Carlton Supporters Club

I myself would have to of been Watson's biggest fan. Being a CHB myself I have a soft spot for them and setting his highlight reel when we drafted him I went out and got a baby blue gursney with the number 10 on the back. Haven't been able to wear it much, but watched the game with a port supporter who had never heard of Watson. After the game I he said he doubts her ever will again and unfortunately I have to agree.

The kid has the skills, has the body but his head must bee hollow. He's not slow, he just has no desire to get that ball more than anyone else. He jogs to contests and then pulls up instead of sprinting and throwing his body on the line and over the ball. Watson needs to get some c*nt about him, use his body to intimidate, get front position, if he can't at least use his body to apply pressure instead of waiting to meet the ball with a punch from behind at the last second.

This kid should be smashing packs and running off for an easy kick cause most chfs won't chase but he is lazy and uninterested. Like a lot of our boys he doesn't bleed blue, he doesn't want to do win that ball and I'm 95% sure he doesn't want that ball anywhere near him

In defence we had Jamison, who admittedly made some shocking errors, but he is a proven key position defender. He was ably assisted by MATHEW WATSON, that's right, the lad we took with our first pick in the 2010 National Draft at #18. He's a big kid too, 195cm & 100kg if you don't mind !!

I am one of many who is of the opinion that Watson won't make it and for a variety of reasons. He is quite slow, is not particularly strong overhead but his kicking is enough to bring back the old 'woof' cry (he is a left-footer like Christou too).

The thing is, if he was to really improve his game and warrant regular selection, it really straightens up our spine immeasurably. Now I'm not going to suggest that he should be gifted games between now & the end of the season to give him more confidence or the like, but what I do think may be a better option is for the people at our club to work on his fitness, body shape & overall agility. Whether we have the people at the club capable of doing this is actually a completely seperate & lengthy discussion on its own. 

To me, Watson always looks like a young kid with a lot of 'puppy fat' on him, his body shape is not ideal for our game either. If you look at Karmicheal Hunt from the Suns, they have worked with him to reshape & remodel his body away from the typical NRL shaped player to one that works well in the AFL. Watson may benefit from the same sort of treatment !!

It would be a great waste (to me anyway) if we were to flick Watson before we put some intensive work into him to find out if he is the answer to our problems. I'm not saying that it is a 100% guaranteed winner idea, just a preference to give the guy one belting pre-season fitness campaign specifically designed to change him around.

Was rapped to see that little maggot Milne try his usual side step tricks that always seem to work against us backfire this time around!

Touhy was wide awake to it......the same needs to apply this week against  Harvey. I wonder if Touhy will get him as well?

Quote from: davo on July 14, 2013, 11:36:17 am

Quote from: cookie2 on July 14, 2013, 10:26:10 am

Aside from Watson, who I'll keep my powder dry on for now, I think our major weaknesses, based on last night, are:

Armfield
Curnow - maybe OK as a tag but awful disposal
Carrazzo.

There are obviously others who could be criticised, but replace the above with three hard at it quality players and we could be looking a lot better.

Which  3 hard at it quality players do you suggest ?

I've no doubt our highly skilled recruitment dept. will find them! 

Quote from: Dominator_7 on July 13, 2013, 11:22:26 pm

Geeze, Watson moved like an Iceberg. Surely gone either this year or next.
Was so happy to see two key forwards in Hendo and Rowe dominating our forward line again. Its been a while.
Jamo started the year off so well. Don't know what's happened. He's lucky Reiwoldt didn't bring his kicking boots.
Yazz has all the talent in the world, but is so very lazy. No wonder he drives Mick mad!
McInnes is goingto be a little ripper!
Kreuzer needs to grow a pair! Plays too nice, and really should be better then he is right now.
We didn't miss Robbo. Don't see why he should come back into the side to be honest.
Garlett was the invisible man again.
We still turn the ball over too often
Armfield is another guy who is badly out of form
Judd still plays like he's the Captain. Lifted when we needed him the most.
Heard that Sticks came out in the pre match and defended our list. Seriously, is he for real ? Confirms what a lot of us are thinking about him and his board! The Tiprat is a total c*nt! Cant believe the big deal they were making about him being booed. Hello BT and Darc, we ve been booing him for 10 bloody years!!!

Watson has some great disposal skills (how about the torp ??) but you are right about his pace, he doesn't read it well enough to cut corners & gets himself out of position too often, sad really, but he will not be around for the long-term.

Yarran & his laziness .... !! Its the thing that irks the bejesus out of me, if he applied himself like Dangerfield does, he'd win a Brownlow but I have serious doubts whether he will ever get out of this second gear he just idles around the ground in, he too won't be in for the long haul.

As for Sticks ................ no seriously, did he really ?? Major face-palm & total embarrassment if that is the case.  

I would have an easier time accepting dropping Casboult for Watson,  but I really can't get my head around dropping Casboult for Rowe. Does Rowe have comparable upside as a key forward? Dont think so and it's far more likely that Rowe will never cut the mustard at AFL level.

I'm not seeing a lot of evidence of a coach that consistently gets the best out of fringe players.

McCarthy plays like a 6'6" flanker - seems to have no idea what to when the ball comes in high and can look a little ungainly due to his height at times... but he doesn't possess the game or the mass to play a key post, or the pace to go with leading forwards.  So he is really a player without a position - where do you play him?  And his confidence looks shot, and has looked so for a long time.

Given that he was a seriously talented youngster who played all manner of positions for Glenelg's seconds (ruck and wing are two I can remember), where his running ability, clean hands and touch below his knees really stood out he is a prima facie case of the abject lack of development of kids at Carlton.  Why he wasn't assessed early on, a role decided for him, and then groomed for that role absolutely staggers me. Three, albeit injury interrupted seasons,  and we still have a kid struggling to contribute in defence.  So why hasn't he been tried elsewhere eg on a wing or across half forward? 

First time I have managed to get out of the house without the kids and watch the Northern Blues this year.  The scoreboard reflected a pretty average day, however there where some periods of the game in which we had a fair bit of the play without impacting the scoreboard.

Essendon 5.1 8.5 11.10 18.10 (118)
Northern Blues 0.4 2.6 5.9 6.13 (49)

GOALS:
Essendon: Dell'Olio 4 Daniher 4 Davey 2 Lovett-Murray 2 Gumbleton Dalgleish Hille Duscher Hunter Coghlan
Northern Blues: Menzel 3 Wilson Buckley Lincoln

BEST:
Essendon: Firman Jetta O'Brien O'Brien Duscher Lovett-Murray
Northern Blues: Watson Menzel Gianfagna Duigan Graham Meese

STATS (Disposals): Duigan 22, Menzel 20, Graham 19, Davies 19, Gianfagna 18, Lambert 17


White:  I didn't mind his game.   Got crunched early by Rowe, but he is a pretty solid footballer who makes pretty good decisions by hand and foot.   Composed in congestion.  

M. Watson:  Easy our best.   Gumbleton kicked one and would have been lucky to have 5-7 touches.   Never beaten one on one, with countless spoils and read the play on a number of occasions to take strong marks in defense.   Used the ball very well.

Joseph: Played back pocket and had his hands full.   One dimensional footballer and while he has a red hot crack he just lacks the skills to make it.   Get the feeling he knows his days are numbered.

F. Dale:   Played in defence.   Not a lot of impact and a few errors by foot.   Ok but needs to do more.  Physically ill at half time.   Not sure if that's nerves or he was unwell.

Rowe:   Had a maire early.   Combination of bad luck and poor management.   Had a hand in the first three of the Bombers goals.   First a "very soft" free to Daniher, then got caught behind with a quick snap around the corner, and then in frustration gave away a 2nd free with an overzealous attack on the football.   Battled on pretty well given the circumstances.

Davies:  I reckon he had Davey for most of the day and did a pretty decent job.   Good kick.    

Temay:  Liked his game.   Clean and composed in a side that butchers the ball.   Wouldn't have had huge numbers.  

Buckley:   Two great runs through the middle of the ground.   One resulted in a goal and the other out of bounds on the full.   Looks to be our best midfielder suited to play at AFL level.

Laidler:   Tracking David Teague for the biggest demise of an AFL footballer in a Carlton jumper.   From someone that I thought was so important to our side to a non-event at VFL level.   I don't get it.   Whatever Mick's plan is, I hope it works.  Based on today he is miles away from the ones.  You just couldn't pick him.

Menzel:   The only forward that looked dangerous.   If you think our AFL forward line is dysfunctional, the VFL one has it covered in spades.   This bloke however gets it and is a good finisher.    He won't play too many games at VFL level.
 
Hampson:   Hurt his knee early in the 2nd.   No impact beforehand.  The couple of times he was on the lead he managed to run under the ball.

Mitchell:  A couple of good marks, but another non event.   You would love him as an opposition coach as you can play a third tall type like Hardingham on him who can compete physically and run off him at will.   Needs to join Watson and Casboult in pre-season training with Craig Mottram.   Can't play AFL on current form.

Warnock:   Looks like a bloke collecting a pay cheque.   No influence on the game other than hit outs.   A real disappointment.   No intensity at all and the question I would be asking is "does he play football because he loves the game or because he is good at it."

Duigan:  Pretty average early, however to his credit worked into the game and seemed to push further up the ground in the 2nd half.   Great intensity.  

Graham:  Didn't notice him a lot so it was nice to see he had 19 touches.