Did anyone else notice that only a few minutes after Cripps got reported for his love tap on Taranto, that he had the opportunity to tackle him and he went for it. Ran straight through him, dumped him and landed on top of him with full body weight. Taranto was left laying on the turf for a while after that and may have even been taken off the ground.
A good old fashioned, LEGAL, square up.
I love Cripps.
Yep - and did you see when he tackled Mumford and put him in a little head lock. Wasn't much but a sign he didn't forget what he did to Murphy. Only thing in the game I liked - and the only sign of any response to that dog act
For the love of God hire a decent field kicking coach! We can't allow errors and turnovers by foot to be the norm, particularly for young guys like O'Brien and Samo. Also penetration on the kick must be taught - not just the ability to hit targets. O'Brien strikes me as a kid who took risks in under 18 comp and they weren't good enough to hurt him if he missed. Being exposed currently. Both Samo and Polson can't kick goals from 40 - 45. Was never a problem for Ashman, Buckley, Sheldon etc...
Listened to Whateley on SEN while at the ground. He is a flog and totally anti Carlton and has us in the crosshairs.
On the agenda of most media commentators is kicking the boots in to us. Whateley has much more freedom on SEN to become the shock jock he has always wanted to be. We are simply an avenue for him. The day we next beat Geelong..I don't know when but I will be calling 9429 1116 very sharply
Kelli Underwood on Fox described Cripps as 23 but looks 33 due to pressure he is under with us. Yeh ok Kellie and you look 25. Look in the mirror love. Back to radio for you. Sundays are bad enough without this crap.
Let's settle on pace is pace all over the ground as the way current players cluster around the ball forwards play equal time in defence!! Our inability to get free possession out of the contested area is a massive concern. We have Cripps and recruited Kennedy for this, but no one to run and carry it fwd. A Shiel type for me is a massive requirement.
I’ll admit it… I’m a rebuild sceptic...a rebuild denier even! I have been from the start. I saw the announcement that we were rebuilding as a delaying tactic to ward off criticism of our position at the time. It came at a time when we were getting confident messages from the coach at the start of the year, only to fall in a heap in the early stages of that season. It came in the middle of a power tussle that eventually saw the demise of the coach. You could tell that as far as he was concerned ‘rebuild’ was a bit of a dirty word. 2015 was a bad year made worse by that turmoil. After Malthouse left the agenda was probably more designed towards ensuring the best draft pick possible.
So once you start on a rebuild/reset you virtually have no choice but to follow it through. It’s not something you can change your mind about once you cut deeply into a list. Silvagni and Bolton were, on the surface, pretty obvious choices to be the builders. The process for choosing Bolton was transparent and thorough.
My concerns are… Have we cut too deeply leaving no depth or experience?
Would we have been in a better position with a less radical approach?
Have we made the right choices in terms of building a balanced list?
Has our deplorable development of young players improved? Our skills and decision making still seem to require more work.
Are our medical folk on top of things given some of the injuries, which seem in some cases to be overuse injuries. You can’t help rolled ankles but you can allow proper strength and conditioning to ward off soft tissue injuries and also allow adequate recuperation before putting a player back on the park.
Are we asking too much of certain players to the point where we push them to breaking point? I’m concerned with our management of Weitering who I suspect was asked to play on through injury a) because he was good and b) in an attempt to harden him up. Cripps carries such a heavy workload, especially in the absence of Murphy, that he’s also in danger of breaking. With nothing to lose this season we could even give him some weeks off.
How does Bolton go tactically on match day. Does he need assistance in the form of a mentor?
Some of our match day selections seem confusing. Is the focus development rather than results? At some point the latter must take precedence.
How do I feel two years and 6 games into the rebuild?…still sceptical but prepared to give it a little longer!
Love this post. Well done. Been sharing similar thoughts but so deep is the cave I have been in relating to footy and CFC haven't posted for ages.. My thoughts.. 6 games in confirms you can't go inexperienced in so many key positions on the ground and expect to have depth in the twos. I only hope they stop playing guys who have been injured back in the ones so quickly. If we don't find some pacey forwards who can impose pressure both in defending the ball in and impacting the score board on our current list, this must become a recruiting priority! We still need to inject more pace. As far as Bolton goes. I really like his focus and energy. I can only hope like many supporters he has the confidence of the players. What they are saying versus what they are showing makes me concerned. The effort in round 2 versus Gold Coast was atrocious. Hasn't improved too much since. The lack of tackles last game confirms this. Stats don't lie. 13 players had between 1-2 tackles for the match. So you combine lack of effort with lack of pace and you are miles behind. If the effort meter doesn't improve I'm not sure we are heading the right way. Games and experience certainly counts, but if the effort and skill doesn't then what are we achieving this year?
I think when we strung those wins together, Wright was proving to be a real goal sneak when playing close to home. Since Murph has gone out, Wright has been forced further up the ground and into the midfield at times and we have lost that goal sneak element. next year, I want to see him and Sumner (assuming he gets fit from a solid PS) as our front and centre little fellas in the fwd line. Wright in particular is a terrific kick for goal so he should be used in that capacity in my opinion.
Great points and agree Wright and Sumner could be great goal sneaks. What to do with Army then? And what is Dylan's best position. I say wing as he can use his pace and goal sense. Still think we need another big body fwd. Can't pile too much expectation on the 3 young ones we have (SoS, CC & Harry). If they keep Levi and Jones they have proven to be unreliable so we def need another certain starter who can have influence. I notice my man James Stewart took 14 marks and booted 8.3 from 23 touches in the GWS reserves' 139-point win over the Brisbane Lions...
I'd say unfortunately we may not get a chance to play McKay uness they decide to give Jones or Casboult a rest, most likely to be Jones...Or bring in McKay for Everitt and decide to let Silvagni have another week out. He's got the whole summer to rest though!
Though, if young Silvagni is ok to play he'd be a definite to bring in for mine, for Everitt.
Or, maybe go with one genuine ruck this week (though both did well against Gawn).
Keep Graham in. Kerridge has been so-so anyway.
Thomas will get a gig for his 200th.
Silvagni in for Everitt (a given) Mckay in for Wright (seems tired and deserves a break now) Like to see Rainbow come in (unless he has been stamped) could come in for Army
Agree on re-signing Casboult...worth more to us than on the open market and everyone on this forum knows he plays better and is more effective with another KP forward taking some heat off him...even an average one like Liam Jones... why he hasnt been playing remains a mystery to me...he does try, and both him and the Boult seem to work together ok..if Jones had kicked straight vs the Lion we might have won... 3 year deal seems reasonable given the market and the lack of forwards.....I'd be after Stewart from GWS but more to replace Jones ....
I might be wrong but think this is the first time I've seen someone mention Stewart from GWS. If he doesn't come up on the radar for SOS I'd be amazed. Can mark and kick. Can't get a game currently. Wouldn't cost overs. Ticks many boxes for mine.
I know I sounds all negative and that but jeeeeesus that was a bad level we played at. Just really really bad. Sorry but... yeah - bad.
We finally won though so that is undoubtedly a positive. Infinitely better to win a crape game than to lose it.
On Jones: 2 late goals - great. Winning goal - nobody can take that away from you - ever so well done.
Did precisely nothing to that point though. Was putrid. Even missing a bolted on sitter right in front of goal when his team REALLY FRIGGING needed it 20m out straight in front is forgotten.
All forgotten because he got a free kick then Kerridge effected the opponents kick which lobbed into Jones's (who was not manning up but standing around doing his usual impression of a stunned mullet) lap.
End on a positive: Byrne is amazing.
Don't forget entries in to fwd 50 were shocking. Dunstall would have struggled. That's not Jones fault and I am normally first to knock him. Had 3 shots got 2 so that's an improvement. He can't kick goals from no further than 30 out so staying deep is the ONLY position for him in snrs. Jones, Lamb, E Curnow and Levi all missed shots front on but Freo missed more. Byrne sensational. When Sheehan gets right can see 3 mad irishmen playing defence for CFC. Thought Kruzer struggled. Not taking marks enough to be damaging. Got his hands on many up fwd for nothing. Kerridge was great but needs to be told no more short kicks from defence as he has turned it over every game. Rowe was good but Pav is finished. If only Rowe could use the ball as his body work is ok. Dylan looks lost. Will struggle to get back in def with Simpson owning it and now Byrne. Hope he finds form but I thought he fuoght well in last qtr, as did Phillips, Plow and Sumner. Gives much needed confidence as we tackle the scum. Even my 5 yr old girl hates Essendon...just born that way I presume :-)
