Carlton Supporters Club

I agree with Neil Craig in regard to this comment;

For me our Player Development looks 1000% better than it has been in the past which is why I changed my forum signature a while back.

I agree with Neil Craig in regard to this comment;

For me our Player Development looks 1000% better than it has been in the past which is why I changed my forum signature a while back.

I put player development down to Bolton, Fraser, Amos, Barker etc...not sure what Craig has done to be so valuable...
Bolton and Amos could probably lecture him on the merits of what a successful footy dept needs..
Every club he ends up at usually falls quicker than a Malaysian airliner and rises like a phoenix when he leaves....

I'm no expert but the one player highlighted on the journey that he was putting work into was KJ, looking forward to his meteoric rise once Craig goes.

SB..I remember Craig saying he was working with KJ...worked about as well as Taylor Walker did for him....

SB..I remember Craig saying he was working with KJ...worked about as well as Taylor Walker did for him....

SB..I remember Craig saying he was working with KJ...worked about as well as Taylor Walker did for him....

And, as I have pointed out before, Walker admits that Craig did the right thing playing him in the magoos 

It seemed to me that Craig was tasked with trying to get Jaksch to keep focused.  Fraser and the line coaches are the blokes putting the work into Jaksch but, when all is said and done, the coaches can only provide a framework in which players may develop.  Jaksch seems the odd one out among our recent additions and I suspect that the responsibility for his lack of progress rests squarely on his shoulders.

And, as I have pointed out before, Walker admits that Craig did the right thing playing him in the magoos 

It seemed to me that Craig was tasked with trying to get Jaksch to keep focused.  Fraser and the line coaches are the blokes putting the work into Jaksch but, when all is said and done, the coaches can only provide a framework in which players may develop.  Jaksch seems the odd one out among our recent additions and I suspect that the responsibility for his lack of progress rests squarely on his shoulders.

I'll take that as Walker playing a straight gracious bat as the captain of the Crows.....Putting Craigs coaching career into perspective...Gary Ayres had a slightly better win /loss ratio......Craig's best years were his first two full time ones with a list that Ayres built.
Craigs expertise was fitness IMO not coaching....I dont want Eade for the same reasons I didnt want Craig....not good enough at the end of the day to win a GF even when they had the cattle...

A really pleasing aspect of our season has been our defence and especially last game when we attacked through the middle.  A maturing side has the ability to change tack a little, moving from defence to attack and back when it suits.  We proved we were able to attack through the corridor and then move back to a defensive style.

It has been a long season at times, and the last few weeks have been ordinary.  But we have only been blown away in two games (two and a half if Brisbane is included) and we have been competitive.  Games are being played by the youth, getting experience in.  Curnow has played over 20 games already.  Not bad for a second year key position player.  Likewise with Weitering.

Finsihing bottom is likely and we should be filthy about this.  Maybe this could have been avoided if we played the likes of Palmer and Armfield for a few more games, but it would be at the expense of getting valuable AFL game time into Williamson, Mcreedie, Marchbank, Plowman, SPS, Fisher and Pickett. 

Big draft coming up for the club.  Get this right (3 or 4 150 game players) and we are serious finals contenders in a couple of years.  Muck it up and we will be drifting.

I'm still a little cautious re player development.

Not counting first year players because you don't have a base line to measure improvement....
Which players have shown the benefits of our development?
Curnow definitely...who else?