No to Waite and Kreuzer - bell and casboult for gibbs and hammer - waite needs toshow he can play a couple of matches in a row at vfl level before being promoted

Minimum 80 pt win, regardless of who is not playing

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Matty Kruzer you star!

I don't see the rush to axe Hammer. Give the guy a couple more weeks to see if he can sort himself out. It was only a few weeks ago that we axed Casboult - are people now saying he's improved so much in that short time? What's the bet that if he comes back in he'll play alright for the next game or two, then fluff a game and the calls will all be to bring Hammer back.

To much change for changes sake.

That's called development. Go back to the reserves, work on the areas the coach wants you too, tick the boxes, earn another opportunity. Same applies to any player.

What's the timeline re: surgery and recovery for replacing Shaun Hampson's hands with Mark Waugh's? Until that's done - I don't see much point playing Shaun Hampson.

Hampson flaps his arms like the inflatable balloon man on top of Godfrey's stores when he's going for a mark.
You cannot rely on that guy in a final. He has games where everything sticks but they are few and far between.

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T E A M

That is exceptional work. Is that yours, Elbow? If so, write more.

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"In better news for Blues fans, Jarrad Waite was not named on the club's injury list."

BigKev ordinarily I would agree with you but he was extremely poor last weekend - worst player on the ground
Against Richmond he was good at marking but kicking atrocious
If he is effectively supposed to be a tall forward if you cant mark on most days and the days you are actually marking het cant kick the goals then query is he good enough and should he be perservered with - after all he is in his 7th season - he has had time to do more than tease

Agree. Us supporters get seduced still by the athleticism and glimpses of skill, but it is like the setanta experiment, not enough consistent football skill or smarts. Good ruckman, but we have two already plus casboult and Rowe are handy back ups

All that develops are insecure players -- and I don't mean in a good way that might make them try harder, I'm mean in a bad way when they end up so scared of making a mistake they stop taking the game on.

Seriously Kenny, what time frame do you think a player would need, at a minimum, to improve some aspect of his game, eg goal kicking? I would think six weeks would be a minimum for any meaningful change.

Dropping a player for a couple of weeks then bringing them back because their replacement just played a shocker does nothing for development.

Remember how many us wanted Carrazzo dropped, (forever in some cases), because he kept turning the ball over? He's a gun now and is an excellent example of the rewards for showing a bit of faith in a player.

THIS. Perfect set up psych. Garlett has been great around the packs through the middle and even half back against wc, betts is a great clearance player and we know how yaz can break the lines off halfback. It really is a luxury to be able to have one of them around the ball all the time while keeping 2 forward. Unpredictable!

I don't that will be too tall because Waite plays very high and leads up the ground. Kreuzer will be rucking at times and is also very mobile. Levi provides some great forward pressure and chasing, and of all our KPP forwards, I think he has the most potential.

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Frank, Tom, Buzz and Doc : thanks for the responses - I enjoy the discussion. I think though that you all may have slightly missed my point.

I'm no great wrap for Hammer. I'm yet to see him physically impose himself on a forward line or really threaten to kick a bag, and a kpp forward needs to do these things. My point is that we, (ie the selectors), should either back him to grow as a player and give him decent sequences of games to do so, or we put a line through him and leave him in the twos. It's the revolving door, one minute a player's up to it, next minute he's not, approach that sh*ts me.

It's bad for the culture. We want players coming into the team knowing that they have a few games to show their worth, (exceptions for replacing suspensions/short term injuries of course). That's why I wouldn't give Ellard a game at the moment. Not that's he's not playing well enough, just that no one in the team that he could replace deserves to be dropped. He'll get his chance sooner or later, and when he does I'd like him to know that he doesn't have to fret about the odd stuff up he'll probably make whilst he picks up the pace of the game.

My belief is that at this level players are more likely to be over-aroused, (in an optimum performance sense), through fear of failure than they are likely to be under-aroused and not "trying hard enough". A policy of team stability might help that ... at least a little bit.

I've always hoped Hammer would make the grade. He really struggled against the Crows. Seemed to misjudge the ball flight quite a lot. Not sure whether the windy conditions were a hindrance or not. Unfortunately Hammer is an athlete trying to play football. It just does not come naturally to him. This is where a lot of his inconsistency stems from. He can look very good sometimes and at other times you think what is he doing out there. Poor buggar. I still like him.

dont beleive in giving blokes games to find their feet - you are either good enough or your not
The best available players should be picked every week and if your good enough you will break into the side and stay there

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If you allow the Government to change the Laws in an emergency
They will create an Emergency to change the Laws

Agree Mots I see the physique the bucket hands and think Stewie Loewe but we increasingly get Adrian De Luca
Big Kev dont disagree generally that players need a good run of consistent games to really assess it and thats why Im happy Mick is giving lucas a good go but think that this is difficult to do when we have no key forwards really playing well enough and that places a greater pressure on our on ballers and three amigos to score most if not all of the goals - especially when the ham didnt even get to some contests on the weekend or completely misjudged the ball
If for example waite was firing and playing well and hammer wasnt you could probably carry hammer for a number of games -also its difficult carrying hammer when Warnock isnt a forward he either rucks or is on the bench

That's not how it works anymore, and it's sure as hell not the best way to develop players.

The key is getting enough players to be experienced and well drilled enough to be capable of filling a role in the finals if you have injuries to first choice players.

I reckon the idea that forwards kick bags in today's game is a bit of a myth. Franklin's bag last year aside, I really can't remember a time when a forward has kicked a bag against a team that didn't have an undersized/depleted backline or where a backline has essentially allowed it (i.e. focused on other forwards, getting the loose man off half back as a bigger priority, etc).

Compare the form of Betts and Garlett when we had Warnock up there as a forward, compared to Hampson. If Betts and Garlett kick 100 between them, I'd credit 50-60% of them to the key forward bringing it to ground.

Unfortunately though, with Waite and Kreuzer back, it's a luxury we can't afford. I can't see Waite on the list past 2014, let alone this season. He's still in the plans, only through Waite's body and our young forwards being so ordinary.

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BLUES 2010: PAV AND JUDD = FLAGS. DOING IT FOR THE LOVE OF DICK PRATT.

HAVE YOU SIGNED UP FOR TALKINGCARLTON SUPERCOACH 2009 YET?

It's not that simple. It depends on the individual, their mental status, their fitness, body readiness, where the club is at and where the player can fit in to the side.

Each player must be judged on merit. It's not one size fits all.

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#NewBlues beginning 25th August 2015

My hope for this week:

B: Armfield Jamison Laidler
HB: Walker White Tuohy

Foll: Warnock Judd Murphy
C: Simpson Curnow Scotland

HF: Garlett Henderson Yarran
F: Betts Casboult Waite

Int: Lucas Carrazzo McLean (Robinson)

Emerg: Ellard Bell Bootsma

White on Watts.
Curnow on Jones is about it.
Work as a defensive group. All over

Waite, Judd, Betts with 4 goals each
Warnock BOG

Blues by 124pts.

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#NewBlues beginning 25th August 2015

Yep