Carlton Supporters Club

As much as Silvagni gives his all, not sure we can ask him to go up against Lobb. TDK probably needs to play this week, irrespective of his VFL form on the weekend.

One thing we need is a bit of pace....watching that Freo game, they were very quick on the outside and it's not an area we're overly blessed with. IMO, I'd have Dow in the team this week and play him off a wing even if Cripps comes back in. Setterfield needs to be dropped...forget the stats, he's not contributing at all and lost count of the number of panic handballs he made to a team mate under more pressure.

I'm not sold on Parks at this stage. Young was good in his first game for us but has looked very shaky in recent weeks. He's good for the spoil in a contest but that's about it when the ball hits the ground...too many panic decisions.

Maybe Fisher and Dow on the wings? I thought Sunday was probably Fish's best game this year and he used the ball really well.

Cottrell lacks nothing in endeavour but his disposal lets him down but I thought he was pretty good in the latter stages. Newnes....hmm...not sold on him either. I think we can do better and he's not the future.

Against Freo, how do we deal with their twin towers? Rory Lobb at 207/106 & Matt Taberner 198/98 will be a handful and that probably means Lewis Young is a selection certainty.

On Footy Classified last night, Kane Cornes did a spot on how Taberner has improved his goals per game steadily over a decade to become a very good KPF. He did this in part by a bit of statistical legerdemain: he noted Taberner has so far this season kicked an average of 3.8 goals per game. The reason why that's probably a bit misleading is that he kicked 7 of them against Essendon on the weekend, meaning he's only kicked 4 goals in the other 2 games he's played. Maybe kicking 7 against an imploding Essendon is an outlier whose influence over the average may fade as the season goes on. Still, he's a big enough threat to draw Weitering as an opponent, especially as my impression of Lobb is that he prefers to play as the leading forward which would drag Weitering out of position.

Freo also have a natural defender to put on Harry: Alex Pearce stands at 201/99. Sean Darcy at 203/112 in the ruck might be a grind for Pittonet who might need a bit of help.

Darcy from memory was a good player last time Freo played and I agree he will be hard work and IMO we need TDK back in because Lobb while not an A grade ruckman is a big unit and we cant keep asking JSOS to play on bonefide rucks with a big size advantage.
Freo looked like they have moved on from the Fyfe/Mundy era and are looking to their kids like Brayshaw, Serong, Brodie and ODriscoll. Reckon this will be a tight game and I dont expect Taberner, Curnow or McKay to kick bags but will require a 4 quarter effort from most players and not half a game like in previous weeks....

I agree that we have to play two rucks against Freo but is De Koning up to contesting against Darcy and Lobb?

I agree that we have to play two rucks against Freo but is De Koning up to contesting against Darcy and Lobb?

If McDonald's good to go, I'd prefer to see his strength, experience and maturity put to the test.  Alternatively, McDonald could slot back in as KPD and Young could have the back up ruck duties.  I know Young is inexperienced but he seems more comfortable in a test of strength than De Koning.

If we do bring in a second ruck, who goes out?

They both get blown over by a stiff breeze imho.  Young not up to it competitively and needs to run and jump at it ala De Koning.

Do you think we're more likely to beat North or Melbourne? Where do you think the bookies would fix the line in those 2 games?