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97
Robert Heatley Stand / Jim Park Voting AFL Rd 21 2026 Carlton vs Brisbane
Last post by crashlander -
Voting is as usual: you have 15 votes to award pretty much as you will, with the following provisos:
[1] 15 votes in total, no more, no less.
[2] No more than 10 votes for any one player (even Sam Walsh or Patrick Cripps)
[3] Three players at least must get a mention.
[4] A grade for the game, A+ (what I want to see) to F-.
98
Robert Heatley Stand / Re: VFL 2026 Rd 19 Carlton vs Brisbane at Carlton
Last post by kruddler -
Quote from: crashlander – on
Quote from: kruddler – on
Not sure Ison would be happy being referred to as a small forward, at 190cm not exactly small.

Thats the reason for putting him back to the 2's though, to get his mojo back.
In time Ison will be a part time forward, part time mid, and you are totally correct, 190 cm isn't small. It is just the role he is presently learning. I look forward to seeing how he develops in the next couple of years.

Not sure if we can get his tank to a level where he can play on a wing, but with his hands, skills and quick thinking and love of sneaky taps to advantage, i think a wing could be a great spot for him.
99
Robert Heatley Stand / Re: VFL 2026 Rd 19 Carlton vs Brisbane at Carlton
Last post by crashlander -
Quote from: kruddler – on
Not sure Ison would be happy being referred to as a small forward, at 190cm not exactly small.

Thats the reason for putting him back to the 2's though, to get his mojo back.
In time Ison will be a part time forward, part time mid, and you are totally correct, 190 cm isn't small. It is just the role he is presently learning. I look forward to seeing how he develops in the next couple of years.
100
Robert Heatley Stand / Re: How does Crippa rank among the panoply of Carlton greats?
Last post by crashlander -
I date myself when I say I saw Alex Jesaulenko kick his 10th goal in 1970, the first time I'd been to a game as a 9 year old. That did leave an impression.

Having seen the game for so long, I do find it hard to compare guys in different eras. The game has evolved, and the players have had to as well. Our game makes physical challenges unlike any other, the need for speed, to be able to run out a long game, the strength to be able to handle a full contact sport without protection, the skills hit targets 40-50 m away and more.

I loved Jezza: he could, and did, play anywhere and do it well. He was 3rd in the Brownlow as a half forward flanker, a full forward and a half back flanker. He was a premiership coach in a back pocket. He played in the middle at times. Very few players played more than 1 position when Jezza started, but Jezza could do them all.

Kouta was a man before his time, who could also play almost anywhere. He played some of the most dynamic games I've ever seen and had to reinvent himself a number of time through injury and whatnots. I remember seeing his first as a gangly 15 or 16 year old playing for our Academy team out at Waverley. He didn't have the game sense then, and it took him a while to find it, but you could tell he had something. I remember seeing Michael Voss, probably the opposition play I respected the most, just look helpless one day at Carlton when Kouta took Brisbane apart. He did his best and Kouta barely noticed it as he jumped all over him.

In time, there will probably be more players like Patrick Cripps, but he was the template against which all future last mids will be compared. He managed to get numbers of clearances and contested possessions that had rarely been seen before to ordinary ruckmen. What he could have done to the rucks we had in the '60's to 90's boggles the imagination.