I have a sneaking suspicion that a fair bit of the 'Bloods Culture' that has taken such a hit this week walked out the door when Florent and Hayward left the building.
I for one am happy if it has started to turn into Blue Blood. The playing group certainly seem to be in a very good place atm, and you can never underestimate the effect that solid citizens bring to a footy club.
After all the dummy-spitting and disunity that seemed to plague CFC last year, the turnaround in this facet of the club has been amazing. One can make a fair assumption that it is these new senior players (together with the talented kids who are now getting a crack) who are largely responsible for this. Of course, a certain Mr Fraser is probably at the core of it, given his passion for connectedness.
The on-field results are very much a by-product of a connected and unified playing group.
What has florent bought that we couldnt get from either saad or charleson?
Florents knock is his kicking. Saads knock is his kicking. Charleson has been borderline getting a game a but this year. Without florent, he would most likely got a gig by now.
Florent has been solid without being spectacular, he didn't come cheap though. Could we do without him?
Florent makes quick decisions and goes, and most importantly, he breaks lines and links up with others.
I think it is the running play of Florent and Wilson that has revolutionised our game style. Once those two start running, Cerra, Walsh, Smith, Cripps et al get on their bike as well and the wave commences. Our style is now unrecognisable compared to the dump kick to the wing that was the only way we could get out of D50 earlier this year. I should add Cerra's amazing improvement in kicking as well.
I thought Wilson and Florent were on the podium for BOG yesterday.
On occasion, we have a problem converting dominance into scoreboard results - 20 points up 10 mins into the second quarter, we should have been looking to turn the screw. Instead, we became patchy again, and our inside 50 delivery was appalling. Same thing happened in the Rich and Ess games a few weeks back.
It's like we 'pitch' our game to the level of the opposition - and if you give an opponent a second chance, they will probably exploit the offer. We are simply not ruthless enough yet to squash teams consistently.
Bevo out-coached Fraser with centre clearances - we started so well, but let them take control. And yet their plan was so simple - hit it straight down, Libba in and under as usual feeding it out to Richards, Sanders and others for a simple take away.
Hoping this isn't the 'real' Blues, as opposed to the side that smashed Brisbane with precision kicking and perfect F50 craft.
The moment that The Aints looked unlikely and we looked more likely, a huge chunk of the AFL Media started calling the Wildcard system bogus.
Just a week or two earlier, many of the same commentators had called the Wildcard system an unbridled success, now they are complaining about Rnd 24 being a dead rubber. I suggest you refer to them as Flipper from now on!
The AFL will be in rapture if they happen to get a near-100k Carl v Coll on the Wildcard weekend.
Wouldn't it be hilarious if the largest crowd in the finals series happens a week before the 'real finals' begins.......
If we get into a wildcard match and perhaps maybe more, there are blokes like McStay, Tilthorpe, Chol, Curnow, Treacy, Neale, Draper that we need to manage. We would be crazy not to get Weiters back in so he has a couple of games under his belt before he may have to face any of that lot.
It's easy to forget that not too long ago, he was the one guy we couldn't afford to lose.
Also, for those who think we can move him on, any trade value for a guy who can't get a game in the firsts is going to be diminished.
It's a strange feeling when an 8-goal win is greeted with 'meh, we did what we had to do'.....
After the masterclass against Brisbane, the next week was always going to be somewhat of an anti-climax.
I think the most pleasing aspect of the win last night was it was a very even performance. Apart from Frankie who was clearly our best, the rest did their bit. We were never really challenged after the 10-minute mark of the second quarter, and controlled how the game was played.
I will mention one thing that is very pleasing - big H has well and truly got his kicking mojo back. I was directly behind the set shot from the boundary line in the 3rd quarter, and that is the best kick I have ever seen him produce.
Such a change in this team from what we saw 12 weeks ago. Almost unrecognisable. As for the Saints buidling their entire game around NAS, we've been doing it with Crippa for many years, and a one-man gameplan is never going to work.
One last point, I watched the 2nds on CH 7 earlier in the day. The team included Weitering, Boyd, Saad, Williams, Ollie Hollands, Fogarty, Moir, O'Keefe, Flynn Young - and they were all out-shone by Cody Walker.
Weiters will come back in, but the others? My, how we have moved onwards......
We may have played some of the best football of the year, but we still have major structural issues which we must address. The lack of key position players, the lack of a premiership ruck, adding more leg speed ... They didn't just go away. But some guys have taken their names out of the 'delist or trade' list and have moved in the 'questionable', while some 'questionables' have moved up to being retained. Lewis Young is a prime example. Last year we couldn't give him away, but he has played some of his best football this year. He's never going to be a Jacob Weitering, but he has stood up. George Hewett couldn't get a game early in the year, and his last 7 or 8 weeks have been brilliant. Nick Haynes must go around again after this season. Frankie Evans may not be producing the same heroics he managed at the end of last year, but his hardness, his attack on the ball and his football smarts have made him a favourite. Billy Wilson was at the crossroads, now he is set.
I could go on. We will be improved by Cody Walker, but I will be very interested to see who else we pick up.
As far as Weitering goes I would like to try him forward. Played some decent games there for a while as a skinnier kid until it become a struggle, as happens bring a Carlton forward back then. As a mature player he might be alot better again.
When Weiters is fit, he slots straight back into full back and we should be trying Derksen forward. Played several games there for GWS in the VFL for a pretty solid goalkicking return. And he has very good hands as we have seen. He also kicked 5 against Casey Demons earlier this year.
Yes, when he was on there was no one better IMO. For comparison, he and Hird started and ended their careers at pretty much the same time, same age, similar number of games. I agree with your criteria, and judging by that, I would have Hird ahead of Kouta.
So Pendles is the best player ever then? He's played the most games?? More success by comparison. Or should you give it to Michael Tuck, close to most games and most finals and GF's.
The greatest players can have reasons they didn't sustain that success.
Depends on your criteria at the end of the day.
I'm picking Kouta over just about any other player out there. He changed the game and what recruiters started looking for......for better or worse.
It's obviously not just based on the number of games played - it's what happened during all of those games - not only what they did individually, but how they elevated those around them to be better players.
We've waited 30 years to get a leader with the aura of Nicholls and Kernahan. I have a hopeful feeling that Harry Dean may be forged from the same mould.......
Kouta’s best was right up there. The problem is there isn't enough of it.
Agree, as good as Kouta was, he elite stuff only lasted for a relatively short period of time.
To be in the best 5 of the club, I reckon you need to have had a club-changing career, not just three or four seasons. That puts many others in front of Kouta on the 'All Time' list.......
If we were only judging talent and impact, he rates pretty highly- but other names have had a longer-lasting and more profound effect on CFC.
When you think about the rubbish he has put up with, the fact that he basically never misses a game, all the personal awards, captaincy etc, he is IMO indisputably in top 5 greatest CFC players.
It's really quite a remarkable thing to watch a genuine champion of the club ply their trade in real time. Not stories from old timers about players from past decades, not grainy, low res b/w footage on YouTube, not history books, but the actual lived experience of watching one of the greats. Hopefully we all cherish these moments and never take them for granted.
So who's your top 5 Pauly? (IMO our top 10 to 15 would smash the top 5 of most clubs, we have been blessed over the journey)
I'll weigh in on this one, I've been going to games since the mid 60's.....
5: Stephen Kernahan - a clutch leader and absolutely bleeds Navy Blue (still).
4: Bruce Doull - I honestly believe he was the prototype of the modern defender. Rarely beaten and always full-throttle.
3: Patrick Cripps - don't have to say any more. Agree with the observation that he has had to carry the team (so did Nicholls in his early years).
2: Alex Jesaulenko - could play anywhere and do absolutely mind-boggling things, and he didn't play the game until he was 14!
1: John Nicholls - an absolute colossus. His value to the team went far beyond disposals, tap-outs and goals. He was truly feared by the opposition.
I reckon this sub-topic deserves its own thread!
Honorable mentions to Judd and Diesel (although they arrived at Princes Park as already-acknowledged champions). And a little begrudgingly, SOS.
Sadly, we keep 'giving away' players because we think they won't work in our team, and they become solid contributors for other sides.....
M.Kennedy J.Martin Durdin Stocker Holman
I am therefore very loathe to consign Brodie Kemp to the scrap heap.
He has now played 67 games, only 25 or so of those as a forward. He has regularly been the lone marking target in the F50 during that time with big absences from Curnow and McKay last year, so he has often drawn the best defender. Tough way to learn the craft as a mid-sized forward.
Once he finally gets his shot as the third banana (which is about where his size demands he should play), I think you might find he will become very dangerous. Of course, we need to recruit another first or second banana at the end of the season......
Personally, I think he should play a little further up the ground so that we don't have a half-forward line of midgets every week. He could be very useful as the lead-up half-forward. He's got good hands and is actually a pretty good field kick - it's the sticks that paralyse him right now.
If we sacked every player who developed the yips in front of goal, we wouldn't have many left. Even our superstar captain hasn't got that bit right.
OK, now it's time to find out about our list before we get out the axe at the end of the year.
Next week, swap Kemp and Derksen. We badly need a second marking option in F50, and besides, Kemp just cannot kick for goal. Derksen played a lot of forward time for GWS seconds. Kemp can play in defence.
Hmm, breaking today, Trump says he has evidence claiming current voting system is 'flawed and vulnerable'. Amazing how the President's Intelligence Advisory Board found these 'intelligence' reports about China influencing the 2020 election, and are about to release them so the 'public can understand just how vulnerable we are'.
All of this comes just as the Orange One is trying to introduce changes to the voting system so he can minimise the wipeout in the mid-term elections.
Of course, none of this was ever mentioned during the innumerable lawsuits seeking evidence of voter fraud.
If nothing else, they are truly getting desperate.
Surprised they bring in Lord with Hewett in. Even if Cerra goes back to the wing we lack a bit of pace.
Maybe Hewett will be a late out and Flynn Young comes in to play the Jack Ison role.
Disappointed they have dropped Holland but can understand why. Just hope they play him in the same role in the VFL and not as an inside mid.
Don't think Reidy has done much right all year, and his inclusion must be based on trackwork and a little bit of hope.
I've suggested this before (possible last time we played them) but i'd like to see Cottrell go to Daicos. He has the tank. He adds agression which Naicos doesn't like. Would get inside his head.
Worth a shot IMO.
Let's face facts, we have nothing else to lose. Daicos will get 30 touches no matter what we do. The aim of the exercise is to not let those possessions provide many results.
