Carlton Supporters Club

This game could be the first nil all draw in history.

The big issue is that with the player meeting last week they've played a trump and it's been beaten by a joker.

What does that leave them with in terms of motivation.
By all expectations they would/should have brought their best efforts today...but it's fallen short.
It will be huge challenge to follow up.
It will be a huge effort if they get up.

Maybe.

Maybe not.

I think we got caught up too much in the bravado today.  It actually helped us lose focus in the second quarter (I forget the specifics).


What I do think is that this is one part of a macro problem we are aiming to solve, about setting standards regarding going into bat for each other on game day which is a team building exercise in itself and IMHO based on this game we have some work to do on it regarding tidying it up.

I think you're right about the focus loss and that indicates to me that the 'flying the flag' may have been artificial and manufactured rather than instinctive.
They'd talked all week about sticking up for one another so when one went down it was more "Oh, I need to get involved here, get over to the huddle and be seen to be doing something" ...rather than a natural reaction.

That's just it though lods.

We are what we repeatedly do.  What comes naturally for some, might need to become a habit.  We took a step towards that today. 

In the words of Aristotle.

We are what we repeatedly do.  Therefore excellence isn't an act, it's a habit.

The same applies to discipline, aggression, instincts are simply learned behaviours.  Our kids are learning those behaviours now.

Think about information overload.  Our 2015 crop are coming along now because they are no longer having to learn it all.  Now it's about refinement and honing.  The application of acquired knowledge.

That's fair enough but that just gives us another major deficiency that needs work.
It's an area that seems to not count for much in recruiting...strangely Jack Silvagni is one that has been prepared to fly the flag from day 1.

At this stage Drugcheats look like they'll be without Stringer and Sheil.
That's a fair injury list with Smith (one of their best imo), Joe at al.

Seriously. If we can't win against them. I really can't see us off 1 win and another unenviable spoon.

Go Blues

Expecting us to win anything us like expecting to win tattslotto. Not likely.

Be interesting if both teams play their new mid season recruits and given where they play they might play on each other...both are players picked to play now
and we might get an idea on how desperate each coach is.

DeLuca is currently injured. (Hamstring)

"We think he can help in a number of positions. He's got a slight hamstring [strain] so that just shows we're not just picking just for the now. But he'll be right to go potentially next week."

Shiel an outside chance to play apparently.

Shiel an outside chance to play apparently.

Whichever club turns up thinking they're going to win will lose.

I have this feeling the losing coach will get it in the neck.

I have this feeling the losing coach will get it in the neck.

If McGovern doesn't get up then I'm thinking McGovern/Thomas out for Kerr/Setterfield in?

Not Setterfield. He did diddly in the 2s from all reports.

I'd give Lang a run....

Agree mad...it's a bit like the old "shuffling the deckchairs on the Titanic" at the moment. All and sundry getting a game in the midfield when really only Cripps and Walsh are the ones doing the heavy lifting. If we were only playing blokes who deserved a game, we'd have about 12 or 13 running out on the weekend. I'm not sold on Lang but if he's doing okay in the twos then he probably deserves a chance at showing if he's worth keeping.

My whole point LP.....dropping one bloke who's not doing much and bringing in another bloke who's not doing much? Our midfield options are so limited at the moment that we're just having to play guys and hope they improve. Our depth has been crap for so long.

Not Setterfield. He did diddly in the 2s from all reports.

I'd give Lang a run....

Yep LP don't get to see any of it here so I can only really go on the comments on here. So what does that say about the overall coaching and game plan if, as you say, blokes are played into and then out of form? I'd be devastated if we were tanking again given how many wooden spoons and near bottom finishes we've had in recent years. All those high draft picks and we're still sitting on the bottom? How many more years of this is there to come?

I see Kennedy in the VFL for weeks on end while our midfield is struggling and he comes in last week and for the most part he's ordinary. I see Dow and O'Brien struggling week after week but still getting a game. If we drop them, who's knocking the door down in the VLF? Setterfield was brought into the club to be that bigger midfielder type and while he's had two injury interrupted years at GWS, he's now back in the VFL. We brought in Fasolo to add depth and from what I read, he's not doing much in the VFL either.

We had the Mullet/O'Shea/Shaw experiment to add depth and older players to help and they were all an abject failure. This year has got that same feel about it it IMHO. Someone else posted the other day that they need another couple of pre-seasons? Curnow, McKay, Cunningham and Weitering are into their 4th seasons...SPS and Fisher their 3rd. A couple more preseasons and it'll be their 6th and 5th respectively....are we going to have to wait that long?

From that list that Shawny posted, there's probably 8-10 blokes you could easily cull at the end of this year but we've been doing that repeatedly over the last 3-4 years. That makes it near impossible to trade blokes in when you don't have an awful lot to offer up the other way.

I actually think Fraser is OK, if not better than OK, but to me it appears our AFL part is also the wrecking ball for all things Northern Blues!

Actually, if I recall correctly Kennedy was looked OK after returning from injury, but then got re-injured in the VFL and we promoted him to the AFL carrying an injury or recovering from another injury off the back of no game.

In respect to Weitering he looks fine, but he's had less interruptions than Charlie and far less than McKay. SPS has looked good in patches and I suspect Fisher is carrying an injury because he's looked the goods in the past as well. Personally, I think this idea of having them play through adversity is bogus, it's more likely they will become Pavlov's Dog than a Performance Athlete!

Fisher has been tagged in several games this year and obviously clubs rate him as our second best mid IMO but he has found the going tough with the extra attention and bigger bodies manning him up.

So why isn't Crippa blocking for his little mate? Cripps should be dropped. ;D ;D

So why isn't Crippa blocking for his little mate? Cripps should be dropped. ;D ;D

The problem is Walsh having a free running opponent, it means they got someone extra to sit on or roll off players like Fisher and SPS.

We are all super excited about Walsh, opponents don't give much of a stuff about him yet!

Fish and Samo need to extract the digit, push through the tags and lift. They have been passengers for a large chunk of the year.

So why isn't Crippa blocking for his little mate? Cripps should be dropped. ;D ;D

GTC...Because Cripps is being blocked, sat on, punched in the ribs, handcuffed, assaulted and has to carry about 10 other players
on his shoulders and like Judd is at breaking point.

SOS got the kids he wanted but didnt pick the support team to help them, ...after thoughts like Mullet, OShea, Shaw Lang, Garlett, Kennedy etc havent cut it...

I have to pose this question, given Cripps is mostly traveling solo, and Fisher and SPS are getting beaten up week in and week out.

Why has Ed been kiboshed from the midfield, and why hasn't Charlie been given a run?

.............while I dont expect Bolton to be across every opposing move and every player cutting us up I do expect his support coaches to be doing their job and how Barker and Bruce are  still occupying stoppages/midfield coaching roles is beyond me?....very slow on the uptake are both of them.

I've had a lot of time for Barker in the past, but this season has really stretched my patience given the obvious persistence with losing midfield strategies and the toll that takes on Cripps.

You'd be forgiven for thinking Cripps is heading home and we are doing to him what Wet Toast did to Judd, it really is that bad!

Of course the relationship with Bolton might be a factor, seems very loyal to his coach much like Cunnington is with Scott, the club have a lot of thinking to do...

I don't think Cripps will be driven by $$$ to be honest. If he's busted his @rse for Carlton for 7 years and we're still anchored to the bottom of the ladder, then he'll be looking to be a part of some team success and West Coast will be far more open to offering him that than we are. If that happened we'd just have to hope the compensation pick could get us something at the Trade Table.

Are you sure, I've read here changing the coach is allegedly a free hit without any negatives?

I'm sure Bolton has a good relationship with many players and you will get some upset who might want to
leave or arc up but you do whats good for the club as a whole..if its required.

GTC...Because Cripps is being blocked, sat on, punched in the ribs, handcuffed, assaulted and has to carry about 10 other players
on his shoulders and like Judd is at breaking point.

SOS got the kids he wanted but didnt pick the support team to help them, ...after thoughts like Mullet, OShea, Shaw Lang, Garlett, Kennedy etc havent cut it...

I was being facetious.

Have a read, while you've got Springsteen's 'Glory Days' playing in the background!

https://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/the-inside-story-of-carltons-incredible-upset-win-against-essendon-in-the-1999-preliminary-final/news-story/96a441899708f2a02ed15d0f52c13103

No offence TC but CBF watching glory day stuff anymore. One it makes me even more angry given where we are at today. Two its irrelevant
 to our plight.

Essendon v Carlton at the MCG, 3.20pm AEST

ESSENDON

In: D.Clarke, M.Baguley, J.Ridley, Z.Clarke, M.Brown, I.Mosquito
Out: J.Stringer (hamstring), D.Shiel (hamstring)
New: Irving Mosquito (Gippsland U18)

CARLTON

In: J.Garlett, P.Kerr, A.Schumacher, C.Polson, A.Fasolo, D.Lang, W.Setterfield
Out: K.Simpson (managed), D.Thomas (club suspension), M.McGovern (ankle)
New: Angus Schumacher (Bendigo U18)

Interchange from:  Schumacher, Polson, Kerr, Lang, Fasolo, Dow, Garlett, Setterfield.

Predicted interchange: Kerr, Setterfield, Lang, Dow

IN: Jarrod Garlett, Patrick Kerr, Angus Schumacher, Cameron Polson, Alex Fasolo, Darcy Lang, Will Setterfield

OUT: Kade Simpson (Managed), Dale Thomas (Omitted), Mitch McGovern (Injured)

NEW: Angus Schumacher

Given how the Northern Blues played last week, I would not play Garlett (his form is very ordinary), I'd be struggling to consider Polson (at least he was trying) and I would give Setters more time in the VFL.
However, I have a poor record of picking our interchange players. :(

How/why is Simpson being managed?

He only just came back from 2 weeks out and we’re already missing Thomas from our half back line.

Managed = dropped. He had a shocker last week.

Surely after a couple of weeks out you' would cut him some slack for a poor game on return.
Especially with Thomas out of the side.
"Managed' just doesn't make any sense.

Sad that we are still relying on a bloke that is what 35/36 but his body now is finally showing its age.

What a warrior he has been and bloody sad last week as the poor bloke looked a beaten man even early in the game......I could see it on his face.

Reckon he knows his dream of playing in a successful team has now passed him by.

My brother is a doctor and has been a local footy club doctor for a couple of decades. He was shocked that Simpson was coming bcak from a hamstring strain so quickly. He said once guys get over 30, if they do a string, it's usually 5-6 weeks to get back, even for a minor strain. They just don't heal as quickly. I suspect he puled up sore in the hammy after Sunday's game and they are going to give it another week or two to get it right

Just beat me...lol.

x3... be good to see Kerr playing, Hooker and Hurley though probably not the easiest potential opponents...

Managed = dropped. He had a shocker last week.

Wrong! His hamstring still isn't right.

Then it wouldn't say "managed", it would say "hamstring".

Then it wouldn't say "managed", it would say "hamstring".

But I'm hoping Kerr gets a crack at it.

Has anyone else noticed that we seem to have been cut up a bit by handball in some of our games.
It was really noticeable in our big losses, but was a factor again last week.
We don't seem to use it a lot or nearly as competently as our opponents.

Bizarrely the only team that handballs less than us this season are the premiers so it's probably more about the quality of that skill rather than the quantity.

I'm expecting a loss.  Weight of competitive players being the issue.

Jones out has been a big loss too and probably a bit underestimated.

Lang, Fasolo, Dow and Setterfield are the 4 interchange.

We aren't good enough to cover the number of senior players we have out.


Daisy, Simpson and Murphy are all key players for us that we simply can't afford to have missing together. We are covering them better than we used to though.

I'm expecting a loss.  Weight of competitive players being the issue.

Think you'll find that cheats.com.au have been hit every bit as hard as us re injuries to key personnel... best two mids out (Smith, Shiel) for starters.

Our best has them covered, easily. 44 pt win to the BlueBaggers.

Wet Weather...I'll go Blues by 17 points...going to be a slog but they just have too many good players out who
would have been handy on a wet day.

Does your team have its collective back against the wall? Is it riddled with injury? Is the coach under pressure? Fear not, your opponent this week is Carlton, we'll help you get your season back on track.
Cheats by a bit.

P.S. Come on Blues, prove me wrong please.

Think you'll find that cheats.com.au have been hit every bit as hard as us re injuries to key personnel... best two mids out (Smith, Shiel) for starters.

Our best has them covered, easily. 44 pt win to the BlueBaggers.

Lang and Fas would want to do something this week, both have done SFA so far.
I would be putting Dow on notice this week.

It would be nice to be able to put Dow on notice.
But who takes his place?

Anyone who can hit a target

Anyone who can hit a target

I’m looking for one of  the ‘younger brigade’ to have a breakout game and push Cripps aside as our ‘BOG’, get high points in the coaches awards and make everyone sit up and take notice. Walsh has been consistently 8/10 and just works his butt off. I want a ‘wow’ game from the likes of Setterfield, Kennedy or Dow. But it won’t come from them.  Liam Stocker has the poise and presence to do that at some stage. He presents like he belongs and he’s not overawed like O’Brien, Dow, etc are at time. 

Hopefully it this week, but if not, it will be soon.

SPS and McKay have been the only ones to rival Cripps for BOG so far this year. (Freo game aside where Cripps was soundly beaten)

I think Curnow is due for a solid performance.
I'm not sure any of the more lightly framed kids are capable of that at this stage of their career.

Jacob weitering and David Cunningham are the other two.
Take note people wanting Bolton sacked.  4 years is when players really settle into their careers.

The other is young zach Fisher who is the other one who's playing well beyond his years.

Where our disappointment lies??

Kreuzer, Simpson, Murphy, ed curnow all look like they've run their race at afl level this season.

It's the number 1 reason we struggle and aside from ed curnow you can't argue they're playing roles they shouldn't be.

I'll give kreuzer a pass but once again him breaking down cost us a match vs Hawthorn.

CARLTON
B: Caleb Marchbank, Levi Casboult, Liam Stocker
HB: Lachie Plowman, Jacob Weitering, Nic Newman
C: Michael Gibbons, Patrick Cripps, David Cuningham
HF: Jack Silvagni, Harry McKay, Sam Walsh
F: Sam Petrevski-Seton, Charlie Curnow, Zac Fisher
R: Matthew Kreuzer, Matthew Kennedy, Ed Curnow
Int: Alex Fasolo, Darcy Lang, Paddy Dow, Will Setterfield
EMG: Jarrod Garlett, Patrick Kerr, Angus Schumacher, Cameron Polson

IN: Alex Fasolo, Darcy Lang, Will Setterfield
OUT: Kade Simpson (Managed), Dale Thomas (Omitted), Mitch McGovern (Injured)

I wouldn't have played Fasolo, Lang or Setterfield, but ... :(

ESSENDON
B: Aaron Francis, Cale Hooker, Michael Hurley
HB: Conor McKenna, Patrick Ambrose, Adam Saad
C: Mason Redman, Zach Merrett, Anthony McDonald-Tipungwuti
HF: David Zaharakis, Jayden Laverde, Josh Begley
F: Darcy Parish, Shaun McKernan, Andrew McGrath
R: Tom Bellchambers, Kyle Langford, Dyson Heppell
Int: Ben McNiece, Matt Guelfi, Dylan Clarke, Mark Baguley
EMG: Jordan Ridley, Zac Clarke, Mitch Brown, Irving Mosquito

IN: Dylan Clarke, Mark Baguley
OUT: Jake Stringer (Injured), Dylan Shiel (Injured)

I made a point earlier in the year when people were screaming about where is our development.

I pointed to the bests of years past and of this season.

Results wise, its hard to see improvement.
Performance wise, the kids are the ones playing well and its the senior players that have dropped off and no longer pulling their weight.
Murphy the obvious one.
Even the evergreen Simpson has been poor by his lofty standards.
Ed has been largely disappointing
Kreuzer is a shadow of his former self, largely due to the injuries catching up with him.
Casboult has been pushed out of the side, mostly, and is getting a game due to injuries at the other end of the ground.

Daisy is about the only exception....and obviously his recent issue doesn't help.

The kids are starting to step up...the more patient we are, the more kids will step up as they get more experienced. Will it be enough? Time will tell.

This is precisely why Bolton shouldn't get sacked.  We just hired a new fitness guru.  He's had one pre season with our blokes.  I think our strength and conditioning team has been really poor since justin cordy left us as high performance manager.

It's why we haven't been a true 4 quarter team for 6 years.

The only ones who are bucking that trend are the guys putting in a heap of work off their own bat which is really good for them but it reflects poorly on the club.

We are not maximizing our players careers which is something that we need to improve upon as a footy club.

It's like that snapshot of a moment Kruddler was talking about in the other thread...the Best 22 one.
This is what we're seeing at the moment.
Is it sustainable or just a teasing glimpse.

Weitering is playing good football early this season.
Will he be playing the same football this time next year?
SPS has had one standout game this year but has been inconsistent.
Cunningham is having a better season.
Will he continue to improve and establish himself as a permanent member of the team?
I don't think Zac Fisher is having the same impact as he was last year although his stats are probably on a par.

Of course our old players are getting a bit poorer but there's nothing much knocking down the door to push them out of the side.

Usually by now one of the naysayers jumps up and shouts "excuses !"

I'll save them the trouble - "EXCUSES !!!!"

It's like that snapshot of a moment Kruddler was talking about in the other thread...the Best 22 one.
This is what we're seeing at the moment.
Is it sustainable or just a teasing glimpse.

Weitering is playing good football early this season.
Will he be playing the same football this time next year?
SPS has had one standout game this year but has been inconsistent.
Cunningham is having a better season.
Will he continue to improve and establish himself as a permanent member of the team?
I don't think Zac Fisher is having the same impact as he was last year although his stats are probably on a par.

Of course our old players are getting a bit poorer but there's nothing much knocking down the door to push them out of the side.

Fisher has been highlighted as the second cog in our midfield wheel behind Cripps and has been manned up hard most weeks
and hasnt coped with extra attention. With Cripps also under the pump from taggers we dont have the manpower to help Fisher out.
SPS isnt physical and either are Walsh or Dow...

We drop players for that stuff.

Last week daisy was the only player I saw ran past the ball carrier and put physical pressure on a chasing player.

This week dropped.