How the flower does the game continue after a point when the umpire hasn't made his signal yet. Chamberlain, you are a joke (not sure if he was the controlling umpire at the time, but into him anyway).

Plenty of positives already mentioned so I won't list mine. Except to say that Kreuzer will be a gem (breaking news), and Murph looks set to explode this year. I had my doubts on Simpson being an A grader as some here have suggested - what I saw last night says to me he will get there if he isn't already there. If Judd wasn't on this team I would be very comfortable with having Simmo as captain - he could really develop into a Paul Kelly type if he keeps this level of commitment.

Just one disappointment which really stood out for me - Bower. Indecisive and his foot skills were woeful - left the ball hanging up in the air constantly - inviting turnovers.

And Armfield has to be smarter with how he goes about it. Perhaps I'm not as forgiving as some here, because I though each of his frees against were there and were avoidable.

If Paul Kelly was dead he'd be turning over in his grave right now.

Spinning like a top in fact.

Why? I tend to agree with Punter except that Simmo has better skills than Kelly.

Simmo was taken with what most accept is a speculative pick and has gone from strenght to strength in a team with very little leadership or direction.

Foxtel IQ

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Mjonc signing off at 8888

Paul Kelly was tough and physically stronger than a bag of wet smeg.

You don't think Simmo is a tough player?

Just finishing up my game report for the blueseum and just need to know who the starting bench was: so far there's David Ellard, Matty Kreuzer, Paul Bower, and Jordan Bannister ... they played more than the standard 25 so there's a few more to add to the bench .. help anyone?

My observations and thankgod it was a friendly.

Negative:

- Our kicking skills are shit house.
- We are to slow to move the ball out of defence
- We have no forward structure without Fev and Fisher
- We looked disorganised and without structure
- T-Bird was pooh.

Positives:

- Our ruck stocks in the future will be the envy of all clubs. Hampson is going to be a star, Kreuzer is class, Jacobs showed plenty also which was great to see.
- Grigg will be our first Rising Star
- Hartlett needs to be played the first 6 rounds even if he is up and down in form.
- Pfeiffer is a starter come Round 1 pending injury.
- My Man Jamo will be a contendor for the Rising Star also.
- Our kids are good, very good.
- Ellard will be on the senior list before the season is out.

I think we will lose the game against Port, we have plenty of work to do still before Round 1 if we want to register Ratts first win as Carlton coach.

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Mjonc signing off at 8888

is anyone else concerned about the way bower seems to panic and not have much of an idea about what to do when he gets the ball? i would estimate that probably 50% or more of his possessions end up as either a turnover or to the disadvantage of a team mate. it was again evident in this game.

i know its early in the piece but it was my concern with him in the games he played last year and at first showing for this year it seems to be continuing. i don't know how you teach a player to keep their head under pressure, but its something that he needs to improve on and qucikly.

being tall and athletic is great but delivering a paniced handballl to no-one because of pressure whether real or perceived is not a good thing if you wanna play defence

Yes

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They will know that they've been playing against the famous old dark blues

Setanta, Pfeiffer, Browne, Jacobs, Hill, Saddington, Austin, Wiggins, Jackson, Shields

p(12)terg wrote:

The others who played were:
Austin
Setanta O hailpin
Jackson
Saddington
Wiggins
Jacobs
Shields
Browne
Pfeiffer
Hill

32 players in all?

I wouldn't take this game too seriously. 32 players given a go at various stages. Judd, Fevola, Walker and Fisher amongst the absent. Not to mention Aisake and Hadley. I enjoyed seeing some of the newbies.

Armfield - Couldn't fault the endeavour. Expect to progress through the Ants. Got a fair bit of game time.
Ellard - Seemed to play only about 15 mins in the 3rd quarter. Left me with the impression that he has genuine pace and gets where the ball is - particularly when in dispute. One of his handballs to advantage out of a congested situation was red hot. I was particularly impressed with that bit of play.
Kreuzer - Reminded me a bit of my hazy memories of seeing Sticks in his early days at Glenelg. Gonna be good...
Shields - Looked right at home in some nice linking plays in defence in the short time he was on the ground. If that is an example of his progress in his short time with the code to date, the club has a lot to look forward to.
Browne - Got in the play a couple of times in the short time he was on. Didn't see enough of him to form an opinion.
Pfeiffer - Looked keen to get where the ball was. Seemed to get more of a go in the 2nd half. Would expect to see again against Port.
Hill - Had a short stint but I had the impression that the ball was at the other end of the ground for most of it.

Ok, saw the replay two nights ago, and it was hilarious. There was Jason Bennett who kept on making me think that l was watching a TAC Cup Final/Under 18s Championship match/or SANFL game(as l only associate the sound of his voice with these events of late), Leigh Colbert who was pathetic and we could have done a better job(he sounds so dense), and Guest Commentator in the first half, the one and only.....drumroll.......Jeff Farmer(who tried to fool everyone by trying on this elegant fake accent).

The game itself was a shocker - little intensity, lots of chip-passing, no great highlights at all as such. We were in front by say a goal for most of the first half, the Freo kicked away in the third quarter and we came back a bit in the last quarter to lose by about three goals.

You could here the wind throughout the telecast, and they kept on saying that there was a storm brewing around the oval. It rained a bit in the second half, but nothing torrential.

Ok, now the players. Now l want you to remember that all l knew up till Wednesday Night was(and as quoted from the CFC site):

"Talking with the media after the game Ratten pointed to Michael Shields’ first game of AFL and the performances of Shaun Hampson, Jake Edwards and David Ellard as positives.
Hampson was involved in a collision with the Dockers Kepler Bradley that stopped the game for ten minutes while the ambulance came onto the ground to take Bradley to hospital. Hampson, who was impressive in the ruck, made contact with Bradley and then Bradley’s head hit the firm surface. There were concerns for the injured Docker who was taken to hospital with concussion but the good news is that he was back at the game by three quarter time.
Adam Hartlett kicked two of his three goals for the game in the opening quarter and a look at the media’s list of best players for Carlton is a real bonus with the young players prominent. Marc Murphy, Adam Hartlett, Shaun Hampson, and Jordan Russell were the four players listed by the media as Carlton’s best."

Can l tell you, that was absolute crap!

This is my assessment:

Walker - DNP
Russell - would have touched the ball maybe twice max. for the entire game(has built up l must say, but fat load of good that does him if he cannot get the pill)(Marc Murphy, Adam Hartlett, Shaun Hampson, and Jordan Russell were the four players listed by the media as Carlton’s best?????)

Murphy - was good, will be fantastic for many years to come assuming injury-free
Gibbs - did nothing fancy but looked good and has built up(looks and plays more and more like Geoff Raines)
Judd - DNP(Ratten confirmed today that on schedule for Round 1 of the AFL season)
Simpson - played well
Bentick - DNP
Kruezer - Did very little and was used sparingly, but l thought did ok in the ruck against Sandilands and others more experienced than he, and did kick a very long goal from a set shot following a soft free kick being awarded to him in the last term(got to say, he oozes class, looks way better than Josh Fraser ever will, and can see him being a very good player in years to come - also, not that skinny for a first year player)
Saddington - came on in the second half - will look good in the big white ant this season
Hadley - DNP
Ackland - DNP(does he even when he is on the field????)
Grigg - knocked up getting the footy in defence - played loose l must admit - looks very skilled and will be a good player for us for a long time
Blackwell - DNP
Fisher - DNP
Browne - came on in the last quarter, but did not get near it. Can see him being ok in the future, has an ok build for a smaller type player, and looks likely.
Sentata - hardly on, and did ok without doing much
Bower - came on in the second quarter from memory, and have to say that he did not do much, but what he did was ok, linked up well, and did not panic like has in the past
Betts - hardly did a thing, except for kick a goal
Anderson - DNP
Benjamin - DNP(has again injured his groin)
Austin - hardly on the field, and when he was, did not go near it(has built up a little)
Hampson - did ok in the ruck, aside from that was HOPELESS(Marc Murphy, Adam Hartlett, Shaun Hampson, and Jordan Russell were the four players listed by the media as Carlton’s best?????)
Hartlett - kicked three goals from set shots(all long kicks in the first term) and that was all that he did(Marc Murphy, Adam Hartlett, Shaun Hampson, and Jordan Russell were the four players listed by the media as Carlton’s best?????)
Stevens - ok, not bad, particularly for someone who has been out of the game for as long as he has(only played in the first half, and played on the ball)
Fevola - DNP
Armfield - played in defence and had a shocker and did not go near it(so much for all the hype)
Cloke - looked ok and fit
Scotland - did not do much and was only on for a short time
Waite - BOG(looks fit and bulked up)
Bannister - came on in the last quarter and did ok
Thornton - got a lot of the pill, but chip...chip..chip....
Houlihan - body shape very different - bulked up - did ok without dominating
Wiggins - not much of the footy, but is fit
Pfeiffer - came on in the last quarter and dominated(not kidding) - played in defence and did look good and presented well(has the face of a criminal though)
Edwards - refer to Ratten's comments - watch match was he watching???????????? - did not touch it more than once or twice(played in a forward pocket)
Aisake - DNP
Carrazzo - blitzed
Jamison - really liked his game - played on Tarrant and both of them did well for their respective teams - l think we have found a new KP in the backline, and he has definitely bulked up
Ellard - believe it or not, for the time he was on, he did ok(refer to Ratten's comments) - but very small
Jackson - not on for long and did little
Hill - got one touch and not on for long in any case
Joseph - DNP
Jacobs - only played in the last quarter and played better than Hampson easily - actually did a bit around the ground and looked quite mobile
Shields - again, what game was Ratten watching????? - was on for little time and he touched it once from memory.

Believe me, would place little emphasis on this match - everyone went around like they did not want to get hurt(say that to Kepler Bradley though, although that was very accidental - l am not kidding you, they stopped the play for 10 minutes whilst attending to him and getting him off the ground)

While there has been a lot said about sloppy disposal, it's worth remembering that not only was it the first practice match, but also there was a howling wind with which the players had to contend.

Back in the early 1980's, our premiership teams never won or performed well in practice games, as they were for experimentation. Consider our team was missing Judd, Walker, Fisher and Fevola, and then the performance was OK.

Hampson continues to impress me, and Grigg has improved out of sight. Jamison impressed me with his decision making under pressure, and was prepared to look for irregular options. I have no doubt the kid will be successful.

Fremantle were close to full strength and are a genuine premiership contender, and we appeared to match up well against them, so at this stage I'm more than satisfied.

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"The old believe everything, the middle-aged suspect everything, and the young know everything." Oscar Wilde

Exactly, the mighty West Indies team of the same era hardly ever won a warm up match whenever they toured Australia and routinely went on to win here in the Test series. Leave the real stuff for the real stuff.

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I really don't think that Freo were close to full strength or that they are a premiership contender in the slightest but I also really don't think that matters. The Blues need time to understand the game plan against an opposition - not just a drill where opponents line up where expected. The Blues will also need time to work with a different midfield grouping as linkmen going forward, so the absence of Hadley and Judd at this stage doesn't really help.

In the end, it was a good hitout and lots of kids were given a go in the seniors and against real opposition. That's the important part.

Nor Essendon* without Lloyd and Lucas


Hey Man U Stink, any idea who was named as Carlton's best?

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"I had to eat"

So few players were given consistent game time that rating player's games is pretty inconsequential. It's exactly as Cazz said, a game of cameos. A lot of guys were given only a quarter to make an impact and I think it was fantastic that guys like Ellard and Pfeiffer jumped right in and had some classy touches. Simmo played the whole game and was BOG doing what he does. Hammer showed that he is further ahead in the rucking caper than I gave him credit for, and I'd have no hesitation in starting round one with a rotation of Cloke, Hammer and Kruezer. Jordan Russell just looked far more committed to the contest, hopefully this will flow on to when he's in possession of the ball and we'll see a more effective JR. In all, players seemed to be struggling with the game plan, a lot of kicks seemed to be hit ok but just not to the advantage of teamates.