Carlton Supporters Club

I like what I heard from Voss, he knows what the problems are and wasnt offering excuses.....the Swans stepped up the pressure and we couldnt go with them and if your midfield is being overwhelmed then its hard for your defense to stem the flow especially on a one kick to the goal square ground like the SCG.
I would probably like to see a bit more innovative thinking when we are being swamped like in the 3rd quarter, its fine leaving all the pieces where they are when the game is close and backing your players in to win the day but when the opposition are all over you its time to make some serious changes and move the magnets like Collingwood under McRae do well to get back into games.

For me our main problem is headspace, in the 2nd quarter the Swans up the pressure and our fumbles and hesitation set in, which means we lose time and space and it becomes a feedback loop.

I didn't have an issue with the team and selection other than I think Fantasia has been given too many chances already, when he gets the chop he won't have grounds to complain.

I thought we matched up pretty well against Sydney, and I think the 1st Qtr showed that, afterwards our problems were caused by panic and fumbling. Partly it might be an issue of too many lightweights not willing to wear contact, but perhaps they are being coached that way.

Of our smalls only Owies is prepared to head into heavy traffic, Durdin and Fantasia hardly make contact hunting the footy, although Durdin does chase and tackle he's not as fast as I had hoped. But to carry all three of Fantasia, Owies and Durdin we need them all channelling Papley and Boyd and be willing to get inside and do some of the dirt moving, otherwise we end up down a man in contests all over the deck.

On the umpires, the only thing I say is two massive clangers again, BigH should have been given a 50m, not making excuses for his miss but he should have been on the goal line, and Boyd's penalty for grabbing the footy was ludicrous when a player is basically trying to kick it out of his hands. It is not footy to be kicking it off the ground, it needs to be a focus of the AFL officials to put an end to it. That incident is a main reason I do not want to see prior opportunity removed, it's not football, if fans want to go see that sort of game go and watch soccer instead! I'd be happy to ban kicking off the ground altogether!

One of the biggest pieces of nonsense sprouted by players and coaches is this rubbish about “One soldier out, next soldier in.”

It might work for the Russian Army… but it sure doesn’t work for us.
Not with our current list of injuries.

A ‘good soldier out’ puts an additional burden on your better players who have to carry an extra load.

It puts an additional burden on your fringe players who lose support from, not only the missing player, but also the star players.

Roles change
Structures change,
Your prime movers are covered more easily.
Players carry injuries into games through necessity.

What we saw last night was the cumulative effect of a series of hard games, and missing players.
It takes a toll, and unfortunately it may not be a short fix.
We’ll get players back…but I suspect we’ll also lose some.

As it stands right now. We're 10th.
Nowhere to hide I'm afraid 😨

Perhaps our biggest challenge, should our injured players be match fit as propsed, will be cohesion. Thus connection. When that’s lacking we lose confidence in our plays, hesitate, and increase pressure on ourselves.