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61
Robert Heatley Stand / Re: AFL Rd 17 2026 Post Game Prognostications Carlton vs Richmond
Last post by Shakin77 -
Quote from: crashlander – on
[4] Ollie Hollands: Ollie really struggled last night. He fumbled a lot and his kicking was woeful. Also, we didn't see his run and carry either.
Will we bring Acres in? Or do we assume Ollie will be better for the run? To be honest, I don't expect Ollie to be that ordinary two weeks in a row, but I think Acres is important to us.

Not suggesting for a moment that Ollie was one of our best, but he played on the wing in front of me mostly against Retschko.

He works incredibly hard pushing back as that defensive winger (Acres also very good at this) and had 17.1 metres covered.   The most on the ground of any player on the ground.   Seth Campbell with 14.9 and Newman with 14.2

I thought his game was fairly unremarkable.     He had 1 clanger for the game and 0 turnovers.   He also went at 84.6% with the ball and 77.8% by foot.

Would love to know what the coaches thought of his game

62
Robert Heatley Stand / Re: VFL 2026 Rd 15: Carlton vs Richmond at Carlton
Last post by crashlander -
Watching the replay was instructive, especially as I didn't have to abuse the TV.

[1] We still lack talls. However ...
I was much happier with Matt Duffy and Dane Harvey this week. Between them they kept the Richmond forwards almost possession-less, and unlike last night, they had no help from the weather. Harvey had 14 possessions and 7 marks, while Duffy had 7 possessions and 2 marks, but it was how they defended that pleased me. Duffy also ran much more effectively than he has been in recent weeks. He looks much better as a defender.

And then there was Sam Paea, who took the mark of the day and had 14 possessions and 7 marks as a key forward. Not a huge game, perhaps, but he looked dangerous.

For 3 quarters we didn't move the ball well into the forward line, which helped Richmond's defence no end.

[2] Liam Farrar:
Liam kicked 3 and was within a cm of having 4, all after half time. He has a good pair of hands and kicked straight for a change. I think he would be worth giving a train-on spot. Not that he couldn't do more, but he is a goal kicker.

[3] Ashton Moir:
Ashton has a bit of the early Fev about him; not doing enough of the things when he doesn't have the ball. Well, he moved up-ground a bit and had 18 possessions and 8 marks. But the thing I like was the run down tackle: I don't remember him doing that before. He wasn't close, he worked hard and got the reward. Once Fev realized that, he was reasonable at it. I hope Moir can do the same.

[4] Hudson O'Keefe:
HOK had a very ordinary game as a forward, struggling to get a possession. he had 8 possessions and 2 marks, but gave away a few frees and a 50. Things just didn't go well for him, which is a real worry.
However, his ruck work impressed me more than it has for most of the year. he didn't get a lot of time on ball; we clearly are working on Riley. However, it was his leap that impressed me, something we haven't seen enough of in recent times.
Have we limited his progression by bringing in guys like Reidy? Maybe. But he has always been a ruckman first.

[5] Flynn Riley:
Clearly the best ruckman on the ground, some of his ruckwork was brilliant. We got goals because of his taps. He had 17 possessions, which was better than 18 Richmond players(!) and took a couple of excellent marks.
he must have read my comments from a couple of weeks back, as he has been much more engaged in general play since then.
I think we can afford to bring Riley into the seniors, as we should be getting Reidy back from injury.

[6] Our VFL players stepped up:
During our run of losses, you could easily lay the blame at the feet of our senior players, who didn't do as much as we would hope. But one of the less obvious issues we had was that our VFL cadre were off the game as well. Sammartino fell out of form and then was injured: his last 2 weeks have been like we saw early in the season. Prout wasn't huge, but he is doing his job: he was down as well. Liam Farrar has come in and not kicked straight. Now he is kicking better, our forward structure doesn't look as dysfunctional. Darcy Hogg had probably his worst couple of weeks in our colours, but yesterday he was back to his best. Harvey had been ordinary for a few weeks; he was excellent yesterday. Paea has been a decent inclusion. Tucker: well, he has missed most of the season with injury. His return has given us a much more effective midfield mix.
Cookson and Gresham didn't have a lot of game time, but both did important things at important times.
It is important that our VFL guys make an impression if we are to win with our structural issues, which are much easier to see at VFL level. Hopefully, we can find some key position types in this years draft.
69
Robert Heatley Stand / Re: Jim Park Voting AFL Rd 17 2026 Carlton vs Richmond
Last post by crashlander -
AFL Rd 17 2026   Carlton vs Richmond
Team:      C
We won. We should have won by more. It will have to do.

Votes:
[2.5]   George Hewett
[2.5]   Jagga Smith
[2.5]   Nick Haynes
[1.5]   Wade Derksen
[1]   Patrick Cripps
[1]   Nic Newman
[1]   Ollie Florent
[1]   Sam Walsh
[0.5]   Adam Cerra
[0.5]   Francis Evans
[0.5]   Mitch McGovern
[0.5]   Billy Wilson

Explanations:
[2.5]   George Hewett:   A great game from George, with 26 possessions, 9 tackles and 4 clearances.
[2.5]   Jagga Smith:      A great effort considering we lost the ruck so badly. 29 possessions, 5 tackles and 4 clearances.
[2.5]   Nick Haynes:      A great game from Nick. He was excellent in the air and on the ground.
[1.5]   Wade Derksen:   His best game so far, with intercept marks and good spoils.
[1]   Patrick Cripps:      Crippa was horrible early, but he really lifted. Had he kicked straight, he would have been so much better.
[1]   Nic Newman:      Another great game in defence.
[1]   Ollie Florent:      Made his 200th game one to remember.
[1]   Sam Walsh:      Down from recent weeks, but still important.
[0.5]   Adam Cerra:      One of his better games for the year.
[0.5]   Francis Evans:   Frankie got a lot of ball and was dangerous.
[0.5]   Mitch McGovern:   Good at both ends.
[0.5]   Billy Wilson:      Not as good as he has been, but his run and kicking were crucial.

Honourable Mentions:
Ben Ainsworth:      Had an ‘almost’ night.
Brodie Kemp:         Very good early, but barely touched after half time.
Harry McKay:         Not bad, just not as influential as he has been.
Lachie Cowan:      Not as good as he has been, but still important.
Talor Byrne:         Not a lot of ball, but his tackling and chasing were important, as was his pass from the pocket.
70
Robert Heatley Stand / Re: AFL Rd 17 2026 Post Game Prognostications Carlton vs Richmond
Last post by crashlander -
I will watch the replay, as I usually do, but I do wonder how much I will enjoy it.

Having seen this result, the question becomes, how can we improve for next weekend?
We had a few guys down this week who have been significant for us:
[1] Harry McKay: the weather didn't help, nor did the fact that we struggled to get centre breaks, but H really had an ordinary night. he made little impression in the ruck - his first two contests were great, but that was about it. 9 possessions, 3 taps and 4 marks.
To be honest, I think the weather was more of a factor than usual, as we lost some of the precision in our kicking. But we were slow moving the ball, so H had to deal with packs.

[2] Brodie Kemp: his 1st half was excellent, but he struggled after half time. As with H, our slow ball movement and poor kicking didn't help him. But also we had McGovern, was was doing well, in defence, which left us terribly undermanned in the forward line.

[3] Matt Cottrell: Cottrell didn't have a night to remember. He just struggled to get into the game.

[4] Ollie Hollands: Ollie really struggled last night. He fumbled a lot and his kicking was woeful. Also, we didn't see his run and carry either.
Will we bring Acres in? Or do we assume Ollie will be better for the run? To be honest, I don't expect Ollie to be that ordinary two weeks in a row, but I think Acres is important to us.

[5] Jack Ison: Jack is off the boil at the moment. He is fumbling and his kicks are not hitting the target like they did earlier. He did a couple of great things, but is just lacking that confidence he had. Do we give him a rest? It wouldn't hurt him, but who di we bring in? Moir is an option, as he is playing a bit better.

[6] Talor Byrne: Like Ison, Talor is off his best, but he did some crucial things. I would be keeping him in, if just for his tackling and smarts. His pass to the centre from the picket was brilliant.