Carlton Supporters Club

If Doc is fit to play, he has to start, so why not as a defensive forward on Zorko? Moir as sub?

Five years since I was last here, Bolton was coach, the Judge was Pres and was it Trigg as CEO?

Cerra Gov and Martin are very risky given their soft tissue woes.

Be very typical of us if correct. Half fit players with a name in the side ahead of younger blokes, who are performing and gave us some run that we lacked.

OK folks, so here is the VERY early oil I have on selection.
Ins : Cerra, Doc, McGovern, McKay and  ..... Martin (as the sub)
Outs : Binns, Carroll, Lord, Moir & Owies.
Charlie couldn't get up nor could TDK and  Williams
Disappointing that none of the young blokes get a run and somehow Motlop and Fantasia survive. Needless to say if we lose the MC will cop a fair bit of criticism and rightfully so.

OK folks, so here is the VERY early oil I have on selection.
Ins : Cerra, Doc, McGovern, McKay and  ..... Martin (as the sub)
Outs : Binns, Carroll, Lord, Moir & Owies.
Charlie couldn't get up nor could TDK and  Williams
Disappointing that none of the young blokes get a run and somehow Motlop and Fantasia survive. Needless to say if we lose the MC will cop a fair bit of criticism and rightfully so.

How many young blokes with only a few games of experience do you bring into a cut throat final against the battle hardened Lions? We may think selections are risky but I am sure the team that's selected will be ready to go to give us the bestt chance of winning.
Just on finals experience, I saw a photo yesterday that showed we have the most number of players (29) with finals experience which I assume meant on our list. Next were
Swans 28
Lions 27
Port and GWS 26
WB 24
Geel 23
Haw 12

The 3 that are performing...Lord, Binns with Moir sub. Always puck blokes who are fit and in form. Rule 101!

That has to be better than bringing in those that have missed huge chunks of the year and won't be near match ready for a final. Only way you win is with a fit side out there. Otherwise we get run over. Our slump started bringing in half fit, out of form players and killed our run.

People are forgetting you need match fit players and Brisbane are at full strength on their quick home deck.

People are forgetting you need match fit players and Brisbane are at full strength on their quick home deck.

I bet even the MC doesn't know our final side as yet. Especially considering there's another training run tomorrow!

My real concern is all the marketing and attention given to the sentimentality of Doc's selection. A wonderful feel good and good news story, and no doubt will lift the lads, momentarily... but... how much of a distraction might it also be? Apologies for being a wet blanket, but there's a very real risk associated with a bloke who hasn't played in heat for so many months.

Hopefully the coaching group is more than aware of the risk of distraction and the risk of limited exposure to game day pressure and expectations for Doc. After five minutes on the field, it's no longer about the romance but about hard-nosed delivery of the job at hand; the harsh reality of the huge task ahead of Doc and the rest of us.

Brisvegas is the red hot favourite for this game, for good reasons. Reality. We're the deserved underdogs.

Selection will be a real balancing act. You can't risk taking too many injury prone blokes into a final. There are in form kids who've delivered over the past few games and deserve inclusion, and a number of blokes lacking match fitness who are susceptible to breaking down, regardless of reputation.

Whilst they might be raging favourite, Bris have a poor record against top 10 teams. Saw something this morning on it, cant find it.

The important training session was yesterday not Sat.

I'm far from giving up on us, in fact I'm strangely optimistic, but a lot of things need to go right. And it starts with the MC. I strongly believe our culture is superior to Brisvegas, but we need right people on the paddock on Saturday night... blokes who can and will last for 120 minutes of relentless pressure; blokes whose bodies are up for the challenge... we know their hearts and minds are up for it.