My analysis of the game plan was, get the ball, kick it to an opponent, miss easy shots at the goals, always be behind your opponent when going for marks, don't run and spread when your team mate has the ball, stand in one position and point your fingers at a team mate and say pick him up, as things go badly do not go in hard and win the ball but hang out and try and tackle an opponent, do not make your tackles stick, and if you do win the ball, don't move the ball forward quickly. It was pretty much what it has been for the past 15 years, despite changes to coaching panel, players and administration. I think the philosophy at the club is that as long as we achieve mediocrity, we are reaching out goals. The target for this year is to achieve mediocrity. but judging on last Thursday's effort, we will need to work a lot harder to achieve it.
Losing Daisy early was a problem, I am glad it was a shoulder and not his ankle. Murphy & Gibbs disposal were poor at critical times, so was Simpson. Our set goal shots were poor as were our field kicking. the question for our coaching panel is why can't our player kick the ball. The stat that worried me at 3/4 time was that Carlton had had the ball 53% of the time yet Richmond had had 30+ more disposals. This to me means we are hanging onto the ball and not running. It was the lack of run that really concerned me. We have got two key defenders in Rowe and Jamison. Tall defenders are gold and we have two, or three if you count Hendo, why not use that base to build the team. If Casboult is unable to fulfill the second ruck and forward role, find someone else, do not rob Peter to pay Paul. The players i would be looking to next week would be Buckley, Armfield, Tutt, Graham, Byrne, players who would give us more run. I thought Clem Smith was good, I think Jaksch has potential and Jones didn't do enough. Cripps had a poor game. We need to run harder and kick the ball cleaner and we need passion from our players.
I had Buckley & Casboult in our best 22 so it is either good they didn't make the cut because other players stepped up and there is now competition for places, or it is bad because they are not working hard enough at training. I am also concerned that Blue4Life thinks Fish was a better kick than Casboult. My main concern out of the Geelong game was the lack of harassment in our forward line, obviously Clem smith could address this issue. The games have been pretty close over the last few years with Richmond often getting out front and us coming over the top. i think our lists are pretty equal but I think we have had a bit more depth. I thought Richmond would do pretty well this year but i have gone off them over the past couple of years, so my prediction is Carlton by 5 goals and Richmond to finish 9th.
Not sure if Geelong has much more to offer. About full strength, good players played well yet only won by four goals. Cripps looks very good, White shut down Motlop, Byrne shows potential, I was happy with Jaksh, Bell & Judd. Definitely top heavy early in the game, I am not having sure Watson, Henderson, Rowe & Jones in the forward line is the way to go. Though all four contributed at various times. We will miss not having players like Betts and Gartlett to harass the opposition defence this year and this appears to me to be the biggest possible weakness we will have this year. It was good to have a ruckman who wanted to compete and we will be better with Gibbs, Simpson, Yarran and Casboult and probably Tutt. Bring on season 2015!
The problem with our midfield over the past couple of seasons has been our rucks. Our whole team improved last year when Cameron Wood took over the role and became competitive. I was so disillusioned with Warner I thought he should have been traded. The fact that CFC has maintained their faith leads me to believe he was probably carrying an injury and I might have been a bit tough on him. We will see how he goes this year. Carlton's champion teams have been based on strong rucks that feed out the ball to our on ballers, Nicholls, Jones (Percy & Wow), Fitzpatrick & Madden. Mat Allen had a great year in 1999, the last time we made the GF. If Kreuzer, Warnock & wood are fit, and Casboult can step up, out midfield will look a whole lot better
"Reports that say that something hasn't happened are always interesting to me, because as we know, there are known knowns; there are things we know we know. We also know there are known unknowns; that is to say we know there are some things we do not know. But there are also unknown unknowns -- the ones we don't know we don't know." - Donald Rumsfold
I agree he is not in our starting line up at present, with Jacksh and Jones being added to the team you would have to assume this. However his last game was very good. it wasn't just that he kicked four goals, it was how he presented himself and took marks across the half forward line that made me excited by him. The question is can he do this on a consistent basis and we will only know this at the end of the year. If he plays like that it will be the other guys who will be struggling for a game. I hope that this is the case. If not he is porbably on the list of players who won't be playing for CFC in 2016.
I am positive about the consistency of effort. Winners never quit and quitters never win. Over the past few seasons we have been a team of quitters. If a team tries every week, and never gives in, belief will grow and victories will follow. I am positive about the young players, Menzel, Buckley, Docherty, Cripps, Casboult, Johnson and Bell. I am positive about our mid range players, White, Rowe, Armfield, Everitt, Curnow, Touhy I am positive about our leaders, Murphy, Gibbs, Thomas, Simpson, Henderson & Judd. I am positive about our frustrating players, Waite Walker, Gartlett & carrazzo
