Winners win because they win, losers lose because they lose. The cultural pressure on Carlton last night was enormous. After being down for so long the fear of winning can be debilitating. For too long Carlton teams have relied on Messiahs to save them rather than being a collective of individuals who look inside themselves to find success. Last night could be a stepping stone for us to move forward in becoming the team I believe we can be. We missed two goals from 15 meters and gave up three goals from bonehead errors. Our two best players had minimal impact and Sydney is a seriously good structured team. Yet despite of all this we were able to win. Hopefully the pressure is now off and we can become what we should be. Turning up to play is so important. Collingwood kicked the first two goals and won by seven points and we kicked the first two goals and won by one. McKay won't be playing and I don't think Martin will. If Silvagni is fit he should probably play to help shut down Lever and Motlop should be in the starting team. I would bring Dow in as the sub.
I am not surprised by the team, I thought there would be a difficult choice between Cuningham and Fogarty but it is Motlop who misses out. I thought that if Acres played then Hollands would miss out. I always thought Pittonett would play especially with an injured Silvagni and I thought there would be a choice between Marchbank and Cincotta but it was Fisher who missed out which isn't surprising after the mistakes he made last game.
Dow, Kennedy, Hollands, Fisher and Motlop are all quite unlucky while Boyd and Young are also a bit unlucky, as is Silvagni. Depending on the weather there may be some changes and anyone who is currently in the side and who misses out would also be quite unlucky. This is all a good thing for the team.
Watched a number of games last year. At times I thought we were a long way off and other times I thought we weren't that far off. I hope today is the start of the road back for the Blues.
I expect Cripps, Docherty, Pittonett and Motlop to play. If Weitering is suspended then Marchbank will replace him but if he is not then there will be a choice between Marchbank and Cincotta. Motlop will replace Durdin and Docherty will replace Acres and if Pittonett comes in then TDK will go forward and there will be a choice between Fogarty and Cuningham. I think Cottrell will go up to the wing which means there will be a choice between Dow and Hewitt. I think Dow will be the sub. A number of players are going to miss out who are probably deserving of a game which is both good and unfortunate. We need to turn up with the right attitude and if we do we should win.
I think the purpose of the game was to ensure Charlie won the Coleman and to get game time into Cerra, McKay, Walsh, McGovern, Durdin and to rest Cripps, Docherty and Pittonett. It would have been good to win but GWS wanted and needed to win more. I thought Cerra, Walsh and Durdin got better as the match wore on and losing Acres in the third didn't help. I thought Marchbank was good when he came on but our team balance got out of wack. We got smashed in the centre clearances though Dow was probably our best. Overall we were off. We gave two goals from 50's and Fisher cost us a goal coming out of the back. Owies and Durdin both missed from 15 metres and I still don't know how Hollands goal was overturned. Since Collingwood whinged about Charlie getting free kicks our key forwards haven't been getting much protection from the umpires. Hopefully we can tighten up over the next couple of weeks.
Docherty plays midfield so Fisher will play. Hewitt misses out, as does Hollands, and I have Cuningham in. Dow and Kennedy have made the most impact as the Sub so due to injury I have Dow in.
If Cerra, Walsh and McGovern are fit they need to play. Cripps looks like he is playing hurt so I think he would benefit from a couple of weeks out. Dow, Hewitt and Docherty are doing the heavy lifting in the midfield at the moment, and with Cerra and Walsh coming in we can afford him being rested. Cuningham also looks like he could use a break so if Fogarty is ok we should interchange them. McGovern for Marchbank is the obvious choice. I think Ed Curnow might drop out and Hollands could move to being substitute. With Kennedy and Silvagni likely to be available for the first week of the finals there are a number of players who are going to be unlucky at selection. The two things that counts against sides making runs in the finals from outside the top four is player attrition and the sides that finish above you have been better than you throughout the season. I think we have the depth of squad and we have beaten three of the top four and four of the other top six in recent weeks so I am not sure the other teams in the finals are better than us. As for this week we must turn up with the same attitude that we have played with over the past nine weeks. If we do this we will be ok.
Didn't turn up to play, missed opportunities to seal the game in the third quarter, then let them kick away at the start of the last, almost a typical Carlton game of the past, but fortunately we didn't blow it this time. Hopefully the attitude at the club is not satisfaction of making the eight but disappointment at not making the top four. We have won nine on the trot and have five to go. We are just starting to meet our potential but we have just got to keep working on our mindset and keep developing a winning culture. Gold Coast have a lot of talent after all the draft help they have received and they would have been smarting after how we embarrassed them last time so it should not have been a surprise at how hard they came out of the blocks this time. The third quarter was typical of Carlton's fear of failure fear of success conundrum we have lived through over the past few years. However we did not drop our heads this time when Gold Coast kicked away but found a way to get back to the front and we managed to hold on. Walsh, Cerra and maybe McGovern to come back and then a week off. Need to win next week and set up ourselves for a real tilt at the finals. Go Blues.
Tell all the supporters of other teams and the media that the ball wasn't touched. It will wind them up no end. It is a bit like the Harmes incident. It doesn't matter whether the ball was in or out, we won the flag. It doesn't matter if the ball was touched or not, we won the game. We are Carlton, everyone one else can take care of themselves.
