Carlton Supporters Club

Thanks for the reports Jim and Baggers, great stuff !!
Some very encouraging signs, pressure for a spot in the seniors is always a good thing. Hopefully Jones finds a way to translate his good form in the 2's into the seniors !!

White was a real leader both on the ground and in the huddle. Coach singled him out and complimented him on his leadership at 3/4 time. Boys were pumped in the huddle, gave great feedback to the coach. Never seen a huddle so tight when Fraser spoke. Players hung off every word. You just knew at 3/4 they weren't going to lose no matter how close Geelong got.

Couldn't resist, got some friends in Geelong so decided to visit them then go to the game.

After a slow start what struck me more than anything was our intensity it was relentless and caused plenty of turnover and errors from the Pussycats. Real hard stuff. Gang tackling. We really were forcing the Pussies into mistakes. Just bloody great to watch. Yes, at times a little too exuberant which resulted in frees to them but gee it was good to watch... such a transformation from the last couple of years.
We tired a little late in the 3rd qtr, but found the intensity again in the last, although the PUssycats did get to within a point mainly due to our turnovers and a silly smack behind play from one of our blokes, I think it was Ballard (who'd been a very good contributor). But we steadied and Gorringe put a couple of great opportunistic goals through to put it beyond doubt.

There is no doubt that a good % of the victory can be attributed to the Preston boys, especially Wilson, Sam Russell, Strachan, Bransgrove and McGuinness. I also liked Kerbatieh's game.

Some thoughts re our boys.

Be amazed if Foster makes it. Outpointed too many times. Needs to improve out of sight.

Jones worked his @rse off. His defensive stuff was also really good. Took some really good contested marks. Has got a set routine now re his shots at goal which is working a treat. Hard to believe this is the same Liam Jones from last season. He's definitely put himself under the selector’s noses.

Gorringe didn't really seem in the game but gee that changed after half time. His ruck work was better along with his forward work. Much better than last week.

Dick worked hard and was strong at the contest but got found out a few times with his lack of pace. Is playing very solid 2nds footy!

JGM looked better as the game progressed. Made a howler of a blue after working well and dashing away he handballed straight to an opponent. His body on body stuff tonight was much better. Long way to go but signs are encouraging.

Billy Gowers was solid and something of a general on the field. Vocal. Good leadership stuff.

Whiley was serviceable but does have the ability to undo good work by turning straight into trouble. Something about his awareness is just not right. Can't fault effort though.

Simon White was close to BOG. Didn't put a foot wrong. Got to contests and effected some classic spoils. Showed real leadership on the field by example and voice. His disposal by foot was generally good but every now and then he gave us one of those 'way too much air' kicks.

Jaksch is a quandary. Takes good contested marks, and this week his kicking was really good - kicked a deadly accurate long goal. Really needs to put some consistency into his game. But tonight's effort was one of his much better efforts (along with Jones).

Dennis Armfield played most of the game and was dangerous. Good on-field leadership and his dash at times really opened up the game (along with Tutt).

Gallucci was his usual self... periods of missing then popping up with some really classy almost miraculous efforts. Will press for senior selection when we get less of the missing!

Cuningham showed glimpses and worked hard. Has clean hands and tends not to waste his disposals but other mids did more hard in and under stuff.

DVR was solid.

This was probably the best game I've seen from Clem Smith. He was really lively up forward and effected one of the best smothers I've seen for a while which resulted in a turnover. Only once did he try one of his bumps (which failed) instead of wrapping his arms around his opponent. Really good defensive efforts. In the 2nd qtr pulled off an Eddie like manoeuvre close to goal... changed directing, eluded his opponent on the boundary line then somehow kicked the ball with his ankle and passed it to a team mate for a mark and shot on goal. One of those kind of wizard things we expect from our indigenous brothers.

Tutt was very good and really instrumental in the win. Improved again on last week. Worked hard right around the ground and his pace at times put real pressure on his opponents with the ball and forced errors. Coming along well.

The highlight of the night for me was big Korcheck. Took a couple of strong contested marks and was hard and strong at the contest. Showed he can work well at ground level as well. Was determined and strong at centre bounces. The improvement from last week to this was palpable.

Did Jammo play?

Great news about the win, it will be interesting to see what happens with selection next week. The club needs to reward 6 goals to Jones especially when we can't score at senior level. White has done jobs on Fyfe before and is a good match up, a BOG should get him a gig.

Jaksch non inclusions have never been about talent, it's more about effort, how did that look?

Jamo didn't play Ray.

Agree on Jones, might I add I was scoffed at when I suggested he may improve under a different regime lol.

I think what this result shows is the importance of getting blokes on the park. Especially Armfield and White.

Our club lacks depth, we lose one player and structures turn to poo. But get them all out there and all of a sudden clubs can struggle to match up against us. Armfield for example means Smith gets a lesser opponent. White gets the best opponent freeing up Jaksch and Jones.

I'd love to see what the 1s could do if you add Armfield to the mix, all of a sudden blokes like a Boekhurst, Lamb, Wright or Sumner get a lesser/slower opponent.

If we get defensive players like Weitering and Plowman in form and playing together blokes like Casboult, White can have a impact forward because they aren't busting guts to fill holes.

An in form Jones makes Kreuzer / Phillips look like poor and slow forward options and also frees up Casboult.

Lots of good signs.

...............
Our club lacks depth, we lose one player and structures turn to poo. But get them all out there and all of a sudden clubs can struggle to match up against us.................

One of the really pleasing aspects to last nights win was how you could really see a united side. So it aint just spin from BB, there was proof. Also, first time in a long time that I saw Preston listed blokes and CFC listed blokes playing together with the same game plan. And the Preston boys made a significant contribution to last night's win. In that second qtr when we rested control of the game from the Pussycats, Wilson, Jones and White were significant.

I also love that there is now real pressure (as I mentioned in another thread) on a few senior blokes from the NBs. Phillips had better have a blinder tonight because there're a couple of blokes who should be in front of him. Jaksch and Jones are, IMHO, in front of Everitt.

It might be prudent to temper enthusiasm from last night just a whisker as it was the Pussycats first hit out for the year... but it was on their dung hill and they did take control early but a few of their blokes did look underdone. The crowd was very disappointing... seemed like only about 500 or so folks there and most were Pussycat supporters... but the 75 or CFC supporters made plenty of noise, especially in the last qtr when the game was in the balance.

Early days I know but gee Fraser impresses, especially in comparison to Webster... the difference in communication skills is a chasm. (Though to be fair to Webster, the players he was coaching were getting the MM mixed messages, whereas BB/senior side coaches and Fraser/NBs coaches are clearly all on the same page).