Great to see Cachia take out Goldilocks the little sook.

Just watched the two games. After a rough start there were some promising signs:
Liked Ellard - got his hands on the ball and worked very hard
Jordan Russell composed and now a v good player
Yarran - liked his composure and pressure
Hampson was ok - got his hands on the ball, made a few mistakes but no dramas at this stage
Young Watto has the makings of something special
Liked Eddie's more confident kicking for goal too.
T-Bird is going to have to really step up to keep his place.
Jamo - stay down back mate!
With the class to come back in, looking forward to a great year!
Ball movement was much better though the middle, still too many kicks going to outnumbers players
There's a lot to work with and a great learning experience for the likes of Cachia, Touey and the other fringe players.
Go Blues!

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"our electorate seeks less to be informed and more to be validated." Sad times.

That was a beauty

Bearing in mind it is only round 1 of the nab cup...

kane lucas- just how good will he be!?
murphy-didn't get out of second gear in the first game yet still looked a class above
ellard-continues to make the most of his ability
walker-love him up forward, looks really dangerous and will only get better with more experience up there
warnock-appears to have maintained the momentum he gathered the end of 2010
yarran- we all know he has skills but worked really hard defensively- this move could actually work
watson- get the ball in his hands!!! Looks like he moves ok considering the big queries on this part of his game. Can't wait to see more of him.
Liked the look of curnow

Not so impressed with:

casboult- really struggled. For a guy whose strength is suppose to be his marking, he did not impress in this department. Granted nab cup, 1st senior game blah blah...
armfield- still can't kick consistently to a target. Like his effort, pace and willingness to attack though
setanta- still can't mark, this may be a problem for a tall forward
thornton- still going sideways, hopefully he keeps going all the way down the race, to the carpark and out of the ground

Ugly shit game witha lot of guy's who hadn't played together.

Collingwood are playing like they think they can run over everyone , but they don't have the class Geelong had when they did the same.

Definitely beatable.

BTW, WHO'S ON SIDEBOTTOM????????????????!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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I hope Essendon* folds.

lol Gibbs was barely on and playing as the no 1 mid..

Judge him again when he is the 3rd player for teams to worry about!

Was terrible footy but liked:

Laidler, Watson, Duigan, Walks, Hampson, Yaz, Bower,

Casboult wasn't great.. Waitey barely played

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#23: Lachlan Henderson

Others will keep going past him and I dont see a future for him. Try and think of 6-8 players min who you would delist before him and you realise he faces a tough time staying on the list for more than 2 yrs. If he has any currency at years end I would test the market

agreed

Liked Yazz Warnock Twomey!!! Kerr Watson and Ellard has a go.

Duigan looked like a battler with good enough footskills, as much of a revelation as Krakouer ie not much

What did Juddy say in that interview? "Better to have him inside the tent pissing out than outside the tent pissing in"

Pretty ordinary standard, thought we didn't play that out of bounds rule well but it's a shit rule anyway, get rid of it!!

Watson's run along the wing bought a smile to my face, as did Yarran pressuring his oponent to run too far, great stuff. Collingwood's squad was pretty strong so thought we did well. Not disappointed - as another poster said if this means we get Friday arvo games at Carlton, sensational.

3 min to go in the Coll game & play stopped for the blood rule, but the clock didn't

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#DonTheStash

BTW that Collingwood membership advert was most underwhelming

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#DonTheStash

I thought it was one of those Christian Television Association ads for a minute!

Very slow start in both games. A common theme last year. Not sure why it takes us a while to settle. Needs to be addressed.

Our kick ins were an improvement. Mixed them up and were prepared to kick long into the middle.

Not sure why the negativity concerning Bower. Thought he did well.
Thought Watson and Laidler are likely starters for a senior birth. Duigan struggled initially with the pace of the game but got into it as the game progressed.
Murphy looks dangerous with ball in hand. Can see him taking the next step this year.
Joseph disappoints me when he gets the ball. Just kicks it long to contest without exploring better options. A expected some poor decision making from our youngsters cost us.

Walker was a mixed bag. Kicking for goal surprisingly good but if he continues flying from behind for that elusive speccy will continue to struggle as a forward. Someone needs to teach him how to lead with that explosive pace of his.

Who was Sidebottom's opponent? Won them the game in the first half although we giifted them a few. Dawes was waiting by himself front of centre when a carlton spoil fell to his lap to kick an easy goal.

Got smashed in the middle particularly when Levi took over. Collingwood tried to impede Hampson in every ruck contest but despite his dominance did not give us first use of the ball. In the end they beat us because they were the better drilled side despite us finishing strongly


Conundrum

Lucas was clearly the play of the night for me.

I don't think I saw him put a foot wrong. We moved well, delivered well, was cool under pressure, pretty much flawless.

I can easily see him being one of our top 3-4 mids in a couple of years.

I was impressed with Ellard. I liked Davies' and Yarran's games. Kerr was also impressive and I think he will press for a spot at some stage this year.

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I need some new conspiracy theories; all my others have come true.

Since when did Lloydy become Channel 10's go to man for new draftee knowledge?

Has Conca for Richmond as a future Captain, and when asked his opinion on Watson just peeled off something straight from the bio.

Not his fault, but why bother?

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"They're [REDACTED]'

I thought it was a positive effort overall considering the number of players we had out of the squad, the lack of game time a lot of these players had together and the fact that it is Feb 12!

I thought Duigan was a positive considering his 1st hitout at this level. Will get better. Had my reservations about Watson but not anymore. Very promising...

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C'mon Blueboys!

As bad as he was? Sounds like fans are bringing last year's prejudices already. You may have noticed the 5 minute spell when Collingwood won every tap and controlled the centre - that was when Hampson had to rest and Casboult was thrown in to the ruck. Hampson was winning the ruck and had a few kicks around the ground. He was able to find the ball which is one of the main criticisms of him. Still flat handed two marks that I saw but he was in the game.

What I really liked about Carlton was the commitment to the playing list. Splitting senior players up so cleanly between the games, and playing kids like McInnes who I didnt think would get a look-in was worthwhile. With 6-8 players out the MC really set the season up by saying 'you can play at this level if you're good enough'.

Otherwise I thought Duigan made 4-5 errors but was always trying. Id expected more after the pre-season training guides but in his first hitout it looks like he knows what to do.

Robinson, Kerr, Hampson, Armfield on the wing...all surprised.

I thought our main problems were back-up rucks in the games (wont be a problem in the main season) and that 10 minute spell in the first half against Collingwood where Lucas et al could not stop Sidebottom. Must have had 5-6 possessions all clearing the ball and setting up play.

As for slow starts I wouldnt worry too much. H1 against RIchmond featured 5 or 6 frees for out of bounds and a few lazy kicks. Our H1 against Collingwood was slow despite controlling the first 7 or 8 minutes. When they burst we couldnt stop them.

thats the first time i've seen either of them. they are both very solid thats for sure.

i guess with hadley and grigg leaving mclean/curnow/cachia might be vying for the one spot in the team?

Hmm, didn't figure they'd have the devil as a client.

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