Carlton Supporters Club

Last two weeks we played crape and lost.
Today we played crape and just won.
North lost it we didn't win it.

FFS, please rest TDK now. Should've been rested 2 weeks ago.

Anyone else who isn't fit. Rest them!

Kennedy, Acres, whoever.

Problem is, I’m not sure we can. Those last 2 losses, brisbanes resurgence and easy-ish run home has cost us dearly.
We need top 2.

FFS, please rest TDK now. Should've been rested 2 weeks ago.

There will be more losses if we keep playing too many injured players.

Not having the extra tall hurt us today, especially with Tom de Koning well below his best. When he lifted in the third, we looked unbeatable. In the 4th, he was thrashed and we struggled to get a clearance.
With H on and off and Tom the same, it allowed Comben to go forward and kick 3 goals. We had no other talls to go with him.
Charlie is so far off his game that it isn't funny and he still kicked 4 goals. He should have had 8! He is dropping marks badly at the moment.
Our midfield struggles to run guys down: lack of leg speed in the middle. This needs addressing, soonest.
I think we should have played Cincotta on Sheezel or LDU today; they wouldn't have a quarter of the effect.

Can we get Lewis Young in the team now please?

Yeah he can be scared of his own shadow at times, but with confidence that changes.  He was capable with weitering out of the side, and when weiters returned, against gws we played them both and he was fine.

Didnt learn much from last time with Sheezel who had 30 plus possies, thats the annoying bit, another 35 today.

Just listening to Marc Murphy on ABC. He said in his opinion one of our issues is that we get opened up through the middle, and that Hewett needs to play as a defensive mid. He seems to think our other mids either struggle with defense or are not defensively minded. Also spoke about our back 6, and said the reason why Kemp gets dropped is because of errors and brain fades in his game. He said that 90% of his game is good, but the 10% that isn't good is costly.

Sam Durdin wasn't embarrassing: he did his job, mainly on Teakle, but he wasn't the long term answer. The number of times he got his hands to the ball only to not complete the mark was frustrating.
Young has to be in the frame, but he certainly isn't setting the world on fire in the 2's.
Do we promote Kemp on his game? It was certainly a good one. But who did he play against? Has he learnt from his blunders? Do we play him up forward if H doesn't come up?

Sam Durdin wasn't embarrassing: he did his job, mainly on Teakle, but he wasn't the long term answer. The number of times he got his hands to the ball only to not complete the mark was frustrating.
Young has to be in the frame, but he certainly isn't setting the world on fire in the 2's.
Do we promote Kemp on his game? It was certainly a good one. But who did he play against? Has he learnt from his blunders? Do we play him up forward if H doesn't come up?

Just listening to Marc Murphy on ABC. He said in his opinion one of our issues is that we get opened up through the middle, and that Hewett needs to play as a defensive mid. He seems to think our other mids either struggle with defense or are not defensively minded. 

He won’t be in my best players but I just want to acknowledge Ollie Hollands for his ability to get to contests and his repeat efforts.

A mosquito stain on the windscreen team is Norp.

The Kangabies are a much better side than many give them credit for. And we had to put our pressure rating through the roof (3rd qtr) to get over them and even then, they wouldn't go away. In the final qtr, to keep our lead was a bloody good effort considering the revolving door of injured blokes coming on and off the ground.

Failed experiments: Dropping Hewett ::) Cincotta on Zuhaar (why the fck would you sacrifice someone so quick over the grass to the last line of defence  ::)) ...and probably dropping Kemp.
Good to see: Cottrell regaining touch, Cerra finally stepping up later in the game, Motlop back, Charles kicking well for goal, H's ruck work and work up the ground.
Don't get: Weiters criticism, Tall Durds criticism.
Bottom line: There's a fleas chin (cleaned that up) between 2nd and 7th on the ladder. With the exception of the Weagles, any and every other side outside the 8 is capable of knocking off a top 8 side.
We are very much, still, a work in progress.
Expect: Pitto in this week, along with Kemp and perhaps Binns. Outs: Injured blokes.

No-one can be happy about that game, we nearly coughed it up too. Thing is, serious premiership contenders don't struggle to put away the cellar-dwellers but we do.

Just out of interest.  Who are the premiership contenders?

Norf are a good team.
Need Gov in the backline though.
Intercept game in the back half was largely non existent.

Coaches;
10 Sheezel 2 x 5
8 Cripps 2 x 4
5 Xerri  1 x 3, 1 x 2
3 LDU 1 x 3
2 Curnow 1 x 2
1 TDK 1 x 1
1 Saad 1 x 1

Bit surprised Saad didn't rank higher.

I think we'd kill for an LDU type at the moment, heavy body, agile, hard at the contest, we have that, but he is loaded with outside pace compared to our Mids, and how good is Wardlaw?

He won’t be in my best players but I just want to acknowledge Ollie Hollands for his ability to get to contests and his repeat efforts.

I have wondered about his selection week after week but, like Matty Cottrell, I suspect that a lot of Ollie’s work goes unnoticed.  It was more apparent this arvo.  Well done young man!

Thought Weitering was worth a vote or Newman....didnt Saad start on Curtis?...didnt think that went so well...

I've been one to stick up for him and praising him for his 'unnoticed effort' each week.

I stood up for him when people were calling for his eviction from the side in favour of a 2nd ruck. (You may have been one of them).
Now without wanting to go down that path, you can clearly see what he offers and how that is a benefit over another tall, specifically a ruck.

We need pressure players. Ollie is a pressure player.
People forget, he is only in his 2nd year. Not many other blokes are going better than him that were taken around (or after) his pick, #11, in the draft.

Someone like Carroll has been on the list longer and shown us less. Somehow because he has played less games, he gets more chances....even though he has been around longer.
Similarly Cottrell who has been around longer than both...but offers very little more than Ollie does at the moment. Even though a lot of his stuff goes unnoticed, he hasn't got back to his pre-injury form yet, far from it.

However, and yes, he's still learning, he still makes critical disposal errors, especially handing the aggott back to the opposition.

Nutshell: great work ethic and defensive efforts. Disposal skills, still a concern. We all love Ollie and his huge ticker, but that doesn't mean we can't be objective, even critical, of his shortcomings.

Anyone who makes the finals.

I think we match up OK against most of the current Top 8, SOS put it well when he described the difference between building a list to be competitive and building a list to win a flag.

But every list has it strengths and weakness, physically, tactically, for example our list is stronger for certain venues that suit our team tactics. Is a list that wins at Marvel the same as a list that wins at the MCG?

We can't drop anymore games. If we drop any games Brisbane will take 2nd spot and the path to the premiership becomes really difficult.

I really hate Clarkson and his thug teams: Tom de Koning to miss with a broken foot and a punctured lung.  :'(  >:(  >:(  >:(

That changed years ago.

The contract requires ten finals (excluding Grand Finals) to be played at the MCG every five years.  It's entirely possible for there to be no games at the MCG for at least two of the finals weekends.

The higher we finish, the better chance we have.

So from last year?

For reference there were 5 in total excluding the GF last year, despite four instate teams making the finals, 3 in the 1st week, one Semi and one Prelim, the only away game week 1 was Brisbane because they finished 2nd and the Filth were top, and obviously Brisbane got the Prelim finishing above us.

After week 1, there are only four possible games excluding the GF, two semis and two prelims.

As the ladder currently stands, you would expect the Swans to get one home final, and probably one out of Port, GWS or Freo subject to final positions. I think it's highly unlikely they send Carlton interstate if we finish anywhere in the top 3, and even less likely they give CheatsFC a home final for finishing below GWS, Port or Freo, especially so if the Filth fail to make the grade.

I realise it's not impossible, but it remains discretionary to the AFL decision makers, the AFL will want to fill The G.

lp

It's as simple as.  The 1st team will play home vs the 4th team.  The 2nd team will play home vs the 3rd team.

The same is true of 5th vs 8th and 6th vs 7th.

That's what we expect, we get that the Home State advantage goes to higher finishing teams.

But the AFL has always stated it always reserves the right to schedule finals where it sees fit, there are no guarantees, and if we end up with five interstate teams in the Top 8, I suspect you'll see an exception this year given the right circumstances.

lp

It's as simple as.   The 1st team will play home vs the 4th team.  The 2nd team will play home vs the 3rd team.

The same is true of 5th vs 8th and 6th vs 7th.

You can put hypotheticals around it, but if the season was called and we 3rd instead of 2nd, the G will host Geelongs game vs Port and that's that. 

The 8 isn't set but I can only see essendon or Port falling out in favour of the doggies, hawthorn or Melbourne at this stage which generally means it won't be us at the G if we don't finish top 2.

Could you imagine the outcry if we finished third and Brisbane finished 2nd and the AFL said we'll play it at the MCG.

The Brisbane club and fans would be up in arms.
But so would every other team in contention.
We need to finish in the top 2
And with 2 games and a huge percentage between us and the Swans...that kinda narrows it down to one spot in particular.
No 2
If we don't finish second, chances are we'll be travelling somewhere not close.

A few us have noted over the years that our crew receive extra "treatment" from certain sides, yet we have so rarely pushed back.  In the past a well-placed knee into Mr Xerri's short ribs on the return encounter might encourage him to play in play in a more sportsmanlike manner.  Because it's the law of the jungle once you cross that line, especially in finals.

Some flog from Geelong I think it was was snipping about "too much whinging" (although it seems legit when Dangerflog does it) but apparently we've made a phonecall to galactic headquarters about the treatment players like TdK received on Sunday without receiving any frees. 

A few us have noted over the years that our crew receive extra "treatment" from certain sides, yet we have so rarely pushed back.  In the past a well-placed knee into Mr Xerri's short ribs on the return encounter might encourage him to play in play in a more sportsmanlike manner.  Because it's the law of the jungle once you cross that line, especially in finals.

I believe that the Swans got stuck into Xerri in round 18 and he was unsettled.

We should play Pitto and De Koning next time and give them a licence to be unsociable.