Carlton Supporters Club

I'd be wary of drawing firm conclusions about work rate and chasing on the TV. Not being able to see what happens off camera is a big issue.

Murphy and Cripps don't chase, why does Martin have higher expectations?

Cannot believe some of the quotes about Martin
Instead of putting his head over the aggot he squibbed it big time and McCarthy goals

So screwing overrated
If don’t believe me watch the replay
The guy picks and chooses

Don’t agree at all. Maybe on that one occasion he could have gone harder but the bloke busts his butt and does a heap of hard running. He is also a very strong tackler.

I’m more then happy with him and wish others gave the effort he does.

I reckon Martin, Weitering, Walsh, and Ed Curnow would be virtual locks for a top 5 B+F finish. Very happy with Martin, and if we are complaining about him, we are in deep do doos.

Murphy and Cripps don't chase, why does Martin have higher expectations?

Needs a decent run at string of games without injury to build confidence and continuity. Has good evasive skills (sidestep) and can get out of traffic and find clear air.

You can't implement a game plan if you keep kicking the ball to the opposition. Most of the Brisbane goals came from dodgy free kicks and turnovers. Can't do anything about the umpires but we can do something about our kicking. Harry McKay could be our next Kernahan and Charlie could be our next Fevola, Bosustow, Jesaulenko. What we sorely need in our forward line is on the ground sparkle. Our mid-field lacks pace. Unfortunately Cripps, Curnow, Murphy, Setterfield, Kennedy, Martin, Walsh, Gibbons & Newnes all run hard but don't have zip. Other than Fisher, the players with zip, Dow, Cuningham & O'Brien, don't run hard. Our backline lacks pace and foot skills. If they could hit a target or get the ball out of bounds long down the line it would really take a lot of pressure off them when things are not going well in the mid-field. Plowman is a case in point. He played really well against a very dangerous opponent as he has done all year, but his kicking often lets him and the team down. Jones is the otherone I hate havibng the ball when we are coming out of defence.
The long term positives for the season are Cottrell, Philps & Honey playing their first games, the improvement of TDK, Walsh & Setterfield, and the introduction of Martin, Pittonet & Newnes into the playing group. The negatives were those horrendous quarters we played just about every game. For next year we need to get Charlie, Jack, Newman & Marchbank back, we need big improvements out of Dow, O'Brien, McGovern, TDK, Stocker, Kemp, Cuningham, Philps & Cottrell and we need to improve our skills under pressure.

Murphy also picks and chooses; Cripps actually tries but often isn't fast enough to catch anyone.

That doesn't excuse speedy players, like Martin and SPS, who commonly think first before deciding whether to chase. 

Ideally, players will be hungry for the chase (like a seagull after a chip) and react accordingly.  Simmo isn't as fast as he used to be but he still reacts like he used to.

Could it be that players make an evaluation of whether or not they are likely to catch the opp player and if very unlikely why waste the energy trying? A bad look nevertheless.

Could it be that players make an evaluation of whether or not they are likely to catch the opp player and if very unlikely why waste the energy trying? A bad look nevertheless.

Indeed. It was one of the biggest black marks I had against Wiggins, back in the day. If he thought he was close enough, he was ferocious. But if the distance was one cm past where he thought he could make it, he didn't try. All players do it to some extent, but some guys never seem to give up, their 'radius of attempt', if you will, is just bigger than others. Stephen Silvagni was one of those. He would go for it at distances that others wouldn't, and he would get there more often than not. It made him what he was.