I actually agree with you for once. We should've hired the great Brett Ratten...... as a midfield coach. Would've been awesome.

_________________
Never argue with idiots. They drag you down to their level and then beat you with experience!!!

After Monday and Tuesday, even the calendar says W T F .........
Visit http://fromthemoshpit.com/

Pros:

Nice to see Hendo hit some form. The miss late was no good but liked the rest of his game. The bit where he tricked a couple of opponents in the 2nd then handballed to set up a goal was super.

Good game from Robbo again, really had a dip. Might bump up his trade value a bit

Good to see Blaine Johnson get through unscathed, & did some nice things. He's got a good hoof on him by the looks.

Hung in there and made a decent contest after being down by 5 goals.

Cons:

Disposal no good. Carrazzo's handball to Walker in the first cost us a goal etc. Too many high kicks to 1 on 1s...although had to feel sorry for Curnow at the end. He'd worked his butt off all night before that error

Defending from kick outs still poor. The Clinton Young goal in the 1st...they easily worked it to half fwd from a kick out, just a series of easy marks along the members wing. Then the ball enters congestion, gets shot out to the loose man who goals. Just too easy for the opposition.

Missed some easy shots at goal but let's not kid ourselves, so did Collingwood. They could've been in front by 8 goals in the first half.

As well as the obvious need for mids we really need pretty much all kinds of forwards to rebuild this side. A strong marking full forward who's a decent kick. Good tackling forwards who can keep the ball in. Dangerous mediums who can catch it a la Walker a couple of years ago. Smalls to replace Eddie & Jeff.

Did better than I thought we would tonight but the next few years are going to be hard work.

_________________
#DonTheStash

Yes the great Brett ratten.


Everybody wants him..... Third banana at hawthorn.....
Says it all....

_________________
Due to recent budget cuts and the rising cost of electricity, gas, and oil....... the Light at the End of the Tunnel has been turned off. We apologize for the inconvenience.

First quarter effectively killed us like so many games this year. Couldn't really fault the effort for the following three quarters, had a red hot go but we're simply not good enough. Skills, composure, polish, class, pace, whatever you wanna list, we're below a consistent and winning standard. Turned it into a semi-decent contest by the end but feel like the scoreline flattered us somewhat. Robbo will be suspended and you'd have to think Bell will come in. So many guys out there knackered or injured but what can you do? I expect to lose every game this year because we're a spent force...if the effort's there and there's some improvement that's my definition of a win for the remainder of 2014. "Playing the kids" is okay in theory but they've gotta be ready - so many either don't have awareness to an AFL standard yet or simply aren't fit enough yet to really run out a game.

I'm really not sure why everyone's still getting worked up like we're a premiership side stuck in an uncharacteristic and perplexing tailspin. The list got lucky in the past with a few finals appearances and many supporters hold performances from 3-4 years ago in isolation to 2014 as though nothing has changed whatsoever. The truth is this list just isn't good enough for many reasons and change is coming. Yes it's the old saying "be patient," but this time I think it's actually legit. We've been patient for a long time waiting for a train that was never on the tracks to arrive in the first place. That's clear as day now, from top to bottom: recruitment to development and all stops inbetween. Now I believe the train's on the tracks at least, just gotta wait for it to arrive at the station now. "Be patient" Mk II...for real this time...I hope.

I'm a believer that with some astute list management over the next 2 years that we do have the nucleus of a top side within the next 4-5. This could happen faster of course but that's my realistic timeline. We're all quite cynical here - the Club's sustained mistakes of the past make us instantly scoff at the idea of ever getting anything right - but if pressed we all can see individual improvements in some, along with some good drafting and good trading recently. If we continue down this path there's no reason to think we can't get it right or at least to a very competitive standard.

I'm with Doc in my philosophy for this season, albeit without the smug and smarmy "told you so" satisfaction that comes with each loss for him. Every game we lose DOES give us a better opportunity to snag a decent young player or package that higher pick for a proven performer. Yeah yeah yeah but we'll stuff it up...we've heard this all to death. Let's reassess after the trade period - we've got a fair idea who will be cut so there's no point complaining about them week in week out as though they've been given Ratten-esq 3 year extensions. There's not much in the twos but what is good there looks very promising.

At our best this year we're honest triers. Not good enough to be in the top tier due to our deficiencies but hungry to win all the same. That's my benchmark for each game for the remainder of the season - work on a four quarter effort rather than a 2.5-3, don't stop running even if you're outpaced, don't stop trying to tackle even if you're outsized, continue working on the team first approach (which will take a couple of years to really start to perfect at Carlton all things going right list-wise) and come off the ground buggered.

Blaine Johnson looks likely, I'd keep him in as the sub again next week and see how he responds.

St Kilda realistically is probably the only win left for the year barring us causing a sneaky upset. Could be spooners yet although I doubt it.

Effort over wins from here on out. A win is a bonus but every week is a win because it brings us closer to my most anticipated part of 2014 - the draft, delistings and trades. That will tell me a lot more about where we're at than what this season has/is.

Liked our Jumpers tonight...

Just don't win the spoon. Second last is the place to be.

Pros:

Quite a few.
Slashing game from Yarran.
Robb's had a great 5-6 weeks.
Best games in a while from Tuohy and Hendo.
Rowe and Jamo.
Everitt and Curnow.
Johnson looks to have a good AFL sized body, even if he's a little slow. Showed a bit. Looks a powerful kick.
Managed to climb a few spots in the draft this weekend.

Cons:

Conceding goals late in quarters.
Our slow forward line's inability to apply defensive pressure to rebounding defenders.
Saw a lot of throws as usual. Carlton players got penalised twice. Opposition didn't.
Walker's had a disappointing season.
Some of Curnow's turnovers were pretty costly.

Scotty I'm 10,000 miles away. 2014 ended pretty early for me. It shouldn't be like this. I don't get any satisfaction from what's happening despite pleading with the club's hierarchy to join the 21st century. Alas it's fallen on deaf ears and will continue to do so for the foreseeable future. I would much rather be overseas getting up at 3:10am for the bounce of the ball in another epic Carlton v Collingwood battle. As it was I tuned in for the start of the last quarter.

Best thing the club can do now is get game time into the kids. Play them every week. Put Walker, Henderson and co onto the LTI and let the kids play. If Malthouse, Wiley and McKay can't bring themselves to do that for the betterment of the club then they don't belong there.

Are you overseas doc?

All this time and you haven't even mentioned it...

_________________
Congratulations CK95

Agree. The question is will they? We just don't seem to understand the system and how best to use it to get back to the top.

I keep hearing we are chasing this player and that player, explain to me how we are going to get them?

We are so far behind we need to go to the draft and heavily. We have no other option and hard decisions on players need to be made. No going after FA until we have a list ready for finals.

_________________
#NewBlues beginning 25th August 2015

Recreational leave bh...purely recreational...

Can someone please remind what brock does for us? It cant be any of tackling, pressure, kicking to advantage, tagging, goals or chasing - so what is it?

He's good at kicking to outnumbered players and missing goals.

_________________
dane's trolling again

Ah, John Denver tourism.

_________________
Congratulations CK95

Mclean, Watson, Lucas, Carrazzo and Jamison - delisted
Walker, Waite and Gartlett - trade if possible

Thankyou for your time, cut your losses and get rid of them

I was a massive critic of Gibbs, i have been impressed with him all of this season.. become a very good player

Yarran is silk

_________________
Matty Kruzer you star!

When he wants to be.

And being silk doesn't mean that you can't have grunt.

_________________
THEY LIKE TO SEND UP!!!!!!!!

Until each team plays each other the same number of times, the AFL, as a fair dinkum competition, cannot be taken seriously.

He (Mr Swann) said the honour and pride associated with the club's traditional navy blue jumper was priceless.

Midfielders:

Murphy
Gibbs
Judd
Robbo
McLean
Curnow
Carazzo


VS

Pies:

Pendlebury
Swan
Beams
Sidebottom
Dwyer
Ball
Kennedy


There's your difference.

_________________
"I had to eat"

Jamison seriously?
You ruined the entire post.

_________________
dane's trolling again

But I thought Andy McKay was a rising star list manager who's a shoe in to be our next CEO ?