Carlton Supporters Club

So, if Everitt played the full game, the chances of him getting a call up tomorrow are pretty slim. 

Just got back from the game... simply awful until half time. In the first qtr it was as if our blokes thought that Rottingwood was kicking with a 10 goal gale (it was about a 3 goal wind) and were simply content to tackle hard and go all out negating which was a terrible tactic/attitude - lost the game in the first qtr against pretty ordinary opposition. In fact, our first qtr was one of the worst qtrs of football I've ever seen.

The entire game, from our point of view, was marred by so many terrible decisions - kicking to blokes out numbered, handballing to blokes in worse positions, kick and hope into the forward line and absolutely not understanding how to play when blustery.

We had 9 CFC blokes (including our international rookie, Korcheck) and the rest were Preston blokes.

After half time our blokes were suddenly fair-dinkum and it was a much better game to watch though the dumb decisions persisted. Really missed some senior CFC player talent. There's no doubt had there been just 2 or 3 CFC players we would have won. In the first half it was the old story... we were so bad that we made them look good.

Don't be mislead by the number of possessions Everitt got. In hard contests he gave very little and even gave up possession too easily and a missed tackle in our forward line was a howler resulting in the Dagpies running the ball the length of the ground and goaling. In the second half when everyone had lifted Everitt was better and did some good things ...but demand recall? I wouldn't think so... when it was hard going he wasn't sighted and I would have thought that for a senior CFC listed bloke he would have shown some leadership and mongrel. For mine, still too soft but his skills were clearly better than many around him at times. When I saw he had 27 possessions I found it hard to believe. Love to know the effectiveness of them. And if he makes the best players I'll know that someone is bullsh1tting us.

On a more positive note... for mine Dick was probably the best 4 qtr CFC listed bloke, followed by Rainbow. I was also pleased to see Foster more involved and he was one of the few with good foot skills on the day (along with Rainbow). He has certainly improved over the weeks and with McCasker out he and Jaksch shared tall defender responsibilities (though Jaksch went forward when we had the wind).

Good - Dick, Rainbow and Wood.

Serviceable - Gallucci, Foster and Korcheck. The big American boy really competes hard and keeps getting a little better each time. Took some good grabs and actually did some hard and effective work at ground level as well.

Jaksch was used in attack and defence. Took a couple of nice grabs and kicked a good long goal... but, sheesh, he is so 1982 - straight lines, mark, kick, and that is it.

(a kid called Kerbatieh is worth keeping our eyes on... really impressive and did some very good things today... a very real future rookie prospect).

Willow was the best Preston boy by a mile... and emptied about 10 litres of fluid from his guts on the boundary line in front of us... nice!

Gorringe - Pfft.

Ps Everitt played the entire game... not a half.

Cheers.

26. Matthew Dick

Stats: 23 disposals, nine marks, six handball receives, one goal

From the coach: It was another solid game in defence, who was more composed with his decision making and skill execution against Collingwood. He put in a good shift and a four-quarter performance.

20. Andrejs Everitt

Stats: 27 disposals, six marks, seven inside-50s, four clearances

From the coach: ‘Dre’ worked really hard up and down the ground. He set the tone with high-speed running and he found plenty of the ball playing between the arcs and up forward.

31. Jayden Foster

Stats: 18 disposals, four marks, nine handball receives

From the coach: Jayden continues to improve in one-on-one contests, and he was another defender that found plenty of the ball and used it well. He continues to work areas of his game that need improvement.

56. Andrew Gallucci

Stats: 11 disposals, seven handball receives, one goal

From the coach: It wasn’t the four-quarter impact that we were hoping for, but it was a much-improved second half. He kicked two important goals in the last quarter and offered good presence at ground level.

18. Daniel Gorringe

Stats: 11 disposals, five marks, one goal

From the coach: His second half was quite impressive after a slow start: he played on a wing at times and made Jesse White accountable, and he certainly got better as the game went on.

48. Kristian Jaksch

Stats: 11 disposals, four marks, four inside-50s, one goal

From the coach: There was some inconsistency from ‘KJ’ in competing in the air, but he had some pivotal moments where he marked the ball forward of centre. He had a much-improved second half and got some exposure at both ends of the ground.

27. Michael Jamison

From the coach: ‘Jamo’ started really well, with some brutal efforts in the contest to spoil in the air: we certainly missed his presence when he went off with concussion midway through the first quarter.

80. Matthew Korcheck

Stats: Four disposals, three marks, 14 hitouts

From the coach: He continues to learn the game and get valuable experience, while he took a couple of marks and had a shot on goal. He’ll grow in confidence as the games go on.

65. Dillon Viojo-Rainbow

Stats: 18 disposals (12 contested), six handball receives, one goal

From the coach: It was another solid game from Dillon where he played in a variety of roles and used the ball well. He got back to support in defence and got some exposure in the clinches as an inside midfielder in the second half.

36. Cameron Wood

Stats: 18 disposals, six marks, four inside-50s, six clearances, 34 hitouts

From the coach: It was a really good game from ‘Woody’, who set the tone with aggressiveness around stoppages and worked hard on spread to create another option in offence.

Josh Fraser's player appraisal:

If the coach knows his business, Jamison (subject to concussion), Everitt and Viojo-Rainbow would be most likely to get a call up.

Unless it's just the coach pumping tyres up (and I doubt that it is), it's good to see improvement in the performances of new blokes and players who didn't seem tp make progress last season.

Few blokes treading water in the magoos.

Does anybody know where Cuningham is gone? I've tweeted Northern Blues and CFC a couple of times but get no reply.

#cuninghamconspiracy