Set for 1105 on Saturday Morning. Almost certainly we'll have no emergencies playing. We'll take at least 2.
Mirkov? Lemmey? We badly missed them last week.
(https://resources.carltonfc.com.au/photo-resources/2023/04/28/da95d6c5-53a9-4f2d-b2fc-cd77d30889e4/R6VFLTeam.png?width=1904)
Interesting. Carroll has been 'managed'; none of the emergencies are playing. Lemmey and Mirkov are back, with Mirkov named on the bench! Not sure what that says, to be honest: Mirkov gets taps by the hundreds, while O'Keefe barely had any last week.
TDK looking a little disinterested playing fwd.
Liking Binnsy's game.
We're dominating ruck contests but the Dishlickers are sharking them. Noticed twice in the first qtr where Dow shirked defensive tackles in important positions on the ground... maybe explains something.
Well, I think we are seeing a bit of a tell today.
We are also seeing the relative worthlessness of winning the taps in the absence of influence over other areas of ruck work.
First time I've seen Mircov live for a while. Ruck craft is looking good, (esp against Darcy who has played footy all him life) but he has no footy awareness after that! Lemmey looks very promising (he's a big kid!) and Dom is picking up the game well.
BlueBaggers down by 4 gls at half time. 8.5 to 4.5
Darcy is way over-rated, he's their because of his name not his ability.
Mirkov so far off AFL standard it's barely visible on the horizon, if he gets a run it's a dead-set tell we've injuries being carried or end of season trades coming.
Cottrell and Boyd rusty as expected, the latter gave away a free and a 50 which both resulted in goals.
Binns and Dow busy.
TDK not really dominating a VFL game as you'd expect for a player supposedly attracting millions of dollars.
I was just about to post the same thing, the Boyd / Cottrell issue makes me question our performance staff far more than any other issue of injuries and recovery. These blokes are fulltime professionals and they should at the bare minimum come in and run all over the part-timers, even if they kick like mechanical cockroaches and fumble everything that comes their way they should still be running VFL type opponents into the ground.
It is also perhaps a bit of a tell about how we think of VFL, it's an AFL training session, we aren't serious about building a winning culture at all levels. To me this is wasteful and misses the point of running your own VFL team, the culture is more important than just about anything else!
Quality players like Wash come from injury and dont miss a beat, ordinary players like Cottrell and Boyd needs time to get touch.
I get that, but I don't get them being behind play, they should be the first to arrive at the ball and the last to drop off the chase!
FFS Carlton, become a bit brutal at all levels of footy and the AFL results will follow!
There is a reason why success follows blokes like Clarkson, Matthews, Balme, they are brutal, they want to win whether it's against the best of the best or the Eucumbene Scout Hall 5ths. They aren't happy with 10 goals, if they get 10 goals they want 20 goals and if they get 20 goals they want 30 goals, it's unrelenting, and the opposition scoring 1pt is just 1pt too many!
There is not a hope in hell our current team would win a game with 30-30-210, we aren't relentless in mindset, we'd probably force Charlie and BigH to play the last quarter for the opposition!
Carlton has grown fat and comfortable on high AFL wages and media profile, I suspect our Penfold's sponsorship is a confirmation of that!
I wonder if TDK is struggling to carry the extra bulk he supposedly put on over the PS. Looks all at sea.
Just wasted 30 mins watching. The cupboard is very bare.
TDK disappointing. Same old from Dow, O'Brien, Plowman and co. Binns might have something.
We cannot handle a defensive press. Not a lot of leadership out on the ground either.
TDK is a mystery for many supporters
When Pittonet was 23 he was playing for Box Hill and he was Big Boy McEvoy's back up's back up.
Half way through the final qtr, Dishlickers by 9pts.
Back to 3 points after looking gone.
Liking the move of Cottrell in the middle/on the ball... kicked a very nice goal on the run. 3 pt deficit.
Critical juncture here, 4 goals to nothing, we need to keep going, one goal to them and its over.
I think this might be over, 6 pt game, running out of time.
Lemmy mark directly in front to level it
Misses
Gee we have given away alot of frees
WB win
Good fightback, just couldn't get our noses in front.
Spare a thought for our old friends the Bullants.
Drat.
Cotters started slowly but finished with a head full of steam to be probably, along with Binns, bog. Mirkov... good effort. Lemmy, off to kicking practice!
Geez we have problems hitting targets going forward.
Nothing today to get excited about. TDK needs a rocket(something NQR). Cottrell will get better. Dow and Obrien continue to be good average players, Plowman is NOT a key defender.
If TDK is happy to go drinking with his brother and his Geelong team mates maybe he is just playing out the year with bruise free football and little enthusiasm.
He is 1kg heavier than he was last season G2C.
He has put something like 13kg since he was drafted but it has been done gradually.
Cottrell really got motoring as the game went. Boyd was full of run too so kudos to the fitness team for getting them back on the park.
Lemmey marked well but his normally reliable kicking let him - and us - down. I hope it’s not contagious.
O’Keeffe was OK and Mirkov did some nice things. It’s good to see him getting involved around the ground. De Koning was average.
Binns was a little down on previous weeks, perhaps he should have worn 25 again.
Dow flashed in to the play occasionally but went missing for too long. I was hoping for a big effort from him in the last quarter but it didn’t happen.
Plowman was good but I suspect that he was trying to do too much in the absence of Kemp and Durds. Akuei tries hard but seems to lack sure hands and awareness. I’m not sure that his athleticism will make up for that.
It was a bit like the firsts last week, too many missed targets presented the opposition with too many opportunities.
That crossed my mind too.
I got told he he put a crapload on this Xmas gone by.
It may be just a tad nerdy but I have a spreadsheet of our list each season going back to 2015. Tom’s weight has stayed around the same mark for the past 2-3 years.
How do his numbers compare to Weiters over the last 3 years?
I get the feeling he's going to a cats player and we're going to get Jeffed over it
Being down at the ground, it was interesting to compare 2 players: Harley Reid, prospective No
1 draft pick and Paddy Dow, seasoned former No 3 draft pick. One has the presence and the body language of an AFL footballer, there's just something about him. The other, unfortunately, is a plodder.
We didn’t maximise early picks / trades for those few years. Dow, LoB, Sam, Fisher (?), Stocker, Philp.
We're also seeing some real class in the top 20 over the past couple of years. JHF, Shezeel, Ashcroft, to name a few.
Cottrell impressive tbh
I didn't get to see the end, but a mate of mine went and thinks he should be straight back in next week after a strong finish.
Hopefully I can watch the replay in the next couple of days, because up to about 1/2-time the AFL players were less than impressive.
I thought that Cottrell faded right at the end. His work towards the end of the third quarter and the start of the last quarter was outstanding. He was winning contests, kicking to a teammate then marking the next kick; elite running!
I think he might need another week or throw the dice and make him the sub.
fisher was like a 3rd round draft pick from memory. We've gotten good value out of him.
That only works if you are taking the measurements yourself.
I wouldn't trust the numbers the AFL put out......for height or weight.
I turned up at Princes Park with my tape measure and scales but they wouldn't let me in :)
The height and weight for players in their draft year is spot on. After that it can be a bit of a lottery but, if you you look at the club profiles, FootyWire and Wilkipedia, you'll get reasonable ball park figures.
It has been that way since Teague coached the team to a VFL grand final
Being coached the same way as the senior team?
Exactly what I said last year ( river rat) like watching the seniors,long bomb into F50 only for opposition to mark and run it out