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61
Robert Heatley Stand / Re: AFL Rd 7 2026 Post Game Prognostications Carlton vs Fremantle
Last post by LP -
Quote from: DJC – on
Brodie Kemp played what must be his best game as a key forward, against quality opposition and without much support.  It was good to see him make the most of his chances and that would be heartening for those who worked hard to get the ball to him.

Aston Moir had a quiet night but kicked truly when he got the pill.  I don't think that he'll ever be a high possession player but I'll take it if he can chime in with a couple of goals each week.
I'm rapidly losing interest in Moir for the reason he seems to impart a massive work-load on those around him. He's so laconic he often looks disinterested and appears to be going half-hearted at the contest.

Contrast that to Kemp, who despite having a wretched run of form has never really stopped working hard, and perhaps last weekend he saw a pay-off for effort. Hopefully he can rinse and repeat.

Excluding when Kemp has taken out a team-mate, the contrast in contribution to team work ethic between Kemp and Moir is striking!

I often direct criticism at Young, but at least this season he tries even if he fails, I'm not sure that was always the case, that is all that can be asked of a player. If players like that can be coached into turning effort into success, then kudos to the coaching staff.

But, I can't ever forgive someone who gives up at least trying.

If I walked off next to Kemp I'd be thinking at least he tried hard, if I walked off next to Moir I'd be thinking he must be reasting up for a bucks party!

PS; I realise my perception is not reality, I can't help but see what I see.
62
Robert Heatley Stand / Re: AFL Rd 8 2026 Pre Game Predictions Carlton vs St. Kilda at Marvel
Last post by LP -
I know I've gone on and on about this, but I think our biggest problem is our inability to have 10+ goal wins, they just never happen regardless of how much we dominate an opponent. We can dominate for 3-qtrs and lose, and when we win we can dominate for 4-qtrs and limp over the line.

The big wins are the thing missing from our equation, too many close results win or lose are exhausting, a big win is like a week off!

We are like a chippy trying to drive a nail to the perfect depth with one swing of the hammer, it can happen but it's so rare virtually 100% of attempts are fails!
64
Robert Heatley Stand / Re: AFL Rd 8 2026 Pre Game Predictions Carlton vs St. Kilda at Marvel
Last post by Baggers -
Quote from: Thryleon – on
Some say we have a rubbish list, some say we have a rubbish coach, some say we have both.

The fact remains we are in round 8 this week, and are currently 3rd on the ladder for minutes led in matches. 

Not bad for a bunch of talentless hacks.  Too paid the results havent gone the way we would have liked.  Perhaps with some better coaching, some more luck, or some more hutzpah, we wouldnt even need better players.

By the way, 3 Leos, I don't think we have a rubbish list and I don't think we have a rubbish coach. It's lonesome out here  ;D

Our list does need midfield speed, and our coach does need to continue his changed approach to game plan.

Now the MC... that may well be rubbish!
66
Robert Heatley Stand / Re: AFL Rd 8 2026 Pre Game Predictions Carlton vs St. Kilda at Marvel
Last post by Thryleon -
Quote from: kruddler – on
Quote from: Thryleon – on
Some say we have a rubbish list, some say we have a rubbish coach, some say we have both.

The fact remains we are in round 8 this week, and are currently 3rd on the ladder for minutes led in matches. 

Not bad for a bunch of talentless hacks.  Too paid the results havent gone the way we would have liked.  Perhaps with some better coaching, some more luck, or some more hutzpah, we wouldnt even need better players.

Are we still 3rd though? We didn't lead a minute of our game against freo, so i imagine we dropped a fair way.

When I last saw it, we were 3rd behind Sydney and Freo.   Given it was a total, and not a percentage, we would still have a fair lead on the next teams.

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Robert Heatley Stand / Re: AFL Rd 8 2026 Pre Game Predictions Carlton vs St. Kilda at Marvel
Last post by kruddler -
Quote from: Thryleon – on
Some say we have a rubbish list, some say we have a rubbish coach, some say we have both.

The fact remains we are in round 8 this week, and are currently 3rd on the ladder for minutes led in matches. 

Not bad for a bunch of talentless hacks.  Too paid the results havent gone the way we would have liked.  Perhaps with some better coaching, some more luck, or some more hutzpah, we wouldnt even need better players.

Are we still 3rd though? We didn't lead a minute of our game against freo, so i imagine we dropped a fair way.
68
Robert Heatley Stand / Re: AFL Rd 8 2026 Pre Game Predictions Carlton vs St. Kilda at Marvel
Last post by Thryleon -
Some say we have a rubbish list, some say we have a rubbish coach, some say we have both.

The fact remains we are in round 8 this week, and are currently 3rd on the ladder for minutes led in matches. 

Not bad for a bunch of talentless hacks.  Too bad the results havent gone the way we would have liked.  Perhaps with some better coaching, some more luck, or some more hutzpah, we wouldnt even need better players.
69
Robert Heatley Stand / Re: AFL Rd 8 2026 Pre Game Predictions Carlton vs St. Kilda at Marvel
Last post by kruddler -
Quote from: shawny – on
Quote from: kruddler – on


Not surprising that 2 of the highest paid players in the game may cause us grief.

You think of that yourself did you Shawny? Gold star for you.

Also happens to be 2 players we have not a single matchup for on our list. But it'll be Vossys fault he doesn't have a unicorn ruck and an elite stoppage midfielder with pace to burn to play on these 2.

Honestly, i don't know if i'd want Harry back in this week.
Give him an extra week just for $hits and giggles.
Kemp+McGovern worked well together - 9 goals between them is about as good as you could hope for.

My changes for this week....
Wilson <-> Florent.....simply need better disposal
F. Young <-> Byrne.....one needs a rest, one needs a gig.
HOK <-> L.Young....Young is not the future, let HOK run around with TDK all day and learn something.
Evans <-> Saad.....Frankie wasn't bad, but i'd like to inject a bit more run and chaos. Potential NWM matchup.
O. Hollands <-> Cottrell.....one is fitter than the other.
Cerra <-> Hewett....i think Cerra was cramping late (or a soft tissue injury) Hewett runs out the games better and has done his time.

Overall, that should give us more run and better disposal, despite being 'like for like' in a lot of ways.

If we are a bit cleaner going inside 50 and in front of goal, then that loss (and this one?) could be turned into a win pretty easily.

Overall, i expect about 1 of them to actually go ahead.....but thats what i'd do.

But i thought TDK was average and on crazy money - now he all of sudden he is a star and not able to be beaten and shouldn't be mentioned? What's your excuse why we allow Sinclair to play on his own every time we play them?

We have been crushed in every game except R1 as our Coaching department has NFI how to stop a run on how to clamp a player, no defensive modes - NADDA.

And this is not just this year - How many times has the same footballers done little then they play like superman against us.  Check the list below of matchwinners that turned it on and killed in so far this year.

OR: Gulden - #23
R3: Pickett - #27
R4: LDU - #42
R5: N Daicos - #2
R6: Bolton - #43

Agree there is a pattern or you can find another excuse. Look at their games lending into the game against us - they all hit top form against us... Why? Could it just possibly be that our coaching debt is below par on planning and tactics for opposition matchwinners and we have no systems to slow the play hence why the minute a player or team get a run on everyman and his dog knows it curtains.

Nah its cause we lost Jack, Charlie and TDK in the offseason and only got in old duds.

Of course it is.

You get bored and make up the movie in your head?

Quote
But i thought TDK was average and on crazy money - now he all of sudden he is a star and not able to be beaten and shouldn't be mentioned?
Huh?
TDK is overrated and on crazy money, doesn't mean he can't teach our 8th gamer a few things....or are you suggest HOK is the equal of TDK???

Again, we got beaten by someone....some of the best players in the game.
Out of curiosity, i had a quick look for top 50 players for 2026 prediction, clicked on the first link that popped up.
https://www.espn.com.au/afl/story/_/id/47893628/afl-top-50-best-afl-players-season-2026-daicos-bontempelli-heeney-neale-darcy
All of the players you mentioned were in the top 50, including Daicos at #2.
So yes, we got beaten by good players and we struggled to stop them......just like every other team struggles to stop them, because they are elite. Perhaps we don't have the players to stop them. Could that be a list management issue??

Incidently of the players that left
Curnow - #14
The blokes we got in, didn't crack the top 50.
So yeah, our list got worst.

Leigh Matthews couldn't stop Daicos with our list. Not sure why you think Voss can.
70
Robert Heatley Stand / Re: AFL Rd 7 2026 Post Game Prognostications Carlton vs Fremantle
Last post by DJC -
Another disappointing result but there were some positives.

First of all, Luke Jackson has to be in career best form.  Some may categorise him as an "undersized" ruckman but he seems to have the ideal combination of size and agility.  The combination of Jackson and Mason Cox seems to work very well and I'm not sure what Freo will do with Sean Darcy.  Despite Jackson's dominance, I thought that Liam Reidy was very good for us and was more than competitive.  His ruckwork was good and he had an impact around the ground.  He has quick hands and reacts quickly and I think that he could develop into a very handy ruckman.

We got absolutely smashed in the clearances in the first quarter but turned that around and won the clearances for the next three quarters.  The quarter time adjustments made a difference.

Sam Walsh was brilliant and it's great to see him powering away from opponents.

Brodie Kemp played what must be his best game as a key forward, against quality opposition and without much support.  It was good to see him make the most of his chances and that would be heartening for those who worked hard to get the ball to him.

Aston Moir had a quiet night but kicked truly when he got the pill.  I don't think that he'll ever be a high possession player but I'll take it if he can chime in with a couple of goals each week.

Matt Carroll has really come on and is relishing his role on the wing.  I think that we're getting better value from him there, particularly with his ability to kick truly for goal or hit a target.

Nic Newman is getting back to his best.  We really missed his defensive efforts and ability to transition the ball from defence.  Matt Cottrell's return was a little unexpected but well worth it.  I'm not sure what it is about Cotters; he's a little unorthodox and works extremely hard.

We've got at least half a dozen blokes in the VFL side bashing on the MC's door and three or four changes this week wouldn't surprise me.