Carlton Supporters Club

Shawny...Im not as sold on TDK like everyone else and certainly not prepared to pay big dollars based on down the track promise.
I see Melb and Freo with Grundy and Jackson and then look at Geelong last year and Collingwood this season and think why does any club need to be paying ruckman a fortune
I will watch the game probably tomorrow and check out the ruck battles but I just see ruckman as minor pieces on the chess board and would prefer we spent our money elsewhere. 

I don’t disagree with any of that. My point is there is no comparison between Pitt and TDK.

What TDK is worth is another discussion but I do understand why TDK is getting the big offers while Pitt committed to 4 years on average coin.  It’s pretty obvious imo.

Ruckmen need to be very good around the ground too, like Gawn the other night. Then they are worth a decent dollar. Other than that someone like Pittonet does the job.

Whateley reckons Grundy won't be at Melbourne next year. Interesting to see if he is right. Was the all-time dumb decision to go there in the first place. Two first rucks don't often work unless they can proficiently play forward too, as they'll be spending alot of time there. Even in the old days of Nicholls and Jones they were both very good up forward. In the days of unlimited interchange you could play 2 first rucks and just change them off the bench. Not now. The was a reason Kreuzer and Casboult were a good combination. Kreuzer did a good job gathering touches around the ground and could kick a goal if needed. Casboult was a forward ruck, who, despite his limitations, often hit the scoreboard, wrong part of it at times, but turned out quite a proficient ruckman as well together with his handy marking around the ground. Soon as Kreuzer played with Phillips his game went to crap near every time.

Marc doesn't get a lot of marks, or possessions generally, but he usually makes it difficult for his opponent to get them. The sort of guy he struggles with around the ground is a guy lime English, who is pretty damned mobile for a big man. But, even then, Pitto gives a contest.
Pitto's strength is his strength in the ruck contest, and his ability to aim his taps pretty well.

I thought when he first came on Dow was OK, but re-watch the first 5mins of the 2nd or 3rd quarter and you'll see why Dow struggles to get a regular game.

There is are several periods of play where he just doesn't chase with any intensity, from the stoppage Dow trails behind an opponent he could easily catch, leaving team-mates to run past him to do the heavy work, and it's only the first few minutes of the quarter. Even if he couldn't catch he should still be exerting some pressure instead of leaving an opponent have an easy disposal.

In another passage of play, Dow trails an opponent again which is perhaps OK maybe the opponent is too quick, except Cripps runs past Dow and tackles the opponent!

That is the exact opposite of how everybody else in the team is playing, everybody else is all in instantly.

Why Dow is like this is a mystery, he no longer naturally hunts the footy, it seems he needs to be forced to do so!

My mate I go to the footy with says when this happens Dow is having another "rabbit in the headlights" moment, to me it looks like Dow has to think about what to do next, instead of just doing it.

Georgie had five tackles to Paddy's zip and 19 possessions (10 contested) at 74% to Paddy's 14 at 53%.  The only positive for Paddy was the cheers from the crowd when he got a touch.

If Paddy is to command a regular spot in the 22, he has to lift his defensive intensity and improve his decision-making.  Cuningham didn't have a great game but the contrast between his ability to create the space and time to evaluate the options and execute well and Paddy's bang the ball onto his boot style is notable.

I actually thought Charlie looked better and more dangerous after H got injured. This raises the question as to how we should structure our fwd set up when H returns and going forward.  Imo I think we should look at keeping a lot more separation in order to stretch opposition defences and minimize the times they are both flying for the same mark.

Not a fan of Boyd and I want to see Cowan  in the team and getting experience.
The latter is a good kick too and has more flair and upside. Boyd is a Joe average VFL player imo and I just don't see what others see in him unlike Cowan who I think is a terrific prospect for the future.