Carlton Supporters Club

Quote from: laj – on April 20, 2025, 07:20:17 pm

Also allows us to be more flexible with Cripps. Can let him go forward a bit more often where he can be dangerous. He'll likely go there more and more as he gets older.

Kennedy should've been made to be a 3rd tall forward who can back up the midfield. Swap with cripps so we always have a 3rd tall marking target and a tough inside mid between them. Leave Hewett as a full time mid.

Could've worked with all of them, but Kennedy drew the short straw.

Unfortunately for Matt (and I was really sorry to see him go), he wanted to play midfield, but he was a slightly-less-good clone of Cerra, Hewett and Cripps, and had no x-factor like Elijah.  If you have a midfield that collectively moves as fast as treacle, you may win the contest, but you get chopped up when the ball is on the move.

Jagga Smith was going to change that mix (ffs!), we'll have to wait until 2026 to see how it works.  Meantime, they have thrown Motlop in for the odd centre bounce, and the initial results appear promising.

You can't keep them all.......

It's funny how supporters who were anticipating a loss to North Melbourne are now saying that we only beat North 

It seems to me that something was out of whack at the start of the season.  Whether it was the loss of players who were set for key roles, players adjusting to new roles, the new strength and conditioning regime, the consumption of too much bathwater, or a combination of factors, we simply weren't switched on for four quarters and lost games that most of us would have pencilled in for Ws.

I felt that the coaching panel didn't try to address all of our shortcomings in one hit but focused on one step at a time.  We got a little better with each game and it took four games and a relatively weak opponent in West Coast for us to get to where we should have been in Round 1.  North Melbourne felt the full force of a re-energised team playing its brand of footy.

Of course, all of that will mean nothing if we can't build on that performance when we take on the Cats.

Positives for me at this stage are our defence (both individually and team), the midfield (without a huge input from Cripps), and the the forward line as it functioned in the last game.  Small forwards who can hit the scoreboard, apply defensive pressure, and do their bit in the midfield are invaluable.  It's easy to see why Durdin got that contract extension.  Let's hope he can stay fit and maintain that form. 

Kemp was showing signs of working out as our third tall forward before his cruel injury.  Silvagni looks like he was always meant to play in defence and good on him for suggesting the change in role.

The other self-initiated role changer is Williams and his footy smarts are paying dividends in our forward line.  He was also able to perform adequately in defence when Cowan did his hammy and his spells in the midfield have been good.  Like Durds, Zac has to stay on the park.

The De Koning versus Xerri clash was interesting.  Despite the commentators gushing over the King's work, it was a fairly close contest with Xerri taking the honours at throw ins and Tom dominating the centre bounces.  Of course, Tom has a better highlights reel and he did make it hard for Xerri's taps to reach their targets.

The bottom line is that we had a very good win over a team that would have made us pay if we had played as we did in the first three rounds.

Holy mackerel!!

I think someone mentioned it previously in this thread. I just watch the game again, and FM if Weiters didn't have his legs taken from under him by a Judo move very late in the 3rd qtr. How the hell can that be allowed. Using Judo to take players legs from under them  will cause serious knee injuries galore if it's allowed to creep into our game.

Quote from: Baggers – on April 21, 2025, 08:26:49 pm

Holy mackerel!!

I think someone mentioned it previously in this thread. I just watch the game again, and FM if Weiters didn't have his legs taken from under him by a Judo move very late in the 3rd qtr. How the hell can that be allowed. Using Judo to take players legs from under them  will cause serious knee injuries galore if it's allowed to creep into our game.

More worried about popping a shoulder when you put your arm out to stop yourself headbutting the turf. Double so because  you've got a bloke on your back riding you down.

Needs to be highlighted and stopped now.
Should've been called for tripping because that's exactly what it was.

I saw a leg broken (snapped both lower leg bones) in a tripping/tangle incident at club level.  It was a dog act and should have, at the very least, registered a mentioned as "noted, no sanction...but players on notice" addendum.