Re: Post Game Passion; AFL Rd 19: Carlton vs North Melbourne
Reply #191 –
I am so tired of hanging onto players 'just in case they come good'.....
I look at the younger brigade of players that other teams are producing (think especially Swans, Lions, even Bombers), and all I can think is we are so far off the pace, it is a farce. I don't think it's about the players we have selected - it's almost not possible to get that many wrong. We just don't know how to turn a talented kid into an AFL footballer (blokes like Walsh and Weitering develop themselves, so they don't count).
Because our younger players are nowhere ready to play, there is no pressure on the myriad of list-cloggers that get a game every week and cruise around the ground like it's a Sunday picnic.
The lack of effort in the 3rd Quarter was ridiculous and embarrassing - in the end, it is the 22 in Navy Blue that must own up to the fact that they barely looked interested. What we are clearly missing is the enthusiasm and energy that comes when a bunch of young guys come in and make a contribution that lifts the whole group. Instead, we have a group that appears resigned to the fact that they will never be good enough.
I don't think I would want to be working in the Carlton Membership department over the off-season - it is going to be a very difficult sell.