Carlton Supporters Club

Just a bit of trivia....How many games did Judd play with Cripps?...the answer surprised me.

If the structure is correct Kerridge will be OK, don't have him trying to hit targets, make sure he works inside and dishes off to kids like Fisher and SPS.

Word the kids up, it's time they played big boy football and self-organised on field, no more you stand next to him and go everywhere he goes!

It's time we started seeing some genuine footy smarts from some of these "talented kids"!

In other words, cut the robot crap!

Just let em be natural, have some fun, show some flair.

As you can appreciate, I think we know that we are still in development mode, and one of the things we are looking for is to develop a winning attitude, as well as a winning feeling.

Irrespective, the conversation surrounding who plays when is occurring and largely it will vary depending on what our aims are.

Team balance is one.
Learning opportunities with guidance is another.

Realistically I look at it, and I can see a few "constants" that are likely to be the case for our team selection, irrespective of what value we perceive they bring to the table.

What I can see happening is that the following players will be picked most weeks unless injured, or struggling for form/fitness majorly.

Mature agers, team leaders, onfield coaches, call them whatever you want:

Marc Murphy
Kade Simpson
Matthew Kreuzer
Ed Curnow
Dale Thomas
Levi Casboult
Matthew Wright

These guys are going to play pretty much when they are available and even if we think they are struggling.  They are there not to perform well themselves, but play their role to the best of their ability and ensure that the team is playing the right way, and that other blokes are playing their allotted roles or learning to play them properly.  These guys are only going to exclude themselves from selection if they are struggling big time.


The next tier:

Jack Silvagni
SPS
Matthew Kennedy
Patrick Cripps
Harry McKay
Darcy Lang
Lachie Plowman
Jarrod Garlett
Caleb Marchbank
Jacob Weitering
Zac Fisher
David Cunningham
Charlie Curnow
Tom Williamson
Jarrod Pickett
Ciaran Byrne


These guys are no longer "learning" to play football.  Some are learning to compete, or learning roles, and some weeks they will benefit from dropping down to VFL level to polish up something or work on their leadership ability, but you will find that these guys are going to be 15-23 gamers for the year (some more likely to play more than others).

The next Tier:

Sam Kerridge
Jed Lamb
Liam Jones
Sam Rowe
Aaron Mullett
Cam O'Shea
Matthew Lobbe
Nick Graham
Andrew Phillips
Matt Shaw
Alex Silvagni

This group are role/depth players who could surprise and play every week but are more likely to be filling in the gaps for team balance that we cant quite get right from the aforementioned.  I expect some to play frequently but most of them will be doing well to get 10+ AFL games for the year and will be the VFL equivalent of what the first tier I wrote down do for our VFL team.

The Next Tier:
Paddy Dow
Lochie O'Brien
Tom De Koning
Angus Schumacher
Harrison Macreadie
Cameron Poulson
Pat Kerr

Youngsters that are still firmly on their L plates and looking to find their feet at this level, or learn roles.  Some might emerge instantly and play like seasoned pros (looking at Paddy Dow mainly or Cam Poulson hopefully) but realistically if they get anywhere near 10 games for the year, they will be deemed a roaring success.  (Projected anywhere from 0-10 games with anything else being an outlier).

This is where I see our list for 2018.  This is likely to be how our MC select our team for round 1, and will contain a few but not many surprises, mainly regarding team balance and opposition match ups, but anticipate that some are going to be ahead of others in the pecking order simply because we need them to be.  I expect we will see the 3-4 year draftees playing pretty much every week unless their form is putrid (and even then we might persist because there is little they can benefit from at VFL level).

Jack Darling is just hitting his straps. Been in the system for 7 years, is 25 years old 191 cm 95 kg and played 160 games. Had many lean years but WCE have stuck with him.

Patrick Kerr is 19, 194 cm 94 kg. 1 game. Has strong hands and kicks straight.

These guys take time........IF you have the patience.

Did any one else feel that there were times on the weekend where Kerr made leads or got into good positions only to be ignored.
I couldn't be a hundred percent sure but I thought on at least two occasions that he was a good option but players went elsewhere.

Of course that's watching on TV so you only get a limited overview.

Did any one else feel that there were times on the weekend where Kerr made leads or got into good positions only to be ignored.
I couldn't be a hundred percent sure but I thought on at least two occasions that he was a good option but players went elsewhere.

Of course that's watching on TV so you only get a limited overview.