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Robert Heatley Stand / Re: AFL Rd 17 2026 Post Game Prognostications Carlton vs Richmond
Last post by LP -But excluding Hewett, I'd probably have Nankervis and Bolta as 2 of the 3 best on the ground.
But we shouldn't be shocked about this, we just have to go into games with open eyes and an open mind. If you put on the navy blue glasses you'll be disappointed because you be shuttering your eyes to our weakness. Look at the result this way, we were smashed in the ruck, smashed at stoppages and smashed around the ground, the stats might not clearly show it. But we won, despite Cripps, Walsh and Cerra being soundly defeated. Jagga was probably a break even, and Hewett was a win.
Last week we saw some of the early signs of the pre-Fraser Carlton starting to poke it's head out, last night was another step backwards. I hate that this happened but I predicted it, and I predicted Nankervis having that influence, because he's a poison to our Mids. This isn't about OH or Cottrell being in, Acres or Weiters being out, that is just correlation. It's about the team starting to sit back and hesitate, waiting for the person next to them to do the hard work.
Go back and watch the replay, count how many times two blues get to the footy first and spend precious moments staring deeply into each other's eyes waiting for someone to pick up and give them the footy. The exact opposite of Fraser's "play so we look like a team you'd want to play for!" Partly this is a Nankervis / Balta aggression effect.
Sam Mitchell won't miss this fact, and you can expect next week the Dawks will be in full bruiser mode after that disastrous first half against the Dees.
