Carlton Supporters Club

My takes on the game:
[1]   Fitness:
We are not fit enough! You have a look at the way the Hawthorn players run, you see that we can’t keep up. They’re willing to run and run and present, which we don’t. We don’t appear able to do so.
As a result, we really need to work on this. I don’t know if you can put all the blame on Innes, but you notice the significant drop off this season. This needs to be addressed ASAP! This needs to be the first thing we address, because, if we're not not fit enough, it doesn't matter how good our game plan is; we won't be able to make it work.

[2]   Tackling:
Granted that we’re not as fit as we need to be, but our tackling really needs work. Too many opposition players break tackles, which lead to goals.
This has really been noticeable in the worst of our losses, and was really obvious on Thursday night.
Not only that, but we also don’t hurt players enough when we tackle. Other teams aim to hurt their opponents, we don’t. We really need to address this.

[3]   Athleticism:
We generally lack that. Look at Hawthorn and a lot of then can run and jump over us. I didn’t like that. It has been clear for some time that we don’t have X-factor. Harry O’Farrell and Ashton Moir are improvements in this area, but we really need more. Speed; we need considerably more of it. We need it to be strength, not a weakness.

[4]   Game Plan:
I don’t think our game plan is as bad as it is made out to be. We have some real positives, especially when it comes to the contested ball that would be useful in finals. We do get Inside 50’s.
That doesn’t mean that our game plan cannot be improved. We need to have a much bigger outside game if we’re going to compete.
We also don’t work hard enough; you see the way the Hawthorn players run off, we don’t do that.
You see the way teams like Hawthorn and, especially, Collingwood set up in the middle, you see where our game needs to improve.

[5]   Disposal:
One of the reasons our disposal is so ordinary is that we run out of gas far too quickly. That we can work on, as the fitter you are, the more likely you will be able to dispose of the ball under pressure.
However, we do have a number of guys who are not that great when it comes to disposal. We need to replace them with guys who can kick well, but we won’t be able to in one foul swoop. We can draft some good kids, but we also need to attract guys with better disposal.

[6]   Decision Making:
Our decision making is not that great, and it is something that a lot of players have issues with. Some of this is coaching, like Cripps doing too much because there isn’t anyone he can get the ball to, or Charlie wheeling and going almost every time. These things can be fixed.
Other things need a lot more work. Again, if we were fitter, we could do what we need to do better, but we need to get our dumber players thinking the right way more often.


Our personnel:
[1]    Nick Haynes:
I know Nick was brought in to give leadership for our younger players, but injuries have forced him to be a permanent feature in our line-up. He intercepts really well and has been a major positive since that first round disaster. But he is physically weak. He gets out-bodied too easily and his tackles often get broken.
I am glad to have had him, but …

[2]   Marc Pittonet:
I admire Pitto, as he always gives his heart and soul, but he is a very limited player who probably won’t be the bull ruck we need to get a premiership. He was really strong and effective before his knee injury, but he has never recovered that strength afterward. He doesn’t take a lot of marks, but he often spoils higher ranked rucks.
What we need is the sort of strong man who gets the ball to the mids first.

[3]    Lachie Fogarty:
Lachie is one of those guys whose talent is probably not up to it. But he has worked hard on his game and has been an effective negative forward. But he doesn’t get enough ball, he doesn’t hurt you when he gets it and he doesn’t have the speed or athleticism to improve significantly. I’d be moving him on.

There are others, but I'll do that later.

I also want to address our spirit, which has been sadly lacking this year, but I'll address this separately.

Quote from: Slowhand – on April 13, 2025, 01:58:35 pm

Anyone spot Lord in a Moon boot after the game. Hope its just something minor. We all know our luck with injuries....

I think you'll find it was actually Kemp wearing Lord's warm-up top

Recently, the VFL boys have played the U18's during this round. Hopefully, we can do something similar. Not only does it give us a look at the kids coming through, but a lot of our boys need the game time.

Lods, I hope you are right, but from where I was sitting I saw fumbles, bad handballs, mis-kicks, kicking to the opposition when under pressure and not under pressure, getting in the way of a teammate when going for a mark etc, etc.

The play was of a standard that wouldn't be tolerated by the coach of a Sunday amateur team let alone an AFL club.

The players are well rewarded and it is not unreasonable for us  to expect players to deliver  a standard  of play certainly way above the rubbish we saw on Thursday night.