Carlton Supporters Club

The past was only last year. The present is he continued that form.

Having three wins in a row, now is a good time to look at our players. I've seen the last two wins, and watched the Freo game on tv, so here's my two cents:
1 Walker - looked so underdone today, but really liked the way he seemed to realise that and worked so hard on the defensive side of his game, needs a couple of games but worth persisting with
3 Murphy - heavy tag today, but continues to work his butt off and put his head over the ball, showing great leadership by example
4 Gibbs - outstanding today, in great form and is consistently showing his class and hurting the opposition, would be winning our B&F right now I think
6 Simpson - excellent game today, yet again, our most courageous player, rose again in the last quarter and got us home, gets criticised for his disposal, but I can't remember his last clanger turnover
8 Kreuzer - is really rolling at the moment, tapwork is excellent, marking around the ground better than ever, and is a real force around the clearances, to go better when Phillips not playing and gets more time on the ball
9 Cripps - future star, almost there now, you have to watch carefully to see all of the great things he does in tight, just makes good decisions all the time and executes well, will continue to improve but is already in our top 4 players
11 Kerridge - works really hard and did a lot of good things today, just rushes on occasion, not as polished as I thouht when we got him, but runs and works so hard, we just need to get him to relax and use his skills better
13 Lamb - impressed with this guy, works very hard, spent some time in the centre square midfield today and did some good work, needs some confidence i think and back himself, could be a real asset
14 Jones - Tries hard but limited, not in our next premisership team
15 Docherty - what a steal this guy is, cool and composed, reads the play beautifully and uses the ball as well as anyone we have, was a key player today and last week, a key plank of our team going forward
17 Rowe - very good again today, concentrates well and is a real team player, limited in some aspects, but gives his all, which we need until we improve the list
19 Sumner - starting to really believe in this guy, did some very good work today, runs so hard without the ball, is definitely a keeper and will improve over the next couple of years
20 Plowman - big wraps and has done some nice work, but seems a bit unsure at times, needs confidence, get some games into him and encourage him to take the game on, will always lose some one on one contests with bigger opponents, but needs to be encouraged to run off them when we have the ball
27 Armfield - tried hard all day, did some useful things but applied a lot of chase and tackle pressure which I assume is his main KPI, love his effort and commitment, unquestionable
33 Everitt - Dr Jekkly and Mr Hyde - so many good things and so many bad things
35 Curnow - Outstanding again from Ed, made Treloar almost irrelevant and got planty of it himself, just about our most consistent player over the last 12 months IMO, one of our best
39 Thomas - averege game, tried hard after elbow injury early
40 Jamieson - tried hard but seems restricted, can't question his commitment, and did a good job of negating his various opponents throughout the game
41 Casboult - outstanding again, marked everything, kicked pretty well, underrated on this site, work rate is first class
42 Touhy - very solid game, took risks at the right times, kicking very good
46 Wright - solid contribution again, a good pick up, very smart and uses the ball well

Because they win games of football for you. That's the reason why you're out there. Some things supporters think coaches do are overrated hence they don't get dropped despite the frustration. You prefer him not out there and we lost?

If that's the way they play though the proviso is they keep performing otherwise they will be dropped faster.

He got 20 touches, 8 marks and kicked 3 vital goals. Hopefully no-one missed that part.

Rowe wasn't a passenger.

Good again.

I guess the cold reality is that we've beaten 3 very ordinary sides …in succession... however, we've done it with an ordinary forward line and other obvious flaws. Provocatively, I doubt we could have or would have won all three under the previous coaching in our recent past. In fact, I'm bloody sure of it.

The most telling comment I have heard from any neutral observer of our club this year is, 'there's obviously buy in from the players' (re coach). To me, this is the most pleasing aspect of CFC 2016... even with an uneven list. This has not happened at our club since the late 1990s - Parko.

Very telling is how the new coaching group has turned our leaders into much better leaders. Our leaders now take responsibility in heat and give/show direction. Simmo played like a 23 yr old in that last qtr today. Seeing Gibbs lay hard tackles yet, also, display his finesse and hurt the opposition with his disposals and attitude proves 'buy in.'

Today we kicked our highest score for the year yet still keeping our opponents to a modest score.

We won today even with some very obvious passengers - Jammo, Walker, Plowman, Rowe, Jones and perhaps even Sumner. But even though these blokes didn't have great days they did pitch in at critical moments to give a positive contribution - we just needed more from them.

Meat has to be shielded from the media (and their neurotic obsession with his kicking). The obsession with his kicking spanks of 'needing something to say.' What was convincing today re Meat was how he loves a run in the ruck. What a quandary... Kreuz does better when rucking mostly but then there's this bloke Phillips who's coming along in leaps and bounds and probably should be our no. 1 ruckman. It's no accident that Meat was so good today when he was also able to ruck.

Jones - must understand that he only gets success when he works really hard, all of the time.

Everitt - most here know I am not a fan of Andre, in fact, a critic. To further explain, I am not a fan of any bloke who seems to have not bought into the team ethic; who is soft at very physical contests; who relies on talent alone (although this may see a goal or three) and seem to refuse to HURT for the team – Andre seems to be the sort of bloke who’ll do anything as long as he won’t break a finger-nail in the process. And because he actually has real talent and skills, and shows them on the ground, we'll want to believe he is the real deal. He aint.
Andre has very obvious talent but is better suited to a non-contact sport. So, if he stays in the seniors, others will have to cover for him at crucial times. Sorry, but he's psychologically soft and just not a 'team' person.

Rowe wasn't a passenger.

Good again.

Rowe wasn't a passenger.

Good again.

Coaches aren't stupid. If a player with a big downside is getting touches, taking marks and kicking goals the coach will play him.They're job depends on results.  The moment they're not doing that their downside will get them dropped very quickly as that will turn a coach's frustration to being pissed off.