Carlton Supporters Club

Quote from: Baggers – on July 26, 2025, 09:35:00 am

Yep. Watching the Midgets and Fluffy Ducks game last night, we saw real toughness and hardness. Kinda amplifies just how nice we are. We're the pin-up club for 'sociable' footy. I still find it so difficult to understand how such a tough and uncompromising player -- Voss -- can preside over such an agreeable playing culture.

We were just watching a clip of Greene elbowing someone on the ground and getting away with it and said there’s no one in our team that does that type of thing - oh except Boyd! Who they won’t play!

Quote from: cookie2 – on July 26, 2025, 08:52:13 am

Seen that movie before under Clarko.

Yep. Watching the Midgets and Fluffy Ducks game last night, we saw real toughness and hardness. Kinda amplifies just how nice we are. We're the pin-up club for 'sociable' footy. I still find it so difficult to understand how such a tough and uncompromising player -- Voss -- can preside over such an agreeable playing culture.

Quote from: Lods – on July 25, 2025, 12:24:16 pm

On a positive note we do have some "Emerald Sprouts" in our under 21 contingent.
The thing with young'uns is they have to develop consistency.
That often takes a year or three.
You won't see it every game.
You won't necessarily see it every quarter of a game.
It might be two players 'shining' one week, a different two another week.
Until they've spent some years playing together and develop that 'team' understanding we may not see the best of them.

It wasn't so long ago I was a bit apprehensive about the future and thought we were putting too much emphasis on the present and not planning for the years AC (after Cripps)... and the Four Horsemen of the 2015 draft.
That seems to have changed quite a bit.
We're not looking too bad when these kids get a few years and games under their belt.

Does that mean that Austin gets a pass?

Quote from: bratblue – on July 25, 2025, 01:01:04 pm

Does that mean that Austin gets a pass?

No, he should be sacked, its not even about the listed players skills, execution abilities etc its about the lack of respect we have from other clubs and the endless nice boy players we have ended up with on the list. Its not about winning contests or being brave hunting the ball its about the lack of spirit and fight as soon as other teams crank up the physical stuff we go to water.
We just dont have any players who can or will fight for the club and fly the flag....thats first base for any team imo that you go out there and win lose or draw you stick together and defend your mates and the club at all cost.
We have this soft image where we play nice and expect other teams to follow suit, they all know we can be got at even the rebuild kiddie teams bully us.Essendon are the same and its a culture we share with them and both clubs when they were at their best in the glory years were feared for how they went about it each week.
Its all has to change and its starts with our recruiting where we need to change our thinking about not only what skills a player brings but also getting players with strong character who wont be bullied or intimidated.
It was just so embarrassing and sad watching Sam Docherty targeted by those muppets at Hawthorn.....

IMO, no amount of stray elbows to opponents' heads and no amount of flying the flag is going to put us back on the winners list. As time passes I become more convinced that we are dealing with head space / off field issues. I don't think it's to do with recruiting. Effectively the same group of players were winning consistently over a 12 months period, playing skillful, tough, accountable football. 12 months out of a 4 year tenure is 25%, and 25% of any sample space is nether insignificant nor a statistical aberration. I wish I knew what was up.

Quote from: ElwoodBlues1 – on July 26, 2025, 05:58:26 pm

No, he should be sacked, its not even about the listed players skills, execution abilities etc its about the lack of respect we have from other clubs and the endless nice boy players we have ended up with on the list. Its not about winning contests or being brave hunting the ball its about the lack of spirit and fight as soon as other teams crank up the physical stuff we go to water.
We just dont have any players who can or will fight for the club and fly the flag....thats first base for any team imo that you go out there and win lose or draw you stick together and defend your mates and the club at all cost.
We have this soft image where we play nice and expect other teams to follow suit, they all know we can be got at even the rebuild kiddie teams bully us.Essendon are the same and its a culture we share with them and both clubs when they were at their best in the glory years were feared for how they went about it each week.
Its all has to change and its starts with our recruiting where we need to change our thinking about not only what skills a player brings but also getting players with strong character who wont be bullied or intimidated.
It was just so embarrassing and sad watching Sam Docherty targeted by those muppets at Hawthorn.....

x2
Would love to have seen what Toby Greene would have done to the Haw players when they targetted Doc if TG played for us.
I would kill for a couple like him, I'd even tolerate the fines and suspensions, I'd call it the Carlton Culture Tax.

I think it's the things we don't know that are the major concern.
There's a lot going on with individuals in terms of injury, mental health issues and a fair bit of uncertainty over who will and won't be in a Carlton jumper in 2026.
Add to that the uncertainty regarding Coaching and football department positions, and it's hard to see how it can be a positive, constructive environment to build football success.
But to what extent all those things are playing into performance at the moment is impossible to determine from afar.

It may be the best way to cope is not to get too invested in players and personnel in the next month or two,  and just let it play out.
By the end of September we'll have a bit better idea of what the club will look like in 2026.

Quote from: Gointocarlton – on July 26, 2025, 07:00:42 pm

x2
Would love to have seen what Toby Greene would have done to the Haw players when they targetted Doc if TG played for us.
I would kill for a couple like him, I'd even tolerate the fines and suspensions, I'd call it the Carlton Culture Tax.

Im a fan of Maynard for this reason, even as a kid he had that willingness to mix it with opposition players who messed with him or his teammates and Id like to recruit a similar player.
Toby is great but too valuable to be suspended for silly stuff like with Heeney.
The game has changed and the younger coaches are all wanting that transition game with a touch of niggle and intimidation, Mitchell signalled they were going to be the villains and we seemed oblivious to what they had planned.
Watched the Suns give it to Brisbane too with Ben Long instigating push and shove stuff and upsetting Brisbane, typical Hardwick methodology from his Richmond days. What happened 12-24 months ago is ancient history and the game is going in a different direction while we live in denial and a back to the future approach.

Its almost like the more unfit you are, the harder it is to perform optimally, and the worse decisions you make.

Every single part of the game is based on fitness. Even belief.  You know when you arent 100%. 

My takes on the game:
[1]   Fitness:
We are not fit enough! You have a look at the way the Hawthorn players run, you see that we can’t keep up. They’re willing to run and run and present, which we don’t. We don’t appear able to do so.
As a result, we really need to work on this. I don’t know if you can put all the blame on Innes, but you notice the significant drop off this season. This needs to be addressed ASAP! This needs to be the first thing we address, because, if we're not not fit enough, it doesn't matter how good our game plan is; we won't be able to make it work.

[2]   Tackling:
Granted that we’re not as fit as we need to be, but our tackling really needs work. Too many opposition players break tackles, which lead to goals.
This has really been noticeable in the worst of our losses, and was really obvious on Thursday night.
Not only that, but we also don’t hurt players enough when we tackle. Other teams aim to hurt their opponents, we don’t. We really need to address this.

[3]   Athleticism:
We generally lack that. Look at Hawthorn and a lot of then can run and jump over us. I didn’t like that. It has been clear for some time that we don’t have X-factor. Harry O’Farrell and Ashton Moir are improvements in this area, but we really need more. Speed; we need considerably more of it. We need it to be strength, not a weakness.

[4]   Game Plan:
I don’t think our game plan is as bad as it is made out to be. We have some real positives, especially when it comes to the contested ball that would be useful in finals. We do get Inside 50’s.
That doesn’t mean that our game plan cannot be improved. We need to have a much bigger outside game if we’re going to compete.
We also don’t work hard enough; you see the way the Hawthorn players run off, we don’t do that.
You see the way teams like Hawthorn and, especially, Collingwood set up in the middle, you see where our game needs to improve.

[5]   Disposal:
One of the reasons our disposal is so ordinary is that we run out of gas far too quickly. That we can work on, as the fitter you are, the more likely you will be able to dispose of the ball under pressure.
However, we do have a number of guys who are not that great when it comes to disposal. We need to replace them with guys who can kick well, but we won’t be able to in one foul swoop. We can draft some good kids, but we also need to attract guys with better disposal.

[6]   Decision Making:
Our decision making is not that great, and it is something that a lot of players have issues with. Some of this is coaching, like Cripps doing too much because there isn’t anyone he can get the ball to, or Charlie wheeling and going almost every time. These things can be fixed.
Other things need a lot more work. Again, if we were fitter, we could do what we need to do better, but we need to get our dumber players thinking the right way more often.


Our personnel:
[1]    Nick Haynes:
I know Nick was brought in to give leadership for our younger players, but injuries have forced him to be a permanent feature in our line-up. He intercepts really well and has been a major positive since that first round disaster. But he is physically weak. He gets out-bodied too easily and his tackles often get broken.
I am glad to have had him, but …

[2]   Marc Pittonet:
I admire Pitto, as he always gives his heart and soul, but he is a very limited player who probably won’t be the bull ruck we need to get a premiership. He was really strong and effective before his knee injury, but he has never recovered that strength afterward. He doesn’t take a lot of marks, but he often spoils higher ranked rucks.
What we need is the sort of strong man who gets the ball to the mids first.

[3]    Lachie Fogarty:
Lachie is one of those guys whose talent is probably not up to it. But he has worked hard on his game and has been an effective negative forward. But he doesn’t get enough ball, he doesn’t hurt you when he gets it and he doesn’t have the speed or athleticism to improve significantly. I’d be moving him on.

There are others, but I'll do that later.

I also want to address our spirit, which has been sadly lacking this year, but I'll address this separately.