I watched the replay last night: yes, I must have masochistic tendencies. What I gathered:
[1] Moir as a defender: It wasn't that he did a bad job, even though he did make a couple of horrendous turnovers, it was that he still couldn't get more involved in the game. Considering how our forward line functioned, I think he would be better back as a forward.
[2] Our dislocation between midfield and forwards: I know the senior got a bad rap for being unable to hit targets, but the 2's made this an artform on Sunday. Not that our forwards move well: they don't, and they don't make space well. However, when you kick the ball directly to the Essendon defenders, it makes the forwards look hopeless. Tyler Sellers, who North flicked after starring against us, was again huge. he had 14 or 15 intercepts with 12 marks, because we kicked it directly to him. It was embarrassing. Young Liam Farrar was probably the most effective forward on the ground when it came to getting the ball: he was an example more of our players should follow. Unfortunately, his kicking radar was just so off. He could have 7 goals: he managed 1 goal 3 with 8 marks. Essendon players kicked them from everywhere, while we couldn't hit the side of a barn from inside.
[3] Our 'better' players didn't make the contribitions they could have. Williams was OK, but he could have been better. I would have been tempted to have in the middle for a while. Moir wasn't that bad, but he should be damned good. Saad: I'm not sure he saw out the game, but he didn't do much when he was on. He is really struggling. Ben Campo on the wing didn't really work. He wasn't bad, but he didn't produce the drive he can in the middle. Flynn Riley won most of the taps, but we didn't get that much from them. And poor Riley provided nothing around the ground. Hudson O'Keefe rucked reasonably well, and kicked a couple of goals, but just isn't getting it enough. Not a danger to other teams. Matt Duffy: he has regressed terribly in the last month. He has the athleticism to play anywhere, but his game awareness isn't good enough to play anywhere at the moment.
Our guys play a high possessions game with short kicks and handballs, and it didn't suit the conditions at all. A lot of our guys got inflated numbers for play that went nowhere.
i know we won ugly but is everyone else concerned that ess had 6 senior players out and lots of youngsters playing and also John Brown (brissie lions Champion ) would rather coach Essendon than Carlton
He's welcome to them. I wouldn't want t6o touch them with a 50-foot barge pole!
AFL 2026 Rd 12: Carlton vs Geelong In some ways, this was our best win for the season. We beat a contender, to be honest we were far superior. They kicked goals they could never repeat, while we couldn't buy a goal, but we won anyway.
Trends: [1] There were 13 voters this round, one better than last week. please do vote, win, lose or draw: it is something we appreciate and it makes our statistics a lot more reliable. And our statistics hold up pretty well when it comes to John Nicholls Medal night!
[2] The rating was a 9.97, which represents a A, is the best we've had for the year to this point. Our rating of the Richmond game, for example, was 7.69 which says far too much.
[3] An amazing 18 players managed a mention again this week. That is what we mean when we talk about a team performance!
[4] The average vote this week was 33, the best for the year!. Scores are around 30 when we win, so read into that what you will.
[5]5 players managed 100 votes or more. This is the best I can remember.
[6]Patrick Cripps was our best for the 4th week in a row. His reemergence has been one of the reasons we've improved. He managed a Cripps-like 368 votes, a really dominant game! Sam Walsh and Will Hayward both got 280 or better, which would win most weeks comfortably. Jagga Smith also broke the 200 mark, while Weitering got 100.
[7]Three players managed votes from everyone this week, Cripps, Walsh and Hayward. Smith and Weitering missed by two.
[8] We had a much more rounded distribution of votes this week. Our recruits put their hands up, as did a youngsters and our experienced players (who have generally been down this year). Our defenders and mids got most of the votes.
[9] Jagga Smith was our best youngster for the night, followed by Cowan, Wilson and Ison. This was the 2nd real Cripps-like game from Cripps.
Votes: Cripps, Patrick 368 Walsh, Sam 284 Hayward, Will 280 Smith, Jagga 203 Weitering, Jacob 100 Cowan, Lachlan 54 Newman, Nicholas 38 Ainsworth, Ben 38 Dean, Harry 35 Acres, Blake 27 Cerra, Adam 19 Wilson, Billy 15 Evans, Francis 8 Pittonet, Marc 8 Young, Flynn 8 Florent, Oliver 4 McKay, Harrison 4 Haynes, Nicholas 4
Progressive Voting: Walsh, Sam 2184 Patrick Cripps 2007 Smith, Jagga 957 Florent, Oliver 798 Matthew Carroll 769 Will Hayward 753 Pittonet, Marc 714 Mitch McGovern 560 Newman, Nic 535 Kemp, Brodie 480 Ainsworth, Ben 479 Weitering, Jacob 466 Hollands, Elijah 426 Ollie Hollands 413 Harry McKay 394 Cowan, Lachie 352 William, Zac 330 Haynes, Nick 308 Hewett, George 166 Lord, Cooper 152 Dean, Harry 148 Young, Lewis 81 Evans, Francis 81 Cerra, Adam 48 Wilson, Billy 45 Ison, Jack 43 Byrne, Talor 34 Liam Reidy 28 Boyd, Jordan 27 Blake Acres 27 Wade Derksen 16 Adam Saad 15 Flynn Young 8
Well, after surviving last night, I hope we can get Weitering back. Derksen was reasonable when it came to intercepting (10 intercepts), but he was murdered one-on-one by Ben McKay. I hope we can also recharge the batteries, as we were seriously flat against the Drug Cheats. We should be getting a few guys back.
AFL Rd 13 2026 Carlton vs Essendon Team: B Our worst win under Fraser, we were totally outplayed for much of the night. Essendon did their homework and limited our strengths for much of the game. But it was our mistakes that really stood out. Never mind, we made it over the line, even with our poos kicking at goal.
Votes: [2.5] George Hewett [2.5] Harry Dean [1.5] Harry McKay [1.5] Billy Wilson [1] Sam Walsh [1] Jagga Smith [1] Nic Newman [1] Blake Acres [0.5] Ben Ainsworth [0.5] Patrick Cripps [0.5] Adam Cerra [0.5] Lachie Cowan [0.5] Wade Derksen [0.5] Will Hayward
Explanations: [2.5] George Hewett: This was George’s best game of the year. When he was moved onto Durham, who was cutting us up, he kept him to 9 possessions while providing heaps for us. 27 possessions, 4 clearances, 4 tackles and an important goal says a lot. [2.5] Harry Dean: Took Caddy to the cleaners. Had 8 interceptions and kept Caddy to 6 possessions. [1.5] Harry McKay: Kick 3 goals, got 5 clearances, H was important. A great effort. [1.5] Billy Wilson: Billy continues to grow in defence. His run and carry and his disposal were really important. [1] Sam Walsh: Not Sam’s best game, but he was really important in our comeback. [1] Jagga Smith: Again, not as obvious as he can be, but Jagga did important things at important times. [1] Nic Newman: Dominated his position and provided a lot of drive. [1] Blake Acres: Not quite back yet, but getting closer. Acres did some really good things. [0.5] Ben Ainsworth: A very solid contributor whose goal was important in the last. [0.5] Patrick Cripps: An almost game from the Captain. He ended up getting 23 possessions but was relatively well held by Setterfield. He was more significant in the air this week, taking a couple but not quite taking a few very big marks. [0.5] Adam Cerra: Solid on the wing. [0.5] Lachie Cowan: Started brilliantly and did his job well, but for one burst of about 2 minutes. [0.5] Wade Derksen: I was ready to call for Derksen’s head after the way he was towelled up by Ben McKay until I saw the stats. Derksen had 10 intercepts and 15 possessions, while McKay had 9. Looking closely, I had to revise my opinion. That said, the way he was beaten in the air bodes poorly. I’m not sure he can improve that much in this area. Lewis Young? [0.5] Will Hayward: Not a huge night, but his goal was crucial.
Honourable Mentions: Flynn Young: Young was very handy and provided goals for others. Nick Haynes: Nick Haynes was pretty ordinary early, dropping his marks a lot in the first half. However, he kept at it and started holding them. His improvement was crucial. Talor Byrne: Took his chances today. Brodie Kemp: Not a huge game and weas outmarked far too often, but when it came time to kick important goals, he delivered. Frankie Evans: Again, not Frankie’s most prolific game, but he did a lot of work and made goals for others.
I regularly complain about the umpiring, but I can't help it: they are not paying frees that are there and guessing about some that are not. Very ordinary. I do hope we take a package of their stupidity to the powers that be and ask for an explanation.
SEN this morning an Essendon supporters was almost in tears complaining that the umpiring cost them the game!! Gee it does depend on the colours you are wearing!
Let them cry into their beer! Just look at the numbers, for a start. They had 5 more frees in total. They had at least 3 frees in the ruck that were incredibly dubious. Patrick Cripps did not get a single free, although he was grabbed before the bounce, yet his opponents got 3. Pittonet's mark stands out in the first quarter, and it wasn't alone. The number of times our players were interfered with in marking duels and got nothing beggars belief! I could go on, but why bother. The AFL are not going to do anything about it. And yet we triumphed after dealing with such rubbish! Let the cretins cry, they have no idea. If they can't see through their single cyclops eyes, then perhaps they need what Odysseus gave Polyphemus! That way they can have an excuse for having no idea what happened.
What did we get out of tonight: [1] a win: Sad, but the four points was probably the most we got out of tonight. [2] Beating Essendon: I want us to become a bogie team for Essendon, one they dread to face. They owned us for too long: it is time for us to return the favour. [3] Better kicking for goal from Talor Byrne, who kicked 2 important goals. [4] Better kicking at goal from Brodie Kemp: Kemp's last one from the boundary should have broken their backs, it was so good. Pity the easiest one hit the post. [5] Harry Dean: He kept Caddy to 6 disposals, the least on the ground, and but for the last couple of moments kept him entirely out of the play while getting 15 disposals and 8 marks himself.
I regularly complain about the umpiring, but I can't help it: they are not paying frees that are there and guessing about some that are not. Very ordinary. I do hope we take a package of their stupidity to the powers that be and ask for an explanation.
That Ruck Ruke is the worst rule imaginable. That together with the Stand Rule.
I watched Sydney and St.Kilda. Grundy didn't even just for some centre bounces as he looked like going over the line. t's was farcical. Happened a number of times. Must be a KPI at AFL House, to check your brain cells in at the door before entering the building.
At one stage in the 2nd they had like 7 centre clearances to none. But I think 4 of 5em were frees (3 ruck frees)
We really need to get this ruck stuff sorted, as there are just far too many frees going against us. Honestly, our rucks were brutalized by the umpiring tonight.
And speaking of the broadcasters...Fckn couldn't have barracked any harder for the opposition.
All night, Ess just have to…. Caddy needs to….. Cripps was given a long time to dispose of that….. caddy may have been interfered with there…
Kenny must be really sore that his mate vossy got shafted. And jack, well, he just hates Carlton, and is a dopey prick
You expect the commentators to: (a) know their job, (b) be unbiased, and (c) produce something worth listening to, then you are in for disappointments most weeks. The present generation of commentators are not up to much.
I'll leave this open just a little longer. No need to rush, with the bye coming up. Still, do please vote. The opinions we express do usually lead to realistic impressions about how our side is going.
After the tumult of the first 'half' of the season, I'm actually looking forward to a weekend where we don't have stress about sacking coaches, underperforming players, games plans modern or otherwise or injuries.
I am just hoping that some of our boys are ready again after the break and that our coaching staff can continue to perform.
Voting is as usual: you have 15 votes to award pretty much as you will, with the following provisos: [1] 15 votes in total, no more, no less. [2] No more than 10 votes for any one player (even Sam Walsh or Patrick Cripps) [3] Three players at least must get a mention. [4] A grade for the game, A+ (what I want to see) to F-.
