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Robert Heatley Stand / Re: AFL 2026 EF #1 Carlton vs Geelong Pre Game Prognostications
Last post by LP -
Quote from: pew2 – on
i am not really confident about this game ,we finally meet a team at full strength and a week off ,we need to go to another level lets hope so
The start will be critical, getting the right balance between attack and defence, momentum control, we gave them a head start last time we played, just like last Saturday, we can't do that repeatedly and expect to win, especially in finals.

I suspect Scott the Elder will have his team try on the Berserker tactic early, to take the run out of our legs.

Last time they didn't ruck Blicsav much, they tried Neale, this time I expect they will split the ruck more evenly between Edwards and Blicsav unless Blicsav is carrying some injury we don't know about.

Acres will want to be in form and making them hurt with deep running both ways.
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Robert Heatley Stand / Re: AFL 2026 EF #1 Carlton vs Geelong Pre Game Prognostications
Last post by LP -
In:
Hayward, Derksen

Out:
Young, Haynes

They will have lost Holmes who played well against us, and we have Hewett back.

I thought in the previous game our D50 was down, basically a one man show under Weiters, but we got hold of them from the ruck. Also if I recall, our DE was horrendous, much like last weekends 1st-Qtr. I'm pretty sure we got the mix wrong, we had Ison, Young, Byrnes and Evans all in, and Evans not yet in form. With the pill exiting our F50 like a bullet train, and Bailey Smith hitting up targets inside our D50, our D50 struggled to cover the options, yet we won courtesy of Walsh et. al!

The Jim Park votes are a good indicator. https://www.carltonsc.com/index.php?topic=7478.msg471382#msg471382 The forum voted Cripps, but I distinctly recall Walsh having an impact in that game.
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Robert Heatley Stand / Re: AFL 2026 EF #1 Carlton vs Geelong Pre Game Prognostications
Last post by LP -
Quote from: shawny – on
I cant see Young holding his place. Had a few good games a month or so back but still is unsure of himself and a liability IMO.

Reckon if Haywood plays it frees Harry into the 2nd ruck role and takes the need for Young out
The thing here for me is that having Hayward in makes a bloke like Young better because Hayward draws opponents, the ripple effect.

But think of the benefit to Cottrell, Gov, Kemp or Byrne of having Hayward in!
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Robert Heatley Stand / Re: AFL 2026 EF #1 Carlton vs Geelong Pre Game Prognostications
Last post by shawny -
I cant see Young holding his place. Had a few good games a month or so back but still is unsure of himself and can still be a liability in high pressure moments IMO.

Gawns goal on him was so disappointing as he had one role in that situation and was right next to him as the ball was kicked out of defence and then when the ball was turned over , Gawn had 15 metres of separation on him and marked unopposed. Was really poor considering how hard Pit worked on Gawn to give him a soft goal.

Reckon if Haywood plays it frees Harry into the 2nd ruck role and takes the need for Young out

  
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Robert Heatley Stand / Re: AFL 2026 EF #1 Carlton vs Geelong Pre Game Prognostications
Last post by kruddler -
We haven't played 2 rucks all year with the exception of our 1st game....and a game where Pittonet was coming back from injury.

1 ruck works for us as our 2nd ruck can't play anywhere else.
Unless you are including Young as your 2nd ruck, who clearly can play someone else.......and i'd argue not really a ruck.

We managed to beat Melbourne with 1 ruck who happens to be the best ruck in the game.....ever.....if you listen to the pre-match from Melbourne....and given the AA noms, they have a point.

So why would we change that for Geelong??

Cats will beat us with their smalls (if they beat us at all), so losing one to shore up an area that doesn't need shoring up, is silly IMO.

re Hayward.....if he comes in for anyone, based on form.....it has to be Byrne. He played his worst game, potentially ever. He got the lowest player rating in a carlton jumper (4 out of 10) that i saw in a recent article. They play a very similar role.

Who else could it be?
Couldn't be Ollie Hollands after his efforts.
Couldn't be Cottrell who could've kicked 4 goals if the posts were slightly wider.
Despite not getting a huge amount, Lord did a tagging job, which may also be required this weekend


So has to be Byrne.
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Robert Heatley Stand / Re: AFL WC#1 2026 Post Game Prognostications Carlton vs Melbourne
Last post by LP -
Quote from: Bluesers – on
Byrne did get involved a bit,  but dropped 2-3 easy marks (he wasn't alone in that) and also appeared quite fumbly and nervous with ball in hand  -  finals nerves but he wasn't alone.  Haywood for Young makes good sense too,  as you say it just depends which way they want to go, and if haynes gets up or not. 
It's the unwillingness to ruck Cameron anywhere on the ground that makes the situation interesting. I understand avoiding the center square, but I've never really understood why they do not have him take stoppages inside the arc, it just doesn't make sense.

Last time we played you may recall they rucked Neale and he came off lame.
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Robert Heatley Stand / Re: AFL 2026 EF #1 Carlton vs Geelong Pre Game Prognostications
Last post by LP -
The latest forecast I've seen is rain late Friday evening after 10pm, or early Saturday.

If Haynes is an out, can Derksen and Hayward both come in, it could give us the necessary freshness to keep us competitive?

I presume as everyone will, if Hayward is fit then he is a given. Geelong's lack of ruck stocks makes it interesting about the 2nd ruck role. I'm dead set curious which direction Fraser takes, but I think we have no better coach to assess this issue.

If I recall correctly, last time we played, it wasn't a great night for rucks from either side.

Expect another Dangflog human missile effort, it's been his trend in recent times but he's generally pretty much cooked early in finals now. Will he again be able to torpedo opponent legs without being penalized?
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Robert Heatley Stand / Re: AFL WC#1 2026 Post Game Prognostications Carlton vs Melbourne
Last post by Bluesers -
Quote from: LP – on
Quote from: Bluesers – on
Same for me, replay only and I agree what you say.    If Haywood is fit and ready,  then I think Byrne or Cottrell makes way.;  but I think Byrne because he looked lost and out of his depth and had zero impact.    Byrne wasn't alone tbh, but we don't want to start making too many changes to a winning combo.
I thought Byrne did OK at becoming a target as the Dees sat on Evans, Byrne attracting the footy a couple of times on the wing helped diffuse the Evans tag, even if not much come out of it. Of course I concede Hayward will cover this easily, but I don't think that Byrne wasn't contributing.

Given the Cats ruck situation, Edwards then Blicsav, I wouldn't be surprised if Young goes out for Hayward, it may depend on Pitto's freshness.

I could see Cottrell or Lord in a negative role on Bailey Smith, so the MC might want to preserve those options, last time we played Smith was let off the hook.

If Haynes is an out it may be unlucky for Derksen, if Hayward gets up Hayward / Haynes might well be the only change, or we could also see Derksen / Young if Haynes is an out. I thought last time we played the Handbaggers our problem was stopping them scoring, despite Weiters having one of his better games before he went out, our F50 functioned pretty well.
Byrne did get involved a bit,  but dropped 2-3 easy marks (he wasn't alone in that) and also appeared quite fumbly and nervous with ball in hand  -  finals nerves but he wasn't alone.   Haywood for Young makes good sense too,  as you say it just depends which way they want to go, and if haynes gets up or not.