Agree, the umpiring was frustrating at times, but TC has to be better than putting up a cheer-squad worthy headline on the post game thread.

i like to c all it 'the persecuted mentality'
everyones gunna get us.... the afl.. the media.. the unpires... and barry manilow....

if u have ever taken a person from overseas to a footy game one of the things they dont get is the umpires.It bewilders them.

they need to be mind readers these days.....probably the only sport in the world with these kinds of laws.

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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.

Some positive recognition from this game (round 4)

Warnock selected as best Ruckman of the round

Yarran and also Murphy both selected in team of the round for their efforts

MM selected as coach of the round

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/afl/team-of ... 6626033833

Umpiring was fine! The Blues have clearly done some training with the in-the-back and around-the-neck decisions - we're much smarter these days. Good to see. The last few years have been very frustrating as a fan on this point as it seemed to indicate we had a range of dumb players doing the same dumb thing over & over again. So that provides some hope that maybe they aren't dumb, they just haven't had the right teaching / training. One observation on the umpiring was that a few holding the balls to us were missed as they seem to give the Eagles more time than ever to dispose of it, but other than that I thought it was a non-factor.

To me the coaching was quite simple in effect. It was to play a clog and run forward game, with the pace all up forward it worked well. Interesting to see the Blues develop the quick kick out of packs in 2013; quite different to last year when I think we wre under instruction to find a clear handball, which against the good teams didnt happen. Now we're getting the quick kicks out and with enough pace up forward we're creating goals.

The interesting bit to me was the nominal roles with Judd spending bits up forward and then deep in defence, and Gibbs deep defence. Simpson also played deep a lot from what I could see. Malthouse had specific midfield roles and assigned those guys out. Our midfield without those guys looked a bit different week on week let alone year on year.

Curnow was an unsung hero. He shattered young Gaff a la Hodge / Stokes in 2008 - Gaff panicked when he got the ball as Curnow was so close. TO me Curnow is a better BP pick than Joseph and then you can throw him midfield for extra legs later on in the game.

We played a more man-on-man game, no zones, just stay with your designated opposition player. Clog them up in the mid field and their forward line, force the turn over, then burst out the back. Kinda the way that we were found out last year.

..the zone/press allows too much leeway to your opponent.. .it works well for the hurried kick out of defence, but if you kick it out into open space and you have enough pace, there's too much room to simply run and carry the ball fwd, as we did numerous times on the weekend.. ..you may stop 1 speedy player, but when you have multiple players with pace that can share the ball and protect eachother, with the space provided by zones and press it's easy to run it fwd.. ..one on one footy stops speed.. ..once those zippy players have a few meters on you, its race over..

..over the years, every topline team has been undone at some point by speedy players.. ..its the one biggest flaw with the zone/press..

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

The key underlying take out from everyone's thoughts on the game is that we are no longer pidgeon holing players - we are assigning players key tasks which they are suited to and it seems to be working well.

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"Hence you will not say that Greeks fight like heroes but that heroes fight like Greeks"?

Winston Churchill

Bit of late reflection. I am sure all this has been mentioned but most notable things were two sensational shepherding efforts by Jeff G (in contrast to his efforts in first 3 weeks) Army great shepherd and job on Hurn. Curnow is a battler, but disciplined effort and is an intelligent footballer. Jammo and Hendo have been great this year. Tuohy back to good form. Warnock did well in taps, but we have three no 1 ruckman, none of whom are natural forwards. And Casboult and Rowe are actually handy back up rucks and better forwards. Hammo is not agile enough, a good judge of a mark or a good enough kick as a forward. But if we play him there, get him to run straight and pop the ball up to him so he can run and jump at it. McLean honest again. Gave up way too much for him, but his perseverance and character are very good

Downside - forget the beards, what is with the Murph and Gibbs haircuts - marine cut topped with pompadour. Bring back Tommy Alvin hair!

Bryce Gibbs...

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Just because I'm offended, doesn't mean I'm wrong.

What's this fascination with the hair and the beards?? If the appearance is such a problem, then get rid of the ridiculous looking tatts. Tuohy looks like his baby sister has drawn all over his arm with a texta.

That makes just as much sense (more?) as shaving the beards.....

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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/

I TOLD YOU TO SHAVE THOSE SIDEBURNS !!!

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*(grow - fun - gah)

Yeah but whatabout your whataboutism.

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"They're [REDACTED]'

That's probably a good point.

The umpiring is terrible at times. Its not always the umpires fault. The rules committee and umpiring department make it difficult for anyone to understand how a game should be umpired.

The frustrating thing from Saturday nights game was having them play frees for players ducking their heads and playing for free kicks. Its difficult to know whether that's coming from umpires not understanding they're initiating contact, the umpiring department instructing them to pay the free kicks regardless or whether its just the rules set down from the rules committee and people (i.e supporters) not understanding them.

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"The ability to speak doesn't make you intelligent." Qui-Gon Jinn 15-05-2005

"there’s more chance of me becoming the full forward for the [Western Bulldogs] than there is of any change in the Labor Party." Julia Gillard 18-05-2010

I agree, tatts are ridiculous, and in 20-30 years a lot of middle aged ex footballers are going to regret getting them. But it is much easier to get a haircut than to get rid of a tatt

Yeah I know. I was taking the pissing a bit.

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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/

Moshe you just dont understand what a significant effect hairstyle has on footballers performance

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Contestants in the big brother house always have a signature to be noticed and to get viewer support to stay in the house.
The problem is our guys do these things as a group for anonymity.... (not to be noticed).
Maybe if they tried to be noticed they would play better...


I think in Tuohys case its his fathers influence ... full on prison tatt...Armfield followed suit..

And they wont regret their tatts in 30 years cos all of them have one.. its the norm...
Everyone wants to be a Rodman or a Beckham....

It really is the Big Brother House

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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.

Just got back to Darwin from Perth where I finally saw a Carlton win after many years of travelling to a couple of games each year only to see us lose.
Highlights of the trip were…..
- Winning 2 tickets to enter the Carlton change rooms before and after the game. Thanks to Clinton Brown for being an excellent host.
- Being there to see it live when Chris Yarran kick those running goals.
- Watching about 500 Carlton supporters stand up in unison and chant goodbye to the WCE supporters leaving the game before the final siren.
- Meeting some committed Carlton supporters at the pre-game function, at the game and in shopping centres all over Perth for a few days after the game. I wore a Carlton polo shirt every day and people just came up to me to say "Go Blues" and talk about the game.
Thank goodness I can finally go to a Carlton game without feeling that I am a jinx.

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“Before you criticise someone, you should walk a mile in their shoes. That way, when you criticise them, you're a mile a way and you have their shoes."

I noted your presence NT but rallied the troops on Saturday to good effect. Even Synbad was paying attention to his wees and poos. It was a team effort!

Thanks Verbs, I thought there must have been some supernatural presence to break the hoodoo. I am thinking of coming to Melbourne for the next Blues v Pies game in July – but am concerned that I might be pushing my luck a bit too far unless you can work the same sort of magic.

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“Before you criticise someone, you should walk a mile in their shoes. That way, when you criticise them, you're a mile a way and you have their shoes."