Carlton Supporters Club

That last goal looked like a set play gone wrong.  Pitto was arguing with someone after it.  Again - system broke down under pressure.

Pittonet got 6 clearances. That's the same number as contested beasts cripps and Hewett.

He only got 1 mark, which was actually contested, but how many times were we trying to target him directly? How many times was he outmarked by his opponent?

I'm far from convinced 2 rucks works. But I think you are blinded by what pitto actually delivers/offers.

Not a great night for any of the rucks in the air

Cameron- 4 marks 2 contested
Cox- 3 Marks- 1 contested
De Koning- 5 marks - 1 contested
Pittonet-1 mark 1 contested

I suspect all were getting their hands to the ball at different stages but were spoiling each other in most of the contests.

5 tackles + 5 clearances is about the average for an AFL ruckman.

Charlie seems very clumsy at the moment, he is horribly out of form. His touch seems to have abandoned him. He used to turn blokes inside out at will. Still, hard to pot superstars when you have so many non contributors.

According to who? Your made up assumption?

Max gawn one of the best rucks of the modern game has averaged 5 clearances or more just once in his career....this year.

Nic Nat the modern archetype averaged 5 or more clearances just 4 times in his career.
Grundy the same.
English has only averaged over 4 once.

Who are these mythical ruckman pushing up that clearance average?

Fwiw, pitto averages 7.5 this year which is elite (afl stat's determination, not mine) which means top 10% in his category (rucks). So at worst there might be 2 players ahead of him.

....and this is from the bloke people said was no good after the hitout was taken.

Give the man some credit.

Yep, Pitto does need to take those marks around the ground, but no blame for the loss could be put on the shoulders of our rucks. Likewise, with the exception of Williams, our defence did well until continued pressure and too many inside 50s from Rottingwood.

I also didn't see much wrong with our midfield, apart from being a little loose at times (Walsh) and going backwards too often (Cerra).

Rottingwood came well prepared to counter any and all of our strengths. They were mentally up for the challenge and hunted us really well. Whereas, we looked a little confused at times with a concerning lack of connection around the ground and especially between midfield and forwards. Insufficient confidence?

Williams is not a deep defender. Panics. Much better further up the ground. We were very, very lucky there weren't more free kicks against him as he did 'hang on' to opponents too much. Weiters, Boyd, Gov, Newey, Saad, Cincotta, Cow... are far more reliable in deep defence.

I've banged on before about a 'hunting' mentality. When we have this, we are much, much better. Finessing, is not our thing. We do better when the attitude/focus is simple. We seem to be thinking too much. Too complex trying to implement 'layers?'

2 tackles - 1 mark for a ruck playing 70% of the game isn't good enough. Need more than just 30 taps.. lost it due to lack of run - all three losses have been the same way. Filth had three players tackling one Blue because they had superior ground coverage.. not to mention Darcy Cameron was taking important marks in his defensive half. I am not sure how many more games we need to lose in the same manner before the penny drops. Guys like Cripps & Hewett struggle when the opposing team cover the ground like they do.

Well I guess we will see things differently - you think he is a superstar because he wins clearances and I think he is a crab with only one trick in his book which is a requirement for an AFL ruckman and thats where it sits.