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3
Blah-Blah Bar / Re: Shawny’s concerns about Victorian and Australian Governments
Last post by DJC -
Jacinta Allan was going to fight for her job but saw the writing on the wall and opted for a smooth transition to Ben Carroll.  That's when Sonya Kilkenny threw her hat into the ring and managed to create some chaos.

Carroll is the Premier but it seems that there's blood on the floor of the party room.  This is a stark contrast to the smooth transition of leadership that has characterised Victorian Labor for decades and must give Jess Wilson some cause for optimism.

Jacinta Allan becomes one of the few Victorian Premiers who never lost an election ... or won one  ::)
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Robert Heatley Stand / Re: How does Crippa rank among the panoply of Carlton greats?
Last post by DJC -
One of the reasons I rate Cripps so highly is that he's done it in a pretty average side over the journey.

The other greats we talk about, with the possible exception of Judd, had a fair bit of talent around them.

Jezza, Nicholls, Doull, Johnson, Kernahan, Kouta, Williams, the bloke at St Kilda (nah, that's disrespectful...he is a Carlton great- Silvagni) and I've probably missed someone ::) ...all had some pretty good team-mates.

I grew up watching John Nicholls play and his arrival at Carlton coincided with our weakest on-field period to date.  Big Nick virtually carried the team single handedly until Ron Barassi arrived and we added some very good players in Walls, Crosswell and Jesaulenko to some stalwarts in Goold, Lofts, Silvagni, Jones and Gallagher.

Hopefully, the back end of Crippa's career is similar to Big Nick's.
5
Robert Heatley Stand / Re: How does Crippa rank among the panoply of Carlton greats?
Last post by Gointocarlton -
So who's your top 5 Pauly? (IMO our top 10 to 15 would smash the top 5 of most clubs, we have been blessed over the journey)

In no particular order :
Cripps
Ken Hunter
Bruce Doull
John Nicholls
Sticks Kernahan

The list is restricted to players from my era, except maybe John Nicholls. Several others would also be worthy nominees.


C Judd C Bradley, G Williams S Silvagni (FBOTC) W Johnston, one could go on and on. Naming a Carlton top 5 is THE most difficult and would be the most hotly debated topic in football.
6
The Sports Desk / Re: Commonwealth Games-"Is anybody out there"
Last post by Thryleon -
These meets have all lost something by expanding the competitions out too much.  Once upon a time, the Olympics was all about the order of events and the events themselves were to be watched.  Now watching it is like an ADHD Australian supporter.  You go from sport to sport to sport, and end up not being invested in any one thing but watching Australia. 

Its fine I guess, but its not my cup of tea.  I prefer to watch a sport rather than just our athletes.  Gives me no appreciation of the achievement being the best in a field I havent even gotten to know.
8
Blah-Blah Bar / Re: Shawny’s concerns about Victorian and Australian Governments
Last post by LP -
There is going to be some interesting side-effects with many regional voters apparently flocking to One Nation, or to Nationals deserters, whatever it may be. Many of the voters live regional to escape what Hanson represents which is ironic, but if One Nation gets any traction I fully expect Gina and Clive will be digging up their backyard in a blink.

Talk about selling the farm! o:
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Robert Heatley Stand / Re: How does Crippa rank among the panoply of Carlton greats?
Last post by LP -
Doull should have left footy with far more industry wide honours, I think his problem was that he was too boring for the media, the footy equivalent of a metronome, 100% reliable perfect timing, terrific ball use, game after game, rarely if ever genuinely beaten, the standard by which you measure everybody else, that's the tell for me.

 No fanfare, no histrionics, just go out do the job and then get ready for next week.

The media would rave about Southby, similar mould, so reliable, no waste, played on the glamours and usually beat them, terrific player, but 7 out of 10 times the pill never got that far forward because Doull had already killed it.

We've been lucky over the years, we had a swagger back then but it wasn't hubris, it was a confidence, we copped a lot in the media because the media was dominated by Filth and Feral loud mouths. But we never really boasted, we just got on with the job, for example Walls was the antithesis of Sheedy.

To me a lot of this started when Barassi arrived, he set a culture that lasted decades, admirably extended by Parkin.
10
Robert Heatley Stand / Re: How does Crippa rank among the panoply of Carlton greats?
Last post by PaulP -
So who's your top 5 Pauly? (IMO our top 10 to 15 would smash the top 5 of most clubs, we have been blessed over the journey)

In no particular order :
Cripps
Ken Hunter
Bruce Doull
John Nicholls
Sticks Kernahan

The list is restricted to players from my era, except maybe John Nicholls. Several others would also be worthy nominees.