..I disagree.. ..I think Judd and Murphy have at times not played 'finals footy'.. ..in some aspects they would pick and choose in terms of effort such as two way running, hard defensive chases.. ..I think they are great in the contest but at times won't work defensively enough all the time.. ..but yes generally their work ethic and footy smarts are sound.. ....I think krooz is massive in its regard, finals footy every match and I think he should start each quarter as first ruck, cos I ink he sets the tone for everyone to follow.. ..Warnock can do a little more time in the ruck sure, but krooz should start.. ..I think Brock is another that plays as a leader.. ..and I think hendo does as well.. ..I would say army does as well, but is a limited player..

_________________
..if you can't be good, be good at it..

Yep, we were good against North, but then old habits started coming in again in the Adelaide and Bulldogs (Gosh I hate losing to them grrrr) games.

Funnily enough not many of the senior players played in the North game, and I thought we were fantastic. We were shepherding, blocking, going more direct.

Doc - Hopefully it was just the pre-season in that we had no purpose and intensity.

You are joking. Maybe get a replay of Judd vs Sydney in the final up there a few years ago and then reconsider. He might not be as defensive as we'd like but much more often than not he brings his best to big games.

I can't remember a final where Kreuzer has done much of anything except either get or be injured. To even suggest he's got runs on the board vs Judd in performances in big games is ludicrous.

We've also been screaming don't bomb it long into the fwd line for the last three coaches!

_________________
Click here to follow TalkingCarlton on twitter
TalkingCarlton Posting Rules

The Dawks should be beatable at the G, pretty sure they wanted Shitihad stadium against us in Previous years. Really should have beat them last year but couldn't kick straight when it counted.

Lost a fair few close ones, hopefully we'll do it this year.

Casboult looks to be kicking a lot better this year and Smurph says his fitness has improved dramatically so he could a big difference this year.
Same as Watson could be time to throw him in the deep end and if it pays off if will free Hendo to half forward with Waite in the pocket it could be quite a Dangerous forward line.

Looks like mids will playing the flanks not flanks in the middle a lot more.

Daisy will show the team the work rate required for big games. If he's back to his best I think we'll go a long way this year.

And FFS win more than 3 in a row!

That's the big one for me. We need to string games together. And if the competition ends up as even as it looks to be, a run of 5 wins at any point in the season might be enough to sew up a finals berth.

..read what I wrote.. ..I said that they, at times, don't put in.. ..it might be a jog through the middle of the ground towards defence, it might be not backing into a pack.. ..this has been the issue regarding leadership at the club.. ..and why we've all had talks about it.. ..both very damaging players, both have been burnt the other way more than a few times.. ..where did you think our rep for being front running mids came from..? ..and why there was so much work put into defensive thru the middle during last season..

_________________
..if you can't be good, be good at it..

I saw Murph on one leg throw them team on his back vs Port and get us into the finals last year.

I saw Judd on one leg do the same a week later vs Richmond.

I didn't mind the leadership from either of them in two of our biggest games of the year.

I dont want to see us lose the first 3 games again
I want Malthouse to chalk up a win against the Pies
Dont lose home games to interstate sides

If we are going to win 4 or more in a row - it will have to be rounds 1-5 cant see it happening elsewhere with our draw

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

Murph was sensational in the Port game in Adelaide. We kicked eight in the last quarter, and the Murphy ignited us in that second half - although the whole team was switched on in the second half after a disgraceful first half (may have only kicked 2 or 3 goals in the first half from memory). And Judd wasn't playing either. I thought that the port win in Adelaide and the effort against the Hawks were the two best performances last year.(even though against the Hawks we lost and nobody knocked out Hodge or started a brawl - nothing, Hodge head hunts Murph and hendo and nothing happens except for a Robbo bump) Our worst display was our last game of 2013 where we had 39 tackles for the game - unheard of stat - amateur 2nd division type stuff - and to think that the Swans had over 400 possessions that day, our tackle count and pressure acts had to be high just to get the ball back, or force an error.

Have to disagree with you on the judd performance against Richmond in the final. He got a couple of clearances in the second half when we were running over the top of them, and the tigers went into their shells after being on top. Judd was also given a hand pass, on his own, by Waite and then kicked a goal from 30 m out - would expect Judd to kick those (anyone in the team should kick them). We had a lot of great contributors in that second half, but I thought Gibbs put in a 4 quarter effort and kept us in that game. Richmonds pathetic second half also helped.

lots to work to do

_________________
Vice President, International Extreme Sarcasm Society (IESS)

Gibbs stood up in both those games.

Gibbs' finals have been pretty good, for the most part. Still think we would have beaten the Eagles if he didn't get hurt late vs Bombers.

Don't remind me. I often say if one of Gibbs, Kreuz or Waite had played we would have won. Gibbs especially. He was in some damn good form at the end of 2011 too. For someone who never gets injured the timing was just crap.

The only way i see us doing this is rounds 4 to round 8

R4 Melbourne - WIN
R5 Bulldogs - Should Win
R6 West Coast - at home, should win.
R7 Collingwood - 50/50
R8 StKilda - I'll be furious if we don't smash these pricks!

_________________
"We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit"
- Aristotle

I am pretty sure that we have to go back to Wayne Brittain as coach to see a month or more of consecutive wins.

_________________
Vice President, International Extreme Sarcasm Society (IESS)

2009 they won 4 in a row

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

yes - was there a bye round somewhere in between that 4 win streak???

_________________
Vice President, International Extreme Sarcasm Society (IESS)

Good onya Cretylus.

I am ambivalent about our 2014 prospects despite believing that the extra preseason for our kids plus the recruitment of Thomas Everitt Cripps and docherty should see us improve a lot. The opposition have also improved. The Gibbs FA issue may linger and have a negative impact. MM's players must do more than bomb it into the forwardline.

Mental toughness and desire to win is betweem the ears. I hope the boys have the desire and will to succeed this year.

We have the opportunity to win 5 in a row, and I hope it starts in round 1. Agree with Ryan 2000, we also have an opportunity to do this rnds 4-8 too.

The Hawks should have been beaten last year but our kicking let us down. I believe we can get over these pricks.I hope the boys remember what Hodgey did to us last year. Dirty prick.

I hope that with the addition of Thomas, Cripps and Everitt we are a bit tougher and harder at the contest so we can match the Top 4 teams. Until we do that, we will be fighting for a spot in the 8. Carrazzo is no slouch either.

Come on Bluebaggers inspire me!!!!

_________________
Everyone looks good in Navy Blue

..yes yes, many players have their match winning performances.. ..the good to great players have many more of these, but being a bonafide leader that plays 'finals footy' consistently is much more than being a good individual player.. ..and this is where you are missing my point.. ..think of it as the champion team, and not team of champions, ya dig..

_________________
..if you can't be good, be good at it..

It was a streak no bye

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