CARLTON can defy the growing band of doomsayers and win a flag within the next four seasons, star defender Andrew Walker says.
Walker signalled his confidence in the Blues' long-term future when he re-signed in February for three more years, tying himself to Visy Park to the end of 2017.
The 27-year-old could have explored free agency at the end of this season, but he told AFL.com.au on Wednesday he had no hesitation in sticking with Carlton.
Asked whether the Blues could win a premiership before his new contract expired, Walker was emphatic.
"Absolutely," he said.
Walker freely conceded the Blues "didn't turn up to play" against the Bombers, but said they had been competitive in the opening two rounds against Port Adelaide and Richmond.
In fact, Walker believes Carlton played "top-four football" in patches against the Power and Tigers, with their challenge now to replicate that form more regularly.
The speedy defender missed the Richmond game after being suspended for one week for throwing Port forward Angus Monfries into the fence after tackling him near the boundary line.
"I'm in the leadership group and it was extremely undisciplined of me. I copped the one week and deservedly so," Walker said.
"That's something that I don't think is a part of my game, I just had a bit of a brain fade.
"Angus is a small forward and he can get inside people's heads and I'm a competitive defender. At the end of the day, it was probably just my competitive nature coming out.
"The biggest thing that comes out of it is that you miss a big game (against Richmond) and it was a big game that was a close one and I probably could have had an impact.
"So it was disappointing to miss the game."
http://www.afl.com.au/news/2014-04-09/walkers-fouryear-flag-plan
So Macca and the playing group are in complete disagreement with the coach and board. Any wonder they didn't turn up to play last week? We have a coach that keeps saying our blokes aren't good enough. We need a coach that can instill confidence in the playing group, not tell them they're crap to save his own pathetic skin.
In 4 years the side will be completely different.
Sounds like he thinks we can match it with the top 4 now though.
Sounds like he thinks we can match it with the top 4 now though.
We can in bits but we have lapses.
Hawks: last year we controlled the game, they ran over us in the last quarter with the help of the umpires.
Freo: Tight contest for 3 quarters, got smashed in the last.
Geelong: We controlled the majority of the first half but the cats smashed us in red time.
Sydney: Smashed in the first half, came back in the second
In the final first and last quarters we were competitive but smashed in the 2nd and 3rd terms.
No one controls the whole game for every game but the good sides when they control the game punish the other team.
On 360 last night McLure put up some stats for this year, we're 18th for disposals and 18th for uncontested possessions which shows we don't run hard enough for long enough.
No effort, no confidence, no spirit.
someone outside the club has to form a ticket and clear the whole joint out....
these media quotes are killing our brand.....
Sounds like he thinks we can match it with the top 4 now though.
Don't think - DO!
On 360 last night McLure put up some stats for this year, we're 18th for disposals and 18th for uncontested possessions which shows we don't run hard enough for long enough.
Our game doesn't allow our players the space to get easier ball.
Either way, good news about Walker (even though DOA had given us the heads up) and I would hope we can do some sort of rebuild within 4 years. I'd guess Mick will be given a 2 year extension then....
Sounds like he thinks we can match it with the top 4 now though.
Don't think - DO!
But which one is it cookie. On one hand you have MM and the board with a clear agenda which is to save their own hides, and then you have what the players and football manager think. We cannot operate like this. No wonder the players didn't turn up last week.
Sounds like he thinks we can match it with the top 4 now though.
Don't think - DO!
But which one is cookie. On on hand you have MM and the board with a clear agenda which to save their own hides, and then you have what the players and football manager think. We cannot operate like this. No wonder the players didn't turn up last week.
If the situation is as bad as you describe, then mate we are doomed to spend a lot more time in the wilderness with no guarantees or prospects that we'll ever get out of it. Unless a white knight on a mighty steed comes along to save us......
shudder.
Well thats Pagan, Ratten and Malthouse the players haven't shown up for, at what point do the players have to take some responsibility?
They showed up for Ratten not a problem. Different list compared to what Pagan had. I agree though the players need to take some responsibility for sure but in the end, it's the coaches responsibility to instill spirit within the team and get them playing in a cohesive manner. For a bloke on a million plus it's so far been an abject failure that is getting worse, not better.
They showed up for Ratten not a problem. Different list compared to what Pagan had. I agree though the players need to take some responsibility for sure but in the end, it's the coaches responsibility to instill spirit within the team and get them playing in a cohesive manner. For a bloke on a million plus it's so far been an abject failure that is getting worse, not better.
Numerous times they didn't show up for Ratten, they cost him his job.
Nah I reckon the board's incompetence cost him his job.
Well thats Pagan, Ratten and Malthouse the players haven't shown up for, at what point do the players have to take some responsibility?
I doubt it can be claimed the players didn't show up for Ratten, if anything he had them playing on emotion more than the other coaches. Ratten's underlying problems were related to management of players, experience and communications with players and staff.
Pagan was old school, and the "younguns" don't respond to old school fire a brimstone, they are taught about bullying tactics at school and how to deal with it. A coach like Pagan using old school tactics would be tagged as a bully almost immediately!
This is also a the risk Malthouse runs in the modern game, especially if he takes that unhinged persona from the coaches box to the field. Momentarily losing it may well cost him the respect of the list, but at this stage it seems the players have his support!
As for the EFC result, it was certainly left field, but when you hear club people say they didn't see it coming you have the right to be skeptical and ask was it orchestrated for political means?
As supporters you are allowed to question.
We need a coach that can instill confidence in the playing group, not tell them they're crap to save his own pathetic skin.
This.
What do we expect when the Coach seemingly often trashes his players?
Maclure was right, Malthouse needs to be
told to pull his head in.
Nah I reckon the board's incompetence cost him his job.
You paint me as anti Ratten but this is what I posted in the gold coast post match thread.
One thing that I hate about all this Ratten talk is the fact how pathetic and piss weak our players were on Saturday night is being hidden. Ratten has taken the brunt for all of them.
They have to pay a price for what happened. Their end of season trip should be changed to Kokoda.
They showed up for Ratten not a problem. Different list compared to what Pagan had. I agree though the players need to take some responsibility for sure but in the end, it's the coaches responsibility to instill spirit within the team and get them playing in a cohesive manner. For a bloke on a million plus it's so far been an abject failure that is getting worse, not better.
Numerous times they didn't show up for Ratten, they cost him his job.
Yep, very similar behaviour patterns I'm afraid. Sack MM and I fear we'll be back here having this conversation again in about 2 years time unless deep changes are made to the fibre and culture of the club, including the playing list.
@MBB
TBF you did lead the charge to have him sacked.
The players need to be aiming for the prize otherwise why else play?
Could they make it in 4 years?
They would need to improve as a collective in the areas we most neglect to teach our players how to play.
When was the last time you looked at something that one of our players did and said, gee that was clever?
The top teams seem to do it in every passage of play, but even from a bloke like Walker we get a little bit of good, a little bit of bad, and varying degrees of good and bad in between with most of it down at the ordinary level. Gives us the odd highlight like the Mark of the year over Carlisle, or that goal against the Saints, and then fails to hit a target with the ball sliding off the boot twice against the Bombers (once on the non preffered side which is understandable, but on the preferred side?).
Perhaps Im the eternal optimist, but I think that almost any player can win a flag, but you to need to have the right mix around all of them for it to work, and we just seem to be lacking in too many different areas.
We keep saying the same things about our team every season regarding the IF's. If so and so can stand up and play here, and If so and so can stand up and play there, and if X,Y,Z can stay fit, then we might be in the frame for a flag.
For those that think that Ratten was able to get the boys switched they are right, but look at the extremes he had to go to in order for it to happen. Coaching on the boundary leaving the actual on field match ups to someone else from the coaches box?
That speaks for why this group is lacking a bit in the focus department.
Two things!
Firstly, many of you have short memories. There were numerous times that the players didn't turn up to play under Ratten. We lost to bunches of teams that we should have beaten comfortably, sometimes even by large margins. The blow out loss was due every 3-4 weeks under Ratts, it seemed.
It'd be fantastic to be a Carlton player. When you do well, you're a hero and when you don't do well, it's the coach's fault. Absolutely zero accountability at a player level, must be a nice feeling to know that everything is peachy no matter what you do.
Secondly, Walker was asked directly if he thought Carlton could win a Premiership during his current contract. What did you expect him to say? He was on national television, he is hardly going to come out and say 'You know what? I think we suck and won't win a flag while my kids are playing for Carlton, let alone while I am'.
I'm not even defending Malthouse, there are heaps of things I would do differently to him if I had the Carlton playing list to use, but all of you coming out and saying that everything is his fault or that Walker is stupid for saying we could win a flag should really think things through before you post those thoughts.
There's a lot of emotion and not a lot of logical thought flying around at the moment, both inside and outside the club.
Two things!
Firstly, many of you have short memories. There were numerous times that the players didn't turn up to play under Ratten. We lost to bunches of teams that we should have beaten comfortably, sometimes even by large margins. The blow out loss was due every 3-4 weeks under Ratts, it seemed.
It'd be fantastic to be a Carlton player. When you do well, you're a hero and when you don't do well, it's the coach's fault. Absolutely zero accountability at a player level, must be a nice feeling to know that everything is peachy no matter what you do.
Secondly, Walker was asked directly if he thought Carlton could win a Premiership during his current contract. What did you expect him to say? He was on national television, he is hardly going to come out and say 'You know what? I think we suck and won't win a flag while my kids are playing for Carlton, let alone while I am'.
I'm not even defending Malthouse, there are heaps of things I would do differently to him if I had the Carlton playing list to use, but all of you coming out and saying that everything is his fault or that Walker is stupid for saying we could win a flag should really think things through before you post those thoughts.
There's a lot of emotion and not a lot of logical thought flying around at the moment, both inside and outside the club.
Thank you sir for those wise words.
It is stupid. You have mixed messages coming from within the club, if it's too hard for you to comprehend how that is a bad thing it's not worth debating.
Sounds like he thinks we can match it with the top 4 now though.
We can in bits but we have lapses.
Hawks: last year we controlled the game, they ran over us in the last quarter with the help of the umpires.
Freo: Tight contest for 3 quarters, got smashed in the last.
Geelong: We controlled the majority of the first half but the cats smashed us in red time.
Sydney: Smashed in the first half, came back in the second
In the final first and last quarters we were competitive but smashed in the 2nd and 3rd terms.
No one controls the whole game for every game but the good sides when they control the game punish the other team.
On 360 last night McLure put up some stats for this year, we're 18th for disposals and 18th for uncontested possessions which shows we don't run hard enough for long enough.
I think Essendon had something like 200 more uncontested possessions than us last week. It was an absolute deplorable number and absolutely points to a lack of Workrate and effort (no comment on the coach here).
We are also 17th for Turnovers and Points Conceded from Turnovers, also points against. (behind Adelaide :o)
My problem is the club went we have good players, it must be the coach.
Now the coach made little difference and we say, it's the players.
I see this wild goose chasing at work all the time. We can point at the players but the lack of discipline is at the top level. Is there really any thought going into any of this or are we just going by the seat of our pants? The club is a shambles.
No coach will win a premiership with this list, this administration and this recruiting dept....Walker was just saying the party line stuff with his comments.
Well thats Pagan, Ratten and Malthouse the players haven't shown up for, at what point do the players have to take some responsibility?
Pagan wanted Fevola dropped after he took his boots off on the bench but was over ruled by the club, he never had a chance.
If we'd backed him 100% we wouldn't be where we are now, let's hope Malthouse doesn't cop the same treatment.
Well thats Pagan, Ratten and Malthouse the players haven't shown up for, at what point do the players have to take some responsibility?
Pagan wanted Fevola dropped after he took his boots off on the bench but was over ruled by the club, he never had a chance.
If we'd backed him 100% we wouldn't be where we are now, let's hope Malthouse doesn't cop the same treatment.
Errr, whilst MBB and yourself may be in agreement with Malthouse, you're poles apart with Pagan. :))
Errr, whilst MBB and yourself may be in agreement with Malthouse, you're poles apart with Pagan. :))
Yeah plus Fevola was dropped.
Well thats Pagan, Ratten and Malthouse the players haven't shown up for, at what point do the players have to take some responsibility?
Pagan wanted Fevola dropped after he took his boots off on the bench but was over ruled by the club, he never had a chance.
If we'd backed him 100% we wouldn't be where we are now, let's hope Malthouse doesn't cop the same treatment.
Errr, whilst MBB and yourself may be in agreement with Malthouse, you're poles apart with Pagan. :))
I'm poles apart from most Carlton supporters when it comes to Pagan, but it seems to me that history is beginning to repeat.
Pagan was a dual Premiership coach who built North Melbourne's great 90's team from the ground up and had them playing finals year after year, yet somehow he "lost" our players according to some astute judges, and now another Premiership coach (triple in MM's case) is in the process of losing the current playing group according to some of the same astute judges.
I just don't buy it, I think that the club has developed a soft underbelly and that our supporters have been conditioned to believe that all problems can be solved with a cheque book, that if we just recruit one or two key players we're Premiership bound again and if it doesn't happen in two or three years then the coach is the problem.
We've been finding scapegoats for way too long.
TBF Malthouse has won one premiership in the last 20 years.
There is no evidence that Malthouse has lost the players.
Pagan did lose the players, that's a fact.
Errr, whilst MBB and yourself may be in agreement with Malthouse, you're poles apart with Pagan. :))
Yeah plus Fevola was dropped.
And if I recall correctly Fev played a period in defense in the 2s, it was an ABC broadcast game! In that game too he may have finished up early as well taking the boots off under the guise of an injury!
Or I could be wrong and rolling two separate VFL games into one! ???
TBF Malthouse has won one premiership in the last 20 years.
Faaaarrrkkk, you are winding me up.
We recruited him as a G-Damn certified AFL coaching mega-genius and he has two of his three flags one year apart two decades ago! :-[
TBF Malthouse has won one premiership in the last 20 years.
Just like us :D
TBF Malthouse has won one premiership in the last 20 years.
Just like us :D
We are a match made in heaven!
TBF Malthouse has won one premiership in the last 20 years.
My problem before we actually recruited Malthouse was that Coaching the Eagles in the Early 90's was like caoching the WA State team, with the concessions and willingness for WA based players to stay there.
They had a great side, and it wouldnt take much coaching.
His finals record is pretty good though.
We just got pummeled by 81 points, our list is in disarray, and this guy is talking flags within four years. This is prime example as to why this Club is so f*cked up right now!!!
Round 8, 2001. Brisbane was 4 wins and 4 losses after we pumped them by 74 points (and it should have been more). I was there and you would never have thought of them as Premiers let alone finalists at that stage of the season. They then lost the next game against Adelaide. There is still hope.
Round 8 2001
Carlton 3.4 10.8 16.10 21.16 142 Sat 19-May-2001 2:10 PM Att:21,997 Venue: Princes Park
Brisbane Lions 2.3 3.7 8.11 9.14 68 Carlton won by 74 pts [Match stats]
Rd 8 Ladder
HW 8 32 135.2
ES 8 28 147.5
PA 8 24 133.8
CA 8 20 117.6
RI 8 20 105.5
CW 8 16 110.3
BL 8 16 105.0
WB 8 16 99.7
ME 8 16 97.0
AD 8 16 92.1
SY 8 12 100.7
GE 8 12 91.5
KA 8 12 74.2
SK 8 8 81.4
WC 8 8 66.3
FR
B: 2 Chris Johnson 23 Justin Leppitsch 33 Darryl White
HB: 44 Nigel Lappin 22 Chris Scott 10 Marcus Ashcroft
C: 12 Jason Akermanis 3 Michael Voss (c) 30 Robert Copeland
HF: 32 Shaun Hart 16 Jonathan Brown 6 Luke Power
F: 36 Daniel Bradshaw 11 Alastair Lynch 13 Martin Pike
Foll: 27 Clark Keating 20 Simon Black 5 Brad Scott
Int: 43 Beau McDonald 4 Craig McRae 8 Tim Notting
15 Mal Michael
Any wonder how they did it! :P
Nah I reckon the board's incompetence cost him his job.
Have to agree, they made up their mind well before we lost to PA & CGS.
Just on sides turning up, even the top sides fail at some point. Didn't Richmond beat Hawks & I think Melbourne gave them a run a year or so ago. I hope that Sunday was just one of those times for the sake of the club.
How many of our players, playing their absolute top calibre footy, would get a gig in that lineup with these guys at their best?
Chris Judd and who?
Chris Yarran for sure.
B: 2 Chris Johnson 23 Justin Leppitsch 33 Darryl White
HB: 44 Nigel Lappin 22 Chris Scott 10 Marcus Ashcroft
C: 12 Jason Akermanis 3 Michael Voss (c) 30 Robert Copeland
HF: 32 Shaun Hart 16 Jonathan Brown 6 Luke Power
F: 36 Daniel Bradshaw 11 Alastair Lynch 13 Martin Pike
Foll: 27 Clark Keating 20 Simon Black 5 Brad Scott
Int: 43 Beau McDonald 4 Craig McRae 8 Tim Notting
15 Mal Michael
Any wonder how they did it! :P
You missed the point PI2C. These guys were ordinary before they turned it all around and became a champion team. Now, it is debatable how they did it given that there was very little scrutiny over performance enhancing drugs at the time. Also Alistair Lynch who claimed that he had Chronic Fatigue Syndrome was given special dispensation by the AFL to be allowed to take steroids. If you know anybody that has true CFS, a course of steroids would only barely allow them to function day to day. Lynch was an absolute beast! So, it's been happening long before Essendon and Dank, I think.
B: 2 Chris Johnson 23 Justin Leppitsch 33 Darryl White
HB: 44 Nigel Lappin 22 Chris Scott 10 Marcus Ashcroft
C: 12 Jason Akermanis 3 Michael Voss (c) 30 Robert Copeland
HF: 32 Shaun Hart 16 Jonathan Brown 6 Luke Power
F: 36 Daniel Bradshaw 11 Alastair Lynch 13 Martin Pike
Foll: 27 Clark Keating 20 Simon Black 5 Brad Scott
Int: 43 Beau McDonald 4 Craig McRae 8 Tim Notting
15 Mal Michael
Any wonder how they did it! :P
They would scare our list...half our blokes wouldnt turn up to play that team......Michael would be at FB, Leppitch at CHB....
Mix of skill, size and mongrel....
22 hardened senior players to be exact EB! Doubt we'll ever see that again.
22 hardened senior players to be exact EB! Doubt we'll ever see that again.
If you look at the Scotts, Pike and then look at Robbo, Bell etc......all can dish out bumps, tackle hard etc but the Brisbane toughies had skills,
they could hit targets.
TBF Malthouse has won one premiership in the last 20 years.
Only a few years ago and not with a star studded list, and runner up the next year.
We would take it.
22 hardened senior players to be exact EB! Doubt we'll ever see that again.
If you look at the Scotts, Pike and then look at Robbo, Bell etc......all can dish out bumps, tackle hard etc but the Brisbane toughies had skills,
they could hit targets.
So did Chris Johnstone in spades, and he was hard as nails.
22 hardened senior players to be exact EB! Doubt we'll ever see that again.
We'll never see it again because they built that outstanding list courtesy of the concessions granted to them when they 'merged' with Fitzroy. They had a 52 man list for a few years after that, and a massively inflated salary cap. It won them three flags in a row before Collingwood cracked the sads and convinced the AFL to scrap the concessions. Brisbane haven't even been close to a force since they lost the 2004 Grand Final to Port Adelaide.
TBF Malthouse has won one premiership in the last 20 years.
My problem before we actually recruited Malthouse was that Coaching the Eagles in the Early 90's was like caoching the WA State team, with the concessions and willingness for WA based players to stay there.
They had a great side, and it wouldnt take much coaching.
His finals record is pretty good though.
The WC job was probably the plum coaching gig in Australia at the time for the resons you said, yet they picked a coach who had done no better than third in 5 years as a senior coach and missed the finals in 4 of those years at Footscray and he delivered, much like Clarkson has done at Hawthorn.
We have a very good coach, we need to back him.
22 hardened senior players to be exact EB! Doubt we'll ever see that again.
We'll never see it again because they built that outstanding list courtesy of the concessions granted to them when they 'merged' with Fitzroy. They had a 52 man list for a few years after that, and a massively inflated salary cap. It won them three flags in a row before Collingwood cracked the sads and convinced the AFL to scrap the concessions. Brisbane haven't even been close to a force since they lost the 2004 Grand Final to Port Adelaide.
So how did Geelong do it?
22 hardened senior players to be exact EB! Doubt we'll ever see that again.
We'll never see it again because they built that outstanding list courtesy of the concessions granted to them when they 'merged' with Fitzroy. They had a 52 man list for a few years after that, and a massively inflated salary cap. It won them three flags in a row before Collingwood cracked the sads and convinced the AFL to scrap the concessions. Brisbane haven't even been close to a force since they lost the 2004 Grand Final to Port Adelaide.
So how did Geelong do it?
And there is the question, did the two clubs allegedly have anything in common? ;)
22 hardened senior players to be exact EB! Doubt we'll ever see that again.
We'll never see it again because they built that outstanding list courtesy of the concessions granted to them when they 'merged' with Fitzroy. They had a 52 man list for a few years after that, and a massively inflated salary cap. It won them three flags in a row before Collingwood cracked the sads and convinced the AFL to scrap the concessions. Brisbane haven't even been close to a force since they lost the 2004 Grand Final to Port Adelaide.
So how did Geelong do it?
Geelong won three flags in a row and should have won a fourth?
I must have been pretty high during those years to have missed it :P
No coach will win a premiership with this list, this administration and this recruiting dept....Walker was just saying the party line stuff with his comments.
best post..
this spin coming out of this Club is just plainly pathetic, contradictory and embarrassing....
was walker asked to do this?
did swan ask him to do this?
did gleeson approve this?
did malthouse agree with this?
Pure PR stuff with the membership numbers firmly in mind.
Pure PR stuff with the membership numbers firmly in mind.
Hence - Mr Swann
And there is the question, did the two clubs allegedly have anything in common? ;)
Picking up two Premiership captains in Ling and Harley for next to nothing might have something to do with Geelong's success, as well as getting Hunt and Enright below pick 50, Stevie J at the same pick we paid for Adam Hartlett and Chapman at 32 with the pick we gave them for Mick Mansfield.
That and making the most of their other picks, Corey at 9, Bartel, Mackie and Sellwood at 7, Varcoe at 5, Taylor and Kelly at 17, Wojinski 24, Milburn 48, Rooke at 41 in the rookie draft.
There's no substitute for good recruiting.
And there is the question, did the two clubs allegedly have anything in common? ;)
Picking up two Premiership captains in Ling and Harley for next to nothing might have something to do with Geelong's success, as well as getting Hunt and Enright below pick 50, Stevie J at the same pick we paid for Adam Hartlett and Chapman at 32 with the pick we gave them for Mick Mansfield.
That and making the most of their other picks, Corey at 9, Bartel, Mackie and Sellwood at 7, Varcoe at 5, Taylor and Kelly at 17, Wojinski 24, Milburn 48, Rooke at 41 in the rookie draft.
There's no substitute for good recruiting.
Hmm, that is a very rational answer B4L, but I was preferring the irrational like some common sports science!
Shhh better not say too much, or Berserker Whatley and Rolltop Robbo might gang up on us!
Drips at 1/2 time anyone!
Pure PR stuff with the membership numbers firmly in mind.
Hence - Mr Swann
I would think it's standard practice, probably with Swann involved in setting it the policy/process but from my past experience anybody speaking to the media would be briefed on what to say first by the PR people.
TBF Malthouse has won one premiership in the last 20 years.
Only a few years ago and not with a star studded list, and runner up the next year.
We would take it.
Their middle was very good, They had the best mark in the league and a pretty good number 2. Great run off half back too. I think it was a very good side supported by the highest cost footy department going around and spending on footy departments correlates very highly with ladder position.
Hmm, that is a very rational answer B4L, but I was preferring the irrational like some common sports science.
If only it was that easy, or we could just buy players like we did in the70's and 80's.
The thing is that we all hoped we'd turned the corner with our recruiting but none of our first rounders from the last five years are certain to make the grade and Lucas, Watson and Bootsma are looking increasingly unlikely.
Menzel looks the goods and Cripps obviously needs time, but there's no indication yet that we've lifted our game significantly.
22 hardened senior players to be exact EB! Doubt we'll ever see that again.
We'll never see it again because they built that outstanding list courtesy of the concessions granted to them when they 'merged' with Fitzroy. They had a 52 man list for a few years after that, and a massively inflated salary cap. It won them three flags in a row before Collingwood cracked the sads and convinced the AFL to scrap the concessions. Brisbane haven't even been close to a force since they lost the 2004 Grand Final to Port Adelaide.
So how did Geelong do it?
Bloody good drafting down the list plus the line they drew in the sand in 2007 regarding their culture.
A combination of good recruiting, good coaching and good culture wins premierships. Good science and medical staff is important too of course.
TBF Malthouse has won one premiership in the last 20 years.
Only a few years ago and not with a star studded list, and runner up the next year.
We would take it.
Their middle was very good, They had the best mark in the league and a pretty good number 2. Great run off half back too. I think it was a very good side supported by the highest cost footy department going around and spending on footy departments correlates very highly with ladder position.
They had three or four who played out of their skins and have never been able to reproduce it since, like Essendon's "baby bombers" side who beat us in 1993.
It's the sign of a good coach.
Hmm, that is a very rational answer B4L, but I was preferring the irrational like some common sports science.
If only it was that easy, or we could just buy players like we did in the70's and 80's.
The thing is that we all hoped we'd turned the corner with our recruiting but none of our first rounders from the last five years are certain to make the grade and Lucas, Watson and Bootsma are looking increasingly unlikely.
Menzel looks the goods and Cripps obviously needs time, but there's no indication yet that we've lifted our game significantly.
I heard that Bootsma did quite well on the weekend.
Hmm, that is a very rational answer B4L, but I was preferring the irrational like some common sports science.
If only it was that easy, or we could just buy players like we did in the70's and 80's.
The thing is that we all hoped we'd turned the corner with our recruiting but none of our first rounders from the last five years are certain to make the grade and Lucas, Watson and Bootsma are looking increasingly unlikely.
Menzel looks the goods and Cripps obviously needs time, but there's no indication yet that we've lifted our game significantly.
I heard that Bootsma did quite well on the weekend.
I hope he comes on, but he has shown very little at senior level so far.
I hope he comes on, but he has shown very little at senior level so far.
So do I
He's got a bit of football under his belt now but he has that body shape that will take a bit of time to develop.
He'll never be Arnold Schwarzenegger but hopefully he can make it.....fear this may be his last season to prove it though.
I heard that Bootsma did quite well on the weekend.
He did some good things, and he did some bad things, all we can hope for is the bad diminishes over time.
On crack
I heard that Bootsma did quite well on the weekend.
[/quote]
at which niteclub?
I hope he comes on, but he has shown very little at senior level so far.
So do I
He's got a bit of football under his belt now but he has that body shape that will take a bit of time to develop.
He'll never be Arnold Schwarzenegger but hopefully he can make it.....fear this may be his last season to prove it though.
I haven't been impressed so far.
Buckley is also a scrawny runt but he had a real impact in his second career game and showed confidence and poise, like he belonged there.
I reckon Bootsma's on his last chance too, along with Lucas and Watson, if they still aren't showing much in year three or four it's odds on that they won't and we've got a history of hanging onto players for too long.