Great fun day...The Crowd was getting very frustrated becuase we kept handballing yet again, even when were just outside 50..


Our players just refused to kick the bloody thing. When i had a moment of thought about it, i couldnt really blame them this time...


The Doggies were flooding in packs. it was just unreal. Fev had 2 on him, whilst everytime we bombed the ball, there were so many defenders. thats the only thing that stopped fev from kicking 6 or 7.


There was one Geat positive for me. In my opinion the Player that deserved BOG today was Hartlett. He was just awsome at CHF. his second half was sensational. He marked everything and was a running Target all day. IF he can get over his hammies, he is going to be a huge Plus for us.

Edwards is a carbon copy of Fisher. he is a third tall option that marks above his size, and gives you an honest contest. I just pray that Hartlett can stay fit so that Waite can remain at CHB and we have a balance.


Not sure why everyone is concerned about thornton, i thought he was good, especially after half time.


my only negatives were Betts who has bulked up but slowed down, and Bannister. I think the later is finished and will be delisted end of the year. His disposal was terrible and will only be used if at all as a Tagger .

Oh yeah, forgot to mention....@#$%&! the Monash 'Freeway'

Something needs to be done when it takes over an hour and a half to get from Dandenong to Princess Park.

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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

Hey guys just got back from the game and here are some of my views:

* Make a sticky of it right now... of all our #1 picks Kruezer will be the best. Yes, it was a pre-season game.. but anyone who is there would have been drooling!!! He can run, tackle, mark, kick on both feet... as another poster said he has shown in a few games more than JK unfortunately showed in his couple of years
* Jamison is going to be a very good player for this footy club.. can go from playing on Franklin one week to Brad Johnson the next.... his flexibitility is great
* Hartlett I believe is the one player I cant believe more people aren't talking about.... he ran the game out well and I cant remember him dropping many marks. He is safe hands and seems like a big unit to break up some packs. I was however thinking of our Bullant watchers (who say he can be selfish) when he went for goal from 65m out!!!!!!!
* Edwards looks a very likely type. Great pick ups off the deck and nice strong hands. His goal to the legends stand from the pocket was a beautiful kick. Keeps on growing on me.
* Eddie Betts - For those of you who have read my previous posts know I really dont like Eddie. I believe if Aaron Davey wasn't such a hit at the dees we wouldn't be so obsessed with Eddie. He is not where the ball is and when he is, isn't the greatest user of the ball. BUT the main thing I noticed today is that he is very unfit. The number of times I saw him chase and then have to stay behind with his hands on his quads taking in deep breaths was amazing. I believe our best forward line has Fisher replacing Eddie and one of our resting midfielders playing the crumbing role.
*I got there at 1/4 time... but where was Hampson? Was he injured?? Barely saw him!!!! That bruised nut must be hurting!!!
*Finally... one word... JUDD

Would have Hartlett have taken 8 marks for the day?

Haven't posted much before but read everyday.

I had to post today because it was my proudest day at the footy.

Not only did i see the great man debut for the Mighty Blues today, but my 2 year old son made his debut as well. He has been a member since he was born.

I thought it would be an early night but the little fella tuffed it out and lasted until the end of the game.

At halfitme we was running along the boundary line telling me Go Blues.

And by halfway through the last 1/4 he was yelling Go Juddy and high fiving the crowd.

It bought a tear to my eye. Let's hope it is but the first of many Navy Blue wins he can share with his old man!!!!!

thats awesome !!!

my 15 month old daughter has almost perfected the "da dada da da"

so cute

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*(grow - fun - gah)

Yeah but whatabout your whataboutism.

Maybe i didn't hang around long enough after the game but i was a bit disappointed they couldn't get the song going after the game. I know its only a praccy but Princes Park will never be the same after the redevelopment and that may have been the last time play the song...

Yeah, I would've liked it had they made some effort to mark the occasion in some way. Playing the song should've been a given. But I also would've liked to have a proper farewell to the stands, whatever that would entail. It was just...meh.

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WADA medical director Dr Alan Vernec describes Essendon* FC drug case as biggest scandal in team sport the world of sport has seen. #WC2WB

#GUILTY

I noticed and was very impressed. We actually had a forward structure and a game plan with more to offer than "bomb it to Fev and his multiple opponents".

I have been saying for some time that I believe FF or FP are about the only positions that Edwards can play and it seems Ratts has caught on as well. Could be a Brad Pearce type.

The other interesting tactical issue was an unwillingness to kick towards outnumbered or crowded forwards - even if it meant handballing the thing around in circles before moving the ball into the corridor or switching sides. Some will get frustrated by it but, guess what, we actually seem to have a plan.

Defensively Jamo followed Johnson around. T-Bird was taken to the cleaners by Welsh in the first quarter before playing further up the ground as an effective attacking HB.

Carlos was on and off the ground according to the Bulldogs' forward structure. When they had an extra tall, he was on, otherwise he was benched - although he rotated into one of the tall forward spots in the final quarter and immediately looked good.

Waite was outstanding as an attacking HB. Bower shut down Welsh after his early goals and managed to snag several impressive marks. Best game I have seen him play with one particularly brilliant run in the final quarter where he balked an oncoming defender and passed to a leading forward (Jake I think) with an excellent left foot pass.

Grigg was also impressive - sometimes matched against Aker - but this kid has finally caught up with the pace of the game and he delivered some delightful long left footers that perfectly advantaged Edwards or Fevola in one-out duels.

As others have indicated, Eddie had a shocker. I was also more than a little disappointed with Houlihan's disposal.

Jordan Russell was excellent in the few things he did - there were just too few of them.

Heart-warming performances from Murphy, Gibbs, Judd, Simmo, Kreuzer, Harts, Jackson and Carrazzo.

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Hey Rocky; there are too many rabbits ... in China.

'Twas a very enjoyable day, watching the Blues run out victors in the last quarter kicking to the Heatley Stand end. Moreover, Judd did enough to keep us all very excited about what he will bring our club. Gold, Jerry. Gold

Just a few quick comments:

* I saw the Murphy incident - the Bulldogs player had his head over the ball and Murph ran in and made head-high contact. It happend very quickly and was a split-second thing. Murph (from where I was sitting) was playing the ball. The umpires are red-hot on that sort of thing so I am not surprised he was reported. However, in Murph's favour is the fact that the Bulldogs player, although sore, did not appear seriously hurt by the incident and it was negligent (at worst) rather than reckless on Murph's part. Plus he has a 'clean' record, so I'd be surprised (and very angry! ) if he gets rubbed out. Having said that, I'm not 100% across the Tribunal's points system, so we'll have to wait and see...

* The Walker injury occurred right in front of me. Looked like his bad shoulder went again as he tackled Robert Murphy from behind. He was extremely pissed off at the interchange bench, but he seemed to have some movement in it as he walked to the rooms so possibly it's not too serious. Let's keep our fingers crossed the scans aren't too bad;

* I can't remember seeing Hampson in the 2nd half - anyone know what (if anything) happened to him? I noticed he had a lot of strapping on one leg before the game..

* We made plenty of skill errors, but there was enough positives to walk away from the ground feeling optimistic about the future. I was particularly pleased with what I saw from Bower, Edwards, Kreuzer and Murphy. Browne looks very keen to be part of the senior group too;

* Pleased with Simmo, Carrots, Scotland and Fev. T-Bird, Houlihan and Betts will need to play better than they did today to stay in our best 22 as 2008 unfolds (although T-Bird had a good last quarter);

* Considering we had no Walker (for most of the game), Stevo or Fish, it was a good win against a close-to-full-strength Bulldogs team. The only other players who didn't play today that might be in the mix for round 1 are Pfeiffer, Armfield and Anderson.

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It's never as good as it looks and it's never as bad as it seems.

Im really worried about Setanta. Previous posters have already mentioned how much weight he lost but he just looked like he did in his 1st match. He was moved under the ball, he was clumsy and his disposal was ordinary. He was finding himself in the wrong areas of the ground at the worst times. I love the guy and I hope today was just a one off. He should be tried up forward where he can attack the ball and not worry about his man as much.

I was also very worried about our stagnant movement through the midfield. It looked like players were running in little circles calling for the ball. I didnt see enough hard running. We are still clumsy with our handball and its probably the most frustrating thing to watch.

Our forward line looks much better with Hartlett and Edwards. Both should play in round 1. Hartlett seems to feel at home up forward and plays a smarter type game this year.

As stated previously, Kreuzer was outstanding. You can tell he really set himself for this game. Early days but when he fills out, he will be great.

Overall, I think we played ok without being good. It was very patchy mainly because of the interchange and changing the midfield so often. Our backline is a huge concern because when the ball gets pumped in fast we panic and become clumsy. Our midfield and forward line looked 50% better then our last 3 games.

I must say that some of these young players look like they will step up this year. Bower, Grigg, Gibbs and Hartlett come to mind.

For me, the most pleasing thing I saw today (besides the obvious) was that Bryce Gibbs looks more and more like a serious football player, a future champion.

What a great way to spend a Friday afternoon!

Some positives from the day:-

Judd!!! --Looks like a running machine, still not match fit yet had 20 classy touches and 1 trademark goal. More importantly shows tremendous leadership on the ground, constantly encouranging-teaching the boys!! Haven't seen this sort of leadership from a captain since Braddles!

Krezuer -- My lord its hard not to get excited about his quality. Felt he was the turning point every time he was on the ground!!

Edwards-- The boy might just make it! Great pair of hands, good pace must persist with as the third tall.

Hartlett-- Looked much better today, again if fit must be played as another tall marking option.

Murph-- Will really shine this year imo. Destined to be an elite midfielder
in the next few years.

Gibbs-- He is still only 18 yet he will be our next SUPER STAR!

Jamison-- So excited about finding a Key Defender who is strong,tall,desperate,quick and can play tall and small! ( Basically everything Thornton isn't!)

Carrazo-- One of the most underrated players in the comp imo.


NEGATIVES....

Jordan "Can't find the footy" Russell! It drives me crazy watching this kid play. All he does is run around in circles and chase his opponent all day. Should never ever play again in the Navy Blue! Anyone who disagrees is kidding themselves about JR.

Brett "CHIP CHIP" Thornton!-- Can't wait for Bower, Jamison,Grigg to develop because he shouldn't be an automatic selection imo. Always, and i mean always chips the ball sideways, dummies thin air looks good but totally ineffective, and is the only player in the comp who can be free in space with no opposiion in sight yet find a way to ignore the first,second,third,fourth options and run into an opponent!!

Eddie Betts-- Will not make it simple as that! We need to stop hoping and realise he just isn't up to the level.


That's my 2 cents for what its worth! Can't wait for round 1 and i'm much more optomistic about our chances in the next few years!

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"what doesn't kill you only makes you stronger"!

I liked the Heatley Stand end free kick that Stephen Browne picked up in the last quarter - he was caught red hot with the ball and the roar of the crowd at that end the umpire was like a rabbit in the spotlight and gave it push in the back - you just dont get those sort of frees at the MCG or TelstraDome.

And well done philby31 great first post - hope your kids see many more Carlton victories.

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

Winston Churchill

Couple of observations

Started off slowly with our midfield getting smashed in the middle with the Doggies winning most of the clearances. Hard to win games when you do not have first use of the ball. This is of great concern because we were beaten comprehensively in the middle in the clearance department by a second string Port and Hawthorn.

Felt sorry for Judd with having to carry the burden of our expectations. Whilst at West Coast the team would support him providing blocks allowing him to weave through packs, our players just stood back, particularly in the first quarter, as passengers as he got crunched a few times. Needs to be addressed immediately.

Over use of the ball. Too much handball which got us into trouble resulting in costly turnover. They got too many cheap goals particularly in the first half. Lots of hospital handball passes to stationary players caught unawares. We dont tend to run the ball out of defence in numbers like Hawthorn do so well.

Kicking into our forward 50. Still ordinary. We have only a few players who can efficiently find a forward and kick to their advantage.

Our defence still needsa ttnetion. because of the various player combinations it still lacks in the gelling department

Walker stood out for me until he got injured early on. Makes a big difference in our defence with his hard at it style of play. A vital cog in our defence.

Bower was in my top three players along with Waite and Murphy. Those who bagged him should really be embarrassed because they got it badly wrong. He created the drive our of defence and carried the ball out time after time. Hr is our defencsive midfielder. Yes he makes mistakes but at least he is prepared to take a risk or two in creating some run and drawing out opposition players opening some space for us. Ran all day and always put his body on the line.

Carrots a had a quite day by his standards. Not a big fan but impressed by the fact he did not turn it over .

Murphy was in lots of plays. Walked front on into Hahn whilst Hahn had his head over the ball. Careless attempt but not worthy of a report but the umpires are strict on protecting players with their heads over the ball. Hann was feeling sore after the game according to my source.

Kreuzer is a 2 metre midfielder. The best thing about him is he will play the full 100 minutes as he will be rested in the forward line instead of the bench. Great second efforts and his palm downs were impressive.

Hampson was very quiet today

Waite was an excitement machine and will continue to generate debate as to where he should be played. Did well in defence in the air and at ground level. When Bower and Waite started firing up, the Bulldogs struggled to score helping Carlton overtake their score in the last quarter

Houla and Betts had quiet days with the latter putting himself at risk og being dropped. Got well beaten for pace and lacks endurance. We really lack a genuine crumber and he does not seem to do enough in my opinion

Scotland played up the ground. I prefer him playing more in the middle rather thab sittingback in defence picking up cheap disposals and being unaccountable.

Thornton is a bit of a worry playing like a millionaire but redeemed himself in the latter stages of the game

Was very impressed with Edwards. Got a lot more of the ball to show us how good he could be. First statement since joining Carlton and provided a real alternative to Fev who has lost his kicking boots this year.

Browne did enough to suggest he has potential and thank god he has good disposal. Quite tiny.

Was looking forward to seeing Ellard in action but unfortunately did not play. Want to see him replace Betts in the side.

Looking forward to seeing Stevens and Fisher back in the side.

Enjoyable game sitting behind the Heatly stand with the atmospere lacking in other venues. At least the Bullant and Collingwood reserve supporters will get the chance to experience it.

Conundrum

Besides Judd and Carrazzo......Kruz, Jacko and Bower gave even more reason to be excited.

*Jacko 2nd half was great, he did not stop running!! The 1st half he looked like the pace of the game was a touch to quick for him and he was looking alil lost when got it. Once the 2nd half started it looked like he just clicked and was in everything.

*Bower's run off the HBF was really good. His 2nd efforts were great, stuck to his man when we didn't have the ball and found alot of space when we had the ball. Still needs to work on getting rid of it but really pleased with his game today.

*Kruzer............WOW!! Played like he has being playing at this level for ages. .....just WOW!!!



Just alil side note.....I hate Brad Johnson!! He is a sook, and such an actress.

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Not so best of TheSexySquad


AWWWWWW STEVENS.

get's led to the ball all the time - how often did he slip over in a contest?

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one you knock back is one you never have

A lot to get excited about today...I really feel this year is about us learning the game plan, and gaining confidence. I think there will still be a lot of frustration for supporters as we continue to make bad decisions and spray kicks. I think most likely next year, all of a sudden we'll just jump up the ladder as it all of a sudden clicks. Everyone finds their position, and the confidence that comes with it. If we played a good side today, we would've been down by plenty by midway through the second, and just like the Hawkers game, we started to find our feet as the game went on. Hopefully we can irradicate this earlier on in the piece in the season proper or we'll continue finding ourselves playing catch up...Players:

Bannister - not great
Betts - terrible, unfortunately looks really unfit
Bower - geez, he played fantastic, by far his best game
Browne - I thought he was terrific, tackled well, disposed well, just got caught a couple of times as he's adjusting to the speed. He was one of our better contributors
Carrazzo - consistent as always
Cloke - did well, we'll never rack up stats, but deserving of his place
Edwards - those goals will see him gain confidence, great today
Fevola - good but in a couple of instances a second effort would've paid dividends but he was hunched over before realising the game was on
Gibbs - did some great things, a couple of times hung out of the pack which annoyed me a little, but obviously a superstar in the making
Grigg - a couple of awesome pases, he's going to shine this year
Hadley - found a bit of it
Hampson - barely on in the second half, got smashed but not to worry
Hartlett - played brilliantly. Kicked a great goal and the one from 65 out he looked around at the others and seemed to get the green light to go for goal. There's no chance he'll be out of the side if fit.
Houlihan - ordinary, bloody ordinary. Frustrates me with his inability to go in sometimes. Kicked a couple of the worst clangers possible, but I'm sure will bounce back
Jackson - superstar. Second half was superb. There was one passage of play where he was in the pack a few times in a row, and got the ball off the ground cleanly before it was disposed of and resulted in a goal. He is going to be fantastic, great pick up
Judd - played within himself, just easing himself into it. One pass went 50 metres out of defense to a players advantage and the crowd went wild. Super kick, went like a bullet
Kruezer - star, unbelievable how he'd gain posession then get himself into position to get another. Great tackle to earn the free.
Murphy - got plenty of it and his disposal was certainly better. He seems to be gaining confidence
O'Alipin - I'm devastated. He looks tiny and was obviously tired. He continued to try inspite of flowers in the crowd bagging him.
Russell - massive worry. Kicked a great goal and laid a great tackle. Yet in four quarters it wasn't nearly enough. He jack follows the ball and packs around hanging 5 metres away, looks sadly like he's footy nous isn't up to scratch. Hopefully he gets better as the year goes on.
Simpson - Star
Scotland - good
Thornton - I thought he was good and found plenty of the ball, made a few errors but was trying
Waite - great game
Jamison - he's quick, like really really quick!

Good game, great to get a win, and I too was annoyed the song wasn't played.

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--------------------------------------------------------"The only one that could ever love me..."

Hope you don't mind, Rhys. I lifted a photo for myself. I am happy to delete it if you have an issue.

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Let slip the Blues of war (with apologies to William Shakespeare) (and Sir Francis Bacon, just in case)

First things first.... WOW! I cannot remember a more enjoyable day at PP (well maybe a couple, but this was pretty good). It was great to see the boys have a win and to see some of the younger guys do well.

For all those who just can't get enough I thought I would put together a player by player rundown from what I saw. I haven’t seen a statsheet and I didn’t have a radio, so if I am way off please forgive me. This is my sumary of their impact on the game and how I see their developement.

1. Walker - Didn’t see much of him as I arrived a couple of minutes into the first quarter, then notice him head into the rooms at quarter time. As I walked back into the ground after half time Andrew hurried past me in casual clothes with his arm in a sling and a pretty dejected look on his face. I'm gutted for the kid, he tries his heart out and seems to be on the verge of really making an impact on the competition. DOA please wish Andrew all the best.

2. Russel - Barely seen. He pushed forward a fair bit but didn’t have much of an impact (apart from a timely goal). I think he will be struggling to get a game this year, let alone survive the end of season cull.

3. Murphy - A workhorse as usual. His disposal was much better and seemed to have a bit more confidence about him. I had a pretty good view of the report incident and I don’t think he has a case to answer. From what I saw he ran into someone head on who was ducking his head, both players pretty focused on the ball. Hopefully the replays back up my split second assessment.

4. Gibbs - Didn’t have a massive impact but still did some very nice things. Whenever he has the ball I breathe a sigh of relief, knowing that it will be well used. He moved into the middle a few times and is looking more and more at home there.

5. JUDD! - The man is a mercedes... ooozes class and even though he didn’t own the footy, his mere presence around the ground is enough. He seemed to move freely, without really pushing himself. One of the most pleasing things is the bond he seems to have already created with a lot of the younger guys. I noticed when Edwards and I think it might have been Browne kicked a goal they both ran straight to Judd, even though he didn’t set up the play.

6. Simpson - Typical simmo game. He worked hard, surprised taller opponents with his overhead marking ability, led from the front and didn’t put a foot wrong.

8. Kruezer - Jeeeez he had a day and a half old freddy. He read the play beautifully, worked hard for his team mates, and was a real presence around the ground. He spent a bit of time in the ruck, but it was around the ground that he dominated. He seems to be adapting to the tempo of AFL VERY quickly.

10. Hadley - I don’t think he spent a heap of time on the ground, but was good from what I saw. He is a big strong body who goes in hard and doesn’t waste the footy. Even though he didn’t get a heap of games in at the Lions, his experience shows.

16. Grigg - Shaun really impressed me today. He did the one thing that we have been crying out for someone to do for a VERY long time.... run through the middle and kick the f*&#^n thing long!!! and he didn’t just bomb away, he used the ball very well from what I saw and apart from really favouring that left(?) side, seems to be really settling in a lot faster then what people expected. He was also very calm under pressure I thought (for his age that is) and should be a definite in our best 22. Already.

17. Setanta - The streamlined Setanta struggled a bit today. I think he needs some game time but just looked a little off the pace. I have faith in him as a defender and I think he will settle in a bit better once the season kicks off.

18. Bower - If it’s possible to have a great game and a shocking game, then that’s what Bower had. He found heaps of the ball, look great at times streaming away from defence, but still had a couple of 'deer caught in the headlights' moments. I guess the important thing is that he had LESS then usual, and they were mainly in the last quarter.

19. Betts - Didn’t do enough for mine. Everyone got excited whenever he got near it around the goals, but we can't have him in the team on the off chance he does something wonderful. I think he needs to become a genuine crumber (i.e. a permanent fixture at almost every forward marking contest) rather then a flanker who can push forward.

22. Hampson - Looked good while he was out there but I didn’t see him after half time. Hopefully he isn’t injured. I would like to see him push forward after the ruck contests and have kruezer assume the ruck duties around the ground. I think Shaun could prove a handful up forward and provide us with some extra marking power.

23. Hartlet - Adam tried hard all day and I think he got a bit frustrated that things didn’t go his way. He probably played about 3/4 of the game. I never realised how skinny he is for a man with such a big frame. If he is going to prove a genuine CHF option he really needs to stack on the kgs so he can start bursting though some packs. He just didn’t have the 'big man up forward' presence today that we would need him too.

25. Fev - Looked a million bucks every time he went near it. It's too bad his kicking was a little off but apart from that he looks ready and rearing to go.

28. Cloke - Shared the ruck duties with Kruezer after Hampson went off and looked pretty good. He did a few good things around the ground and it’s a real shame that he isn’t a couple of inched taller because he would make and excellent traditional ruckman.
29. Scotland - Spent the day almost everywhere, running off HBF, in the middle, and even in the forward pocket for a while. He had another solid game, running hard and providing plenty of voice.

30. Waite - One of the best games I have seen him play. He took an absolute screamer in front of the social club sending everyone into delirium. Apart from that he showed the usual waited brilliance (clean runs through the middle and fancy side steps) with hardly any mistakes. There was no over using the ball, no crappy hospital handballs, no brain freezes what so ever. If he puts in a game like that every week he would have to go close to AA IMO.

31. - Bannister - Played really well I thought. Did his job as a run with player well and picked up a few useful touches. I don’t know what to do with him though. Where do you play him? Do you play him? He hasn’t done anything wrong but for some reason, which I can’t explain, I just some see him in the best 22.

32. - Thornton - He had a pretty average game. He does well clearing the ball but its actually beating his opponent that he is struggling with right now. He seems outpaced on the lead, and easily out bodied one on one.

33. - Houlihan - Ryan had a pretty good game today. I don’t want to jinx it but I think I even caught him putting his body on the line a couple of times. He floated around across half forward/half back and delivered nicely.

36. - Pfeiffer - Did he play? I didn’t notice him

37. - Edwards - This is where is gets exciting. I though Jake was outstanding today. He lead and marked well, he presented and looked genuinely threatening in our forward line. I actually remember thinking to myself how long it’s been since we had a couple of leading marking targets in the forward line. He should be a definite starter for round one I think, even if Fisher was playing. He showed today that he is a fair way ahead of Hartlett as the 3rd tall and we need to show faith in him this season. I love that fact the he looked just as threatening on the lead as he did one on one. This is especially important in that he wont conflict with the leading style of Fev or the contested mark style of Fisher. If he keeps up today’s form, Fisher continues to snag his standard couple per game, and Fev fires, we are actually going to have a pretty reasonable looking forward line happening. Rather then hitting the middle of the ground and seeing Fev vs. 3 opponents, our midfield might now see Fev/Fisher/Edwards all one out and someone like Kruezer lurking in the background. I know which scenario I would prefer to be kicking to.

38. Jackson - Only played about a half from what I saw. He did some nice things although he doesn’t have the wow factor when he gets the ball so he might have done more that I don’t know about.

40. - Jamison - Looked very solid. He played pretty much the full game from what I saw and looked strong, confident, and comfortable. I think he is in a position where he will already be picking up the best opposition forward, apart from maybe the browns and the riewoldts.

44. - Carrazzo - found a lot of the ball and I think what we saw today was a sign of things to come where he played more of an attacking tagger role, as opposed to a real midfielder. He made a couple of mistake with his disposal but I guess he wasn’t alone there.

OVERALL: I thought it was a much more polished performance then against the Hawks. Judd’s presence out on the ground seemed to lift the boys and gave them a real confidence. If anyone here is particularly close with Ratts would you please pass on one message for me; "Tell the boys to stop handballing in the centre corridor, ESPECIALLY to a stationary player."

Things to be excited about
- Juddy playing game number one (trouble free).
- The outstanding performances of the youngsters Edwards, Grigg, Kruezer and Jamison.
- Waite settling into the backline very nicely
- Murphy’s return to form
- General improvement across the board.

Things to be concerned about
- Walker injury
- Holes in our defence
- Setanta being a bit lost
- Basic skill errors through the middle

Best players.
5 – Waite
4 – Murphy
3 – Fevola
2 - Edwards
1 – Kruezer

P.S. Please note the time. That's right.... I'm psycho. Alcohol makes people do crazy things sometimes.

From the Hun
Judd mania sweeps away the Blues
http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/sport/ ... 42,00.html

This is the best line Mark Robinson has ever written:
"....... 10,000 of Carlton's most loyal, their bruised and battered egos now seemingly a bad dream, drank beers, murdered pies and cheered every time Judd touched the ball."

Oh, what a beautiful image.

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"Carlton's most loyal, their bruised and battered egos now seemingly a bad dream, drank beers, murdered pies and cheered every time Judd touched the ball."