Carlton Supporters Club

Cookie the difference is they have good ball users that are skilled enough to do it under pressure.  AND especially when there is little or no pressure (i.e. yesterday)

Our guys have a crack but we cant consistently hit targets by foot when there is any sort of heat on.  AND even when there is no heat on.

Our small forwards can't take a mark above to their head and just dont get enough of the ball at ground level.
We need a Weightman, Elliott, Ryan, Bolton  type who can be a proper target and not just a crumber...

I wouldn't be too worried about BigH and the other KPPs kicking, they will always have good and bad days, the media are going to beat up on them, but we need to stick fat, it's not the lack of opportunities for them, it's the lack of crumbing goals that are killing us at the moment.

Aints must have cleaned up 98% of the ground ball in our D50, the low rate of success crumbing is abominable, just unacceptable. You only need to get 2 or 3 crumbing goals a game to flip the equation, take the pressure off the KPFs and turn a deficit into a lead. When Owies went out we've lost both a deep defensive runner and 2 goals a game that we've failed to replace, Honey hasn't had an impact, not sure where we go from here, Motlop is basically a highlights type player not a 4-qtr workhorse. Small Durdin is horribly out of form. Some fans might defend small Durdin because he's averaging a goal and a bit, but other than that goal and a bit he's not having much impact. Sure he made some tackles, but his opponent was still able to dispose of the footy in most tackles, a tackle is basically a zero stat if you fail to trap the pill.

I think another thing missing in 2023 is goals from the midfield, last year we had Cripps, Hewett, Cerra and Kennedy all contributing at times, this year that has basically evaporated. Is it due to form or tactical changes, it's hard to tell, probably a bit of both?

We might need a new small forward.
Motlop's copped a week for rough conduct.
Young fined for striking

https://www.carltonfc.com.au/news/1315496?fbclid=IwAR3MqmCQL0e1qfB-coih0CcdW3AiI5TvPmPo65Umd_kNE3OwAi6bdnLbI54

Interesting hearing Matthew Lloyd on Access All Areas - said he watched St Kilda train a number of times in the pre season, and concluded that they would be in for a long year, because a. they had more players injured than on the training track, and b. they were constantly missing targets. But the other thing he noted is that they were getting hammered with their running. He said he couldn't believe how much running Lyon and Misson were getting the boys to do, and pretty hard running at that. If nothing else, he noted, they would be extremely fit.

Young has been out of form of late and struggled vs a rusty Membrey. Maybe some rucking might give him some more confidence as he is being pushed aside too easily in marking duels.
Matthew Lloyd said he watched Stkilda pre season and couldn't believe the hard running that Lyon put them through.
I do wonder given our injury woes that Russell and crew went light on the running  pre season and we are struggling for pace and endurance as a team.

The thing about that is that there is a lot of months between the start of a season and the end.
They may have had an intense pre-season that has left them very fit for the early rounds but through the season there will need to be peaks and troughs of training intensity.
How they manage and maintain those training loads may tell a story.
A pre season is very important.
It's the time for hard work, putting it in the bank so to speak, but there is also an element that must be maintained and managed so training loads in July-August will be very different to early in the year.

Can you imagine what a Heeney type would do in and around Charlie and BigH?

Was the closest Motlop got to the ball all day and forked that up too.

He'd watch the ball sail over his head or hit him on the shins just like Harry and Charlie do. Its officially embarrassing now.