I don't see a place for suggestions, I think it would be handy to have some site feedback and suggestions.
I want to start by saying as I have to the man himself and on these boards that I think Spanner does a sensational job in both hosting and maintaining this site for a number of years, but I am disappointed the opportunity wasn't taken to implement some great new features at no basic cost to get the site right into 2013 and beyond.
I think the color scheme is probably a little off, I think one of the best elements of the previous site was the color scheme, it was so unmistakeably Carlton. I would like to see more BB Code implemented into the forum. BB Code is not hard to change, anyone with administrators access can add a number of features that allow for more modern and structured posts. The BB Code here looks like it is 'out of the box', options to change the colors of tables, rows, etc. Have hidden/unhidden elements in posts for 'spoiler alert' options etc just make for better posting. In fact on a football site, something as simply as a 'scoreboard' tag that formats the score of a game would make such a difference to the whole posting situation and with not a real lot of work in the background for anyone with the skill set (or even anyone with basic html skills would be able to work it out).
The other element I would have liked to see (and still think the site should think about) is a Content Management system around the forum, so the forum integrates into the site. it could be very simple to start with with a pretty stock standard Drupal install (yes Drupal is free), then with an SMF integration. When you log into drupal, it will pass your password across to SMF forum (or PHP) to allow for seamless integration.
There could be within the CM system so many extra features... Editorials/blogging, historical logging of any Carlton articles, Player profile pages, video libraries etc. The world really is the limit. There is no need to go into the site we looked at building a few years back (and in fact which I only just deleted in the last 3 months) whereby a full stats feature is built, Drupal is very intuitive and in fact can be administered by a non-technical person. It doesn't have to happen of course, but surely it would be better to have this site be about more than a chin wag and add some real substance and push the website to the forefront of supporter sites.
As I mentioned the site I built with the help of Brendan a number of years ago was a lot more involved than what I am mentioning here and we had tracked every Carlton game every, plus all games of all Current carlton players, stats for said games etc, video libraries etc.... That required more technical skill, but there should be a happy medium imo.
If he does play Friday night it is going to be interesting to see who he matches up on. They are a good chance of playing 3 talls.
Aaron Black... I really liked the look of this kid in his draft year and I called one of my North mates and said I think you might have taken the 'steal' of the draft. It has taken a while, but he is really showing his wares. He is better than Tarrant by a long way and I don't see Watson being physical enough to handle him. He really goes hard at the contested marks and probably has been their 'find of the year'
Drew Petrie... Probably his worst year in the last 6, but we have seen what he can do against us and it has to be either Jamo or Henderson, because again he is far too strong for Watson and will simply rag doll him.
So that leaves Robbie Tarrant. Not sure what it is about Robbies but Tarrant has the same presence as Warnock, he will duck his head going for a mark, pull out of a contest and 'reach in' to try and take the mark without taking the hit. He doesn't like physical stuff at all, but he will lead a lot. he is also terrible when the ball hits the deck... this has to be his opponent. Unlike his brother Robbie is an excellent set shot for goal though, so really Watson has to spend his whole night trying to smack into Tarrant and make him earn any mark he takes for the night... I will say this though... If he can't play against a player with such obvious flaws as Robbie Tarrant... You could just about stick a fork in him
I don't see Watson making it, but it is bloody early to make that call still. He should though be starting to impose himself in some essence by now. Josh Kennedy used to get grief from many on this forum in his first few years and I remember thinking.... but geez the skinny kid can take a hell of a grab! I remember thinking (and saying), that when his body develops, when his mind is right we would be very good... I do tend to wonder now though if he would have become the same player he is now if he had stayed with us. On the other side... would Matthew Watson be struggling as much if he was drafted to West Coast or Fremantle or the likes?
It is different though with Watson, as I said I could see an extremely talented footballer in Kennedy who just didn't yet have enough confidence or body size to impose himself on the game, Watson has the body size, he just either doesn't have the assets or he doesn't have the strength of character. How much of that character is a personal flaw and how much is flaw in the development section of our club I am not sure, but again it does seem to follow a trend at CFC
Cannot see Carrots form as being anything of a concern, it is normal when coming back from injury to be below par. The reality is that the if the rest of the club was playing well, he would be able to slot back into the side for a few 1/2 games off the pine and nobody would be saying anything.
There are a list of 15 or more players I would be worried about above Carrots just at the moment.
I didn't think Betts was a Rookie, I thought he was from the PSD, but I digress... I think that there will always be some players that come through late and play some games and everyone says "gee how was he missed". Our games played per pick ratio would be a lot higher for 1st round picks than it would be for rookies or any other draft round, so I am not sure why we are comparing.
What is of a bigger concern to me is that we absolutely have a different structure at the club when we get the guys we get and they don't go on to achieve as much as at other clubs. Only a portion of that can be done to the quality of the footballer, the other element has to be the quality of the football club. . Do the following ex-players all stand out as exceptional coaches we would have loved to get out hands on? Stuart Dew Leigh Tudor John Blakey Henry Playfair (development) Stuart Maxfield (development)
I can see it right now, if at the same time Sydney signed any of these coaches we had instead signed them... There would have been talk about them being underwhelming signings, yet Sydney know what fits their mold and they go after it.
The following players are recycled players at Sydney Rhyce Shaw (Twice runner-up B&F, premiership player) Ted Richards (AA, B&F Runner up, premiership player) Ben McGlynn (Top 10 B&F, should have been a premiership player, bar finals injury) Martin Mattner (Premiership player) Josh Kennedy (AA, B&F Winner, premiership player, top 10 in Brownlow out and out gun!!) Mitch Morton (premiership player ) Shane Mumford (Shortlist AA, premiership player)
Others to play in last years premiership
Player
Drafted
Sam Reid
38 National Draft
Luke Parker
40 National Draft
Adam Goodes
43 National Draft
Ryan O'Keefe
56 National Draft
Alex Johnson
57 National Draft
Craig Bird
58 National Draft
Nick Malceski
64 National Draft
Nick Smith
15 Rookie Draft
Heath Grundy
42 Rookie Draft
Kieran Jack
57 Rookie Draft
Mike Pyke
57 Rookie Draft
That is 17 of last years side traded for (usually for next to nothing) or taken in the round 3 or later of the draft. There has to be one side that is identifying those talents, but there has to be another side that develops them and that is where I think we are letting ourselves down. Sydney has also selected plenty of players that have not gone on to make it as well and overlooked players better than what they have taken, but I would not mind betting that they could have had a number of these players swapped out for others and the ones they took would have had better careers at Sydney. They have a development model and I would suggest they stick quite rigidly to it. The 'no d1ckheads' policy wasn't just a catchphrase it was fair dinkum. Something at Carlton certainly has to change. We are a club that has not been a genuine 'force' since the 90s and I agree with Roos in saying that I doubt it comes down to recruiting as the key element.
So what is the club doing? It needs to probably scrap the whole 'we are Carlton f*ck the rest' policy, stop with the public statements and just go about getting all of the basics right, all the way through the club. I am sick of watching tripe week after week. Play the Sydney 'moneyball' approach with regards to trying to hit the right recycled players. Just about everyone that has traded to Sydney, they have gotten more out of that player than what they have paid for them.
For the same reason I didn't like the posts being shown on the other site, I don't really like this function personally, but it seems the majority does, so this is just a dissenting view.
I think it encourages people just posting a heap of stuff and people ganging up on one another with back slaps when someone posts a view that mirrors their own. I am not big on that sort of function. Personally I also think it would be worth removing the dislike element if possible, I know I seen someone with a negative post and was going to just go about liking a post to bring them back into the positive. They are a controversial poster, but someone I do respect even if I don't always agree, but they were always likely to at some stage end up 'negative'.
Where I think a 'like' feature (with the points accumulated) comes in well is a tech forum, where it is important to know the posters that regularly provide strong technical answers to solutions so you know when to 'listen'. Another way it could work is for a like/dislike option, but the liker/dislikers names are published and they are not accumulated.
Anyway this goes against the grain and is more likely to be seen as a criticism of the site, rather than just a dissenting view, so 'dislike' way
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