It's Silly Season After elections the losers and their supporters always claim promises have been broken. The winners usually say that they may have to temper expectations or commitments because of the mess they have been left.
We've won as many games to this point as we won in all of 2021. So even if we lose all the games for the rest of the year....we can at least say we haven't gone backwards in 2022
I'm not sure how else they could have done it. In and ideal world we could have started all the teams off at the same time and the player movement would probably not have been as dramatic as it has turned out. But with new teams entering the competition there will always be losses to the established clubs. With hindsight, we perhaps should have waited and been the beneficiary rather than the ravaged. But on the plus side we've got a lot of the basics up and running.
Don't invest too emotionally in this side for the next couple of years. We've stripped it back to the skeleton and we'll see it fleshed out in the coming seasons....but it will be a legitimate Carlton side. It will be one we can watch develop, knowing that the player movement will be a lot more settled...and we will have 100 game+ female Carlton players forging their own history....not 30 game 'fly by nighters'.
The Teal independents and Greens are now largely irrelevant in the House of Reps. I wonder what that will mean for future elections 🤔
It's an interesting situation. Speaking generally, these Teal independents seem to be intelligent, successful women who have had good careers prior to politics. It appears Zali Steggall has done enough locally to consolidate her seat. Her opposition was a bit of a train wreck but credit to her. While she may not have impacted nationally, she does well locally.
So the question arises. Will being a good local candidate, working for the local community, be be 'enough' for the Teals ? The election result means they are essentially 'powerless' to progress their agendas. Sure, Labor will probably push through major elements of their platforms...but perhaps not quite to the extent they hoped.
So in three years time will they have the desire to 'go around again' or will they look to return to former careers and pursuits where they have more control and opportunity.
Motlop will probably go back to the VFL and make way for Martin (If he got through the game OK) He'll have learnt a thing or two playing at that higher level and some things to work on will have been explained to him. He can try out his 'new' tricks with a little less pressure. Long term he'll be fine. He has the skills...and a bit of a 'strut', so he doesn't lack confidence.
One of the things about injuries is that they throw extra pressure on those fringe players. When a side is close to full strength those players can play to their strengths due to the support around them. When that support is lost through injury they then have to step up and take a bit of extra responsibility, sometimes above their capabilities. That's when they're exposed.
Where do we stand at the moment. We probably need to win four more games to make the finals. We should do that but, but the reality is we're probably in the 6th to 8th range rather than a top 4 side...even at full strength. Next year though....
They're working harder and running harder. There has been a couple of times when it looked like our blokes could make a contest and they haven't gone hard enough.
We can't cover the loss of Weitering. It means some of our smaller backs have to work harder and they've got their hands full with their own opponents. Mentally, the players will be concerned about the loss and realise its significance. They'll have to put that to one side... and lift.
I think the old mid-season slump probably was at least partly attributable to lower players' salaries and laxer gambling scrutiny in the past. A well-timed bet against the team when it was riding high helped to make sure the trip was first-rate.
Imagine the odds that bookies would have offered for Sydney to beat Carlton by more than 39.5 points in 1995 as Carlton was steam-rolling towards a flag. And the odds in the following week for St Kilda to beat Carlton by more than 39.5 points would have been only slightly lower. Then, the odds of Carlton thrashing the Hawks by more than 100 points in the week after those 2 losses would have been pretty juicy as well. Not to say that the boys did back against themselves, but such swings these days would certainly be investigated more thoroughly than your average murder.
Possibly. I was thinking a bit farther back than 1995 to when I was a young'un. I'd say the money in 1995, while nowhere near what it is now, wasn't too bad.
I was at the Swans game in 95. I'd like to think it was a couple of weeks when we went in overconfident and paid the price rather than the alternative. We were also missing Kernahan and Williams for both games.
But the whispers got around that there were other reasons for the loss and it becomes a bit of a story.
These days such losses are easily explained by things such as increasing training blocks for a time leaving the players a bit flat or injuries to key personnel as happened to Melbourne last night.
I remember the days of the old 'mid season slump'. We'd be going like a 'house on fire' and then we'd have a down patch when we'd drop a couple of games before getting back on track. I suspect we'll experience that at some stage this year. Hopefully it's not against this mob.
It really is a case of coming 'switched on' and ready to play. This will be a good test. Hopefully we pass.
We tend to look at the USA as similar to our states. Some minor differences, but basically not a significant. I've lived in three states and spent a fair bit of time in another. Once you settle in folks are pretty much the same. Apart from a common language the USA is more like the countries of Europe in the differences across the nation.
A burning down might be the best thing for that party. It usually is after an electoral defeat. It's a cleansing process. Get all the factional crap out in the open. See where folks really stand.
Tanya Plibersek reckons Dutton looks like Voldemort and will scare the kids She's apologised....but you can't unsee it
