Small forwards still a massive problem and lost us the game again. So many inside 50s and cant lock the ball in. Too young and not good enough. Owies an exception and did well. Depending on two forwards out of six is bad business. Unfortunately other than Martin there is no one else to bring into the team.
Martin was getting beaten in the 2s by the U18s - put a line through him. He’s a joke
Honey has absolute lighting pace, just wish he'd BLOODY USE IT MORE. Dead set, I hope the penny drops, no one will catch bloke. At the minute, he lopes around almost looking disinterested and like he has just woken up from a sleep. FFS drink a litre of red cordial before the game son!
Couldn’t agree more - just read your note after posting
Carlton is doing the right thing retaining Honey despite his lack of form.
He’s got himself to the right positions a few times but for whatever reason appears to be lacking confidence - I’m hoping that this extended run of games is a sign that our coaching staff are telling Honey that he has free licence and that they do not mind if Honey makes a mistake taking players on or having a shot. If Honey’s confidence builds and he starts to use his pace and strength there simply aren’t too many defenders that will be able to go with him.
Watched the reserves and actually found it to be slightly depressing given we struggled to beat a no-name Richmond side at home.
Sam Durdin was probably our best and is a solid backup if one of Young or Weitering were to get injured.
Other than that it’s Dow, Obrien, Kemp, Carroll and Cincotta, however the last three of that list continue to make a lot of mistakes that would directly result in goals at AFL level, so unfortunately there’s not a lot to turn to this week.
Whilst not like for like, it will be interesting to see if they finally give Dow a go ahead of Honey, Curnow or Fisher.
Lemmey, Binns, Akuei, Mirkov seem to be a way off, but all could develop into very good players.
If the club has absolutely no intention of playing Dow why didn’t they trade or delist him? Outside looking in, it’s very strange that a guy that kicks 4 in the twos playing on ball can’t get a game when two of our prime midfielders are out and we lack pace??
Hewett out is probably too much against the Cats. I’ll be there but tipping we’ll struggle.
Id be playing Dow and showing some faith in him....put him on a like for like player in Holmes and give him the job of running with him and show he can handle responsibility and be a reliable senior player.
I like this - back the guy in for at least 2 games, he has good pace from stoppages and he has shown that he’s prepared to keep working hard despite our coach not rating him highly. He has good character, keeps turning up in the twos and is resilient and for those reasons alone I’d give him a run.
Ed's is experienced, remains focussed, won't surrender no matter how bad things get, he is still an A-Grade stopper.
Ed is a great stopper and seems like a great bloke, but when he kicks the footy it’s only by chance that the ball will find its way to a teammate. I don’t think we can be playing Ed Curnow and expect to push deep into the finals.
As we did with Casboult we need to move forward and inject some talent and speed into the line up.
I’d love to give Dow a go and I’m not convinced that he can’t play the role that either Owies or Martin play equally well (I’d argue probably better). Dow can spend time as a high half forward and can also attend some centre bounces.
As others have said, Corey Durdin for Owies is relatively clear.
I’d go with Pittonet (subject to fitness), Durdin and Dow IN and Silvagni, Owies and Martin OUT. Fisher on notice that he will be replaced by Honey if his output doesn’t improve.
Way too predictable and our kick-in tactic is beyond a joke.
Key points (1) Lob & Owies are absolutely headless & we can’t rely on these guys (2) Question marks on Acres and not sure he’s an upgrade on Cottrell at all (3) Silvagni, McGovern, Martin and Fisher have the talent but must do more (4) lack of pace and explosive players remains an issue - any of Honey, Dow, Durdin & Cunningham will help (5) Holland and Cowan ok, will be players in time (6) Ed C simply can’t kick - must handball at all options
In the cold hard light of day when the dust settles, trying going back to preseason, or 12 months ago and rate our top 25 players out of 10 and redo it now. Docherty and Curnow were pure speculation, nothing more, Cottrell was not in anyone's top 22, O'Brien was nowhere, Young was 'break glass in emergency', Marchbank was miles away, Cripps was 'gone'...... We have shown significant improvement, players have a red hot crack and our fans just love to go to the football these days! Cookie, Vossy, Crippa we are looking in anticipation already!!
Great post and I’d go further by saying that Hewitt, Saad, Durdin, Motlop and TDK all exceeded my limited expectations this year.
We do however need to urgently address our lack of durability - whilst Weitering was unlucky this year, we simply can’t continue to carry all of Marchbank, Williams, Martin, McGovern, Cunningham & Honey if they can’t get their bodies right. We may need to seriously consider trading out the injury prone for more durability, whilst also having a thorough look at Andrew Russell’s programme.
