Carlton Supporters Club

With Round 1 just a few days away, I commend you to this thread. The Jim Park Medal is our humble best and fairest award, given to the player who polls the most over the 2016 season.

Each week any member can vote once (nobody has tried to vote twice during my tenure as administrator of this award).

Each person voting has 15 votes to award, as ever he or she sees fit.
Many people use a 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 system, which is easy on the administrator (Me! :) ). However, you can assign votes pretty much as you wish. I often use half votes.
As long as the votes add up to 15, there are few worries.

There are 2 small restrictions: no player may be awarded more than 10 votes in any one game. There must be at least 3 players mentioned. That is not usually an effort.

Each game is also given a rating, A+ to F-. This allows me to take the team's performance into account and not penalize players. This is because it is usual to have more players deserve votes when we play well.
If you do not rate the team, a default value of 'B' will be awarded.

Please consider voting if you see the game, either in TV or live. The more voters we have, the more representative the award really is. Look for the voting threads; they will appear either shortly before or shortly after the game. This thread will be where I summarize the week's results and keep you abreast of how things are going.

If we had more people being able to see VFL games I would like to run a similar award for the NB's. However, that is not looking viable. Not enough people getting to the game regularly enough. If there is enough interest, I can do this. But at present it is merely a nice idea.

Crash, you do a great job with this, however, I have never understood how you can really split a vote in half? It doesn't make any sense. If 15 votes isn't enough, then give everybody 20 or 30 votes, but 1/2 votes?

I guess it comes from being a Maths teacher: if the number is real I'm willing to use. I haven't managed imaginary votes yet, but there were times last year when I was tempted.

I guess other things is that I do try to mention most guys who are worth a consideration. A bad habit, but one I'm stuck with.

PS: 'i' is an imaginary number = square root of -1. It doesn't exist, as such, but it can have some surprising real world applications in quantum theory and electronics.
Yes, I am weird. :) 

Last year, there were plenty of imaginary performances worthy of imaginary votes  :))

Indeed. Especially before the change of coach.

Yes, it is only Monday, but voters out there have been up and at it since Thursday evening. And there have been plenty of votes so far.
As I am a bit early, vote if you haven't. I will adjust things as necessary. (It is a school holiday and I can afford to be generous this time.)

At this point, there have been 26 voters: the most we have had for some time. The voters were also quite happy about the performance, although there was considerable discussion about how high to rate a loss. In the end the rating was 8.6: better than a C+, but not quite a B-.
That suggests the voters felt positively towards a team that put a new game plan into action pretty well, but not quite well enough to win the points.

I look forward to beating the Tiggers on our next meeting.

Updated on Friday 1st April:
Thank you to all of you who voted. We ended up with 29 voters, the most we've had in a couple of years.
The rating ended up at 8.55, minimally down on Monday's effort. Still, it was between a C+ and a B-, which suggests that we were reasonably happy in most respects, except that we lost. It would have been nice to win. :(

The Votes:
365 - Murphy, Marc
263 - Cripps, Patrick
224 - Gibbs, Bryce
102 - Docherty, Sam
72 - Simpson, Kade
70 - Wright, Matthew
59 - Weitering, Jacob
31 - Graham, Nick
30 - Kreuzer, Matthew
22 - Kerrdige, Sam
19 - Phillips, Andrew
9 - Curnow, Edward
6 - Boekhorst, Blaine
6 - Casboult, Levi
3 - Walker, Andrew
2 - Rowe, Sam
2 - Tuohy, Zach

The voting public appear pleased with Weitering, and I am not surprised. he managed 17 possessions and consistently out-marked his opponents.
Gibbs, Murphy and Cripps grabbed most of the votes, as they had most of the possessions.
Wright's 3 goals managed to get him a fair bit of notice, but Kerridge's votes probably show that he did tire late in the game.

Round 2: Carlton vs. Sydney
Not quite the result we were looking for. :( Nichevo: we played a good team at the top of their game.

Naturally, with a disappointing loss there were less voters and they were a lot less happy. However, we did rate the effort considerably better than we did this time last year.
The rating value was 6.79, a clear D-.
There were 22 voters this week, also up from this time last year. Thank you to all who voted.

The voting patterns this week were interesting, and showed considerable difference in opinion about a number of players. Fair enough. That is why we have the system we have: a simple 3-2-1 system does not allow us to adequately reward players who made a reasonable contribution.
Alas, I didn't see a single moment of the game, either live or on TV. I hate that.

The Votes:
Thomas, Dale 234
Curnow, Edward 154
Docherty, Sam 130
Kerrdige, Sam 111
Wright, Matthew 108
Weitering, Jacob 83
Simpson, Kade 40
Cripps, Patrick 34
Jamison, Michael 28
Gibbs, Bryce 22
Murphy, Marc 19
Graham, Nick 19
Kreuzer, Matthew 12
Boekhorst, Blaine 12
Tuohy, Zach 6
Casboult, Levi 3
Curnow, Charles 3

Charlie Curnow managed his first votes, a minor contribution, but everyone has to start somewhere and the voting public were impressed enough to recognize his effort.
A number of our prime movers, Gibbs, Murphy, Graham, Kreuzer and Cripps, were down considerably this week.
On the other hand, Daisy Thomas managed his best effort in our colours this round. Considering that I thought he should start in the NBs, results have demonstrated that I am a true Jon Snow; I know nothing.
Sam Kerridge and Matthew Wright continue to justify their recruitment with solid performances, while Jacob Weitering showed for a 2nd time that we made an excellent choice.

Overall:
383 - Murphy, Marc (0)
297 - Cripps, Patrick (0)
246 - Gibbs, Bryce (0)
235 - Thomas, Dale (0)
232 - Docherty, Sam (0)
178 - Wright, Matthew (0)
163 - Curnow, Edward (0)
142 - Weitering, Jacob (0)
133 - Kerrdige, Sam (0)
112 - Simpson, Kade (0)
49 - Graham, Nick (0)
42 - Kreuzer, Matthew (0)
28 - Jamison, Michael (0)
19 - Boekhorst, Blaine (0)
19 - Phillips, Andrew (0)
9 - Casboult, Levi (0)
8 - Tuohy, Zach (0)
8 - Rowe, Sam (0)
3 - Curnow, Charles (0)
3 - Walker, Andrew (0)

Murphy still leads after his performance in Round 1, with Cripps following closely behind. Unlike last year, we have 10 players who have made the 100 mark, with 3 of them being recruits to the club.

The Jim Park medal just took a major credibility hit.

You mean the folk who post here don't know everything there is to know about footy  :o

There are always anomalies with Jim Park voting but, at the end of the season, the tallies will be pretty close to other awards - except the Brownlow!

Indeed. With many people with considerably different views as to how things may go, a considerable variability in the voting is not just an effect, but quite a positive. We usually mention all of the players who deserve to be mentioned. Sometimes that isn't a lot of guys, sometimes it can be a significant portion of the team.
In the end, we usually have a pretty good guide to how players have performed. There is considerable correspondence between our votes and Carlton's B&F.

Compared to the Brownlow, we don't do that well, as Brownlow voting is extremely limited in the number of players who can get a mention each week (only 3). As a result, players from losing teams generally get poor representation, no matter how well they have played. The other thing is that Brownlow voting is done by the umpires. From their position in the game, they cannot but bias their views towards midfielders: these are the guys they see most and who often get the ball more.
I wouldn't change the Brownlow - it has its strengths and weaknesses, but it is a very individual award. But I do consider our sort of voting to be a very good way of determining the best players at our club.

We lost by 10 goals, how is it a positive  that most of our side got votes? The sysem should work in theory but it completely failed this week.

Yes, some folk will never give Gibbs a vote and some folk will give votes to their favourite players no matter how poorly they play.  Watching the game on TV shows some players in a better light too.  People have different voting systems too - I always have five players but some like to spread their votes around.  In a shellacking like we suffered, voting for lots of players will inevitably mean that players who had little impact, C Curnow, Casboult, etc, will get votes.

It's what happens in a 'free market' voting system but it doesn't mean that the final tally isn't a good measure of our best players.

Round 3: Carlton vs Gold Coast in Queensland
In many ways this was our most disappointing performance for 2016 so far: we expected Sydney to be good and we really were better than Richmond, although we didn't eventually prevail. As a result, the natives were more restless; a totally expected response.

As the number of votes demonstrates, many of our better players underachieved. Hence they got few, if any, mentions.

The rating for this game was 6.43, the lowest for the year, closest to an E+ ranking.

The votes:
Weitering, Jacob 367
Curnow, Edward 228
Docherty, Sam 158
Cripps, Patrick 56
Wright, Matthew 51
Simpson, Kade 32
Curnow, Charles 21
Gibbs, Bryce 13
Byrne, Ciaran 9
Kerrdige, Sam 7
Graham, Nick 5
Buckley, Dylan 5
Whiley, Mark 3
Murphy, Marc 1

Jacob Weitering announced himself with his 3rd vote-worthy performance in 3 weeks. He was clearly our best player and fitted into our style of play, with his skill, decision making and endeavour extremely well.
Ed Curnow, not in a negative role, was clearly 2nd. Docherty also managed his 3rd vote - worthy game in a row.
That Charlie Curnow managed more votes than Murphy, Gibbs, and most of our other experienced players was telling.

Overall voting so far:
509 - Weitering, Jacob (0)
391 - Curnow, Edward (0)
390 - Docherty, Sam (0)
385 - Murphy, Marc (0)
353 - Cripps, Patrick (0)
259 - Gibbs, Bryce (0)
235 - Thomas, Dale (0)
229 - Wright, Matthew (0)
144 - Simpson, Kade (0)
140 - Kerrdige, Sam (0)
55 - Graham, Nick (0)
42 - Kreuzer, Matthew (0)
28 - Jamison, Michael (0)
25 - Curnow, Charles (0)
19 - Boekhorst, Blaine (0)
19 - Phillips, Andrew (0)
10 - Byrne, Ciaran (0)
9 - Casboult, Levi (0)
8 - Tuohy, Zach (0)
8 - Rowe, Sam (0)
6 - Buckley, Dylan (0)
3 - Whiley, Mark (0)
3 - Walker, Andrew (0)

Weitering is a clear leader at this point. There is little difference in the next 4 placings.

I won't close off the voting thread until tomorrow; someone might have some late thoughts. However, I will do this now while I have the time.

Round 4: Carlton vs Western Bulldogs at Etihad
A very patchy performance from the Blues, with one disastrous term and the others being spoilt only by our inability to kick goals. I guess we expected The Dogs to win, but there were some promising signs.

We had considerably more people vote this round than at the same time last year. Last year we were in despair, with Malthouse unable to manage to get to be competitive. This year we may not be happy (after all, we are still losing), but we look like we have a future (which hopefully will not disappear as we look for it). Anyway, voter number are up about 40%.

Looking at the numbers, we still haven't had many players really dominate a game. In the coaches voting only one of our guys got a mention. However, first gamers (for us) in Plowman and Sumner both managed to get votes. Our experienced campaigners, on the other hand, continued NOT to get votes. :(

The rating for this game came out at 7.16, between a D and a D+. Probably a reasonable result, considering our 2nd term.

The Votes:
Docherty, Sam 303
Simpson, Kade 218
Cripps, Patrick 148
Weitering, Jacob 84
Plowman, Lachlan 77
Kerrdige, Sam 51
Curnow, Edward 48
Curnow, Charles 32
Sumner, Liam 32
Wright, Matthew 27
Phillips, Andrew 22
Rowe, Sam 10
Thomas, Dale 7
Byrne, Ciaran 7
Casboult, Levi 3
Lamb, Jed 3

Our BOG was Sam Docherty, who has been consistent this season. He has managed votes in all 4 games so far. However, his 303 votes is not especially high for a guy who was clearly our best player. It suggests, quite reasonably, that we didn't have anyone who dominated the game.
Simmo and Cripps were clearly in 2nd and 3rd spots respectively.
Weitering also continues to poll very well for such a young player.

Of this week's vote getters, 8 of them (50%) are new to the club this year and another, Byrne, was playing only his 3rd ever game. That says a few things:
[1] Our experienced players are not going so well at this time. A worry, as we need these guys if we are going to make any inroads on 18th place.
[2] Our recruiting appears, at this early stage, to have been effective. A large number of new players are regularly getting games and making worthwhile contributions. Kudos to Stephen Silvagni and his team.

Overall:
693 - Docherty, Sam (0)
592 - Weitering, Jacob (0)
502 - Cripps, Patrick (0)
439 - Curnow, Edward (0)
385 - Murphy, Marc (0)
362 - Simpson, Kade (0)
259 - Gibbs, Bryce (0)
256 - Wright, Matthew (0)
242 - Thomas, Dale (0)
191 - Kerrdige, Sam (0)
77 - Plowman, Lachlan (0)
57 - Curnow, Charles (0)
55 - Graham, Nick (0)
42 - Phillips, Andrew (0)
42 - Kreuzer, Matthew (0)
33 - Sumner, Liam (0)
28 - Jamison, Michael (0)
19 - Boekhorst, Blaine (0)
18 - Rowe, Sam (0)
17 - Byrne, Ciaran (0)
15 - Tuohy, Zach (0)
13 - Casboult, Levi (0)
6 - Buckley, Dylan (0)
4 - Lamb, Jed (0)
3 - Whiley, Mark (0)
3 - Walker, Andrew (0)

Things are pretty close at the top, with a lot of guys getting reasonable vote numbers. Weitering fell to 2nd spot this week, behind another extremely consistent player in Docherty, with Cripps and Curnow not far behind.

I don't know about the rest of you, but a win does marvellous things to my Brain Chemistry. Dopamine flows nicely between my neurons and the weight of the world lifts from my shoulders. Even though I could only follow on the 'net, instead of experiencing the high first hand, it was worth it.
Mind you, we still need to learn to kick goals. But a win is a win is a WIN!

To be honest, the win didn't bring out as many voters as I expected. I guess with the game on in Perth and not being on free to air TV, it meant that a minimum of Carlton supporters could actually watch and enjoy it. So be it. There were more voters this round than last round and they were happier: 23 voters this week compared to 20 last week and 15 this round last year.
The ranking this week was 8.72, the best for the year. That relates to an average B-. Considering how many goals we missed, that was probably pretty accurate.

The votes were also well spread around this week, suggesting we didn't have one dominant player, but a lot of players who played well.  We actually had as many guys get named this week as we did last time, quite a surprise when they results were so different.

The Votes:
Murphy, Marc 283
Cripps, Patrick 262
Simpson, Kade 165
Byrne, Ciaran 121
Gibbs, Bryce 89
Rowe, Sam 87
Thomas, Dale 82
Curnow, Edward 70
Wright, Matthew 68
Kerridge, Sam 46
Docherty, Sam 15
Casboult, Levi 11
Lamb, Jed 4
Jones, Liam 4
Kreuzer, Matthew 2

Nice to see Rowe in the voting this week. Aso Daisy Thomas. Wright, Kerridge and Docherty continued their consistent form. Weitering missed out this week, for the first time. He didn't play badly and he did his job: he just didn't get huge numbers.

Overall:
763 - Cripps, Patrick (0)
708 - Docherty, Sam (0)
667 - Murphy, Marc (0)
592 - Weitering, Jacob (0)
527 - Simpson, Kade (0)
509 - Curnow, Edward (0)
348 - Gibbs, Bryce (0)
325 - Wright, Matthew (0)
323 - Thomas, Dale (0)
237 - Kerridge, Sam (0)
138 - Byrne, Ciaran (0)
105 - Rowe, Sam (0)
77 - Plowman, Lachlan (0)
57 - Curnow, Charles (0)
55 - Graham, Nick (0)
44 - Kreuzer, Matthew (0)
42 - Phillips, Andrew (0)
33 - Sumner, Liam (0)
28 - Jamison, Michael (0)
24 - Casboult, Levi (0)
19 - Boekhorst, Blaine (0)
15 - Tuohy, Zach (0)
8 - Lamb, Jed (0)
6 - Buckley, Dylan (0)
4 - Jones, Liam (0)
3 - Whiley, Mark (0)
3 - Walker, Andrew (0)

We have a new leader, but it is very close up at the top end.

Rd 6: Carlton vs Essendon
It might have been a pretty small crowd and a less than perfect game, but the result was the stuff of dreams. Now to complete the 3-peat! Well, I can dream....

Thanks to the 25 people who voted. That was 8 more than for the corresponding game last year. The voters were also happier than they were last year. The rating was 8.35, a little less than last week, but a comfortable C+. If we could actually show some skill....
Again, I can dream.
Again, there was a considerable spread in votes. Many voters were (relatively) happy with the performances of many of the players and even those who did not get votes were considered liabilities.

The Votes:
Thomas, Dale 359
Gibbs, Bryce 230
Murphy, Marc 145
Curnow, Edward 135
Simpson, Kade 130
Wright, Matthew 60
Phillips, Andrew 52
Byrne, Ciaran 50
Docherty, Sam 20
Graham, Nick 17
Kerridge, Sam 15
Rowe, Sam 12
Armfield, Dennis 10
White, Simon 8
Kreuzer, Matthew 7
Plowman, Lachlan 2

Daisy Thomas played arguably his best game for Carlton for the 2nd time this year. He deserved to be a top vote getter for this round. Murphy, Gibbs, Curnow and  Simpson also garner attention for strong displays. Wright, Simpson, Ed Curnow, Kerridge and Docherty continued their consistent performances, polling votes in every game so far.

Progressive Standings:
813 - Murphy, Marc (0)
763 - Cripps, Patrick (0)
728 - Docherty, Sam (0)
682 - Thomas, Dale (0)
657 - Simpson, Kade (0)
644 - Curnow, Edward (0)
592 - Weitering, Jacob (0)
579 - Gibbs, Bryce (0)
385 - Wright, Matthew (0)
252 - Kerridge, Sam (0)
188 - Byrne, Ciaran (0)
117 - Rowe, Sam (0)
93 - Phillips, Andrew (0)
79 - Plowman, Lachlan (0)
72 - Graham, Nick (0)
57 - Curnow, Charles (0)
50 - Kreuzer, Matthew (0)
33 - Sumner, Liam (0)
28 - Jamison, Michael (0)
24 - Casboult, Levi (0)
19 - Boekhorst, Blaine (0)
15 - Tuohy, Zach (0)
11 - Armfield, Dennis (0)
9 - White, Simon (0)
8 - Lamb, Jed (0)
6 - Buckley, Dylan (0)
4 - Jones, Liam (0)
3 - Whiley, Mark (0)
3 - Walker, Andrew (0)

It is a very close thing at the top of the table. There are a large number of players who have managed to get votes consistently this year, so there is only 1 good game's difference between the top 8 players. Murphy managed to get the lead this week, as Cripps missed out with injury.

Great work, Crash.

It really goes to show people's perspectives - 16/22 players received votes...

Its odd to see Nick Graham regarded by fans but keeps getting dropped.

To be honest, he is nowhere near the form he was in last year before he got injured. But he isn't playing badly; well, he did have a couple of quietish games, but nothing terrible.
When he started he got a lot of marks, especially in defence, and moved the ball on VERY slowly. He might get 15 possessions, but he didn't hurt anyone. He appeared to lack confidence and he took no risks at all. He was often out-bodied and he got relatively few clearances. Considering that the whole team was playing 'safely', it is no surprise when he didn't jell.
Last year after the coaching change, his style of play changed radically. He was involved in a lot more clearances and he took very few marks. He was a more attacking player.
This year he has played somewhat more like he used to, although he is getting more ball and moving the ball on faster and more accurately. He hasn't had the clearances and he has been out-bodied more than a little. He is probably been dropped because he hasn't been able to get the clearances yet. I think that will come. But he does need to get stronger, as he probably won't get much faster.
Another thing is the different way we set up in the middle. A lot of our mids have had some trouble with that. It appears that Bolton wants some faster people in there to get a fast break. Also he has to share the job with Kerridge and Wright, who have taken his time in the middle.
I cannot be certain that he will return to his 'old' form, but he has developed a lot more than he did under Malthouse. He was one step from delisting then.

That's really good stuff Crash, didn't look at it that way and you are right.

Yeah, but, being a teacher, I talk too much. Occupational hazard. And Now I write too much. :) A poster called 'Wallsy' claimed that I acted too much of a sage: well, the worst jibes have some truth in them. Maybe I am King Monkey, the Great Sage equal of Heaven! Maybe I am just some SF fan with delusions of grandeur. And I'm even stuffing up this thread with irrelevancies. But I'll get back on topic soon! :) 

Right, back on topic at last! Can't police that if I can't do it myself!

Rd: 7 Carlton vs Collingwood
Our first win over the Ancient Enemy in years and much appreciated it was. Just as appreciated was the fact that we produced an excellent team performance with a LOT of players standing up when it was required.
The rating for this game came in at 9.16, the highest we have recorded for quite a while (since Juddy was getting 3 Brownlow votes most weeks). That represents something between a B and a B+.
This round last year we had about a dozen very dissatisfied voters. This time we had 26 voters and they voted early. We had 12 players receive votes.

Votes:
Gibbs, Bryce 339
Simpson, Kade 244
Casboult, Levi 227
Cripps, Patrick 224
Docherty, Sam 180
Curnow, Edward 71
Murphy, Marc 24
Rowe, Sam 22
Everitt, Andrejs 15
Byrne, Ciaran 12
Kreuzer, Matthew 10
Lamb, Jed  3
Kerridge, Sam 2

The votes were very evenly spread among the top 5 players, but after that not many players got a mention.

Progressive Voting:
987 - Cripps, Patrick (0)
918 - Gibbs, Bryce (0)
908 - Docherty, Sam (0)
902 - Simpson, Kade (0)
836 - Murphy, Marc (0)
716 - Curnow, Edward (0)
682 - Thomas, Dale (0)
592 - Weitering, Jacob (0)
385 - Wright, Matthew (0)
253 - Kerridge, Sam (0)
251 - Casboult, Levi (0)
200 - Byrne, Ciaran (0)
139 - Rowe, Sam (0)
93 - Phillips, Andrew (0)
79 - Plowman, Lachlan (0)
72 - Graham, Nick (0)
61 - Kreuzer, Matthew (0)
57 - Curnow, Charles (0)
33 - Sumner, Liam (0)
28 - Jamison, Michael (0)
19 - Boekhorst, Blaine (0)
16 - Everitt, Andrejs (0)
15 - Tuohy, Zach (0)
11 - Lamb, Jed (0)
11 - Armfield, Dennis (0)
9 - White, Simon (0)
6 - Buckley, Dylan (0)
4 - Jones, Liam (0)
3 - Whiley, Mark (0)
3 - Walker, Andrew (0)

It is VERY even at the top, with 4 players between 900 and 1000 votes. Again, we had a change of leader. That trend looks like continuing.

Curnow should be much higher. Murphy has stunk it up this year.

Your opinion: as such, fair enough.
I do not totally agree.
[1] Curnow: At 700+ votes he is one top game from outright leadership. That isn't bad at all. And he does have good competition this year. A LOT of guys have been playing well and playing consistently. Then you look at his style of game: it doesn't get the pundits as well as some others do. It is not a criticism of Curnow, but he does a lot of things that are not always that visible. Other guys stand out more.
It can be accurately said that Curnow has been one of our most consistent and well performed players this year. Hs contribution is up there with the 'stars' on our list.
[2] Murphy: He may not be at his best; certainly he was not in the first few weeks. However, he is getting better and being a lot more consistent than he has been for some time. He may not be standing out as much, but his contributions have been important and crucial. In fact, I do not expect Murphy to stand out as much, as other players have been taking up their share of the load. That is a real positive for us: we are not dependent on the form (or otherwise) of a small group of players.
I could not say that he was 'stinking it up'.

Agree crash.

I agree too. 

Curnow's hard work negating an opposition star and winning his own footy is often overlooked but I think the votes reflect his contribution fairly well.  Murphy has had issues like staples in his head but has played great footy when needed as you would expect from a Carlton captain.

@ Crash

I think our core group of senior players is generally beginning to show a lot more in terms of effort and leadership Crash, led by Simmo, Gibbs, Murph and including Ed Curnow. This is a significant factor for future success under Bolton and I'm encouraged by it. Looking forward to today's game where hopefully it will continue.

Degree of difficulty for Murphy vs Curnow is much higher IMO...being captain as well as a playmaker is a harder gig than being a pure tagger IMO...
I agree Curnow has played well this year but he doesnt have a player sitting on him every game like Murphy does nor is he expected to provide any real drive or creative stuff. The best taggers are the ones that can get the tagging job done and hurt the other team when they get the footy...

Round 8: Carlton vs Port Adelaide
One of our more impressive performances in recent time: we managed to hang in there with lots of injury problems and came back where we haven't been able to in recent times. Most of our players made a decent contribution, even those whose got beaten early in the game.
The voting public appeared to appreciate it as well: we over doubled the number of voters compared to this round last year. That is positive to start with. The overall rating, 9.54, was the highest for quite a while. That is between a B+ and an A-.
15 players managed votes this week. And a LOT of guys managed Honourable Mentions.

Unfortunately we also suffered a number of injuries that may have a serious effect for a number of weeks.

Votes:
Docherty, Sam 364
Kreuzer, Matthew 298
Gibbs, Bryce 296
Rowe, Sam 119
Simpson, Kade 103
Cripps, Patrick 89
Murphy, Marc 72
Curnow, Edward 38
Sumner, Liam 24
Plowman, Lachlan 10
Everitt, Andrejs 4
Lamb, Jed 4
Armfield, Dennis 4
Jones, Liam 4
Wright, Matthew 2

The top vote getters were reasonably close. This shows that we don't appear to depend on a single player, but now have a core group who perform most rounds. We haven't seen anything like this for quite a while.

Progresives:
1272 - Docherty, Sam (0)
1214 - Gibbs, Bryce (0)
1077 - Cripps, Patrick (0)
1005 - Simpson, Kade (0)
908 - Murphy, Marc (0)
753 - Curnow, Edward (0)
682 - Thomas, Dale (0)
592 - Weitering, Jacob (0)
387 - Wright, Matthew (0)
359 - Kreuzer, Matthew (0)
258 - Rowe, Sam (0)
253 - Kerridge, Sam (0)
251 - Casboult, Levi (0)
200 - Byrne, Ciaran (0)
93 - Phillips, Andrew (0)
89 - Plowman, Lachlan (0)
72 - Graham, Nick (0)
57 - Curnow, Charles (0)
57 - Sumner, Liam (0)
28 - Jamison, Michael (0)
20 - Everitt, Andrejs (0)
19 - Boekhorst, Blaine (0)
15 - Lamb, Jed (0)
15 - Tuohy, Zach (0)
14 - Armfield, Dennis (0)
9 - White, Simon (0)
8 - Jones, Liam (0)
6 - Buckley, Dylan (0)
3 - Walker, Andrew (0)
3 - Whiley, Mark (0)

Docherty and Gibbs moved out a little in front, but a good game from any of the others could change that pretty quickly. The other thing of note is the consistency of a number of our players this year.

Interesting how Kerridge was hot property preseason (and has continued to work extremely hard) but it's Matthew Wright who is 130 points ahead of him.  I really like Wright. He's honest and hard at it. 

I like them both, but I certainly agree with you.

I can understand. Both Kerridge and Wright have been strong contributors each week. Good value for our trading last year.

Round 9: Carlton vs North Melbourne
Alas, we fell back to Earth with a bang. Not overly surprising with the structural difficulties our present injuries have created. Nobody to really challenge Goldstein, which was basically the difference in the game.

Naturally, there were not as many voters this week: logistics did not suit with us not on TV. Nor are we on TV this week, but....
The overall rating this week was 6.69, almost a perfect D-. To be expected when we lose by 10 goals. :(
Again the votes were well spread: 14 different players managed to get at least 1 vote. A positive sign for our future.

Votes:
Docherty, Sam 301
Byrne, Ciaran 189
Gibbs, Bryce 145
Kerridge, Sam 119
Cripps, Patrick 59
Plowman, Lachlan 59
Sumner, Liam 45
Murphy, Marc 37
Wright, Matthew 15
Jones, Liam 15
Thomas, Dale 7
Curnow, Edward 4
Tuohy, Zach 4
Armfield, Dennis 4

Progressives:
1573 - Docherty, Sam (0)
1359 - Gibbs, Bryce (0)
1136 - Cripps, Patrick (0)
1005 - Simpson, Kade (0)
945 - Murphy, Marc (0)
757 - Curnow, Edward (0)
690 - Thomas, Dale (0)
592 - Weitering, Jacob (0)
402 - Wright, Matthew (0)
389 - Byrne, Ciaran (0)
372 - Kerridge, Sam (0)
359 - Kreuzer, Matthew (0)
258 - Rowe, Sam (0)
251 - Casboult, Levi (0)
148 - Plowman, Lachlan (0)
101 - Sumner, Liam (0)
93 - Phillips, Andrew (0)
72 - Graham, Nick (0)
57 - Curnow, Charles (0)
28 - Jamison, Michael (0)
23 - Jones, Liam (0)
20 - Everitt, Andrejs (0)
19 - Tuohy, Zach (0)
19 - Boekhorst, Blaine (0)
18 - Armfield, Dennis (0)
15 - Lamb, Jed (0)
9 - White, Simon (0)
6 - Buckley, Dylan (0)
3 - Walker, Andrew (0)
3 - Whiley, Mark (0)

Docherty has opened up a small break between him, in 1st place, and the rest of the pack. However, there is nothing unassailable in his lead.

Rd 10: Carlton vs Geelong:
A win for the ages, that showed how much improvement we have made so far. I wish I had been there. :( At least it happened!

There were 22 voters this week, perhaps a little less than I would have expected from such a great win, but almost twice what we were getting for much of last year. Thank you, voters! Without you, this would award would be pointless.
The rating this week averaged out at 9.97: close enough to an A for it not to matter and the best we have seen for a long time.
There were 13 different players who deserved and received votes; an impressive effort at the best of times, but becoming typical over the last 6 weeks. May this trend continue!

Votes:
Gibbs, Bryce 432
Docherty, Sam 266
Curnow, Edward 161
Everitt, Andrejs 161
Kreuzer, Matthew 119
Armfield, Dennis 114
Cripps, Patrick 62
Rowe, Sam  57
White, Simon 38
Simpson, Kade 33
Tuohy, Zach 24
Walker, Andrew 24
Casboult, Levi 5

Unlike recent weeks, opinion fell firmly in favour of Bryce Gibbs this week, whose performance in the absence of captain Marc Murphy was excellent. There are claims that Gibbs is now in Brownlow contention!

Progressives:
1839 - Docherty, Sam (0)
1791 - Gibbs, Bryce (0)
1198 - Cripps, Patrick (0)
1038 - Simpson, Kade (0)
945 - Murphy, Marc (0)
918 - Curnow, Edward (0)
690 - Thomas, Dale (0)
592 - Weitering, Jacob (0)
477 - Kreuzer, Matthew (0)
402 - Wright, Matthew (0)
389 - Byrne, Ciaran (0)
372 - Kerridge, Sam (0)
315 - Rowe, Sam (0)
256 - Casboult, Levi (0)
181 - Everitt, Andrejs (0)
148 - Plowman, Lachlan (0)
132 - Armfield, Dennis (0)
101 - Sumner, Liam (0)
93 - Phillips, Andrew (0)
72 - Graham, Nick (0)
57 - Curnow, Charles (0)
47 - White, Simon (0)
42 - Tuohy, Zach (0)
28 - Jamison, Michael (0)
27 - Walker, Andrew (0)
23 - Jones, Liam (0)
19 - Boekhorst, Blaine (0)
15 - Lamb, Jed (0)
6 - Buckley, Dylan (0)
3 - Whiley, Mark (0)

Docherty and Gibbs have cleared out somewhat, but the closing pack is tight and persistent. 

Round 11: Carlton vs Brisbane
I read with a smile that Jonathon Brown's daughter has decided to barrack for Carlton because we have made such an impression this year. Well we managed to do the job.
The rating this week was an exact 9.00, the first time I have seen it come out as whole number. This is a B, probably a reasonable opinion considering how we played.
We had 23 voters this week, a solid turnout. One the other hand, 13 players managed to get a vote, another week where we had a lot of contributors. I like that at the best of times. It shows that we are not dependent of a small number of players.

Votes:
Curnow, Edward 360
Weitering, Jacob 275
Kerridge, Sam 232
Tuohy, Zach 107
Armfield, Dennis 78
Cripps, Patrick 70
Docherty, Sam 64
Lamb, Jed 64
Simpson, Kade 39
Plowman, Lachlan 18
Rowe, Sam 16
White, Simon 14
Gorringe, Daniel 8

Curnow, Weitering and Kerridge were clearly the 3 best performed players, but after that there were a number of efforts that attracted attention.

Progressives:
1903 - Docherty, Sam (0)
1791 - Gibbs, Bryce (0)
1279 - Curnow, Edward (0)
1268 - Cripps, Patrick (0)
1077 - Simpson, Kade (0)
945 - Murphy, Marc (0)
867 - Weitering, Jacob (0)
690 - Thomas, Dale (0)
604 - Kerridge, Sam (0)
477 - Kreuzer, Matthew (0)
402 - Wright, Matthew (0)
389 - Byrne, Ciaran (0)
331 - Rowe, Sam (0)
256 - Casboult, Levi (0)
210 - Armfield, Dennis (0)
181 - Everitt, Andrejs (0)
166 - Plowman, Lachlan (0)
149 - Tuohy, Zach (0)
101 - Sumner, Liam (0)
93 - Phillips, Andrew (0)
79 - Lamb, Jed (0)
72 - Graham, Nick (0)
60 - White, Simon (0)
57 - Curnow, Charles (0)
28 - Jamison, Michael (0)
27 - Walker, Andrew (0)
23 - Jones, Liam (0)
19 - Boekhorst, Blaine (0)
8 - Gorringe, Daniel (0)
6 - Buckley, Dylan (0)
3 - Whiley, Mark (0)

Docherty and Gibbs still have a reasonable lead, but there is a strong pack following, with 5 players over 1000 and another, Murphy, not far off. Weitering continues to impress and is getting close to the 1000 himself.

I let things run on a little this week: no real hurry when this round is our Bye. However, all good things must come to an end. :( Literally, alas.

This week we had 2 less voters than we did this time last year. Conisidering that this was one of our worse performances of the year and last year's game was a gutsy win, I can understand why. However, we still managed 17 voters.
The rating was back to very low levels this round: 5.94, which is almost an E. definitely down from the heady levels of a couple of week's back.
In some ways we looked burnt out. It was probably a good time to have a Bye. However, 13 different players managed to attract a vote. Under Malthouse that number would have been more like 9.

Votes:
Docherty, Sam 280
Simpson, Kade 183
Thomas, Dale 145
Wright, Matthew 114
Rowe, Sam 38
Plowman, Lachlan 31
Curnow, Edward 30
Kerridge, Sam 24
Lamb, Jed 17
Tuohy, Zach 10
Casboult, Levi 9
Cripps, Patrick 7
Gibbs, Bryce 2

Docherty lead all comers for the 4th time this season. He has had only 1 game outside the top 10 on the field.

Progressives:
2182 - Docherty, Sam (0)
1793 - Gibbs, Bryce (0)
1308 - Curnow, Edward (0)
1275 - Cripps, Patrick (0)
1261 - Simpson, Kade (0)
945 - Murphy, Marc (0)
867 - Weitering, Jacob (0)
835 - Thomas, Dale (0)
628 - Kerridge, Sam (0)
515 - Wright, Matthew (0)
477 - Kreuzer, Matthew (0)
389 - Byrne, Ciaran (0)
369 - Rowe, Sam (0)
265 - Casboult, Levi (0)
210 - Armfield, Dennis (0)
197 - Plowman, Lachlan (0)
181 - Everitt, Andrejs (0)
160 - Tuohy, Zach (0)
101 - Sumner, Liam (0)
97 - Lamb, Jed (0)
93 - Phillips, Andrew (0)
72 - Graham, Nick (0)
60 - White, Simon (0)
57 - Curnow, Charles (0)
28 - Jamison, Michael (0)
27 - Walker, Andrew (0)
23 - Jones, Liam (0)
19 - Boekhorst, Blaine (0)
8 - Gorringe, Daniel (0)
6 - Buckley, Dylan (0)
3 - Whiley, Mark (0)
Silvagni, Jack We could be voting for this guy before the Election. He is getting very close.

Docherty has consolidated his lead over Gibbs, with another significant break to Cripps and Simpson. However, I wouldn't be engraving his trophy yet. There is a fair way to go yet! :)

The Doc has been awesome this year so far,

Very solid. He must be a very good chance for All Australian honours this year.

^^

He'd be up there for the John Nicholls medal at the moment too.

Much of what he does is the celebrated amongst defenders but often not noticeable work amongst the masses.

Round 14: Carlton vs GWS in Sydney
Alas, GWS powered their way into the top 4 with a win against us. There were even a few guys trying for positions on our list in 2017. :) However, we tried hard but were beaten. We probably didn't deserve to be beaten by 10 goals, but they can kick them while we are still learning.
I did not vote this round. I didn't see any of the game. Nor was I alone. The only coverage was on pay TV, so the number of voters was down considerably. We had 1 less than for the same round last year.
Our rating, on the other hand, was not that bad. It shows that we were playing a team with a huge amount of talent. The rating was 7.29, basically a D+. Not that bad at all for a 10 goal loss.
There was a reasonable spread of votes: 10 different players managed votes without my extra sharing style. :)

Votes:
Gibbs, Bryce 306
Docherty, Sam 248
White, Simon 175
Wright, Matthew 155
Curnow, Edward 58
Simpson, Kade 44
Plowman, Lachlan 44
Cripps, Patrick 29
Walker, Andrew 29
Tuohy, Zach 5

Progressives:
2430 - Docherty, Sam (0)
2099 - Gibbs, Bryce (0)
1367 - Curnow, Edward (0)
1304 - Simpson, Kade (0)
1304 - Cripps, Patrick (0)
945 - Murphy, Marc (0)
867 - Weitering, Jacob (0)
835 - Thomas, Dale (0)
671 - Wright, Matthew (0)
628 - Kerridge, Sam (0)
477 - Kreuzer, Matthew (0)
389 - Byrne, Ciaran (0)
369 - Rowe, Sam (0)
265 - Casboult, Levi (0)
241 - Plowman, Lachlan (0)
235 - White, Simon (0)
210 - Armfield, Dennis (0)
181 - Everitt, Andrejs (0)
165 - Tuohy, Zach (0)
101 - Sumner, Liam (0)
97 - Lamb, Jed (0)
93 - Phillips, Andrew (0)
72 - Graham, Nick (0)
57 - Curnow, Charles (0)
56 - Walker, Andrew (0)
28 - Jamison, Michael (0)
23 - Jones, Liam (0)
19 - Boekhorst, Blaine (0)
8 - Gorringe, Daniel (0)
6 - Buckley, Dylan (0)
3 - Whiley, Mark (0)

Docherty has about a one top game lead over Gibbs at this point. Difficult to make up when both guys are doing well most weeks. Behind them comes a group of 3 that are very close (around the 1300 votes), followed by another significant gap to Murphy and Weitering. Our relatively ordinary form since Murphy was injured suggests that we may struggle a little to get many A+ rankings soon, even though the spread of vote getters is a real positive.

At the moment Docherty and Gibbs would be the top contenders for the John Nicholls Medal as well.

Round 15: Carlton vs Collingwood and not the result we all wanted. Such is life.
To lose as we did shows how much we have improved: we were so much down compared to some of or recent performances and still failed by only 2 goals.

It wasn't a big week for voter numbers either. Probably exhausted by voting in the General Election. That said, 15 people voted, 2 more than this time last year.
The rating this week was 6.51, a value between a D- and an E+. Probably a reasonable result considering.
15 players managed to get votes, which does show that we are not depending on the same small cohort each week. Simmo was the clear favourite this week. There was also a significant difference between the top 3 vote getters and the rest.

Votes:
Simpson, Kade 402
Curnow, Edward 148
Docherty, Sam 143
Plowman, Lachlan 52
Gibbs, Bryce 46
Byrne, Ciaran 28
Lamb, Jed 26
Phillips, Andrew 26
White, Simon 24
Wright, Matthew 17
Rowe, Sam 17
Sumner, Liam 17
Silvagni, Jack 15
Cripps, Patrick 9
Thomas, Dale 7
 
Progressives:
2574 - Docherty, Sam (0)
2144 - Gibbs, Bryce (0)
1706 - Simpson, Kade (0)
1514 - Curnow, Edward (0)
1313 - Cripps, Patrick (0)
945 - Murphy, Marc (0)
867 - Weitering, Jacob (0)
841 - Thomas, Dale (0)
688 - Wright, Matthew (0)
628 - Kerridge, Sam (0)
477 - Kreuzer, Matthew (0)
418 - Byrne, Ciaran (0)
387 - Rowe, Sam (0)
293 - Plowman, Lachlan (0)
265 - Casboult, Levi (0)
259 - White, Simon (0)
210 - Armfield, Dennis (0)
181 - Everitt, Andrejs (0)
165 - Tuohy, Zach (0)
123 - Lamb, Jed (0)
119 - Phillips, Andrew (0)
119 - Sumner, Liam (0)
72 - Graham, Nick (0)
57 - Curnow, Charles (0)
56 - Walker, Andrew (0)
28 - Jamison, Michael (0)
23 - Jones, Liam (0)
19 - Boekhorst, Blaine (0)
16 - Silvagni, Jack (0)
8 - Gorringe, Daniel (0)
6 - Buckley, Dylan (0)
3 - Whiley, Mark (0)

Docherty maintained his lead this week, while Gibbs managed to solidify 2nd place. Simmo moved forward into a distinct 3rd, but it is still pretty close between 3rd and 5th.
Behind these guys there hasn't been a lot of activity recently. Murphy hasn't been around to get a vote for weeks, yet his 6th spot remains.

Rd 16: Carlton vs Adelaide
This was one of our most disappointing performances for the year in which we failed because we didn't believe we could win and we butchered the ball more than at any other time. 11 turnover goals against us said it all. Considering that they kicked 16 for the match..... :(

The ordinary crowd, where our supporters were outnumbered by Adelaide fans, was another very negative factor.

As a result, we had very few voters this week: less than half of what we had 6 weeks ago. It was, in fact, just as many as we had last year, during one of the most disappointing periods in our history.
The rating was correspondingly poor, 6.05. That is an E.

Votes:
Armfield, Dennis 252
Docherty, Sam 204
Simpson, Kade 146
Rowe, Sam 104
Gibbs, Bryce 92
Tuohy, Zach 61
Cripps, Patrick 46
Plowman, Lachlan 12
Kerridge, Sam 10
White, Simon 7
Curnow, Edward 5
Sumner, Liam 5
Weitering, Jacob 2

That said, 13 players managed to attract votes. This is a positive trend and has been so all year. It does suggest that Bolton is making a difference: instead of each round being dominated by one or 2 players, we have serious contributions from a significant portion of the team.

Armfield's 4 excellent goals gained him the top spot this week. However, all of our defenders got a mention.

Progressives:
2777 - Docherty, Sam (0)
2236 - Gibbs, Bryce (0)
1851 - Simpson, Kade (0)
1519 - Curnow, Edward (0)
1359 - Cripps, Patrick (0)
945 - Murphy, Marc (0)
869 - Weitering, Jacob (0)
841 - Thomas, Dale (0)
688 - Wright, Matthew (0)
638 - Kerridge, Sam (0)
491 - Rowe, Sam (0)
477 - Kreuzer, Matthew (0)
462 - Armfield, Dennis (0)
418 - Byrne, Ciaran (0)
305 - Plowman, Lachlan (0)
267 - White, Simon (0)
265 - Casboult, Levi (0)
225 - Tuohy, Zach (0)
181 - Everitt, Andrejs (0)
124 - Sumner, Liam (0)
123 - Lamb, Jed (0)
119 - Phillips, Andrew (0)
72 - Graham, Nick (0)
57 - Curnow, Charles (0)
56 - Walker, Andrew (0)
28 - Jamison, Michael (0)
23 - Jones, Liam (0)
19 - Boekhorst, Blaine (0)
16 - Silvagni, Jack (0)
8 - Gorringe, Daniel (0)
6 - Buckley, Dylan (0)
3 - Whiley, Mark (0)

Docherty has opened up a 2 top game lead over Bryce Gibbs, with Simmo a further BOG behind in 3rd spot.
Marc Murphy is still firmly in control of 6th spot: a source of serious worry.

Round 17: Carlton vs West Coast

An improved performance in many ways. And it was very clear in the voting pattern, where 18 people voted this week, a 50% increase on the number of voters compared to this time last year.
The overall rating was 7.89, a significant improvement over last week's effort. This represents a score between a C and a C-.
The votes were well spread this week, as a number of players produced some promising efforts. 16 different players got a mention.

Votes:
Simpson, Kade 305
Docherty, Sam 276
Rowe, Sam 131
Gibbs, Bryce 118
Cripps, Patrick 118
Kerridge, Sam 79
White, Simon 35
Plowman, Lachlan 28
Phillips, Andrew 28
Tuohy, Zach 20
Graham, Nick 15
Buckley, Dylan 11
Kreuzer, Matthew 9
Silvagni, Jack 4
Curnow, Edward 2
Wright, Matthew 2

Simmo and Docherty continue to solidify their hold on the top placings with another excellent performance.

Progressive Scores:
3053 - Docherty, Sam (0)
2355 - Gibbs, Bryce (0)
2156 - Simpson, Kade (0)
1521 - Curnow, Edward (0)
1477 - Cripps, Patrick (0)
945 - Murphy, Marc (0)
869 - Weitering, Jacob (0)
841 - Thomas, Dale (0)
717 - Kerridge, Sam (0)
690 - Wright, Matthew (0)
622 - Rowe, Sam (0)
486 - Kreuzer, Matthew (0)
462 - Armfield, Dennis (0)
418 - Byrne, Ciaran (0)
334 - Plowman, Lachlan (0)
302 - White, Simon (0)
265 - Casboult, Levi (0)
245 - Tuohy, Zach (0)
181 - Everitt, Andrejs (0)
148 - Phillips, Andrew (0)
124 - Sumner, Liam (0)
123 - Lamb, Jed (0)
87 - Graham, Nick (0)
57 - Curnow, Charles (0)
56 - Walker, Andrew (0)
28 - Jamison, Michael (0)
23 - Jones, Liam (0)
20 - Silvagni, Jack (0)
19 - Boekhorst, Blaine (0)
17 - Buckley, Dylan (0)
8 - Gorringe, Daniel (0)
3 - Whiley, Mark (0)

Round 18: Carlton vs Sydney in Sydney
For the 2nd week in a row we fail by not much. You have to be impressed with a lot of our game, to take these teams to the edge. But I want to beat these zeroes!

We had 16 voters this week: 5 more than the same time last year. Considering that few of us saw the game live, that is a solid effort.
A rating of 8.50 is very solid, between a C+ and a B-. This is about as good as a loss can be rated.
12 different players got a mention this week, continuing the trend of large number of contributors.

Votes:
Gibbs, Bryce 340
Cripps, Patrick 279
Simpson, Kade 197
Curnow, Edward 154
Docherty, Sam 120
Kreuzer, Matthew 66
Wright, Matthew 50
White, Simon 27
Graham, Nick 27
Tuohy, Zach 8
Casboult, Levi 5
Weitering, Jacob 3

Progressive Voting:
3173 - Docherty, Sam (0)
2695 - Gibbs, Bryce (0)
2353 - Simpson, Kade (0)
1756 - Cripps, Patrick (0)
1675 - Curnow, Edward (0)
945 - Murphy, Marc (0)
872 - Weitering, Jacob (0)
841 - Thomas, Dale (0)
741 - Wright, Matthew (0)
717 - Kerridge, Sam (0)
622 - Rowe, Sam (0)
553 - Kreuzer, Matthew (0)
462 - Armfield, Dennis (0)
418 - Byrne, Ciaran (0)
334 - Plowman, Lachlan (0)
328 - White, Simon (0)
270 - Casboult, Levi (0)
253 - Tuohy, Zach (0)
181 - Everitt, Andrejs (0)
148 - Phillips, Andrew (0)
124 - Sumner, Liam (0)
123 - Lamb, Jed (0)
113 - Graham, Nick (0)
57 - Curnow, Charles (0)
56 - Walker, Andrew (0)
28 - Jamison, Michael (0)
23 - Jones, Liam (0)
20 - Silvagni, Jack (0)
19 - Boekhorst, Blaine (0)
17 - Buckley, Dylan (0)
8 - Gorringe, Daniel (0)
3 - Whiley, Mark (0)

Docherty has opened a 500 vote lead over Gibbs, who has a 300 vote lead over 3rd place Simpson. Cripps and Ed Curnow are very close in 4th and 5th spots, but Murphy, who hasn't played for weeks, still holds 6th place.

if we are ever to become a serious team again, Kreuzer or another needs to be top 5 in B & F every day of the week...

Yes. We do need a ruckman to be a significant contributor.
For that matter, we can't really afford to have a guy who has missed as much football as Murphy as this season to be ensconced firmly in 6th spot. For all that it is good to have a lot of contributors (and we do), we need some of them to take up the mantle and be BOG some weeks.
We ARE getting more contributions from more players, especially more than last year, but we need the depth of talent that some other clubs have and we don't appear to have that yet.

For all that, there are many positive signs in the voting patterns that suggest we are on the way forward.
Last year a LOT of our 'name' players were getting so few votes as to not get to 100 at this point in the season. This year we have fewer 'name' players, but the ones we have either have been injured or are performing.
We have a LOT of new names getting some recognition, mostly our trades.
However, our REAL talent influx, our 2015 draftees, have made very little impact. Weitering has been the only one to get votes regularly. Jack Silvagni and Charlie Curnow have enough votes to indicate a future. But in them, and in McKay and company, we have our future top 10 vote getters. The Carlton NextGen.

How many teams would have a ruckman in the top 5 of their B&F?  North and Geelong last year off the top of my head.  Any others?

They may not have been B&F material, but Freo and the Weagles have lived and died with their ruckmen. When NicNat played well, West Coast won. And last year he played well for a lot of games. Similarly, when Freo challenged, Sandilands got the ball a lot. North challenged on the back of serious form from Goldstein. Adelaide prospers on the back of Sauce Jacobs. GWS prospers on the back of Mumford.
Hawthorn appear to be the exception to the rule, but that isn't quite what it seems. Their rucks don't do as much as the others, but they keep their opponents down and provide what Hawthorn wants of them. When Hawthorn are at their best, their rucks are important.

I've closed off the voting thread for the Hawthorn game. Anyone who still has votes to add, PM me and I will update as necessary.

Rd 19: Carlton vs Hawthorn: so near and yet so far.....
For the 2nd time in Tasmania this year, we have come close to Hawthorn without being able to get the prize or kick many goals. However, we were NOT thrashed by 120 points either. So we are headed in the correct direction.

It was a low voting week with only 13 voters. Not surprising when so few could see the game live or on TV. However, there were 19 voters this time last year. With the game at the MCG this week (and a home game at that) hopefully we will have more voters this week.

The average ranking this week was 8.05, basically a C. That is quite a reasonable result considering that we lost. Hopefully we can win this week! :)
There were 12 different vote getters for this game, a good figure, especially when I wasn't voting. (;))

Votes:
Cripps, Patrick 384
Tuohy, Zach 245
Gibbs, Bryce 186
Docherty, Sam 111
Curnow, Edward 87
Simpson, Kade 81
Kreuzer, Matthew 62
Kerridge, Sam 25
Plowman, Lachlan 19
Wright, Matthew 6
Graham, Nick 6
Silvagni, Jack 6

Cripps was a clear winner this week, as he appears to be coming back into form.

Progressive Voters:
3284 - Docherty, Sam (0)
2881 - Gibbs, Bryce (0)
2433 - Simpson, Kade (0)
2140 - Cripps, Patrick (0)
1762 - Curnow, Edward (0)
945 - Murphy, Marc (0)
872 - Weitering, Jacob (0)
841 - Thomas, Dale (0)
747 - Wright, Matthew (0)
742 - Kerridge, Sam (0)
622 - Rowe, Sam (0)
615 - Kreuzer, Matthew (0)
488 - Tuohy, Zach (0)
462 - Armfield, Dennis (0)
418 - Byrne, Ciaran (0)
352 - Plowman, Lachlan (0)
328 - White, Simon (0)
270 - Casboult, Levi (0)
181 - Everitt, Andrejs (0)
148 - Phillips, Andrew (0)
124 - Sumner, Liam (0)
123 - Lamb, Jed (0)
120 - Graham, Nick (0)
57 - Curnow, Charles (0)
56 - Walker, Andrew (0)
28 - Jamison, Michael (0)
26 - Silvagni, Jack (0)
23 - Jones, Liam (0)
19 - Boekhorst, Blaine (0)
17 - Buckley, Dylan (0)
8 - Gorringe, Daniel (0)
3 - Whiley, Mark (0)

Rd 20: Carlton vs St Kilda
One of our worst performances of the year. The 'Aints killed us, even though we did fix up some of the structural issues from our previous defeat. Not one that the faithful appreciated, as only 14 people bothered to vote. It is 2 more than this time last year, but this time last year was a true disaster.
The rating this week, 5.93, which is close enough to an E, was the lowest of the season. Not a surprise considering. Hopefully we can turn up this week.
As would be expected in a poor performance, there were not many who deserved a vote this week. Only 9 players got a mention. That is about as bad as we get.

Votes:
Simpson, Kade 299
Cripps, Patrick 253
Tuohy, Zach 164
Docherty, Sam 101
Gibbs, Bryce 38
Curnow, Edward 12
Casboult, Levi 10
Silvagni, Jack 10
Rowe, Sam 4

Progressive votes:
3385 - Docherty, Sam (0)
2918 - Gibbs, Bryce (0)
2732 - Simpson, Kade (0)
2393 - Cripps, Patrick (0)
1774 - Curnow, Edward (0)
945 - Murphy, Marc (0)
872 - Weitering, Jacob (0)
841 - Thomas, Dale (0)
747 - Wright, Matthew (0)
742 - Kerridge, Sam (0)
653 - Tuohy, Zach (0)
626 - Rowe, Sam (0)
615 - Kreuzer, Matthew (0)
462 - Armfield, Dennis (0)
418 - Byrne, Ciaran (0)
352 - Plowman, Lachlan (0)
328 - White, Simon (0)
280 - Casboult, Levi (0)
181 - Everitt, Andrejs (0)
148 - Phillips, Andrew (0)
124 - Sumner, Liam (0)
123 - Lamb, Jed (0)
120 - Graham, Nick (0)
57 - Curnow, Charles (0)
56 - Walker, Andrew (0)
36 - Silvagni, Jack (0)
28 - Jamison, Michael (0)
23 - Jones, Liam (0)
19 - Boekhorst, Blaine (0)
17 - Buckley, Dylan (0)
8 - Gorringe, Daniel (0)
3 - Whiley, Mark (0)

With 2 games to go, the top 4 are set. The order, however, if not. Docherty has a lead, Simmo in 3rd place has almost caught Gibbs in 2nd. Ed Curnow looks comfortable in 5th. Murphy is still 6th even though he has not played in 11 weeks. Behind him Weitering and company have stagnated. In some ways the stagnation of Wright, Kerridge, Thomas and Weitering does show something about the stagnation in our form.

Rd 21: Carlton vs Brisbane in Brisbane: how to throw away a game in one easy lesson. :(
Not exactly our best effort, against the team that has barely won all year, but we look tired and seriously out of form and structure. A LOT of work to do in the summer, like finding a few more players.

The game being in Brisbane must have effected the voting numbers, as there were 3 less than this time last year. Fair enough. I think most of us are over 2016. I know I am.
The rating was 6.31, more or less an E+. Well, we did dominate the 2nd half.
12 player managed votes this week, an improvement over some of our recent efforts.

Votes:
Cripps, Patrick 284
Curnow, Edward 166
Casboult, Levi 128
Simpson, Kade 105
Gibbs, Bryce 72
Tuohy, Zach 67
White, Simon 44
Silvagni, Jack 36
Kreuzer, Matthew 23
Docherty, Sam 8
Buckley, Dylan 8
Cuningham, David 4

Nice to see Cumingham get a mention for his 22 pressure acts. Cripps was the clear BOG for us, made more impressive by the injury that had him off the ground for periods of the game. Docherty had one of leas effective games of the year,

Progressive Votes:
3394 - Docherty, Sam (0)
2990 - Gibbs, Bryce (0)
2837 - Simpson, Kade (0)
2677 - Cripps, Patrick (0)
1940 - Curnow, Edward (0)
945 - Murphy, Marc (0)
872 - Weitering, Jacob (0)
841 - Thomas, Dale (0)
747 - Wright, Matthew (0)
742 - Kerridge, Sam (0)
720 - Tuohy, Zach (0)
638 - Kreuzer, Matthew (0)
626 - Rowe, Sam (0)
462 - Armfield, Dennis (0)
418 - Byrne, Ciaran (0)
409 - Casboult, Levi (0)
372 - White, Simon (0)
352 - Plowman, Lachlan (0)
181 - Everitt, Andrejs (0)
148 - Phillips, Andrew (0)
124 - Sumner, Liam (0)
123 - Lamb, Jed (0)
120 - Graham, Nick (0)
72 - Silvagni, Jack (0)
57 - Curnow, Charles (0)
56 - Walker, Andrew (0)
28 - Jamison, Michael (0)
25 - Buckley, Dylan (0)
23 - Jones, Liam (0)
19 - Boekhorst, Blaine (0)
8 - Gorringe, Daniel (0)
5 - Cuningham, David (0)
3 - Whiley, Mark (0)

The top 4 places are yet to be finalized, but they stand out. Murphy is still 6th and he has missed more than half of the year.

Rd 22: Carlton vs Melbourne - and I missed it! Damn. Especially considering the what happened next.

This week there were 16 voters, 4 more than this game last year. Hopefully we can do a bit better in the 2nd half of the season in 2017, so we can keep interest in voting: getting voters for horrible losses is always an issue and I understand it. Too horrible to think about let alone reward incompetence.
We, this one was our first win in months - basically since Murphy was injured. That in itself is telling.
The rating this week was 9.08, just a little better than a B.
14 players got a vote this round: very solid. It is what I want to see in 2017!

Votes:
Cripps, Patrick 369
Gibbs, Bryce 312
Simpson, Kade 187
Buckley, Dylan 102
Curnow, Edward 91
Kreuzer, Matthew 79
Docherty, Sam 79
Jones, Liam 51
Graham, Nick 40
Phillips, Andrew 17
Weitering, Jacob 11
Wright, Matthew 11
Cuningham, David 6
Plowman, Lachlan 6

This was, by far, Buckley's best game for the year. It is also the first time in ages that Weitering got some votes, same for Plowman. Liam Jones was also rated as his best effort for 2016.

Progressive Voting:
3473 - Docherty, Sam (0)
3302 - Gibbs, Bryce (0)
3046 - Cripps, Patrick (0)
3024 - Simpson, Kade (0)
2031 - Curnow, Edward (0)
945 - Murphy, Marc (0)
883 - Weitering, Jacob (0)
841 - Thomas, Dale (0)
758 - Wright, Matthew (0)
742 - Kerridge, Sam (0)
720 - Tuohy, Zach (0)
717 - Kreuzer, Matthew (0)
626 - Rowe, Sam (0)
462 - Armfield, Dennis (0)
418 - Byrne, Ciaran (0)
409 - Casboult, Levi (0)
372 - White, Simon (0)
358 - Plowman, Lachlan (0)
181 - Everitt, Andrejs (0)
165 - Phillips, Andrew (0)
159 - Graham, Nick (0)
127 - Buckley, Dylan (0)
124 - Sumner, Liam (0)
123 - Lamb, Jed (0)
74 - Jones, Liam (0)
72 - Silvagni, Jack (0)
57 - Curnow, Charles (0)
56 - Walker, Andrew (0)
28 - Jamison, Michael (0)
19 - Boekhorst, Blaine (0)
10 - Cuningham, David (0)
8 - Gorringe, Daniel (0)
3 - Whiley, Mark (0)

So, with 1 round to go there are 4 players over 3000 and any of them could win, depending on how that last game goes. After that is Curnow, followed by Daylight..... That is not so good.
 

Rd 23: Carlton vs Essendon:    Updated 05/09/2016
What a disaster. Honestly, I cannot think of a worse way to finish the season that to be beaten by the Drug Cheats and so easily. Even though he had 40% more inside 50's.

Voters: not many this week. I guess that is understandable considering how we played. :( We had 1 less voter than this game last year.
The rating was [5.51: the worst for the year. This represents LESS than E-, a terrible result against the wooden spooners. In fact, we lost to the bottom 2 teams in the last 3 weeks. Bad.
12 players managed a vote, although few impressed significantly.

Votes:
Cripps, Patrick 246
Gibbs, Bryce 148
Simpson, Kade 138
Wright, Matthew 136
Docherty, Sam 87
Kreuzer, Matthew 30
Weitering, Jacob 17
White, Simon 8
Tuohy, Zach 4
Buckley, Dylan 4
Silvagni, Jack 4
Cuningham, David 4

Final Voting:
3560 - Docherty, Sam (87)
3450 - Gibbs, Bryce (149)
3292 - Cripps, Patrick (246)
3162 - Simpson, Kade (138)
2031 - Curnow, Edward (0)
945 - Murphy, Marc (0)
900 - Weitering, Jacob (17)
894 - Wright, Matthew (136)
841 - Thomas, Dale (0)
747 - Kreuzer, Matthew (30)
742 - Kerridge, Sam (0)
724 - Tuohy, Zach (5)
626 - Rowe, Sam (0)
462 - Armfield, Dennis (0)
418 - Byrne, Ciaran (0)
409 - Casboult, Levi (0)
381 - White, Simon (9)
358 - Plowman, Lachlan (0)
181 - Everitt, Andrejs (0)
165 - Phillips, Andrew (0)
159 - Graham, Nick (0)
132 - Buckley, Dylan (5)
124 - Sumner, Liam (0)
123 - Lamb, Jed (0)
76 - Silvagni, Jack (5)
74 - Jones, Liam (0)
57 - Curnow, Charles (0)
56 - Walker, Andrew (0)
28 - Jamison, Michael (0)
19 - Boekhorst, Blaine (0)
15 - Cuningham, David (5)
8 - Gorringe, Daniel (0)
3 - Whiley, Mark (0)

Wow, Ed Curnow is in a league of his own, there is no one within a 1000 votes of him!

Jim Park Medal: Updated 05/09/2016
Winner for 2016: Sam Docherty!
Congratulations! A great season and a deserving winner! Docherty won by a mere 110 votes, almost nothing over the season.

2nd: Bryce Gibbs - an excellent effort, especially after Murphy went down.
3rd: Patrick Cripps - less than 200 votes behind after a season with some real ups and down, Cripps got his hands on the ball first more than anyone else! Well done!
4th: Kade Simpson - our 4th player getting over 3000 votes and less than 1 good performance behind the winner. Well done, Simmo.

I expect the John Nicholls Medal to be fought out by these 4 players. Docherty was BOG 4 times. So were Gibbs and Cripps, with 3 to Simpson. Docherty was in our best 5 18 times. Gibbs was in our best 5 17 times. Cripps was in our best 5 13 times. Simpson was in our top 5 15 times. Incredible!

5th: Ed Curnow - an excellent year for our top stopper, who really got a lot of positive ball, especially early in the season. He was about a 1000 votes behind the top 4, but he was very solid. He had 1 BOG and 12 top 5 finishes for the season.

6th: Marc Murphy
7th: Jacob Weitering
8th: Matthew Wright

In some ways this is a bad sign, as Murphy did not play after Round 10, but had he seen the year but he would have been in the top couple. Murphy had 2 BOGs and 3 top 5 finishes.
Wright made it into 8th spot in the last round, an excellent effort from a guy delisted by Adelaide. He had 5 top 5 finishes, but no BOGs.
Weitering is an excellent chance to win our best 1st year player, being in 7th spot for most of the season. He had 1 BOG and 3 top 5 finishes.
There was a difference of 6 votes between Weitering and Wright and 2 late voters contributed.

9th: Thomas
10th: Kreuzer
11th: Kerridge
12th: Tuohy

Thomas had 2 BOGs and 3 top 5 finishes, but he really petered out as the season went on.
Kreuzer did not have any BOGs, but he garnered votes more regularly than Thomas did.
Kerridge had 3 top 5 finishes, but also struggled in the 2nd half of the season.
Tuohy was solid rather than spectacular, with 3 top 5 finishes.

In many ways this season was an improvement. In 2015 we had a lot of highly rated players performing poorly and having very few votes. That was simply not the case this season. The only players of note near the bottom of the rankings were Walker and Jamison, who were crippled with injury and had to retire.
We didn't get a huge amount from our 2015 draftees, but they all had extended periods of injury. Of the 4 who debuted this year, all got a mention. Weitering did best and played the most games, but Cuningham, Curnow and Silvagni all showed something for the future, especially considering their age.

The 2014 draftees, on the other hand, had a very poor year and may not survive the cull.

Thank you to everyone who voted in 2016. This award would not exist without you and your enthusiasm and insight. It has been a better season numerically than 2015 in most aspects. Hopefully more people can vote in 2017 as we continue to improve.
Car'n the Blues!

Thanks for your efforts Crash - they are very much appreciated!

There's a lot of interesting factors in the results and, as you point out, Murphy finishing 6th after only 10 games is quite telling.

Thanks Crash for all your work in compiling this, a great effort.

Confirmed what we would have thought anecdotally about the top 4. Murph's effort was excellent too considering he only played half the year. Surprised to see Daisy up there tbh but based mainly on his early season efforts. he must have tired as the season wore on. Hopefully he can be more consistent over the full journey next year.

Good to see Weitering make a solid start to his AFL career and Wright proved to be an excellent pick-up for us.

No worries, mate. I'll keep doing it as long as there is enough interest to have it continue.

Thanks Crash...great effort...

Daisy was 9th in the Jim Park...if he gets top ten in the B&F that tells you where we are at...... :-[ :-[

Great work as usual crash.

Thank You.

Great effort to run this show and a top effort by all the posters/voters. One of the posts I really look forward to reading.
Keep up the great work

No worries, mate!

Re Daisy: he didn't get a mention after Rd 12, which was his 3rd and last serious mention. From that point on he really struggled. Considering that he had about half the side each week making a contribution enough to get a vote, that suggests that he was struggling to hold his spot.
The way he finished the year was a really bad sign for a guy who really wants to make a contribution. I am sure he is as aware of his form as the rest of us and he does have the desire. I would not be surprised if he was seriously considering his future just now.

Surely if Daisy thought he was going to have to struggle through yet another season he may possibly consider trying to come to some kind of accommodation with the club? OK, he wouldn't just walk away but maybe a deal could be reached for a lower sum, he would not be required to go through the rigours of another preseason and maybe he could fill another role at the club. If he wasn't on the playing list would his payout (i.e. a portion of next year's salary) be part of the salary cap?

Nothing would be certain yet, but it would be interesting to see what sort of discussions he was having with Bolton and Silvagni.

x 2.
Cheers. It adds a little something extra to the season :)). Great effort.