Carlton Supporters Club

Boydy makes a few blues, but he's not Robinson Crusoe there!

He works his butt off, has a bit of attitude and generally hits his targets.  Winning that free in the forward pocket and nailing the goal was reward for effort.

I didn't have him in my best 22 but EB reminded me of the job he did on Bailey in the prelim.  There's definitely room for improvement but, on form, he plays against Brisbane in Opening Round.

I thought in the ruck BigH was average except when he was up against the other dud ruck who's name I can't remember, away from the ruck he was probably BoG.

Even so, I can't accept the risk that comes with rucking him, I get tall KPF's can ruck, but like Salmon, Rocca and others, you do it at the end of their career after they are bruised and busted. Not when they are at their potential KPF peak.

When we saw BigH run past Charlie and an assortment of Dees defenders to collect the ground level footy on the run and slot the easy goal, (was that the Boyd kick?) that is a tell, and it should have signalled the end of his ruck ambitions. Ruck BigH for too much or too often, or against the wrong opponent like Nankervis (aka The Butcher), and you'll never see that happen again.

No one on this Earth can convince me last night was a good showing in any way shape or form.
- A full preseason on a ground where every player would know ever blade of grass. The blokes wearing CFC jumpers last night looked like they had to google map the address of IKON Park before beginning the drive to it let alone know it well. The next person I hear say "we need to have it as our home venue for premiership points and make it our fortress" I will spew up.
- A full preseason supposedly practicing speed and ball movement. I was abhorrent to say the least.
- A full preseason with footballs in hand from day 1 and they come out fumbling and dropping marks, skills that Carolyn Springs FC would put to shame.
- A full preseason with a group who had supposedly matured and turned the corner in 2023. They looked confused, lacked cohesion, it was like the first session of preseason having read the new game plan book.
Last night was the complete opposite to what I expected. I'm no dill, I realise it was a practice match and the result counted for nothing other than a tune up. However one week out from meeting one of last years Grandfinalists on their dungheap, I expected a sharp, determined looking outfit displaying all the traits that justify our expectations that 2024 will be a year where consolidate the achievements of 2023. And don't feed me the BS about missing our two best players either. Weitering they have know about for several weeks, if they haven't developed a play with him missing, shame on them. Walsh? Supposedly we have a deep midfield, now we are a one man midfield because of a poor showing. I call BS on that. They were missing Oliver and Petracca barely got out of reverse. We are not a one or two man team, or are we?
Overdramatic? Ever the pessimist? We'll see I guess. To truly change you have to guess what, change. Every year we come out slow out of the blocks, last night was no different. Following 2023 this was supposed to be different. Wrote us off too early? Again, we'll see I guess. Maybe last years PF was our peak, maybe that's as good as it gets for this group. I just expected something better, I'm nervous. PS Praccy match or not, they showed they are top 4 material and ready to redeem themselves, we played like pretenders who drank bath water Dakaris all summer.

Boyd's attacking game was good vs Melbourne as Shawny suggested with some nice long entry passes but vs Brisbane Id like to see him revert more to being a lockdown player like he was in that prelim. The backline always looks messy with no Weitering steering the ship and its that balance between rebounding and defending that a few of our players need to get right with the exception of Saad who seems to get it right most games and is rarely caught out.
Id be playing Boyd round 1 but the KP spots with Young and Kemp are more of a concern for me and I would have liked to have seen Sam Durdin play seniors and see if he could be an option.
The Harry McKay second ruck idea is a interesting move and Im not sure if it benefits TDK....Harry was good around the ground and looked happy to have some freedom and agree he was our most valuable player but where does this leave the Pittonet/TDK setup? Can both play in the same team now and Im only so so on TDK as a forward and Im thinking I wouldnt have minded him playing down back like his brother at Geelong and giving us another option as Young has looked shaky in both games I have seen him.

Personally, I thought in the PF he was one of the few who stood up under the Lion's pressure.

To me that is a bigger tell than all the other games combined.

I suspect the times when Boyd has been 'overwhelmed' co-incided with times the total defence was being overwhelmed.

He's not a young lad but after only 16 games at AFL level you would think he's still getting a feel for the speed and pressure.

I can't recall any of the incidents you talk about but if they occurred it probably happened because he's still getting used to the intensity.

Problem is personal bias often plays into this.
When we perceive a problem we look for it.
Hopefully it doesn't diminish the good aspects of a player and the positives they bring.

When does perception turn into bias?