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Robert Heatley Stand / Re: Jim Park Voting AFL Rd 21 2026 Carlton vs Brisbane
Last post by crashlander -
AFL Rd 21 2026   Carlton vs Brisbane
Team:   A+
How can it be any different when you slaughter the reigning premiers by 70+ points?
If we can produce this sort of footy every week, we’ll be premiers.

Votes:
This is one of those weeks where 15 votes simply isn’t enough. Everybody contributed.
[2]   George Hewett
[2]   Jagga Smith
[1.5]   Brodie Kemp
[1]   Marc Pittonet
[1]   Sam Walsh
[1]   Ollie Florent
[1]   Harry Dean
[0.5]   Cooper Lord
[0.5]   Harry McKay
[0.5]   Adam Cerra
[0.5]   Lewis Young
[0.5]   Talor Byrne
[0.5]   Matthew Cottrell
[0.5]   Ben Ainsworth
[0.5]   Will Hayward
[0.5]   Wade Derksen
[0.5]   Billy Wilson
[0.5]   Patrick Cripps

Explanations:
[2]   George Hewett:   33 disposals, 11 marks, 3 tackles, and 8 clearances: George was nothing short of remarkable! Really come back to form!
[2]   Jagga Smith:      29 disposals, 3 tackles, 6 clearances and a couple of lovely goals, Jagga really hurt Brisbane. He had a huge number of score involvements!
[1.5]   Brodie Kemp:      His best game of the year, easily. 5 goals and 8 marks, all in the forward 50!
[1]   Marc Pittonet:      I’ve raved about Pitto elsewhere. He lost the taps, but that was about the only thing he lost. He took 3 marks and kicked a goal.
[1]   Sam Walsh:      Normally a game this good would have attracted 3 votes, maybe 4. Walsh was excellent and his kicking for goal was much improved.
[1]   Ollie Florent:      Totally dominated as a small defender, his run and carry and his excellent kicking stood out.
[1]   Harry Dean:      Harry kicked more goals than any of his opponents on the night. That says it all.
[0.5]   Cooper Lord:      His best game of the year, his hard work was crucial.
[0.5]   Harry McKay:      H was relatively quiet early, but he started to totally dominate. He had 20 disposals as a key forward, 3 goals and 10 marks.
[0.5]   Adam Cerra:      Adam’s kicking has been questioned at time this year, but he won’t be this week. His run and carry and deft kicking stood out.
[0.5]   Lewis Young:      I have also raved about Lewis Young elsewhere. This could well be his most effective game.
[0.5]   Talor Byrne:      Not as dominant as he was last week, but every time he touched the ball, something good happened.
[0.5]   Matthew Cottrell:   Matt Cottrell hasn’t been in great form, even though he did a very good defence job on Rioli last week. This week was a much more rounded game. He really hurt his opponents with his run and carry, and with his kicking.
[0.5]   Ben Ainsworth:   Quiet early, Ainsworth burst into life when he was needed. 17 possessions and 7 marks.
[0.5]   Will Hayward:      23 possessions and 8 marks just doesn’t do justice to the effect Hayward had on this game.
[0.5]   Wade Derksen:   Stood up again in defence. Not so many turnovers, some great marks and spoils and dominated his opponents.
[0.5]   Billy Wilson:      His run and carry was and his kicking were real weapons.
[0.5]   Patrick Cripps:      With 18 possessions, he probably lowered his colours to Dunkley, but he was still inspirational. He had 8 clearances and should have been our 17th goal kicker, but for one metre.

Honourable Mentions:
Frankie Evans:   Didn’t get a lot of ball, but was dangerous and hard working. His chasing and stuff was excellent, as was his goal.
Nick Haynes:      Nick did his job well. His attack on the ball was excellent.
Blake Acres:      In most weeks, his effort tonight would have got him a mention. He won his position and did some really great things.
Mitch McGovern:   Not a huge night, but when he was needed, he was there. His goal was stunning!
Lachie Cowan:   I’ve mentioned Lachie elsewhere. He had his quietest game in weeks, and he still had 14 possessions and did a great job.

I don’t think I’ve ever mentioned everyone before, but this was that sort of game. We played so well. We haven’t got on top of a team like that for years! And to do it Brisbane, who have been so good … Wunderbar!
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Robert Heatley Stand / Re: AFL Rd 20 2026 Post Game Prognostications Carlton vs Brisbane at Marvel
Last post by crashlander -
Some reflections on what will be my favourite H&A game for the 2026:

[1] Pitto was murdered in the ruck. But did that stop him? Not in the slightest. He may not have won the taps, but he made Draper's and Fort's ineffective. He often sharked the hit out himself. he had 6 clearances and helped our mids stop Brisbane's avenue to goal.
His tackle early in the game really showed that we were on.
As the game went on, he started to get more taps himself.
Pitto had a big night. We really missed him when he was out.
For that matter, Lewis Young showed similar intelligence when it was his turn to ruck. He didn't get a lot of taps, but he sharked more than a few and made it hard to the Brisbane mids to get their hands on the ball.
Both guys really stood up tonight.

[2] Jagga Smith must win the Rising Star:
He may have won the Robert Walls medal, but I think George Hewett was better. But that was irrelevant. Jagga is a guy in first season of football, and he really stood up. He had 29 possessions, kicked goals, made tackles, got clearances, and not just the crap we had a few weeks back, but real burst out of the centre clearances. And he will probably get better with experience and a bit more muscle.

[3] Our defence:
If there was one area we were supposed to be ordinary in, it was our back half. We were missing Weitering, Newman, O'Farrell and more, yet our guys not only did the job, they slaughtered one of the most vaunted attacks in the game. Harry Dean ... what can you say? He played like his life depended on it. he played on a couple of big names and kicked more goals than they did combined. Wade Derksen had 18 possessions and 11 marks; he was excellent, playing with poise. His marking was excellent. Billy Wilson did his job well. Ollie Florent has got better as the season has gone on, he was brilliant tonight. His kicking was excellent and set things up. Haynes and Cowan didn't have huge nights, but they did their jobs with aplomb. Both set up goals with their efforts. Lewis Young also spent some time in defence and didn't screw up once. And he also kicked straight, for a change. We can't be dropped after a game like that.
And the way our guys chased and tackles ... I loved it. Brisbane had one more tackle than we did, but Dunkley had 9 of them. Take that out and they it doesn't read well. And Brisbane don't tend to tackle much because of their ball movement. We had the fewest tackles we've had in ages, because we had the ball and moved it efficiently.

[4] Brodie Kemp:
He is very much a confidence player and his confidence has been awfully down. getting those two early goals turned his game around. Not only was he supplying goals for others, but he felt confident to kick them himself.
How do we get him to play this way every week? I don't know, but he embarrassed the Lion's defence.
That he wasn't #1 forward probably helped: H took the key defender (and won that battle comfortably). Mitch was down a bit, but had some moments of true magic!
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Robert Heatley Stand / Re: VFL 2026 Rd 19 Carlton vs Brisbane at Carlton
Last post by crashlander -
Quote from: laj – on
Good to see HOK find some form, Ben Campo good again. He's ready if he can ever find a spot. He has a few similar types ahead of him though.

What amazed me most............we kicked 19.6! Kicking straight is not what this club does....lol.
Indeed, our 2's have kicked worse than our seniors, who have the worst record in the comp. To have kicked so straight today (and also last week) says we might finally be addressing that.
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Robert Heatley Stand / Re: How does Crippa rank among the panoply of Carlton greats?
Last post by crashlander -
Quote from: Gointocarlton – on
@ Crash and Lods: I still maintain that we have been blessed many of the games all time greats. More than any other team (Haw, Coll and Rich supporters will never admit that of course).
Maybe not for all time: I didn't see the really old days. But in my lifetime we have been blessed with some remarkable players. Not just because we won premierships either, but we were so even that even though we might have the most Brownlow votes as a team, we never had a medalist.
In some ways Cripps has been luckier, as an individual player; he has won the Brownlow twice (the only Blue ever to do so). Others have won one with us, and one elsewhere. But it is because we haven't had the same depth of talent in recent times that Cripps stands out. Few Carlton players in the past have had to carry the club like Cripps has. In some ways that also shows just how good he is: we've been through the worst period in the clubs history, and he has been a beacon of hope.

Back in 1973 Richmond realized they couldn't beat us playing football. Instead, they tried to take our players out. We had maybe 13 fit players at the end of that one. I will never forgive them for that. Those Richmond players were a stain on the game. But it illustrates is: the only way they could win is to cheat.
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Robert Heatley Stand / Re: AFL Rd 20 2026 Post Game Prognostications Carlton vs Brisbane at Marvel
Last post by Gointocarlton -
Wow! I went along hoping to see a win for Crippa and Haynesy, didnt expect that. Just before half time I jokingly said to my mate we are on track to score 150 pts and he laughed. So happy for the skipper, a deserved win for a great pair of milestones against the benchmark who had their full compliment.
What a pair of kids we have on hands in Jagga and Dean, scary to think how much improvement they have in them.
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Robert Heatley Stand / Re: AFL Rd 20 2026 Post Game Prognostications Carlton vs Brisbane at Marvel
Last post by LP -
They said Hayward, Florent and Ainsworth was a bust.
They said Florent was a turnover merchant.
They said Austin was a spud.
They said Cripps was cooked.
They said we play nothing like Brisbane.
They said we can't afford to play two rucks.
They said McKay should be traded.
They said Kemp should never play F50 again.

Be careful with what they say, the internet never forgets.

For example, special comments man King had previously said we had a new game plan never seen before since Fraser took over, then tonight he said under Voss we'd be trying to execute this game all season and for whatever reason Voss could not get it done (executed)! Which is exactly what I've been saying for months!

In 2026 we play an almost identical game plan the Brisbane, but our execution and inconsistency has been bringing us undone, until tonight. We nearly beat them last time, which before tonight was in my opinion our best game of the season.

I'd also said we are just one or two players off a massive change of fortune, and it looks like Austin delivered, pity he's gone. The baby thrown out with the bathwater after Ma and Pa threw a massive tanti!