Carlton Supporters Club

Do your best. I'll be at the game so a lot will be said before I get around to it. Enjoy!

Synergy, game plan, skills, coach all works in progress.

I did see a few green shoots though.

Moving on from institutionalized mediocrity will take a real effort, a whole of club approach. Are we up for the fight ?

Last 10 scoring shots
Us 2.5 Them 1.2
Coulda shoulda woulda

I love barracking for a  Record Breaking team.
Been breaking records for the last 18 years. 

P Cripps 3 Brownlow Votes 2 weeks in a row

Synergy, game plan, skills, coach all works in progress.

I did see a few green shoots though.

Moving on from institutionalized mediocrity will take a real effort, a whole of club approach. Are we up for the fight ?

We're all up for it but it's so hard to watch at the moment. Give it 6 more weeks and we should start to see it gel, for now it's cringeworthy.

Having a reject like Gowers look better than JackS probably summed up where we are.....

I will say Mackay is a find and SOJ a worry at the moment.

P Cripps 3 Brownlow Votes 2 weeks in a row

Doubt he'll get the votes, umpires rarely award the inside player if they aren't doing a Judd and breaking free.

Marchbank will be better for the run...seemed a bit off the pace tonight.

Send SOS back to the NBs and into the gym for the rest of the year. He’s got to rely on strength because he has no pace.  Zac holds his ground more than SOS.

I will say Mackay is a find and SOJ a worry at the moment.

Harry was ok in a poor team and shows talent, pity he wasnt played earlier...Jack isnt enjoying the modern forward line methods of high pressure and lots of running, Harry looks more mobile.

Casboult was OK tonight, Charlie was very good if not for the head fades.

Kennedy, SPS, O'Shea.

Rowe, Jones, Marchbank all poor. Nothing to do with the size, that cooked the ball and got in each others way. I think they had more spoils on each other than the Dogs had on us as team!

Media going into hyperventilation mode to kick us, highlights everywhere showing Gowers.

Marchbank will be better for the run...seemed a bit off the pace tonight.

Agree...probably needed a run in the NB's, looked slow and was caught with the ball a bit....

Marchbank will be better for the run...seemed a bit off the pace tonight.

Umm, understatement.   He was awful. Kennedy put in a big last quarter, body on the line and worked his guts out

The MC committee would do better with selection if they blind folded themselves and threw darts at a board!

Heads really should roll - as EB said why go tall, slow and unfit against a small, quick team?

Besides Cripps I thought Fisher was good, probably BoG given his size and game style.

Not many other highlights.

Casboult was OK tonight, Charlie was very good if not for the head fades.

Kennedy, SPS, O'Shea.

Rowe, Jones, Marchbank all poor. Nothing to do with the size, that cooked the ball and got in each others way. I think they had more spoils on each other than the Dogs had on us as team!

Media going into hyperventilation mode to kick us, highlights everywhere showing Gowers.

Fair enough from the media, the Dogs had a younger team and we were lucky they didnt kick straight.....its 0-6 and 1 win from the last 15 games....if this was Malthouse  or Ratten coaching they would be building the gallows at itchycoo park by now....

I'd be sending Jack back, Jones has a limited life span imo, SOSOS is the obvious replacement down there. And if I see one more defender spoil one of ours who is trying to mark the aggott........

Besides Cripps I thought Fisher was good, probably BoG given his size and game style.

Not many other highlights.

I thought the 3 talls provided targets and once they get some decent 1 on 1 delivery, they’ll get a lot better.

Besides Cripps I thought Fisher was good, probably BoG given his size and game style.

Not many other highlights.

Matt Wright was good....would have had a hand in 2/3 of our goals, thought Dow was better too....

Charlie tries to do too much. Needs to go with the first option rather than taking on the world. 

I thought the 3 talls provided targets and once they get some decent 1 on 1 delivery, they’ll get a lot better.

They dropped too many when they had clear size advantage.

Matt Wright was good....would have had a hand in 2/3 of our goals, thought Dow was better too....

If anyone else deserved a pat on the back it was probably Kerridge or Daisy, nobody else had much impact.

The desperation in the last 10 minutes was good.  Not really sure where it was for the rest of the game .

Rowe's 73 metre penalty was interesting.  25 metres further in and it is a proper shot for a goal.

Thought Cas was alright - he at least seemed to mark it when so many others dtopped them.

If anyone else deserved a pat on the back it was probably Kerridge or Daisy, nobody else had much impact.

Agree On Daisy......Kerridge turned it over IMO.....

Team selection/structure is a disgrace given the modern game, no fkn idea whatsoever there. Who picks a defence full of 6ft 900in defenders in an era where run from half back is crucial. No run and spread at all. Once out there we have no conception how to play modern footy. Just totally lost. What goes on? Then when we have a chance to do something we fk up completely. We can't keep the ball in our F50 to save ourselves, another important aspect of the modern game.

If we had any idea we could've won that. Our on redeeming feature is an ability to hang in. We have some/potentially damn good players in that side but we waste them by the way we play and screwing up any time we have a chance.

Match Committee can GAGF well and truly.

We've won the hitouts 54-22 (Phillips 48 Casboult 6) to (English 15 Boyd 7)
Doesn't seem to mean a lot these days. ::)

Agree LAJ..inability to hold the ball inside 50 and lack of crumbing forwards cost us big time. MC fecked up again IMO

We've won the hitouts 54-22 (Phillips 48 Casboult 6) to (English 15 Boyd 7)
Doesn't seem to mean a lot these days. ::)

And clearances were equal. Unless you have a ruck that palms it like big Nick hitout stats are barely with a pinch of $hit. The modern ruckman needs to be mobile and good around the ground. .

Thomas has been one of our most consistent players this year...fully deserves his spot.

We might not win until round 16 at this rate. 

That's when we play Brisbane and we've got St. Kilda in round 17.

That's if we win at all.

I'd be sending Jack back, Jones has a limited life span imo, SOSOS is the obvious replacement down there. And if I see one more defender spoil one of ours who is trying to mark the aggott........

SOSOS is injured again.

We’re very unlucky and by my count we’ve got 7 of our preferred starting 18 missing due to injury, which makes it incredibly tough.

Murphy, Kreuzer, Docherty, Pickett, Weitering, Lang, Williamson to name a few. Plus Cunningham and Garlett should probably be in the seniors.

All makes a big difference if you’re able to replace OShea, Mullet, Rowe, Kerridge etc

This season has been an inperfect storm.
Injuries to key players., meaning we’re either forced to play half fit  players, or useless depth players like Kerridge, Mullett and O Shea.
Kids who previously  showed plenty all terribly out of form at the same time.
Jones not the same player.

Enough of the f'n excuses, the mistakes we make are worse than laughable....

These blokes come to Carlton with talent, ability and skill.

They leave broken and in pieces.....

We’re very unlucky and by my count we’ve got 7 of our preferred starting 18 missing due to injury, which makes it incredibly tough.

Murphy, Kreuzer, Docherty, Pickett, Weitering, Lang, Williamson to name a few. Plus Cunningham and Garlett should probably be in the seniors.

All makes a big difference if you’re able to replace OShea, Mullet, Rowe, Kerridge etc

CH7 had a list of Bulldogs players out as well, given they had a younger team with 5 x players under 10 games it was a pitiful effort tonight and the club need a review on where we are at,
 and where we are heading.

Marchbank made Plowman look good tonight ????

Feck we’re terrible. Arguably the worst Friday night game played between two teams for a very long time.

100% agree with what everyone has been saying about team selection.....blind Freddy could see we were waaaaaaay too tall all over the ground, everyone except our esteemed MC. What the feck goes on in their meetings, they are repeat offenders already this year for poor team selections & we’re only @ round 6 ????

Geez I’m getting sick of this, I really am........

We might not win until round 16 at this rate. 

That's when we play Brisbane and we've got St. Kilda in round 17.

That's if we win at all.

If that's at the Gabby, history says we'll lose in embarrassing style :-[
I'm really not sure when or indeed if we'll win. The Dogs are less experienced and struggling this year. Yet they managed to make us look like a VFL side.

Unless we get 22 afl players in the one side matched to their opposition, and a whole lot of luck, I can't see us winning. That may happen when/if a few return from injury and a few others regain some form.
The upside is the youngsters get games together and we're favorite for the No. 1 pick.
We might even keep breaking the club record for consecutive LLLLLL's

I really hope we get a win soon. It will do wonders for our belief in the process.

Go Blues

We’re very unlucky and by my count we’ve got 7 of our preferred starting 18 missing due to injury, which makes it incredibly tough.

Murphy, Kreuzer, Docherty, Pickett, Weitering, Lang, Williamson to name a few. Plus Cunningham and Garlett should probably be in the seniors.

All makes a big difference if you’re able to replace OShea, Mullet, Rowe, Kerridge etc

Exactly.
People are screaming about the MC and Bolts.

There are not a hell of a lot of other options. Shaw maybe, but the wingers would grizzle about him too.

McCreadie hasn't done a lot this season either.
I agree with Cuningham and  Garlett. Both will be back this week I reckon.

We’re very unlucky and by my count we’ve got 7 of our preferred starting 18 missing due to injury, which makes it incredibly tough.

Murphy, Kreuzer, Docherty, Pickett, Weitering, Lang, Williamson to name a few. Plus Cunningham and Garlett should probably be in the seniors.

All makes a big difference if you’re able to replace OShea, Mullet, Rowe, Kerridge etc

Dogs had 5 players who have played less than 10 games, we really need to stop with the excuses.

We have changed every player, changed every coach.
What remains the same? 
Same supporters watching the same crap football for almost 2 decades.

Exactly.
People are screaming about the MC and Bolts.

There are not a hell of a lot of other options. Shaw maybe, but the wingers would grizzle about him too.

McCreadie hasn't done a lot this season either.
I agree with Cuningham and  Garlett. Both will be back this week I reckon.

Exactly?

You're missing the point.

The Dogs are a short, quick team. Everyone in Victoria knows that, at least.

O'Shea was shockingly out of form. As a tall, with zip form, an obvious out.

We keep him in and drop two blokes who have some speed - and one who could have been the run out of defence we so sadly lacked - and we bring in another tall, Marchbank, short of a run and Kennedy who looked still injured or labouring for whatever reason.

Then tactically, our talls in defence all decide to jump at the ball at the same time.....

Two basic rules, which the match committee can't grasp:

1. too many talls playing at once will hurt you, especially against smaller opposition; and
2. don't play injured blokes or blokes with sub standard fitness.

Stats

SPS                        14 (lots in the last)
Mullet                      8
Plowman                  8
Rowe                       6
SOJ                          8
OBrien                      9
Marchbank                11
Big H                        10
Dow                         14
O'Shea                      14

Enough of the f'n excuses, the mistakes we make are worse than laughable....

These blokes come to Carlton with talent, ability and skill.

They leave broken and in pieces.....

Not just players, coaches too.

Imo our main failing last night was another failure of skills execution. Error ridden disposals, fumbling, bad decisions, failure to take our opportunities and turnovers are what really cost us. Very very frustrating to watch in a game we should have won.  >:(

Imo our main failing last night was another failure of skills execution. Error ridden disposals, fumbling, bad decisions, failure to take our opportunities and turnovers are what really cost us. Very very frustrating to watch in a game we should have won.  >:(

Agree. I don't see the doom and gloom that others see. Whilst as you say, it is frustrating and painful to watch, we do have a few things to work with. Just have to keep chipping away and keep our heads up.

How do other clubs do a rebuild and still remain relevant? 
We could shift to the VFL and no one would care.
The Tiggers have almost 100000 members and where are we at? 40000?
One of the big 4? ????
The players seem to be second guessing their actions, not playing to the best of their abilities. They have gone through the system and know how to kick but when they walk through the doors at Princes Park something happens to their abilities.

Our skill level is atrocious. You can kind of understand it on a one off basis, but it's been consistently poor, even in our better games.
I'm assuming that's a ooaching thing? But I can't remember the last time we were consistently good in that area, and I'm talking back 3 or 4 coaches.
My main positive from the game was the way our forwards finally made a bit of movement and started to make leads. Very noticeable, and lead to a few nice scoring opportunities. Well done to them on that point.
Negatives... Where do you start. One of the most pronounced was our backs spoiling each other.
Not placing sole blame on him, but Rowe definitely has a spoil first mindset, and that cause 2 of the spoils that lead to goals. But I don't think the communication was there. Maybe that's a result of the inconsistency in our backline the last few weeks, but geez it's frustrating.

I thought the following did ok : Wright, Levi, Daisy, Phillips, Charlie, Fish. Harry Mac looks like he has something to offer.

Plow was better than recent times. Kerridge was better than I remembered.

I think the two young blokes LOB and Dow have plenty of upside. Both of them did a few nice things.

The rest were either rusty, average or totally blah.

Special note : that gather and deliberate slip under the tackle by Wright on the left boundary, to set up CC's goal, is all class. I don't care how old he is. Give him an extension now.

Special note : that gather and deliberate slip under the tackle by Wright on the left boundary, to set up CC's goal, is all class. I don't care how old he is. Give him an extension now.

Agree, very cool to watch.

Wright does some nice things, but he's part of the problem at the moment which is we are way too slow inside forward 50, we just don't apply pressure to keep the ball in our forward half. Yes our skills let us down at times last night, but the biggest difference between the teams was pressure and tackles inside forward 50. We have an abundance of talls down there who don't tackle, and they are surrounded by Silvagni, Wright etc who try hard but don'e have the speed and agility to apply high level pressure

Wright does some nice things, but he's part of the problem at the moment which is we are way too slow inside forward 50, we just don't apply pressure to keep the ball in our forward half. Yes our skills let us down at times last night, but the biggest difference between the teams was pressure and tackles inside forward 50. We have an abundance of talls down there who don't tackle, and they are surrounded by Silvagni, Wright etc who try hard but don'e have the speed and agility to apply high level pressure

Yes, Wright is slow, but does he have other tricks to offset the lack of pace ? IMO, the answer is a definite yes.

I really like him, tries hard, is smart and does what he can. If he had a partner or two down there with him that had elite speed and desire to apply pressure all would be well, but without that support for him it is an area of weakness for us

I really like him, tries hard, is smart and does what he can. If he had a partner or two down there with him that had elite speed and desire to apply pressure all would be well, but without that support for him it is an area of weakness for us

Agree 100%. But team balance is not his fault. If he had pace, he would be elite, because IMO, he has pretty much everything else a small forward needs : smarts, mongrel, toughness, very good set shot etc.

EDIT : and can also lay a tackle, provided he's not out run :D

A real quandary for the MC could be next week if Kreuz is fit to play... because you cannot drop Phillips as his form is very, very good. And we're already too tall as many have pointed out.

We need smaller, quicker blokes down back and up forward. But who can provide that? Hopefully Lang comes in soon and Murphy returns, then, eventually, Pickett. Cuningham is not a defender and as a midfielder or forward he's far too inconsistent and timid (though highly skilled). Polson just doesn't look like a senior player at this moment and Graham is out of favour. Matty Wright is our only reliable small forward.

SOJ is a real worry, gives his all but contributes little. Dow and O'Brien will be rippers but will take time.

I suspect, seeing how ordinary our midfield/on-ball brigade is (Cripps carrying everything and still not sure about Kennedy), that we'll need to hit the draft hard for mids this year, or open the wallet and bring in bona-fide midfield talent to support Cripps, Dow, Fisher etc.

Why not give LeBois a chance? From what I read his form at VFL level has been OK. Give him a few games as a small forward, his KPIs are pressure acts and tackles inside 50, see what he can do? I feel we really have nothing to lose at this stage, or at least nothing that isn't already lost (pride, credibility, relevance, ok I'll stop now)

A real quandary for the MC could be next week if Kreuz is fit to play... because you cannot drop Phillips as his form is very, very good. And we're already too tall as many have pointed out.

We need smaller, quicker blokes down back and up forward. But who can provide that? Hopefully Lang comes in soon and Murphy returns, then, eventually, Pickett. Cuningham is not a defender and as a midfielder or forward he's far too inconsistent and timid (though highly skilled). Polson just doesn't look like a senior player at this moment and Graham is out of favour. Matty Wright is our only reliable small forward.

SOJ is a real worry, gives his all but contributes little. Dow and O'Brien will be rippers but will take time.

I suspect, seeing how ordinary our midfield/on-ball brigade is (Cripps carrying everything and still not sure about Kennedy), that we'll need to hit the draft hard for mids this year, or open the wallet and bring in bona-fide midfield talent to support Cripps, Dow, Fisher etc.

We need to be smaller and quicker. We have some good, young talent but have no idea at all how to play the modern game or worse, even select a side in line with the modern game. The backline has to shrink to start with....alot.  Don't need to play SOS now McKay's in there. Like to get Le Bois in up forward. As for Phillips, he'll be plain unlucky. He's like the reserve wicketkeeper or spinner on tour.

Why not give LeBois a chance? From what I read his form at VFL level has been OK. Give him a few games as a small forward, his KPIs are pressure acts and tackles inside 50, see what he can do? I feel we really have nothing to lose at this stage, or at least nothing that isn't already lost (pride, credibility, relevance, ok I'll stop now)

Agree. This year is still at least partly about sorting the sheep from the goats. We need to have established our core group this year and to hit the trade and draft for a carefully targeted few to more or less complete it - not for the mass turnover we've seen in recent times.

I really hope we get a win soon. It will do wonders for our belief in the process.

Go Blues

I don’t. I hope we never win again and that the Club as a going concern is wound up sooner rather than later. Then I can get on with my life and find something useful to do which might benefit my sanity and society.

Wright does some nice things, but he's part of the problem at the moment which is we are way too slow inside forward 50, we just don't apply pressure to keep the ball in our forward half. Yes our skills let us down at times last night, but the biggest difference between the teams was pressure and tackles inside forward 50. We have an abundance of talls down there who don't tackle, and they are surrounded by Silvagni, Wright etc who try hard but don'e have the speed and agility to apply high level pressure

I don't see him as part of the problem.
He is one of our genuine players, and has been for a couple of years. If we are too slow, that's not Wright being part of the problem, that's the MC for not picking other quicker players to be along side him.

As Dermie said, we have some serious young talent on out list but we can't seem to do anything with them.

Might as well give LeBois a crack (esp. if Garlett out of favour or wounded), SOJ a waste of space presently...

Need to sort things out at the MC level first.

I'd drop SPS.   Retaining him means accepting half arsed efforts and he currently isn't on. He should be in the coaches office first thing Monday getting it served to him.

I'd drop SOS.   He won't make it in his guise as a mark and kick forward, essentially a redundant role. He doesn't provide enough pressure,  neither does Lamb.  Players of his ilk need a dominant midfield which we don't have.   He needs to find a different role.   As a third year player he's had a fair lick of the ice cream,  his list spot is under pressure.

Mullet has played six putrid games, must be dropped.   Play Shaw (gulp)  or Schumacher. Can't get it,  can't dispose of it.

OShea is not up to par, as for above.  

Kennedy really worries me... His lack of ability to spread, the way he lumbered around.... Surely he showed more ability at GWS than what he has shown this year?

Cunningham must play every game from here on in.

Surprised we cut Boekhorst given our abject lack of outside run.

Need to sort things out at the MC level first.

I'd drop SPS.   Retaining him means accepting half arsed efforts and he currently isn't on. He should be in the coaches office first thing Monday getting it served to him.

I'd drop SOS.   He won't make it in his guise as a mark and kick forward, essentially a redundant role. He doesn't provide enough pressure,  neither does Lamb.  Players of his ilk need a dominant midfield which we don't have.   He needs to find a different role.   As a third year player he's had a fair lick of the ice cream,  his list spot is under pressure.

Mullet has played six putrid games, must be dropped.   Play Shaw (gulp)  or Schumacher. Can't get it,  can't dispose of it.

OShea is not up to par, as for above.  

Kennedy really worries me... His lack of ability to spread, the way he lumbered around.... Surely he showed more ability at GWS than what he has shown this year?

Cunningham must play every game from here on in.

Surprised we cut Boekhorst given our abject lack of outside run.

Well I'm surprised, as were a few others, that we cut Gowers!

Young SoJ is a worry, the MC has moved him outside and he's not up to it, he needs to be in the traffic were his smarts and agility work to his advantage. But the moment he is a desert full of pain!

Our kids or our MC, not sure which, is absolutely crap at getting match ups right. But have a look at our coaching panel, Barker is the most experienced, then BB, then a bunch of P-Platers. We have kids teaching kids, it's Lord of the Flies on match day, we are really exposed!

The result was disappointing but we were missing 4 of the top 5 from last year's B&F along with Weitering, Pickett and Byrne, so considering that we finished 16th with them all playing it's hardly surprising that we're struggling.
There were positives however.
McKay is very clean, no fumbles or indecision unlike some of our more senior players, and will be a nice player in time, maybe even a top liner, and Fisher is going from strength to strength.
There's also a lot to like about both O'Brien and Dow, so I expect better performances when we can at least get Murphy and Kreuzer back in the side, it's hard to be patient but there's just no other option.

BB was a bit naive in the post match presser, he used age and experience as a reason for the troubles, but we were just beaten by a younger less experienced side as CheatsFC TV liked to remind us!

The result was disappointing but we were missing 4 of the top 5 from last year's B&F along with Weitering, Pickett and Byrne, so considering that we finished 16th with them all playing it's hardly surprising that we're struggling.
There were positives however.
McKay is very clean, no fumbles or indecision unlike some of our more senior players, and will be a nice player in time, maybe even a top liner, and Fisher is going from strength to strength.
There's also a lot to like about both O'Brien and Dow, so I expect better performances when we can at least get Murphy and Kreuzer back in the side, it's hard to be patient but there's just no other option.

Agree.

BB was a bit naive in the post match presser, he used age and experience as a reason for the troubles, but we were just beaten by a younger less experienced side as CheatsFC TV liked to remind us!

How many players from the 2016 GF took the field last night ?

How many players from the 2016 GF took the field last night ?

They showed us, looked like more than half the team was missing.

How many players from the 2016 GF took the field last night ?

I think they had exactly 1/2, but reality is they fielded the average youngest side this season, and it was naive for BB to use our youth as an excuse!

I thought BB post-match analysis was accurate, the problems were clear and he identified them.

How many players from the 2016 GF took the field last night ?

They said 11 on the broadcast

BB was a bit naive in the post match presser, he used age and experience as a reason for the troubles, but we were just beaten by a younger less experienced side as CheatsFC TV liked to remind us!

Yep , obviously his  scouts or assistants didnt fill him in on the young dogs team...five players with less than 10 games...he should stick with what he does best and thats cliches and avoid the facts...

They showed us, looked like more than half the team was missing.

I think they had exactly 1/2, but reality is they fielded the average youngest side this season, and it was naive for BB to use our youth as an excuse!

I thought BB post-match analysis was accurate, the problems were clear and he identified them.

They said 11 on the broadcast

Thanks gents. That's still 10 more than us, and IMO counts for a lot. Adding up each player's age and taking an average can give a distorted view of the age profile.

Need to sort things out at the MC level first.

I'd drop SPS.   Retaining him means accepting half arsed efforts and he currently isn't on. He should be in the coaches office first thing Monday getting it served to him.

I'd drop SOS.   He won't make it in his guise as a mark and kick forward, essentially a redundant role. He doesn't provide enough pressure,  neither does Lamb.  Players of his ilk need a dominant midfield which we don't have.   He needs to find a different role.   As a third year player he's had a fair lick of the ice cream,  his list spot is under pressure.

Mullet has played six putrid games, must be dropped.   Play Shaw (gulp)  or Schumacher. Can't get it,  can't dispose of it.

OShea is not up to par, as for above.  

Kennedy really worries me... His lack of ability to spread, the way he lumbered around.... Surely he showed more ability at GWS than what he has shown this year?

Cunningham must play every game from here on in.

Surprised we cut Boekhorst given our abject lack of outside run.

Hard to argue, I'd play more kids and try and find a couple that can play.....Mullet and OShea are VFL only, Kennedy is injured or came from GWS with an injury and looks like he needs a month off at least and games in the VFL to get fit...Cuningham should never have been dropped, Jack may be our Jason Cloke on route to getting us our Trav Cloke brother Ben...he is slow and cant be played if you play Mckay, Boult and Charlie down forward..you add Wright and its not quick enough for modern footy. Wright is a good footballer and smart but he isnt quick...

Thanks gents. That's still 10 more than us, and IMO counts for a lot. Adding up each player's age and taking an average can give a distorted view of the age profile.

Professional teams would take advantage of that inexperience, about a 1/4 of their team had less than 10 games!

It wasn't a good night for our MC or Coaching panel, not purely because of the tactics, in fact I think if not for our unforced errors we may well have won. I think if we'd had SpecialK and Murphy we would have certainly won. But we certainly failed to expose the Dogs youth, in this regard we failed.

A few of us have been shouted down on here about MC selections, McKay, SoJ, O'Shea, why it took so long to play Kerridge, how can it be Kerr isn't getting a run. I wonder what the naysayers think after last night?

Young SoJ is becoming a real problem for us, we have his back apparently, perhaps because of his dad he's getting games he does not deserve! Opposition teams have identified his opponent as a gateway for lots of their ball movement, that is a tell. He's lost that strength and aggression he showed in the first couple of years, if he is carrying an injury how can he develop under those circumstances, if he mentally shot what are we trying to do to him?

Can anyone seriously look me in the face and tell me that if Kerr come in he'd be less effective?

So what do we do with our “non- tryers”? We can’t drop half the side. I don’t know how do we get in their heads and shake them up so they really put in.
I know skill are also an issues. How do we fix this also? Coaches can only do so much, but these guys are professionals. I know for some of the younger guys they are still very much developing into AFL players, but we need the older heads to set the standard.
I know these questions have been asked over and over but I’m trying to put it together in my head.

My young fella, nearly 7, has shown a real interest in watching games on Tele with me this year. Stayed up to watch last night but fell asleep by half time haha. Same against the filth a few weeks ago. He does have a soft spot for the Bulldogs, cos he likes dogs, and last night he said to me “Dad I don’t want to upset you but I wish we were born Bulldogs supporters not Blues supporters”. It was an innocent comment from the mouth of a child but I couldn’t help but feel slightly crushed haha. The first thing he asked me this morning was who won and he was so disappointed when I told him that the Blues had lost.
I am a patient person and I trust in the process that we are currently going through. I just hope we come good before he’s old enough to make his own decisions. Already this year my brother, a supporter of more than 30 years, has jumped ship. To the scum. THE SCUM!! And he’s now a paid up member! I mean how? I don’t understand.

Anyway this is the longest post I’ve ever dropped.

Go Blues, let’s keep our heads up. Keep supporting and trust that we are in the right path.

Thanks gents. That's still 10 more than us, and IMO counts for a lot. Adding up each player's age and taking an average can give a distorted view of the age profile.

I seldom if ever take this stat seriously, or of influence. Very young sides have won Premierships and sides with senior blokes bristling with experience have flopped badly.

One constant for success -- look at the Pussycats/Fluffy Ducks/Dawks/Tiggers -- is a core group of about 15/16 blokes playing together week in, week out.

We've got about 5 very important blokes out at present, which means about 5 blokes are getting games by default. When that changes, I reckon we'll get a much better idea of where we are at. But the clock is ticking... loudly...

So sick of our deplorable skills.

Can’t kick, can’t handball. Couple of players can mark ok. Not bl00dy acceptable. WB won a premiership on the back of slick handball WHICH THEY OBVIOUSLY PRACTICED.

FMD, can we go back to dragging a player from the field if he misses a target or doesn’t stick a tackle or whatever? Drag them from the frikkin’ field and give them a bake over the phone. Screw this new age approach where we don’t want to dent their confidence or hurt their feelings. What about OUR feelings?

The way I see it, we have 3 players at an acceptable professional AFL standard. The rest are frauds.

I think they had exactly 1/2, but reality is they fielded the average youngest side this season, and it was naive for BB to use our youth as an excuse!

I thought BB post-match analysis was accurate, the problems were clear and he identified them.

Actually, take Simpson out and we're younger. Not that it means much.

Just out in the car listening to SEN. Dermie and Bob Murphy discussing the current spate of poor skill execution in the AFL. They were saying that it was probably partly down to the demands of coaches in the modern game to call for more and more rushed low percentage disposals in order to try and break through opposition defences, especially through the corridor. When they go wrong they are often disastrous and so many players are very nervous when executing them, especially the less skilled guys.
We seem to be afflicted more than our fair share!  :o

Dogs had 5 players who have played less than 10 games, we really need to stop with the excuses.

See, this type of stat $hits me.
Yes, it is correct. But why pick 10?
What about 4 games or less? We had 3, they had 2.

Why not 30 games? or better yet, lets make it 33 games. From the 2 sides that ran out there last night...

Carlton had 10 players who have played less than 33 games.
Doggies had 7 players who have played less than 33 games.

Sure, they had less games on average than us too. But is the gap really that big?
Lets take the 2 most experienced players out of each team. (Simpson and Daisy, Suckling and Dalhaus)

You know the average amount of games played from the remaining 20 players
Carlton - 49.9
Dogs - 46.9

3 games difference between the rest. I'm sure the average age stats would show similar, but i CBF working them out too. Due to having 2 veterans on our list in Simpson and Thomas, it makes us appear a lot older and more experienced than the dogs, buts its just not the case.

Yes, they showed injury list of 2 teams.
I didn't see Picketts name on our list....nor did i see A. Silvagnis. I'm sure there are a couple of more that i've missed.

Dogs home game. Favourable comparisons.

Look we are only 3 seasons into a 166 game rebuild.

Imo our main failing last night was another failure of skills execution. Error ridden disposals, fumbling, bad decisions, failure to take our opportunities and turnovers are what really cost us. Very very frustrating to watch in a game we should have won.  >:(

Yes but also lack of pressure in the fwd line. We are not manic enough to lock the ball in. We did it a couple of times but it isnt good enough. Putting pressure (tackling, locking it in the fwd 50, 1%ers is not an experience or age thing. Its attitude and not that hard. SPS is the classic example, looks like he just got out of bed as opposed to a footballer playing AFL on a Friday night. Just ambles along with no urgency. I realise some footballers seem to have time, he just looks lazy to me ATM.

Im gutted we lost, but we were so close to pulling off a win despite how poorly we played for the majority of the game. I said it in the In Game Thread, there was a point late in the last where if we kicked 2 in a row, the Bullies sphincters really would have tightened. Sure enough, we got one then Charlie got in great position and shanked one he really should have kicked. It would have been on like donkey kong but alas. Point is, we've got a hell of a lot of room for improvement but only need to do a few things better at certain points in games when they are in the balance. I say again, I'm gutted we lost (more so for the boys than us supporters) but it can turn around very quickly if we grab our chances when they present. We've got players in Cripps (who might give the Brownlow a nudge at this rate), Charlie, Fisher and eventually Dow and H who will drag people through the turnstyles. Fisher is getting better with every game, his contested numbers are increasing every week. Cripps in my view is now elite. If Charlie could stop getting caught so much, he will kick 10 in a game.

Im gutted we lost, but we were so close to pulling off a win despite how poorly we played for the majority of the game. I said it in the In Game Thread, there was a point late in the last where if we kicked 2 in a row, the Bullies sphincters really would have tightened. Sure enough, we got one then Charlie got in great position and shanked one he really should have kicked. It would have been on like donkey kong but alas. Point is, we've got a hell of a lot of room for improvement but only need to do a few things better at certain points in games when they are in the balance. I say again, I'm gutted we lost (more so for the boys than us supporters) but it can turn around very quickly if we grab our chances when they present.

Pretty much the way I see it as well.

Pretty much the way I see it as well.

I added a few extra bits

I added a few extra bits

Pfft. These Italians. Turn your back for 2 minutes........... ;D

Old mate David Rhys-Jones hit a few btw he eyes on the way out with this post on a FB page. Love the passion Ol Boy

I used to think this page was for true blue Carlton supporters, not a bunch of whingers. None of you have played a game or have any real knowledge of the sacrifices and dedication made by a lot of good people, but are self appointed experts. After the last couple of weeks of bitching and moaning, I am happily going to unfollow this thread. Look up the meaning of supporter some of you fickle keyboard warriors. I’m sure in a couple of years when we have 50+ games into these kids and start climbing up the ladder, you so called experts will be claiming some sort of justification of knowing it would happen. I will continue to SUPPORT the club, it’s players, coaches and administration, not take the easy way out and throwing insults and derogatory comments at good people who are doing there best to get this club it’s 17th premiership. See ya

That's a bit of a whack from DRJ.

Over reaction from Rhys. Carlton fans have been pretty tolerant compared to the Pagan era.

Over reaction from Rhys. Carlton fans have been pretty tolerant compared to the Pagan era.

Carlton fans are entitled to be angry after 15 years of empty promises and failure, Rhys-Jones is being a bit precious if you ask me.

Could be construed as a hissy fit, but I think he's making a "forest for the trees" argument, which is fair enough in my view.

I respect his position but I would challenge the fact that because we may not have played the game our support and emotional investment in the club and team is any less than his or any other player.

We come to our positions from different backgrounds.
Some of us were born Blue.
Unlike many players it's the only club we've ever known
And having followed the side we're pretty aware of the sacrifices and dedication the players make.
But at the same time were also aware that the players and coaching staff are well compensated financially for those sacrifices....paid for in part by the very supporters being questioned.

I won't have anyone telling me the kind of supporter I should be.
You can command my respect through your deeds and performance, as DRJ did...but you cant demand my respect.

Folks being questioned are passionate for a reason...it's because they love the club and want it to be successful.
Simple as that!

Carlton fans are entitled to be angry after 15 years of empty promises and failure, Rhys-Jones is being a bit precious if you ask me.

It has been a long long period of woe for CFC fans without a doubt and I understand the frustration. However, the way I see it, the reset of three years ago was the response of the club to those years of failure.  A new direction was decided and it will be a long journey. We need to let that reset run its course before we get too uppity about it imo. Personally I'm hoping to see a bit of light getting through by the end of this season and the upward trajectory  becoming much more visible next year. If those things are not happening by then I would be getting very concerned about our future and appropriate actions by the club would be justly expected.

We had some pretty good players last night, but those who were not good were really bad.

[1] Jack had 8 possessions and every one was pretty good. However, we didn't kick it near him on the forward line. It might be an idea to play him in the middle for a while to get him into the play and work on his reflexes in close.

[2] Lachie Plowman is really struggling, and has all year. His confidence is down and he is being beaten in one on one contests. I'd like to drop him for a couple of weeks, but I don't think there is anyone to to replace him that is ready.

[3] I would not have played Marchbank. Like Plowman, he has struggled this year and the marks he has dropped (not to mention spoiling Jones yesterday: that was terrible) shows the lack of touch and the lack of confidence. He needs to time to get his touch and confidence back and he isn't going to do it getting flogged each week.

[4] SPS: for a guy who has such talent, SPS has really disappointed this year. he hasn't shown the intensity that he requires. He wasn't too bad in defence, where he had to work harder, but we really need him in the middle or forward and he is just not producing.

[5] Matty Wright is suffering from his worst patch of form since coming to us. He is struggling both in the air and at ground level: he hasn't snapped a goal since round #1.
Part of the problem is our poor forward work, but some of it is his lack of form and athleticism. However, unlike Adelaide, we cannot afford to drop him.

[6] Mullett: He was recruited as a spare part, but having to play him each week is showing how ordinary our list is at the moment. He is not the future. Not at all. When the pressure is on, he is missing.

[7] Cam O'Shea: another spare part who is finding senior football a bridge too far. He played reasonably yesterday, but his disposal was ordinary at best (and it wasn't 'best' very often). I understand that he is required at the moment, but I am disappointed that he hasn't really been able to step up.

[8] Matthew Kennedy: I know we need him in the mid field, but we do not need as he is at the moment, half fit and lacking confidence badly. His inability to get to contests has been crippling in the middle. He needs time to get himself right, because we have too many slow players at the moment.
Bring him back after the bye with a few 30+ possession games under his belt in the VFL and a better understanding with our rucks and he will be a better option. But at the moment his opponents are just burning him off and leaving him frustrated (not to mention the supporters).

I do not have a solution to our problems: our biggest issue is getting fit guys on the field. Then we need to run them into form. We have so much leadership sitting in the stands at the moment that it is very frustrating.

It has been a long long period of woe for CFC fans without a doubt and I understand the frustration. However, the way I see it, the reset of three years ago was the response of the club to those years of failure.  A new direction was decided and it will be a long journey. We need to let that reset run its course before we get too uppity about it imo. Personally I'm hoping to see a bit of light getting through by the end of this season and the upward trajectory  becoming much more visible next year. If those things are not happening by then I would be getting very concerned about our future and appropriate actions by the club would be justly expected.

Was a long period of woe for Richmond fans also, then 2017 happened. Difference between us and the other mobs which IMO causes all the angst amongst supporters is:
- we have the equal most premierships.
- premierships have always been expected at Carlton (we never made up the numbers).

Was a long period of woe for Richmond fans also, then 2017 happened. Difference between us and the other mobs which IMO causes all the angst amongst supporters is:
- we have the equal most premierships.
- premierships have always been expected at Carlton (we never made up the numbers).

I reckon that attitude is fast dissipating.

I used to feel sorry for St Kilda, Bulldogs and Melbourne supporters.
Thought it must be horrible to never know success....but more and more that is becoming us.
Supporters under 21 wouldn't know what it's like to be a successful club...that's bloody scary

Bulldogs supporters around us last night were genuine smarta$$es, rubbed our noses in how bad we were at every opportunity, and there were plenty of opportunities

I reckon that attitude is fast dissipating.

You think so Lods? Maybe amongst the younger folk. I reckon deep in the bowels of PP and amongst the older, hard core supporters/benefactors, I reckon the attitude is as strong as ever hence the angst. Maybe its good in the sense that it drives the desire for success, bad if the shorted sightness kicks in and crape decisions get made due to impatience.

Bulldogs supporters around us last night were genuine smarta$$es, rubbed our noses in how bad we were at every opportunity, and there were plenty of opportunities

They probably haven't forgotten our one time President calling them a tragedy, I don't think that I would if I was a Footscray supporter.
We honestly shouldn't expect much sympathy.

Old mate David Rhys-Jones hit a few btw he eyes on the way out with this post on a FB page. Love the passion Ol Boy

I used to think this page was for true blue Carlton supporters, not a bunch of whingers. None of you have played a game or have any real knowledge of the sacrifices and dedication made by a lot of good people, but are self appointed experts. After the last couple of weeks of bitching and moaning, I am happily going to unfollow this thread. Look up the meaning of supporter some of you fickle keyboard warriors. I’m sure in a couple of years when we have 50+ games into these kids and start climbing up the ladder, you so called experts will be claiming some sort of justification of knowing it would happen. I will continue to SUPPORT the club, it’s players, coaches and administration, not take the easy way out and throwing insults and derogatory comments at good people who are doing there best to get this club it’s 17th premiership. See ya

Tells me that Rhys is also frustrated, but lashing out at supporters who are lashing out at the club, won't do much good for anyone.

Rhys loves the place, and we love him and what he did at the Mighty CFC and maybe he is privy to info that we aren't which helps him be patient.

But... supporters of this once mighty club have been shockingly betrayed over almost 20 years by poor management on all levels (well, except for marketing/PR), so forgive us if we're somewhat cynical.

Funny how we were sold a 'reset' to begin with and now it's a fully fledged rebuild... (which is necessary). Should have been: 1st two years - demolition. 3rd year onward - rebuild then reset then...

The media is talking us up and that we're on the right track - that worries me. I do remain optimistic that the 2nd half of the year will show everyone something to get legitimately excited about.

You think so Lods? Maybe amongst the younger folk. I reckon deep in the bowels of PP and amongst the older, hard core supporters/benefactors, I reckon the attitude is as strong as ever hence the angst. Maybe its good in the sense that it drives the desire for success, bad if the shorted sightness kicks in and crape decisions get made due to impatience.

I've seen eight flags.
Countless finals appearances and successful seasons.
....and yes I'm angry.
I think of what a Barassi would have thought of some of our recent efforts and the punishment he would have dealt out in subsequent training sessions.

But this isn't 1968.
Its 2018
It's a different era.

I'm not sold on the rebuild for one simple reason....I don't see the results.
And unless you're Nostradamus...nobody does!
And I won't be convinced until I do.
But that's me and to each his own.

A lot of our present problems are structural and we have struggled to with form and fitness to boot.

In the last draft our first thought was to get new midfielders. Hence the drafting of Dow and O'Brien. Both have shown a bit, although not as much as we hoped. But their time is in a year or two.

We traded for Kennedy and Lang, who were to be pillars of our midfield and who would replace Gibbs. Not a bad idea, but injury has screwed both of them up. We may not see them at their best for us until next year.
Lang hasn't played a game yet and Kennedy has played when he should not. They need time to get them right. But it means that we have a big hole in the midfield that we didn't expect to have.

We miss Murphy. The idea is to have him play forward a bit more often, as he does offer a fair bit as a goal kicker, while have the younger guys come through.
Well, the younger guys are not there yet and Murphy has been basically injured all year. He may not get back to full fitness until next year.
Hole in the midfield #2.

I do know that we were negotiating with Kelly to come over from South Freo. Geelong gesumped us and grabbed him at #31. He is not playing very well for Geelong.

Now consider our midfield with fit versions of Kennedy, Murphy and Lang, and with another good mid in Kelly.
Looks a bit different, doesn't it!

I gather that was our plan during the trade/draft period last year.

We showed our hand somewhat in the pre-season when we played Cripps forward. It was clear that plan was to cover our small forward problem with guys like Cripps, Lang and Murphy spending time forward.
Hmmmmmm.

Our defence has also been hit by poor form and injury. Alex Silvagni, for example, for probably planned to take a key defensive role until Rowe was available, leaving Jones to play a more attacking role from defence.
Whoopsies.
At this point Silvagni has struggled with injury and did not complete his only VFL game. Rowe has come back and had to stand up. He has, and great credit to him, but it was clearly not the plan to threw him in at the deep end, nor to have Jones against players that do not suit his style.
Notice the vast improvement in Jones as soon as Rowe returned.

Then there has been the form and fitness of Weitering, Marchbank and Plowman. All of these had extra pressure due to Docherty not being available. None has stood up so far. None have been 100% fit.
But we haven't been able to play guys like Williamson (probably our most athletic defender) because of injury. I am not sure what is going on with MacReadie at the moment. But it would be nice if he could step up.

Our plans did not foresee these players not producing.

Nor did our plans foresee the relative failures of Mullett and O'Shea. :(

The ruck. Kreuzer was fit for most of the game against Richmond, and has not been since. We fell against Richmond when Kreuzer got injured, as he was in excellent form. He has not been since.
At the time our backup ruckmen were also not available. Through injury. One of them has still not been able to get through a single VFL game.
On the other hand, Phillips, who did have a couple of games in the VFL, has played quite well since his return.
However, he is not Kreuzer.

This is also something our recruiting and planning did not foresee.

Last and not least, the small forward position. We recruited Garlett and hoped leBois would fill in this role. We had Pickett, who was improving every week and looking particularly dangerous.
We had SPS, whom we hoped would spend time forward and in the midfield.
Pickett broke his scaphoid and will miss half the year and probably not retur to his best form until 2019. Garlett and SPS have shown glimpses, but have not done enough and have not worked hard enough.
Again, not what was planned in the pre-season.

Now, none of these are fatal, but we do not have the dpeth yet to cover all the injuries we have and the problems that produces. Certainly a number of players playing poorly would probably be playing better with more talent around them. They have tried to step up and have been found wanting so far.
Not good, but that is where we are at.

As Bolton pointed out, we have increased the number of youngsters each year of our rebuild. We started with 2 - 4 per week. We went to 4 - 6 each week last year. We now have between 10 and 13 per week. That is a massive amount of experience to have missing. Fro last year's B&F, four of the top 5 players are not available. Only Gibbs is gone for good. So what has happened to the rest? Look at the stands or in the coaches box.

We are at a pretty low ebb at the moment, but think about it: our present available list is a long way from its best. But that does not need to be forever.

[I hate losing, but I look at the what we put on the field. I am happy in the way we are trying to rebuild and I will give the admin the benefit of the doubt for a little longer. But not forever.]

I don’t. I hope we never win again and that the Club as a going concern is wound up sooner rather than later. Then I can get on with my life and find something useful to do which might benefit my sanity and society.

Oh dear. That is a sad state of affairs.
You have my sympathy.
I just make sure I include other favorite things of a weekend. Helping my sanity no end. I'm also seeing this as a development year. As such I'm chuffed we've been spared the massive losses.

I don’t. I hope we never win again and that the Club as a going concern is wound up sooner rather than later. Then I can get on with my life and find something useful to do which might benefit my sanity and society.

Is that serious or taking the p!ss?

So sick of our deplorable skills.

Can’t kick, can’t handball. Couple of players can mark ok. Not bl00dy acceptable. WB won a premiership on the back of slick handball WHICH THEY OBVIOUSLY PRACTICED.

FMD, can we go back to dragging a player from the field if he misses a target or doesn’t stick a tackle or whatever? Drag them from the frikkin’ field and give them a bake over the phone. Screw this new age approach where we don’t want to dent their confidence or hurt their feelings. What about OUR feelings?

The way I see it, we have 3 players at an acceptable professional AFL standard. The rest are frauds.

IVAN for Prime Minister

It has been a long long period of woe for CFC fans without a doubt and I understand the frustration. However, the way I see it, the reset of three years ago was the response of the club to those years of failure.  A new direction was decided and it will be a long journey. We need to let that reset run its course before we get too uppity about it imo. Personally I'm hoping to see a bit of light getting through by the end of this season and the upward trajectory  becoming much more visible next year. If those things are not happening by then I would be getting very concerned about our future and appropriate actions by the club would be justly expected.

But Cookie... it has always been NEXT YEAR... it NEVER comes  ::)

It has been a long long period of woe for CFC fans without a doubt and I understand the frustration. However, the way I see it, the reset of three years ago was the response of the club to those years of failure.  A new direction was decided and it will be a long journey. We need to let that reset run its course before we get too uppity about it imo. Personally I'm hoping to see a bit of light getting through by the end of this season and the upward trajectory  becoming much more visible next year. If those things are not happening by then I would be getting very concerned about our future and appropriate actions by the club would be justly expected.

I'm in. Rome wasn't built in a day  ;)

I've seen enough from the youngsters we've drafted to see our core will be strong in a year or two.
Samo, Fish, Cunningham, CC, H, Weiters, Willo, Pickett, Dow, O'Brien, Marchy....
Add in the A graders and leaders like Doc and Crippa, and you've got a core group of very good players.
There's a few others who may come along too - only time will tell.

Go Blues

I think of what a Barassi would have thought of some of our recent efforts and the punishment he would have dealt out in subsequent training sessions.

Ah yes, Barassi’s mantra: “That practice makes perfect is bullcrap. Only perfect practice makes perfect.”
Apparently our skills at training are clean and crisp (as reported by someone from this forum who attends occasionally).
So what happens come match day? Makes me think the players are more concerned about adhering to the process and suffering from ‘analysis paralysis’.
Maybe BB should flip his world view. Instead of trying to impose his game plan on an impressionable group, let them all off the leash and see what ensues from the chaos.

Old mate David Rhys-Jones hit a few btw he eyes on the way out with this post on a FB page. Love the passion Ol Boy

I used to think this page was for true blue Carlton supporters, not a bunch of whingers. None of you have played a game or have any real knowledge of the sacrifices and dedication made by a lot of good people, but are self appointed experts. After the last couple of weeks of bitching and moaning, I am happily going to unfollow this thread. Look up the meaning of supporter some of you fickle keyboard warriors. I’m sure in a couple of years when we have 50+ games into these kids and start climbing up the ladder, you so called experts will be claiming some sort of justification of knowing it would happen. I will continue to SUPPORT the club, it’s players, coaches and administration, not take the easy way out and throwing insults and derogatory comments at good people who are doing there best to get this club it’s 17th premiership. See ya

This attitude pisses me off.

This apathy towards supporters expecting us not to get annoyed when we've been lied to (again) is atrocious.

No wonder our fans have stopped caring about the club and no wonder we are struggling for fifty thousand members (again).

Shut up,  take watching this crap lack of composure and lack of effort on a weekly basis and blindly support the club with your membership.

Bloody bullcrap.

 >:(

But Cookie... it has always been NEXT YEAR... it NEVER comes  ::)

When was the last time we went through a reset of this magnitude BP? - certainly not in my living memory. Previously we've either bought ourselves out of strife or tried to buy ourselves out and failed. I think this time is different, no shortcuts - still no guarantees of ultimate success of course. I'm prepared to ride along for now though.

When was the last time we went through a reset of this magnitude BP? - certainly not in my living memory. Previously we've either bought ourselves out of strife or tried to buy ourselves out and failed. I think this time is different, no shortcuts - still no guarantees of ultimate success of course. I'm prepared to ride along for now though.

You can watch this Cookie, its along the same lines as being a Carlton supporter, its all about the wait..
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wifcyo64n-w

When was the last time we went through a reset of this magnitude BP? - certainly not in my living memory. Previously we've either bought ourselves out of strife or tried to buy ourselves out and failed. I think this time is different, no shortcuts - still no guarantees of ultimate success of course. I'm prepared to ride along for now though.

Sellers McLure remarked today that we have never attempted a re-build or believed in re-builds prior to this one.  I can’t really comment on the first 100 years but this my first experience of our club seriously attempting to build a future around sustained success.

Will it work?  Who knows, but it would be a disaster if we didn’t stay the course.

You can watch this Cookie, its along the same lines as being a Carlton supporter, its all about the wait..
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wifcyo64n-w

Well of course Godot never comes. But we've waited for a few messiahs who never came and entertained a few false prophets before this reset started didn't we?

If this reset doesn't work could it be a case of ? -
"And when the thousand years are finished, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison, and shall come forth to deceive the nations which are in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to the war: the number of whom is as the sand of the sea. And they went up over the breadth of the earth, and ..."

I respect his position but I would challenge the fact that because we may not have played the game our support and emotional investment in the club and team is any less than his or any other player.

We come to our positions from different backgrounds.
Some of us were born Blue.
Unlike many players it's the only club we've ever known
And having followed the side we're pretty aware of the sacrifices and dedication the players make.
But at the same time were also aware that the players and coaching staff are well compensated financially for those sacrifices....paid for in part by the very supporters being questioned.

I won't have anyone telling me the kind of supporter I should be.
You can command my respect through your deeds and performance, as DRJ did...but you cant demand my respect.

Folks being questioned are passionate for a reason...it's because they love the club and want it to be successful.
Simple as that!

Agree almost to a word.

Well of course Godot never comes. But we've waited for a few messiahs who never came and entertained a few false prophets before this reset started didn't we?

If this reset doesn't work could it be a case of ? -
"And when the thousand years are finished, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison, and shall come forth to deceive the nations which are in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to the war: the number of whom is as the sand of the sea. And they went up over the breadth of the earth, and ..."

We need a little bit of devil in our play >:D...1000 years.....already feels like that

This apathy towards supporters expecting us not to get annoyed when we've been lied to (again) is atrocious.

No wonder our fans have stopped caring about the club and no wonder we are struggling for fifty thousand members (again).

Agree. Not sure what some people expect around here.
13 consecutive losses and 37 rounds < 100 points scored and we should only accept contributions like...

“Bad luck Blue Boys, better luck next time.”
“Hang in there, we need to stick phat.”
“Saw some positive signs today.”
etc., etc., ...

Apart from making this the world’s most boring forum i’d like to think we’re all mature enough to accept differing viewpoints without getting too precious.

Those who think we’re being disloyal/impatient need to understand the sustained success we experienced from 1968 to 1995 was forged from the now famous comment from George Harris who turned to one of his cohort during a game in 1965 and uttered something like, “This is crap and i’m not putting up with it anymore. We need to do something.”

The premiership in ‘68 broke our previously longest drought - 21 years. It’s now been 23. This time around, the club is “doing something” - it’s rebuilding. We all know what that means (basically, be patient) but does anyone really know what it looks like?

If we win the flag in 2020, both camps - the so called loyal supporters  ::) and the rest of us wil all hold hands and sing ‘Kumbuya’ together. If we win in 2030 the loyalists will say “I told you so” but those of us who were there in ‘68 (Olympic stand, 2nd tier) won’t be around to hear it.

Agree. Not sure what some people expect around here.
13 consecutive losses and 37 rounds < 100 points scored and we should only accept contributions like...

“Bad luck Blue Boys, better luck next time.”
“Hang in there, we need to stick phat.”
“Saw some positive signs today.”
etc., etc., ...

We need some new assistant coaches.
What about these two.

[flash=400,400]https://www.youtube.com/v/4zPbgRZPH8U[/flash]

[flash=400,400]https://www.youtube.com/v/ZmlVMnLZhRM[/flash]

Or abit of this
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gqj6VItiw7k

I was just reflecting on how we prepare for match days at training. I confess that I do not attend training sessions and only get the occasional view via videos on the internet. It seems all very chummy and jocular. Do we do any high-intensity stuff that simulates actual match pressure and forces our players to execute skills under realistic match conditions? Can anyone enlighten us?

We need some new assistant coaches.
What about these two.

[flash=400,400]https://www.youtube.com/v/4zPbgRZPH8U[/flash]

[flash=400,400]https://www.youtube.com/v/ZmlVMnLZhRM[/flash]

Nice speeches, but did EJ, Barassi and Hinkley win those games??

Nice speeches, but did EJ, Barassi and Hinkley win those games??

Whitten's last game...dogs won by 3 points ;)

The North game is from 1979....They won the first game by 4 points against us that year at Princes Park...we won the second by 22points at Arden street.
Pretty sure that's the second one ;)
They lost

Hinkley's Bell Park won that Grand final.

In the words of Mr Loaf..."two out of three ain't bad"

Well of course Godot never comes. But we've waited for a few messiahs who never came and entertained a few false prophets before this reset started didn't we?

If this reset doesn't work could it be a case of ? -
"And when the thousand years are finished, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison, and shall come forth to deceive the nations which are in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to the war: the number of whom is as the sand of the sea. And they went up over the breadth of the earth, and ..."

Theres no Mesiah in here. Theres a mess but no Mesiah! ;)

Nice speeches, but did EJ, Barassi and Hinkley win those games??

Hinkley said on radio yesterday he did. Not sure about RDB. Wasnt the TW one the day they won the flag in 54 or am I mistaken?

Nice speeches, but did EJ, Barassi and Hinkley win those games??

EJ  died 24 years ago so he's not going to help us (top pic), Barassi might wake a few up though (2nd pic). That 2nd pic is the game against Carlton in 1979. North were miles behind, huge 3rd qtr they come back, went further head in the last (blast might've worked...for a while) before Carlton suddenly ran rampant and won by 22pts.

Funny how we were sold a 'reset' to begin with and now it's a fully fledged rebuild... (which is necessary). Should have been: 1st two years - demolition. 3rd year onward - rebuild then reset then

Problem with the above is that you gut all hope from supporters and players combined, so it’s a reset and a rebuild, and exciting young players showing growth... sure it’s sugar coating, but you can’t sell “unlikely to win a game for 4 seasons”

Agree. Not sure what some people expect around here.
13 consecutive losses and 37 rounds < 100 points scored and we should only accept contributions like...

“Bad luck Blue Boys, better luck next time.”
“Hang in there, we need to stick phat.”
“Saw some positive signs today.”
etc., etc., ...

Apart from making this the world’s most boring forum i’d like to think we’re all mature enough to accept differing viewpoints without getting too precious.

Those who think we’re being disloyal/impatient need to understand the sustained success we experienced from 1968 to 1995 was forged from the now famous comment from George Harris who turned to one of his cohort during a game in 1965 and uttered something like, “This is crap and i’m not putting up with it anymore. We need to do something.”

The premiership in ‘68 broke our previously longest drought - 21 years. It’s now been 23. This time around, the club is “doing something” - it’s rebuilding. We all know what that means (basically, be patient) but does anyone really know what it looks like?

If we win the flag in 2020, both camps - the so called loyal supporters  ::) and the rest of us wil all hold hands and sing ‘Kumbuya’ together. If we win in 2030 the loyalists will say “I told you so” but those of us who were there in ‘68 (Olympic stand, 2nd tier) won’t be around to hear it.

I argued blue in the face with fly in pre season that finishing bottom six is almost guaranteed.

I know where we're at, and probably have a better appreciation than the average punter about where we are at, but I can categorically state that we are playing much worse than I thought we would be at this stage which is a bigger concern than whether or not we've won.

I was livid after the Gold Coast and North games and we saw it again against the doggies.

Sure we've got some injuries but blokes running around not knowing what they should be doing is downright unacceptable.

I argued blue in the face with fly in pre season that finishing bottom six is almost guaranteed.

I know where we're at, and probably have a better appreciation than the average punter about where we are at, but I can categorically state that we are playing much worse than I thought we would be at this stage which is a bigger concern than whether or not we've won.

I was livid after the Gold Coast and North games and we saw it again against the doggies.

Sure we've got some injuries but blokes running around not knowing what they should be doing is downright unacceptable.

Spot on, 3 Leos. Well said.

Spot on, 3 Leos. Well said.

Yes, that - for reasons unknown - is a recurring theme at the Blues in recent decades!

My glass half full stuff is prefaced on knowing what individual players can (and sometimes) do.

But the 'glue' appears to be sorely missing.

What would I do?

Change the match committee (i suspect group think) ...and?

Get Kouta involved.... make him an assistant coach, whatever....he wasn't always God's gift, he worked darn hard.

No harm in trying. F.. all downside from where we are at.

During the commentary on today's game someone said that Pendlebury knows where every player in is side is or should be on the field at any time. Do we have anybody who knows that?

During the commentary on today's game someone said that Pendlebury knows where every player in is side is or should be on the field at any time. Do we have anybody who knows that?

Bolton ;D

Bolton ;D

 :))
I wonder if he's told anyone else? Only joking.

We were in trouble early granted.

Aside from Docherty, the injury to Pickett (albeit yest to establish himself fully) seemed to have a massive effect on our ball movement. His electricity seemed to have been infectious?

The ongoing injury to Lang - sure not the messiah - but a walk up start to our best 22 and an experienced type next to most of our kids.

Ditto Willo - who's hard at it and a very good kick.

Ditto Weiters - whether injured or other....but not right.  Still think his issues are mental, hopefully he'll get sorted.

Then Kreuzer and Kennedy injured in Rd 1 - last time we played remotely good footy. Then the silly effort to bring both back before they were fully recovered.

Marchbank went down and similarly was brought back in too soon.

ACOS injured, Byrne injured, Murphy injured.

SOJ is a shadow of what he offered last year - 2nd year blues or young love but he shouldn't be playing 1s for quite some time....

If the Tigers had had a similar injury run last year they would have been lucky to make the 8?

During the commentary on today's game someone said that Pendlebury knows where every player in is side is or should be on the field at any time. Do we have anybody who knows that?

Sounds like BS to me. And pretty irrelevant too.....

Are they suggesting Pendles 'coaches' too whilst in the heat of battle?

Sounds like BS to me. And pretty irrelevant too.....

Are they suggesting Pendles 'coaches' too whilst in the heat of battle?

I think they were trying to say that each player in the team has a clearly defined role and that Pendles knows what they are and who is filling each one of them and what each one should be doing to carry out their role. A bit of an alien concept for us I guess?

CH7 had a list of Bulldogs players out as well, given they had a younger team with 5 x players under 10 games it was a pitiful effort tonight and the club need a review on where we are at,
 and where we are heading.

They may have had a younger team - but where were the young’ns playing?

The fact that we had Dow, SPS, Fisher and Kennedy as key on ballers, along with Harry and Charlie in Key Firward posts means our youngsters were pretty reliant on our young blokes

The Bulldogs being younger is the most statistically biased discussion I've seen.

I spoke to a Bulldogs fan who was generally not pleased with their side and suggested we had more to be happy about despite losing.

I told her it's tough work right now but the future looks good and she vehemently agreed even though both sides were rubbish.

I told her it's tough work right now but the future looks good and she vehemently agreed even though both sides were rubbish.

Are you telling me we are full of young low draft picks and were beaten by a rubbish side? ;D

Are you telling me we are full of young low draft picks and were beaten by a rubbish side? ;D

Yep.

Both sides played rubbish football on friday night and have done so all season.

Yep.

Both sides played rubbish football on friday night and have done so all season.

That doesn't make things better, it makes them worse! :o

That doesn't make things better, it makes them worse! :o

It actually doesnt mean a lot aside from an indicator of how we are currently travelling.


Good teams lose to rubbish sides, and rubbish sides can get hammered.  Its only an indicator of how 4 quarters went.

Its not indicative of future performance.  The only thing we can currently draw from our team is whether or not we have talented players who need some work to become 4 quarter performers.

AFLCA Votes as follow;

WESTERN BULLDOGS v CARLTON
9 Marcus Bontempelli (WB)
8 Patrick Cripps (Carl)
7 Jack Macrae (WB)
4 Lachie Hunter (WB)
2 Zac Fisher (Carl)

I'm assuming the coaches;