Carlton Supporters Club

We are still only beating teams that are no good or riddled with injuries. No Pittonett, Kennedy, Williams or Owies and we lose McKay in the first ten minutes but Port were the team that was undermanned. I thought Dow had more impact on the game than Hewitt. We are a very good side when we play with intent and endeavour. We are in charge of our own destiny. We win four of six we get there. There is no reason why we can't win six of six. We just need to turn up with the same mindset that we have turned up with in the past four games. Finally,  winning is so much better than losing.

A prime example of how what happens on the ground can have little relationship to the stats.  Tom's game was one of the best ruck performances in navy blue since Matty K was at his best.

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.

Haven't watched the game yet but TDK had 5 more hitouts than Lycett only and one more possession. Port actually won the clearances....not sure how that equates to TDK being the ruck messiah and Pittonet spending his years in the twos.
Difference via the stats seemed to be Jack in that role of part time ruck and forward which supports Kruddlers theories more of one specialist  ruck and a part timer being adequate for the modern game.

Haven't watched the game yet but TDK had 5 more hitouts than Lycett only and one more possession. Port actually won the clearances....not sure how that equates to TDK being the ruck messiah and Pittonet spending his years in the twos.
Difference via the stats seemed to be Jack in that role of part time ruck and forward which supports Kruddlers theories more of one specialist  ruck and a part timer being adequate for the modern game.

TDKs ruckwork was good, without being outstanding. He had 11 HTA which is above average, even if his opponents were below average.

Around the ground he again was good without being great. He was not the reason we won by any stretch of the imagination, but he played better than usual.....but so did everyone else out there. I don't think you could point the finger at anyone for having a poor game. Obviously Harry went off very early, Dow came on as the sub and was perhaps our 'worst' contributor, but everyone else played very solid as well. 21 contributors.

Only 13 touches which is a couple above his average for the year.

Obviously Jack in the backup role has received plenty of praise, 4 goals, 19 touches and a massive 11 score involvements is what we expect from a backup ruck option. Clearly helped a bit by Harry going down, but he kiced the first 2 of the match before that even occurred.

Comparing the 2 showed TDK doing 4 times as much ruckwork, but getting less marks (and contested marks), possessions, tackles, score involvements, intercept possessions etc etc etc

Not taking anything away from TDK, as i said he played well, but i don't think he did anything to warrant the praise he is getting. Its the first step in a long journey. Jack on the otherhand was close to BOG, if not BOG.

Jack played most of the game as a key forward, and he excelled in that role.  Tom played most of the game as a ruckman, and he excelled in that role.

You've set a low bar for 'excelling'.

As i said, good, not great.

When you do an ACL, you can still walk in a straight line.  It's moving sideways is the problem.  I thought it looked like the knee was stiffening up as he walked across the ground.  We will only know after the scan tomorrow.

Jack was best on ground, Tom was in the top half a dozen.

Eb this is where stats tell part of a story but watching the game is where you judge a players value from. TDK was an influence at important moments and overall was a great contributor and give him 2-3 years and he will very much be in the Gawn mold of footballer.

Will be a loss if we cant retain him but unfortunately the market dictates his worth which for the moment is skewed towards what he is very likely to become in a few years time.

Pit is a back up ruckman at best IMO and not a first ruck and as i said i would prefer to play 2 mobile part time rucks then Pit as we look so much slower when Pit in rucking and lose a player around the ground as well.

Jack played most of the game as a key forward, and he excelled in that role.  Tom played most of the game as a ruckman, and he excelled in that role.

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.