Realistically O Hollands Weitering Haynes Saad McGovern Boyd Acres Cripps Walsh Walsh McKay Williams Kemp Curnow Motlop De Koning Lord Smith Cerra Cottrell Docherty Hewett Moir
For those who think HOKBALL is some new magic formula I present this rant:
There are those who think HOKBALL shows that the game is now a game for speed and/or endurance athletes. As long as you have at least VFL level skill and extreme athleticism you will be a handful. This is what separates HOKBALL from conventional football as we have known it.
So what if we went a team of uber-athletes? No Weitering, no Cripps, no Docherty. Now of course you don't leave those sorts of players out in real life, but in real life injuries will reliably open up at least those 3 spots. If not, a rotation policy can be applied to prevent the athletes totally burning out from my new concept:
BluesBlitzFußall (TM pending).
Of course, you still need to keep structure, so atI have one Ruck-sized defender, another genuine KP-size defender and someone who can at least at a pinch play 3rd tall Then three marking and three crumbing targets up forward. A genuine ruck-sized ruckman, a relief ruck of genuine ruck height, some inside grunt on-ball and all the electric speed we can cram in.
So here it is, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN !!!!
My high-summer heat-stroke-induced run-em-off-their-feet and therefore unbeatable athletes 23 (with emergencies).
Let's see the piss-n-poo guernseys keep up with this lot:
Cowan-Monahan-O. Hollands Saad-McKay-Boyd Acres-Lord-Walsh Moir-Curnow-Williams Kemp-McGovern-Fantasia De Koning- Cincotta-Smith Binns-Cottrell-Wilson-Young (23rd player Duffy) Emergencies: Charleson-E. Hollands- O'Farrell
Got that first pick in before having to bid which was great. Pity Zippy Fish didn't last one more pick, but am excited by the potential of Poppy Scholz even though most analysts had her a bit later. Sophie should be a bargain and Lou Lou Field seems a quality footballer and leader who will probably be a Gab Pound replacement down the track.
We traded picks 56 and 59 to Richmond for pick 45. That seems to be a pretty good deal to me.
I suspect that we may have to give up 23 for Sophie, but that could effectively give us two top ten draftees. Hopefully, we won't have to use pick 5.
It would be nice if things fell our way, as they did with the AFL draft.
Got that first pick in before having to bid which was great. Pity Zippy Fish didn't last one more pick, but am excited by the potential of Poppy Scholz even though most analysts had her a bit later. Sophie should be a bargain and Lou Lou Field seems a quality footballer and leader who will probably be a Gab Pound replacement down the track.
Could have offered her a chance to redeem herself, she stills owes the CFC women's group plenty IMO.
Quality player albeit a bit 1-dimensional, but having heard a few insiders talk about her, I'd say you don't cut out a cancer just to invite it back in.
Very astute pickup at a bargain price. Quality forward and we lack that badly.
Gold Coast captain.....coming our way.
Quote
Carlton only had to give up a third-round pick to land Gold Coast captain Tara Bohanna as the Suns continued to focus on accruing more points for their academy players in next week’s draft.
The Blues landed a much-needed forward target along with the Suns’ pick 56, in exchange for just their no. 41 selection in the first AFLW trade completed since Saturday.
Bohanna, 29, joined Gold Coast as a mature-age recruit ahead of the first 2022 season, and was named captain after only 10 games.
The key forward booted 45 goals in 42 games, including a bag of four in the losing elimination final against Sydney in 2023.
I doubt that will be true, his absence would reduce our run and pace, and Boyd is also one of the better ball users by some margin!
A lot of the pre-season stuff you must take with a grain of salt, I doubt we end up in 2025 with all those stories of Kemp, SoJ and others switching here or there, we'd have no run, we just can't carry that many taller slower players given the apparent slowness of our midfield and we've added Haynes.
Owies leaving reduces our pace, as does Martin from the few games he played. Durdin has some pace but like McGovern can't stay on the park. Ollie and brother EH are not quick either. I suspect in F50 Lord and Binns might find more game time, for the very reason of pace.
Neither Lord or Binns are quick. From outside our regulars only Billy Wilson and the Irish boys add much by way of pace, and only Billy is any show of seniors this year outside of a massive injury list, stunning improvement or maybe an end of year taste if we have any dead rubbers.
Went to the AFLW B&F tonight, very enjoyable evening. The approachability of the players is fantastic and their clear appreciation of the supporters sensational. By way of example, at least a half dozen players asked about the whereabouts of my 2 1/2 yo grandson who is always at the games with us.
The B&F went to Keeley Sherar in a landslide with Abbey McKay second despite missing several games and Jess Good third. Meg Robertson got rookie of the year and Harriet Cordner the coaches and players awards which is a testament to her popularity. Jess Del Pos was given quite a send off and spoke with obvious love for the club and intention to hang around. Watch this space.
Had good chats to Gab Pound, captain Kezz, Harriet Cordner, Bree Moody and others, in particular Lilly Goss, whose parents we were sitting next to and who were lovely people, even if mum is a Pies supporter. Also on our table were ex-mens players Tom Bell and Sam Rowe who were very friendly. Had a good chat with Tom, especially about the famous Port Adelaide comeback game where his mongrel goal joined with the three amigos, Gibbs, Armfield and especially the high-flying (sic) Marc Murphy to engineer one of the great comebacks. He reckoned that game and the Richmond game a couple of weeks later were the highlights of his career. Chatted about the mens team next year and he was concerned about the loss of depth players such as Owies and Kennedy and felt he wasn't sure we had replaced them for those periods where you have to go to squad depth.
All in all a great night, as it usually is, back at the Crown which was a much better venue in my view and the big room was well and truly packed.
2024 Carlton AFLW awards Winner: Keeley Sherar - in a landslide Second place: Abbie McKay Third place: Jess Good Equal fourth place: Mimi Hill and Maddy Guerin Most Valuable Bluebagger: Harriet Cordner Coaches Award: Harriet Cordner Rookie of the Year award: Meg Robertson
Sad to see Jess go, went down to help with banner last night and can say at least she'll get a good recognition on that. Hopefully the girls can get up for her, for the end of season and for a bit of pride in downing the Dons. They are above us on the ladder but not so much that we aren't a real chance if we come to play. Go Blues!
McKays absence certainly tests the "like for like" replacement process, for as has been noticed we simply don't have a spare key forward. Kemp has the height but not the game style, the only other fit player with the physical attributes is Akeui who is miles off and a defender anyway. Yes the simplest replacement cog in the machine is Kemp, any other cog will require re-engineering if the machine is to function in the same manner as before. But the Kemp cog is a vastly inferior one to McKay. Perhaps a bigger cog in Mirkov though he is well off AFL ready. I like the idea of Kennedy and Cripps resting forward, with Hewett or if he is not fit Dow going into the mids. Fogarty (or even Motlop though I don't think him ready) in for Martin. Plowman if fit might come in Martin causing a further rejig, or in place of someone who would be unlucky to be dropped - Boyd Çottrell or Newnes perhaps. Carroll stays in for mine. All in all my preference would be Kennedy and Cripps to rotate Forward and centre and Dow into the midfield, but I suspect the match committee will go Kemp forward and keep the re-engineering of the machine to a minimum.
Had a chance to really put a team to the sword and didn't follow through in the last quarter, albeit that the scoreboard didn't reflect our continued superiority in general play. Percentage could be crucial at the end of the year and ours is pretty disappointing. Still I'd rather be rueing a lost opportunity to build percentage than a lost opportunity to bag 4 points so all in all pretty happy to comfortably win a game we should have comfortably won.
Fair few who could come out but not so many options to come in.
Hope Pitto comes up but probably wont. My view bring in Kennefy and Silvagni if fit, Motlop Dow Plowman and Carroll all a chance ytocome in. Pitto and Harry may miss, any of Fisher Durdin Owies and Parks could go.
Contracts don't seem to mean much in AFLW. The expansion clubs seem to be free to raid and the clubs don't seem to want to stand in the way of players making a move despite contract status. Don't quite know how it works as a matter of law - prima facie a contract is binding and could be used to deny a player wanting to switch clubs - but maybe there is something in the terms of the clubs entry into the competition that prevents clubs from holding a player to a contract. Or perhaps it is just a matter of clubs accepting that most players have and need vocations outside of footy and they won't stand in the way of same.
