I agree though for myself HBF is pretty much the same as a sweeper role. Ideally I'd be running scotland through the mid/bench/HBF, never felt he was the type to be a damaging goal kicker. Similarly, stevens whilst he can kick goals on ocassion just doesnt seem as dangerous running through the forward half as a judd/simpson etc

1st, 2nd and 3rd chickens went to breakfast, lunch and dinner - I'm awaiting the supper...

Pros:

In 3-4 years when we have a list with a similar age profile to Geelong's there'll be 6-8 teams with young lists like ours is at the moment.

Cons:

If our older list is shit it won't make any of us very happy.



Not time to slash wrists at this stage. We have a shortage of good backmen at the club and most of those weren't playing on Saturday. Considering who we were playing and the situation for them I'm surprised we didn't get belted by more. Geelong got spanked by Collingwood last week - I'm not judging them by that one game alone and I won't be judging Carlton by this one alone either.

We're still getting there it's just that some of us thought we were closer than we might be and are now disappointed. Kreuzer, Browne, Armfield and Judd are all big positives to come out of the last 12 months along with the development of guys like, Grigg and Bower. That's six good additions to the side in a short space of time. Hopefully Hadley's body holds together and that's seven. Some of the guys who've been there longer such as Betts are clearly improving too.

I'm far happier with this year than last at the same stage regardless of win/loss ratios etc.

_________________
“When a clown moves into a palace, he doesn't become a king. The palace turns into a circus.”
Turkish Proverb

Pros:
Played some pretty good footy in the first quarter, when we were winning the ball in the midfield. Finished the game off pretty well.
Tempo footy. Exactly what you need to do at times against quality opposition when you're getting smashed. In reality we should have used it more, or played a couple of extra players down back, if we seriously wanted a chance to win. Particularly with how aggressively they were running forwards.
I quite like what they're trying to do with Stevens. Bell one week. Ablett the next. Reminds me of how they taught Braddles to play defensively in 94-95. There will be weeks where he'll get smashed. But it can only help him and the team in the longer term. Thought he was good offensively.
Carrazzo's job on Ablett in the last quarter. If were really, really serious about trying to get a win, we had to at least try to shut down Ablett.
Kreuzer's job in defence in the last quarter. He looks to be struggling a little with confidence at the moment. If they continue to play him in seniors over the next few weeks, I'd play him in defence. Easier role to play. Plus gives him some training for his longer-term career as a key forward.
Fevola was excellent (when the ball got near him).
Judd was great.
Cloke showed he might be a chance at chf, when we were winning some midfield ball. Got the necessary footy smarts.
Gibbs. Enjoyed seeing him get some time up forward again.
Grigg continues to improve.

Cons:
Playing Geelong after a rare loss.
While I like what I see with Browne and Armfield, and like that they're being given real responsibility. But we were never going to win with 6 games of AFL experience against Geelong's quality small forwards. They always smash us in this area, and did so again.
Got absolutely smashed in the centre throughout the middle of the game. Could really do with another good tagger. At the moment we've got Carrazzo and Banister, and with Walker out of the side, both are really needed in defence.
Kick ins after behinds. Both when doing the kicking in, and when defending them. There may well be a strategy, but it's not all that apparent to me. Perhaps that's meant to come a little later, once some of the other stuff has been mastered?
More injuries. Although in a sense, this is also a good thing, as it exposes our depth. In recent years, despite being hopeless, we've had a relatively good run with injuries.