I've got Martin starting in front of Durdin. I've got Marchbank instead of TDK (with McG playing forward with SOS rucking backup) Otherwise the same.
If McG plays forward let alone fit to play I will buy you slab of choice. Can't see them take a risk on Walsh round 1 Last inj report Marchbank injured again so not sure about him either. B Saad Weitering Cincotta HB Docherty Young Newman C Acres Cripps O Brien HF Kennedy C. Curnow Fisher F Durdin McKay Motlop R: TDK, Hewett, Cerra Int Pittonet, Hollands, Cowan, Owies Sub Martin(Hopefully he doesn't get injured putting the vest on)
Kept notes today on who turned ball over or fumbled and my pen nearly ran out.. Qtr 1 - Fisher, Owies, Cottrell, Setterfield, Newnes all missed goals or kicks - some resulting in goals. 2nd Q Dow, Owies set shot, Setterfield, Mackay from 50 passes to TDK who wasn't ready and punched - why wouldn't he kick the goal. 3rd Cripps set shot and pass to Walsh missed coast to coast Bris goal, Dow missed goal, Cerra, Silvagni dropped chest mark coast to coast. Game cooked Point of all this for me - far too many c graders. Far too many who cant or wont improve foot skills. Cripps - love him but 50 50 by foot and has never improved in this area. Had to kick that goal to start 3rd and had to hit Walsh. They had finishers. For me foot skills was the key thing. We have for years been a confidence based team. Good kicking breeds confidence. Fisher kicks that goal first 20 sec confidence builds....didn't have another shot for ages after that. Been mentioned but TDK in last 3 and a half minutes got monstered. Destroyed in the ruck and we couldn't touch it. And my goodness mr fitness role really needs to be assessed - for me time for a change there. Has not got results for me and we cut coaches so what's difference. If Martin is played again that's it I'll spew up. Cant survive a game. Why play him. Miss 8 will have ramifications given where we were...huge fail if happens
Understand wing is an interesting role in our team and perplexing. One player that hasn't been payed there this year is Honey. Has pace, can kick. May be late to try but a qtr wouldn't hurt if terrible can still play fwd with Cottrell and LOB on the other. Setterfield and Plow can't play in same side imo
Thought TDK got monstered by Cats rucks and interesting to see GWS sack Flynn and bring in Pruess. Will be interested in how TDK bounces back. Should account in the centre with leap but will be interesting to see around the ground strength v the gws giant. Anyone has a Matt Owies update? Also think Setterfield will come in - not a huge fan but you have to reward twos stand outs games - but then Dow has struggled to break in on this basis. My guess it's defensive pressure for both these guys and they wont risk both in a must won game affair.
you know we have arrived when friends who don't support us start saying geez you guys are good - I enjoyed the game last night etc... Brings a smile to the dial. One was even a Bombre supporter. Oh Boy. My 11 yr old hasn't been to footy for 3 years - said "I'll come to the footy any time Dad" in the last qtr when Fish kicked that goal. Proud Dad Moment
I watched the replay last night and paused it after the very first bounce. I could not believe it. Pittonet taps fwd not down. SO if he wins the very first tap fwd you would expect we would set up to have at least 1 CFC player in that area. NO!! Bulldogs had 2 there! Alone! And one was Bont. Sorry don't care if its Barker or Teague setting that up. You wouldn't set up like that in under 12's. Pretty sure they killed us in first 10 minutes. And this was the first bounce. You have to see it to believe it. My disappointment is in the thinking behind this. Pitt is against there 3rd ruck man. You should expect to win the tap. He hits fwd. Not back or sideways. Beggars Belief
I look at out flag teams of the 80's and 95. Whilst footy is no doubt different there is one tangible imo - the desire to play for each other. Until we can find a coach and coaching group that get our players to play for each other we will never rise from the ashes. Those teams in the past when they went off the plan of playing for each other they could get beat by anyone - and often did (St Kilda in 95 for example). But they had the maturity to recognise and fix that, and were able to take a good old fashioned bake by the coach. Recruiting 2 outside runners in the 2 top 10 draft picks doesn't help, but we cant change the playing stocks this year. There is no system or willingness to be hard for their mates. This will spread and inject confidence, rather than this crap of being bruise free then missing easy shots which spreads frustration and is confidence sapping. For players and supporters!
Glad they rushed McGovern back. He is like a half eaten doughnut. You take a bite but then wish you hadn't.
And again with the passing over the heads of the leading fwd. And when our main fwd got it in McKay, he kicks 1.4. For a left footer he really doesn't look natural. Leans on the kick, drops the ball on an angle every single time yet what is done to correct it. And how do they run out of puff when don't we have the best fitness guru n the business? Sick of it
Teague is still playing the kids. He's rotating them through the key roles rather than throwing them in the deep end.
As for the polson assertion he had 80% time on ground against Collingwood according to afl tables.
He's stuck by de koning as another example. Don't worry too much about the first year kids and them not getting more than a bit of a taste. They'll get their time in the sun.
Weve spent a bit of time trying to keep our line up settled and thats what Luke hodge reckons will help our team. Continuity. We haven't seen much of it over the last 5 years.
Agree with your last point that a consistent line up is a key and something we haven't had for some time. My pint was more in this season with so many games and inconsistent rest periods we could have benefited from resting a few more. And to my first point outside of Dow and Polson not much else outside of Philp and Honey imo
Tuesday arvo calmness - well at least I hope that comes through the post! I agree we may have lost it in selection - but then I look at this with calmness and think who else could we bring in? At some point form has to be the key. Both Dow and Polson were showing form - it isn't anyone's fault the games they are playing in resemble little of the action in senior footy. Further to this I am fascinated with Polson. When played as a fwd he displayed to me dear in a headlight symptoms. Would run fast, miss easy marks and kicking was an issue. The move to defence is a good move for him and the team - as we have a shortage here with no access to Stocker atm. So when I saw Polson take the ball and run out of defence early in the first qtr I felt this was what the coaches wanted - dare, pace, carry. They would know kicking is an issue but the other key points come first. Then my joy changed. I noticed Polson look down field, then look behind to Simpson to handball backwards. At this point I had to pause as I simply can't determine from the vision if he looked back cos Simpson was screaming to him to do this - or if no fwd was leading to the space his kick could reach? It wouldn't surprise me to see down field vision of no one running to the space to warrant a lead as our fwds currently aren't the smartest bunch. Here is when I feel for Polson - his very first involvement looked good but ended poorly with a turn over - a 50 50 kick in hope, Well we all should know this isn't the first time in a very long time this has happened. Bloody hell our joint captain gave away our fist goal with the worse kick I have ever seen him do - talk about setting the tone. We are a confidence team and a good start has always been vital. I'm pretty confident Polson spent solid time on the pine. Most likely dragged as Teague is displaying very little patience for youth anymore and their mistakes. Let's not forget this was one of the biggest criticisms of Ratten - wouldn't play or develop the young guys enough. Tended to stick to the core of senior players. I fear we are headed down this path again. We can't have the SOS injection of youth - and our Exec committee saying this is the re-build we needed. Then bye to SOS and Teague shows strong signs of not backing enough of the youth. For example...He brings in Honey v Freo. Wet rainy conditions. Not allowing to displaying his skill set. I felt his touch was very good considering - so why drop him? One match in the wet - give me a spell. We stuck with Cottrell who showed some very good signs up until needing a rest. Honey is explosive as is Philp. Pace is what we are screaming for. Play these 2 then. Give Eddie a rest for example. Or rotate him on the bench more - thus dropping a big guy. We are way too tall against any team. With Dow he also is fascinating. We all know kicking is a real issue. Yet in the twos it's not as noticeable. My issue with him is a perceived lack of hunger for the contest. And a real fear to kick the ball. Many times I saw a lack of desire to tackle - and when he did Collingwood players easily brushed him off. My read of Teague is this would be the number 1 thing he wouldn't like. A lack of defensive pressure (hence O'Brien not playing imo). If this can't be taught or injected in to these players, under Teague they simply won't get a game or will be de-listed. It will be fascinating to see if they persist with Dow and Polson in an absolute must win match. this to me will say so much about our current coaching and selection crew. PS is Sav Rocca still the kicking coach? I recall 2 years a go Cripps nailing a high percentage of set shots and having a clear method to his pre kick routine. For a star like him I am amazed his routine this year (which CLEARLY) isn't working - hasn't been amended. If he is injured which affects his kicking - don't bloody put him fwd!! Calmness gone sorry...
Sick of watching and commenting on this crap. Why were so many players brushed off the ball by Saints? Intent? Core Strength? Our players are 3 years deep with "the best in the business". So for me it MUST be intent. I didn't see them fall over themselves. Weitering early looked like a first year player - drinking the bathwater I hope not. SPS needs to be dropped or play mid fwd. Problem is can't kick 40 metres for a set shot goal. Other than Stocker unsure who else they bring in. Why wasn't McGovern played back, Try something ffs. He has played back in Adelaide. 3 tall fwd line wasn't working why persist? How do you get a leading option if your are coming through the guts and there are 3 fanning out? And when there is a lead up option how many times do we kick over the fwd head! Saints hit their targets - they aren't that much better than us.....are they? If you are going to try Philp play Honey. Rather see 3rd tall be Kennedy. Does Sav Rocca still have a job as kicking coach? My God kicking for goal is a shambles. H has THE worst ball drop in the league. Yet we rush him back? Typical Carlton no matter who is coach or selector - see Kruzer over his career.... Maybe try De Koning, Kennedy, Stocker, Honey. Why not. Not like we are winning the flag. Try. Experiment. All the reasons the coach was employed. Hope he isn't getting fiddled with like a horse our Teaguey?
9 clearances to 1 last qtr with 7 mins to go. Dominated play. Must find avenues to goal and straighten up goal kicking. IF Levi can anyone can. Martin had butter fingers all night but thank god he can kick a sherrin
