I'm confused.
I spent the bulk of last year alternating weekly between thoughts of making the eight and thoughts of qualifying for a priority draft pick.
12 months on, a Wizard Cup later, and my habits are yet to change.
Up until last weekend, we had been 'in' every game, and with a little bit of luck/inspiration, the Blues could have been 6-0.
However, and more importantly, I fear the reality of our situation is, we 'fell in' against Essendon*, where our fitness and hardness held out, we drew with Port in a mistake-riddled game by the Power, and a touch of experience proved the difference against the Hawks.
Some people could be forgiven for thinking we really should be 0-7.
As a result, it leaves me with the question, what should I/we expect for the rest of 2005?
Fevola comes back, as does Livo (soon), which will give us a heap more structure, but we lose Stevo for an unconfirmed period of time (albeit not a serious injury though).
But who are we getting back?
Are we getting a future champion and 100-a-year goalkicker back, or a young, naive, petulent footballer, whose lack of maturity and concentration during a game is becoming a major distraction?
Are we getting a young, disciplined full-back back who is extremely strong in one-on-one contests, and following his first full pre-season, was showing glimpses of his future as a very reliable 200+ game player in the key post for the Blues, or a guy low on confidence, that put together a handful of reasonable games in low pressure football, where his team had midfield ascendencies and received great support from reliable cohorts in Thornton and Teague, but when the crunch comes, will prove to be wasted talent, a victim of poor personnel management, and just an answer to a good trivia question in future?
Is this a sour outlook? I don't even know anymore.
Am I a bitter supporter? No, and never will be.
Am I shitty about Demetriou and Black Friday? A little, but we deserved a thorough ass-kicking.
What can I look forward to?
Looking at our draw, our next month or 2 is a huge challenge, and will prove plenty, but I'm sure we'll lose more than they win (if we win any).
Our last 7-8 rounds are actually quite weak and soft, and dependent on what the 'real' Carlton is, could still us challenge for the finals.
For now, I have predictions of another priority pick, but I'm sure in another 2 weeks, I'll be predicting a finals berth.
Please someone, tell me what I should think.
I'd love to see Mitchell Clark, Scott Gumbleton and Austin Lucy in Navy Blue.
I'd love to nail a St Kilda star in the PSD.
Are any of these likely?
Will any or all of Lance, Fev, Campo and/or Kouta be playing in Navy Blue if at all?
I'll be cheering one way or another. I pro,ise I'll be patient, I wish it didn't frustrate me so much though.
I'm going to be here all night if I keep going.
Can someone offer me some direction??!!
Go Blues.
Barrel.
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