To be honest, if Murphy isn't fit, I hope we don't play him. We have been burnt before. I never like playing unfit players. Same goes for Carrots: if he isn't 100%, then don't play him. I hope they are fit, but I doubt it. Especially Murphy.
Who would be Watson's best match up this week? To be used to best advantage, we need to utilise his kicking skills on the rebound. That means he'd be best off if we could put him on someone who'll be reasonably static around the goalsquare, allowing him to sag off for the handball receive out of defence. And of course he's most likely to be exposed by a fast leading forward who can double back towards the goalsquare. Petrie's probably too mobile for him. Hansen's out injured now, isn't he? Are they playing a 2nd ruckman as a secondary target at the moment? If so, that could be the go. Majak Daw would be too explosive, but at the moment he's not really a high possession player and I'm guessing he's not good defensively.
This is a really important issue that you've raised, Mav: Watson would not be a good match up on Daw, because Daw has pace and doesn't relate well to physical pressure. I'm not sure we do have anyone who fits that classification,but Watson isn't it. A year or so ago I would have put Laidler on Daw: Laidler doesn't have the pace, but he is spot on for the body contact, reads the ball well in the air and often plays on bigger with success. That is not a likely match up. I guess we'll have to watch to see who North is considering as its 2nd or 3rd tall forward.
Explanations: [3] Judd : Excellent, especially at the centre clearances. [3] Henderson: Probably his best 4 quarter effort for the year. he dominated his position and beat 4 opponents on the night and gave an excellent target. [2.5] Simpson: Fine game, especially early when St. Kilda were at their best. His marking and kicking were excellent. [1.5] Kreuzer: Good effort in the ruck and around the ground. [1] Rowe: Probably his best game for Carlton: he marked well, he kicked well and he was a good target. [1] Tuohy: Took Milne apart and looked very composed and hard in defence. His goal was a beauty. [1] Cachia: A good, solid job on the St. Kilda mids. [0.5] McLean: Not as prolific as has been, but good value on his least favourite surface. [0.5] Lucas: Good early with his run and marking. [0.5] Walker: Good all night at keeping the St. Kilda small and medium forward quiet. [0.5] Gibbs: 20 odd possessions and did a job well. He really showed some desperation in the last quarter that you don't often see.
Honourable Mentions: Watson: Considering that he was a last minute call up, he did pretty well. I was disappointed with his attack on the ball sometimes and his willingness to give up when the ball was still fairly close, but he did get on top of his opponents and he only had a handful of marks against him. His kicking, but for one clanger, was excellent. McInnes: Andrew looked a little slow at times, but he worked hard and had the better of his man after quarter time. Garlett: Almost got a vote for his 3 goals. He didn't do a lot other than that, and he appears to be some way off his best yet. However, this effort was much better than for most of last week. Murphy: Considerably better than last week, even with some hamstring soreness. 20 odd possessions and put his body in better. Betts: 1 quarter and a half for 11 possessions was a considerable improvement over recent weeks. Hopefully he can get his mojo back soon. Jamison: Outpaced early by Riewoldt, he kept at it and got on top, pushing Riewoldt further up the ground and away from the scoring zone. Scotland: Far from his best, but he was good when the game was needed to be won. On the way back to form. Yarran: 200% better than last week, he ran and chased and marked with a lot more endeavour. Also on the way back.
I've often wondered how Carrazzo will find a gig in the side as there always seems to be someone better than him playing in the role he has become accustomed too. Whether that was early days in the back pocket, to him becoming a tagger, to his time as a ball magnet, to a part time forward.
Every time i doubt his ability to fit into the team, he reinvents himself...and usually becomes a better player than he was before.
He is getting on in years and the calf is the old mans injury. After the game he did look to have a slight limp. Hopefully he can get himself back fit and firing from here.
We play some of our best footy with Carrots up and going, so I hope to see him get back to form soon. To be honest, I would have brought him back through the Baby Blues. Not only would he have got match confidence, the Blues would have an effective midfielder (for a change). Carrots would have got a fair bit of the ball and would have come back with a little less rust on board. However, it doesn't look like the way he has come in has been successful.
If he is having more calf issues, give him a week off and bring him back via the Baby Blues.
On top of that, the games he missed meant he didn't evolve to fit Malthouse's style quite so much. Some of the guys haven't yet found their place, while Simmo took 7 - 8 games. Carrots wasn't going to fit seamlessly in overnight. We are going to need him soon enough: time to get him into form in the next month or so. After that and we will have to wait until next year.
As usual, Watson appears to have been the cause of some dissention. There were time when he did very well and others when he just didn't appear to want it enough. At the moment he fills a role and will probably next weekend as well: North have too many talls not to play him. However, we need someone a bit better than that, especially in terms of pace.
Henderson was just what we needed tonight. Rowe is a keeper if he can get his endurance working . Watson probably did more in the seniors than he does in the juniors. Simo well done, Judd same old magic, and Garlett getting more active along with Yarran. Much better efforts. Not pretty but better for certain.
I just can't agree with you there Mantis, I reckon he is a stop-gap measure until a better option comes along. He plays the CHF position pretty well due to his years of experience in the role at Norwood but he has some limitations which will get exposed against the better teams.
I will say this though, he's a much better key forward option for us than Casboult purely on the back of his kicking for goal.
Apparently Rowe has just signed a 1 year contract for next season. So he is going to be around for a little while longer
I don't know about Casboult, who is a better mark, but a worse kick and who also tends to run under the ball too much. I can't see both of them there next year, but there is also Mitchell.
Most of us can identify some of Rowe's issues, especially when the ball hits the ground. However, if we can get him playing to his strengths, rather than his weaknesses, he does give us something. Ross Ditchburn also had weaknesses, but we played to his strengths and he was top goal kicker for us.
With a workman like win on the board and a bit more spirit on display, this week should be a tad easier to vote on. Remember, no more than 10 votes to any one player. Votes have to add up to 15. Include a rating on team performance. At least 3 players need to get a mention.
After this week's bye, the Baby Blues have a chance to restart their season against Box Hill at Box Hill. Unlike previous years, this game is on TV. It would be nice if we could turn up - we have only won 1 of our last 4 TV games, and that was against Frankston. It would also be nice if we had a midfield for the game, but that is far beyond my control.
Our last 20 games against this mob makes for pretty unsavoury reading: WWLLLLLLLLLLLLWWLLLL Would love a win but cant convince myself we can. Got on the Saints at $3.25 just in case.
I would also like to set the Universe aright by putting this mob to the sword. Unfortunately, I can't see it happening. If our team selection is not 'tanking', then I've never seen it.
Losing to St. Kilda 'is like dancing with your sister', to paraphrase Denis Pagan.
Nick Graham: he has to be close to a senior game just because it looks like he can play. He has had a total of 3 VFL games ever, after spending the first half of the season on the LTI list. He played well in the first 2 of these, and was heavily tagged (for 19 possessions in a team that got flogged) in the 3rd. His disposal has been pretty good. Tom Bell would have been playing senior football but for his broken jaw. His disposal has not been as good as Graham's to this point.
Yes, the Northern Blues have a week off with the VFL's odd scheduling. Normally I'd be frustrated. This week, I just hope the guys are getting things right.
ST KILDA B: Stanley Gwilt Dempster HB: Ray Roberton Jones C: Newnes Hayes Geary HF: Armitage Riewoldt Montagna F: Milne Lee Dennis-Lane FOLL: McEvoy Dal Santo Steven I/C: Hickey Murdoch Saunders Milera EMG: Siposs Ross Wright IN: Milne Riewoldt OUT: Wright Saad
The change over really robbed of voting power this week, but I am sure that will change as more people find their way over to here.
Mind you, the Collingwood game didn't give us much to wax lyrical about. It was our worst display of the year by some margin. The poor spread of votes demonstrates that few people thought there were many decent contributors.
Votes: Judd, Chris 364 Simpson, Kade 201 Kreuzer, Matthew 195 Lucas, Kane 170 McLean, Brock 94 Walker, Andrew 88 Henderson, Lachie 50 Tuohy, Zac 44 Cachia, Jarryd 38 Jamison, Michael 25 Carrazzo, Andrew 25 McInnes, Andrew 25
Lucas garnered a few votes this week, even though he really had his moment. However, he got more ball than anyone else for us on the night. A year or 2 ago a 29 possession game by Judd would have been a match winning effort. Alas, not this year. Andrew McInnes made a contribution in his first game back. Well done.
Progressives: 2081 - Judd, Chris (0) 1915 - Walker, Andrew (0) 1576 - Henderson, Lachie (0) 1441 - Garlett, Jeff (0) 1221 - McLean, Brock (0) 1017 - Murphy, Marc (0) 977 - Gibbs, Bryce (0) 943 - Kreuzer, Matthew (0) 906 - Simpson, Kade (0) 865 - Waite, Jarrad (0) 723 - Jamison, Michael (0) 626 - Yarran, Chris (0) 500 - Armfield, Dennis (0) 375 - Warnock, Robert (0) 359 - Lucas, Kane (0) 355 - Cachia, Jarryd (0) 317 - Tuohy, Zac (0) 304 - Robinson, Mitch (0) 303 - Scotland, Heath (0) 207 - Carrazzo, Andrew (0) 206 - White, Simon (0) 178 - Betts, Eddie (0) 150 - Curnow, Edward (0) 80 - Hampson, Shaun (0) 62 - Casboult, Levi (0) 26 - McInnes, Andrew (0) 15 - Bell, Tom (0) 14 - Rowe, Sam (0) 6 - Ellard, David (0) 5 - Menzel, Troy (0) 4 - Buckley, Dylan (0) 3 - Duigan, Nicholas (0)
Juddy has overtaken Walker to grab the lead, with more than one guy close behind.
Saints by 5 goals.....there's no more certain result this coming weekend. Saints supporters don't rate their team either, but they do against us....and with some justification too.
Riewoldt will kick a lazy 4 at least, Kosi & Milne 3 apiece, Milera will play one of his 2 good games of the year, Saad will come in and kick at least 2, Hayes a lazy 35+ possessions, Dal Santo a lazy 30+, Farren Ray will look magnificent, Jack Steven will run around like a Stawell Gift winner, Rhys Stanley will single handily fend off our forward talls, McEvoy will take 10+ contested marks everywhere, Clint Jones keep Murphy to about 10 possessions......and on and on and on it goes......
Did you have to?
Unfortunately it is looking that way. I hated being Kassandra last weekend, now Brettie brings up a nightmare. But unless we can find some intestinal fortitude, some cohesion, and some esprit de corps, his nightmare may become a reality. It happened last time with no reasonable justification.
