Carlton Supporters Club

Maclean is better EB

Surely Kemp has to be on shaky ground.  When I watch him play I am reminded of the saying "Jack of all trades and master of none".  He has been tried on the back line, the forward line and positions in between.  On a good day he breaks even with his opponent, and on most other days his performance can best be described as mediocre.

The fact he is able to retain his position in the side is a reflection of our desperate shortage of KPPs. 

Quote from: ElwoodBlues1 – on July 12, 2026, 04:51:24 pm

Im probably prepared to keep going with Ison for development, Williams is more of a spare parts backup player for me if we get injuries at either end of the ground.
Id definitely bring back Acres and think about Fogarty if the conditions were poor....

Fair comment on Fogarty.  His cards have probably been marked but, if Hewitt can't go, he might be worth a run in the midfield rotation.

Quote from: ElwoodBlues1 – on July 12, 2026, 03:31:37 pm

Fogarty playing onball has been our best, conditions suiting along with Acres who has worked his way into the game.
The Campos have been solid contributors but nothing great that says  "pick us for the seniors" next week.
Williams has been steady down back and shown his experience in the conditions.
Moir has been more interested in pushing and shoving with his opponents more than attacking the ball after attempting a speccy early in the game.
Okeefe been handy down forward using his size but its not a day for marking players so not expecting much from him but he has provided a target.
Reidy has done some ok stuff around the ground and probably broken even in the ruck but there is nothing dominating about his play and he does get sucked in to giving away silly frees as has been suggested.

I've got Williams in for Ison next week up forward. He regularly hits the scorebaord.

I wouldn't expect too much EB.  Our seconds has F all AFL-standard players as well.  Be tempted to play both the Campos for Hewitt and Hollands, but Lord is a consideration. Today's VFL game will be illuminating.
Jagga Smith might need a break as well, missing a lot of tackles/having them broken and that won't fly against the filth.
Cottrell or Acres to run with Daicos.

Quote from: ElwoodBlues1 – on July 11, 2026, 10:15:41 pm

Cripps wasnt a factor and this is the problem when you rely so much on one bloke to lead the way. 

He's got no answer for Day, this is the 3rd or 4th time he's been touched up.

Tonight was a test and we failed.
We planned very poorly for the rain IMO. I stayed home because I checked my trusty metvuw charts (https://www.metvuw.com/forecast/forecast.php?type=rain&region=victoria&noofdays=3) and it was obvious to me it was going to be drenched.  Players trying to scoop up the cake of soap off the deck at full tilt (Wilson, Cowan, Cerra), players flying for high kicks (Kemp, H).
Welcome to Carlton interim coach Fraser.

Quote from: ElwoodBlues1 – on July 11, 2026, 09:54:57 am

Still no explanation on the massive turn around in Cripps and Walsh's form/fitness in particular, the captain couldnt run out of sight on a dark night during last quarters under Voss and looked like the next club he would be playing for would be the Arcare or Aveo old boys.

It's been explained frequently by many of us, some are not absorbing that discussion because it contradicts their personal beliefs. Fraser is not a messiah, yet too many Carlton fans seem addicted to the concept. I'll summarise for you;

Early in the season Cripps and Walsh were cooked in last quarters because too many were sitting back letting too few do the heavy lifting, there was no load sharing. Hewett and Cerra were playing like receivers, skirting packs, waiting for cheap possessions, Voss dropped Hewett because of it and he returned renewed, that's called a wake up call.

This claimed "massive turned around" is a mirage, we've been steadily building over the whole season. The conversion of losses to wins is just a swing of a handful of points, swings that result from a handful turnovers in our favour and less errors executing the very same game plan we've played all season.

The majority of it is a consequence of sharing the load, allowing our best players to be fresher at the final siren.

There's also the astronomical cost of sophisticated munitions - US PAC-3 interceptors cost USD3.7M each and they're being used to counter Shahed drones that cost Iran around USD50K.

It's estimated that it will take until 2030 before the US has replenished its pre-war munitions inventory ... and that affects all nations that rely on the US for sophisticated weaponry.  At least our government is progressing local manufacture of high tech missiles and cheaper anti-drone systems but we're still too reliant on the US.

I'm guessing that Unca Donald, his family and minions have progressed their personal wealth considerably on some of the flip flop policy decisions...not just on the 'war'.

Quote from: ElwoodBlues1 – on July 08, 2026, 04:12:16 pm

Dressing room seems a lot happier and united under Fraser and the effort factor from all players seems higher as well,

You mean they are happy when winning, and the pressure is off!

The players are out there selling their wares, the question is why did it take them to arrive at the cliff edge before they switched on?