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12
Robert Heatley Stand / Re: Lapses- Physical or Mental
Last post by LP -
At one stage I'm sure I watched Walsh run towards FB like a goalkeeper while we're losing a stoppage on the HBF, that is not fitness. Was it tactics or panic?

On the free kick issue, are we ruining the game when we reward players who stage, it's not a skill but is it cheating? It's becoming a bigger and bigger issue in clutch moments, our game is going like soccer!
13
Robert Heatley Stand / Lapses- Physical or Mental
Last post by Lods -
By now it’s no secret that we have an issue with lapses in our play, where sides get a run on and wipe out our early leads. It’s about as predictable as snow in the Himalayas. What Docherty said was never the issue with his comments, it was the timing that wasn’t helpful. We all can see we have a problem, but it seems that no-one, least of all the coaching staff, have the solutions. We get to half time with a lead and who amongst us is comfortable, given our history of giving up these leads.

Fitness
The question, and argument seems to be… ”Is it fitness, is it mental or a combination of both”. A disturbing part of our last two games is that we’re looking obviously buggered early in the 3rd quarters of our games. We all accept that in any game no side can go at 100% for the entire game. There will be lapses, and that will bring about momentum swings when the opposition will pile on 2 or 3 goals in a row. Our problem is that it’s more often six or seven and a handy lead disappears.

Fitness?? Our last two fitness guys come to us highly credentialed. How is it that what works at one club doesn’t work as well at Carlton. Anyone with a background in strength and conditioning will tell you that over a year you can’t train at maximum intensity for the whole time. There needs to be periods of high intensity and lower intensity to allow the body to adjust and recover. In a sport like track and field it’s a little easier to plan. You have maybe two or three major competitions you target, and you can plan your training intensity around that to have the athlete peak for the major events each year. In football they have to get up each week. Each week is important and then there is the added consideration of being at the top of your game for finals. It’s not an easy task.
 I’m just wondering, and I may be completely wrong…Did we plan to keep the pre-season going and keep training at a higher level for the first two weeks of the competition knowing that the bye would give us time to freshen up and attack the season proper. The expectation would have been that the Swans game at their home ground would have been difficult, but the Richmond game a little easier, so that if we came out of it 1-1 we would have been travelling OK. The result of that approach would account for the drop off and tiring after half time.

Mental
On the other hand, we have this pattern of lapses. It’s not a new thing. Fitness alone can’t account for some of those efforts. It’s the little man on the shoulder. Often it comes after a momentum changer of our own making. A Fogarty miss from straight in front, and suddenly the trigger is pulled. That’s not to single Fogarty out because he’s not Robinson Crusoe and these momentum swingers have been occurring for a few years now. This one is a lot harder to fix than  a fitness one. It’s one I don’t have an answer for short of a Psych or an Exorcist. I think what has to happen is that if we get this momentum changing ‘clanger’ we have to condition ourselves that this is our own 'trigger' to double down and increase the intensity for a brief period. That of course comes with its own danger. If we become over-anxious and give away free kicks that adds to the opposition’s momentum. This is probably where leaders have to lead…and show the way, (not give away free kicks.)

Like everyone else I can see the issue. I have no idea about the answer…but the probable ‘solution’ will be that someone will get the chop.
17
Robert Heatley Stand / Re: AFL Rd 3 2026 Pre Game Prognostications Carlton vs Melbourne
Last post by laj -
Quote from: crashlander – on
I know the AFL hate us, but the scheduling of the next few weeks is seriously diabolical.
[1] Rd #2 Bye. Then an extra long wait before our next game when we really need game time into our players.
[2] vs Melbourne on a Sunday afternoon - not bad in itself, but then we have 2 short weeks in a row, Can't they schedule us for a Saturday? Or a Friday night?
[3] Good Friday against North
[4] Thursday night against Collingwood

Do other teams get screwed around like this?

Enough rant for the moment. After our bye, we play Melbourne at 15:15 on a Sunday (29th March).
I have no idea how good Melbourne will be, but they are going to miss their stars eventually.
Gawn is too good for our rucks. I'm not sure what we can do about that.
Just noticed, we have a 17 day break. AFL actually look when doing the fixture?
18
Robert Heatley Stand / Re: AFL Rd 1 2026 Post Game Prognostications Carlton vs Richmond
Last post by laj -
Watched the first qtr again. We go like Olympic sprinters in the first qtr. No wonder we were stuffed.

Swans belted Brisbane. 9 goals up at half time. They're flying. We towelled them for an hour and 10 minutes before physically stopping dead. Not a great skill inq pacing ourselves. Once we are dead, we look horrible. Last half against Richmond made my eyes hurts. First qtr though, like the first half and 10 min against the Swans, so much different. If only we descended from Kenyans...lol.