden spoon favourites Melbourne at Etihad Stadium.
The 24.9 (153) to 15.6 (96) victory - achieved with an even spread of four six-goal quarters - reaffirms the Blues' claim on fifth spot and almost certainly condemns the Demons to a last-place finish with just next Sunday's assignment against St Kilda to come.
After a relatively quiet start, Fevola burst to life in the third quarter when he slotted four including three in-a-row in five minutes deep in time on.
His seventh, the opening goal of the final term, moved him to 81 goals for the season giving him a 10-goal buffer over Brisbane's Jonathan Brown in the race for the Coleman Medal.
The uncontested nature of the match was reflected in the big stats racked up by both teams.
Marc Murphy, Andrew Carrazzo and Bryce Gibbs all had 34-plus touches while the Blues' match tally of 253 handballs dwarfed the club's average for the season of 175.
Ultimately, this was a match that served its purpose for both teams.
Locked out of the top four by the Bulldogs' victory over Geelong on Friday night, the Blues achieved the win they needed to stay in the hunt for a home final and managed to factor some experimentation into the exercise.
Defeat kept Melbourne on course for a priority pick, last place and the first two selections in November's national draft that they have worked so hard for over 21 long weeks.
The news wasn't all good, however.
Demons veteran Matthew Whelan, who recently announced he would be retiring at the end of the season, tore a hamstring in the second quarter and won't get the farewell he'd planned against St Kilda.
And the Blues had a serious injury setback of their own - a suspected broken forearm for Richard Hadley.
Another downside for Carlton was the success of Melbourne's tall forward set up generally and the performance of Mark Jamar in particular who bagged a career-best haul of five goals.
Bret Thornton's inability to cope with Jamar's height and bulk won't have gone unnoticed by the Blues' potential finals rivals.
In his penultimate game in the red and the blue, veteran forward Russell Robertson also bagged five to move 427 career goals which moves him ahead of Garry Lyon in third place among the club's all-time goalscorers.
Melbourne's first two goals were scored from floaters from outside 50 by Paul Johnson and Brent Moloney that cleared the pack and bounced through.
The Demons managed four opening-term goals in all to the Blues' six which were scored by six different players.
In just his ninth senior appearance, Garlett scored the most spectacular of those goals when he roved the pack at the Lockett End and snapped across his body at full pace.
The 19-year-old followed-up with two of the Blues' six in the second term scored in almost identical fashion - on the move, great handling, clinic finish.
The result was never in doubt after half-time, but several individuals grabbed the opportunity to make a personal statement and chief among them was Robertson.
The 30-year-old, dumped by the club but keen to continue his career elsewhere, showed there's still spring in the legs with four second-half goals that just may have attracted some interest from needy rivals.
CARLTON: 6.3, 12.5, 18.9, 24.9 (153)
MELBOURNE: 4.2, 8.3, 12.4, 15.6 (96)
GOALS: Carlton: Fevola 7, Garlett 4, Simpson 3, Scotland 2, Houlihan 2, O'hAilpin, Carrazzo, Gibbs, Murphy, Betts, Kreuzer
Melbourne: Jamar 5, Robertson 5, Jetta 2, Johnson, Moloney, Jurrah
BEST: Carlton: Gibbs, Murphy, Fevola, Garlett, Simpson, Judd, Wiggins, Carrazzo
Melbourne: Sylvia, Jamar, Robertson, McDonald, Bate, Davey
INJURIES: Carlton: Hadley (suspected broken ulna)
Melbourne: Petterd (groin), Whelan (hamstring)
REPORTS: Nil
CHANGES: Dennis Armfield replaced in Carlton's selected side by Joe Anderson; Nathan Jones replaced in Melbourne's selected side by Mark Jamar
UMPIRES: Farmer, James, Pannell
CROWD: 37,433 at Etihad Stadium