Pros:
Enjoyed the forward set up last night (even though I'm not sure that Fev did). We weren't predictable and one-dimensional with Fev as the pivot, and all the opposition defenders gravitating towards him. Fev played as 2nd banana at times, and they rotated a number of different players and types through the goalsquare. Really paid off with the spread of goalkickers.
Ran hard until there was little left (coming off the Sunday evening Subiaco game, and a man down on the bench).
Simpson. Magnificent game. I thought he was easily BOG. Won't get the 3 brownlow votes, because we lost, but he should. 3 brilliant goals. Loads of possession. Brilliant long passing. Won the hard ball when he needed to.
Houlihan. Another really good game in midfield.
Whits for a half. Good to see he can still play. Good to see him where he needs to play, if he's going to contribute to the overall team structure.
Despite a couple of obvious mistakes, I thought Waite was very good in defence. Not only performed well, but the defensive structure was much better.
Eddie for a quarter.

Cons:
While it's not bad for Bryce to get a taste of being one-out in the goalsquare. I hope they're not going to allow him to play fullback for the rest of the year.
Brisbane's goalkicking accuracy for most of the game.
Fev's marking and petulant behaviour.

I agree Elwood, at the game I made the call that Cloke should have been put on Charman to force him out of the forward line, but I suspect that it's more than just Denis having input on the matchups.

Presumably everyone related to the defensive half in the box backed T-Bird to provide the superior job despite the obvious difference in height.

Team fitness aside, Charman made Ackland's fitness look like a joke. He was knackered. Very fit is Charman.

_________________
29 different attributes,
And only 7 that you like;
20 ways to see the world,
Or 20 ways to start a fight.

Pros:
A damn good game of footy. We lost only because we ran out of legs and because of Brisbane's accuracy.

Cons:
- TC posters who post on this website while emotional, straight after the game, without looking clearly at the game and thinking before they write.
- TC posters who always need a scape goat. ie Waite, Lance, Wiggins, etc, etc.

Yes a number of players had brain freezers (ie Hoops smothered kick in the last, Setanta's spoil on Scotland, Waite's fumbles), but at the end of the day, they didnt just cost us the match. There are too many plays thorought the entire game to blame the loss on one player or one play. One or two brain freezers shouldn't determine whether a player can or can not play or should be dropped (though too many are calling for Waite's head). Go run a half marathon and see how you're brain is reacting. The players are near exhaustion and it is easy to see why mistakes occur. Quit looking to pick out one play or even one player to blame a loss on. Hoops' smothered kick was awful, but otherwise he had one of the best games I've seen him play. We played great footy and at the end of the day, being a man down, we just ran out of legs.

IMO, Waite had a solid game down back and although he made some mistakes, I think it is worth persisting with him there. I think with some confidence and stablity in the backline with him, he will find his feet and be a solid contributor.

Those who blame Gibbs for getting beaten in the last quarter know nothing about football. No one in our team would have stopped those marks because it wasn't about the marking contest. It was the space and delivery that killed us. We didn't have the run in our legs (or the time) to get players back to fill the space that was left in front of Gibbs. He had a great game and to blame him for what Johnson did at the end of the game is narrow sighted.

Also good to see Simmo stick it up a lot of the TC posters who were using him as the scape goat recently. Awesome game. Thought he was one of the best afield.

Same goes for Eddie who showed his value and hopefully quiet's down some of his ditractors on this site.

Another good game by Cloke, who is showing his versatility and worth to the team.

Lappin, Scotland solid

Lance great first half, really set us up early. Just ran out of steam a bit as the game went on, and as our midfielders tired, the passing to him also got worse and in fact he was overlooked a helluva lot.

JK good last quarter. Shows he has plenty of skill, just needs to find his spot in the team. More so for the team to find him actually.

And lastly I have to say that was about the best game I've seen J Russell play. Super impressed with his game. Showed he has the skill, class and vision to be a quality AFL player. He really has started show that he belongs.

pro-we played footy that was attacking, exciting and a joy to watch. A light year from the crap 8 goal games we've seen the past 3 years

con - we lost.

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Everything before the word "but" is horseshit - J Snow

agreed, im a fan of JR, as i reckon he is going to be a gun for us. Many bemoan the fact that we got him at pick 9, but by the end of his career, he will be one of the players that people say, why did we use pick 4 on this donkey when we could have got JR.

Going to be a gun

_________________
Got to love the stare Down by Setanta on Llyod

PRO -Improving steadily -playing young players -playing good football without Stevens Kouta and Fisher
Kade Simpson best game for the year
Multi-dimensional forward line
Cloke in the ruck and forward
Houlihan getting better
CONS
Didnt take chances when had the flow of the game our way -still very wasteful not efficient enough in front of goal -cost us big time
Jackson getting injured

Pros;
Our yound M-Fielders up against 2 of the best over the last 8 years and only just running out of puff in the end.
Running hard and kicking long making us one of the most attractive teams in the comp
Kicking a big score which will give goal scoring confidence to Simmo, Eddie, Cloke and Murph.

Cons;
Fev's lack of leadership when we needed it most, showed us why he won't ever be captain.

Pros. No WHITNALL bashing for this week atleast.

Only two possies in the second half.....unlike Brown who seem to be everywhere. I dont want to turn this into Whitnall bashing and keep it constructive but you have to expect your leader in a close game to be delivering when it matters.
I felt the Brisbane leaders in Brown, Power, Johnson, Black, Charman etc set the example......Stevens and Kouta missing obviously robs us of other senior players who could have stepped up and matched the Brisbane leaders when it mattered.....

_________________
"When you have the attitude of a champion, you see adversity as your
training partner."
- Conor Gillen

now, im a fan of Whitnall, but lets not compare him to Brown.

thats like comparing Houlahan to Judd

_________________
Got to love the stare Down by Setanta on Llyod

'
You might want to include Fev in your 'leaders that let us down' chapter because when the game was there to be won mentally, Brown stood tall and Fev crumbled .

He needs an absolute @#$%&! baking this week. Lance would never let the team down like that. He maybe be physically challenged compared to Fev but he's a mental giant in terms of leadership.

According to Eddie Betts in the Herald Sun today; they ran out of legs in the last quarter following the trip West last week....he said it does take a lot out of the players; and they felt flat during the week.

Jonathan Brown talked about it straight after the game too. All last year it was an issue, the feature of a number of articles in the press..and suddenly its thrown out as a real issue for us. Despite weeks of out-running other teams.

C'mon guys, yeah we lost, but be sensible about it. Of course it was a factor.

_________________
Formerly: Ackland the Wonderkid / Army the Wonderkid / quivering mess / molsey / Tony Lynn Fan Club

PROS:
* Carlton can play a wonderful style of football that people will flock to watch
* Weve dispensed with flooding and now you can actually tell who is or isnt playing well one on one which makes it easier for us armchair bandits to support / bag people
* Multi pronged forward line was great
* Some good moves; Cloke up forward, Houlihan in the middle, Walks on the wing
* Waite and Whitnall getting into the game
* Leaving Waite in defence to learn the gig
* Scotland, Houlihan, Murphy as midfielders.
* Russell's first half in particular, he's coming along nicely (then got pantsed in the second half)

CONS:
* Needed to be quicker with the Gibbs move
* Gibbs should also be in the midfield rotation
* Wiggins not getting into the game
* Waite getting into the game and making a few mistakes (which is still better than him not getting into the game)
* Ackland

It was a huge positive for mine and says where we are at - 9-12 positioning. We have to stop others runs, which starts in the middle but we have to develop the players to play there.

I think lots of Carlton fans forget that some close games you lose even when you are pretty good. We are stuck between glorious wins and abject failures and these near-losses could go either way, in any given last quarter. I wouldnt get too down but think about how young players are getting serious game time and coming through. This is much better than 2006.

_________________
Formerly: Ackland the Wonderkid / Army the Wonderkid / quivering mess / molsey / Tony Lynn Fan Club

Pros:
-The type of attacking, attractive, skillful football that we played. The skill level in the first half was outstanding compared to previous years.
-Gibbs cool head under pressure, makes fantastic decisions and hits targets pretty much all the time. Needs the odd stint in the middle now, although not too much, still very light.
-Would have won on Sat night if Stevo was in, our young midfield is really coming on.
-Pagan having the patience with Carlos. No-one would have stopped Bworn on Sat night.
-Waits's bravery several times, a near collision with Brown in the 2nd Q was inspiring stuff.
-Plenty more, but with my renowned lack of typing skill, would take me forever to jot them all down.

Cons:

Murph, we have gotta look after him, he is getting smashed constantly. Only played 18 games but at this rate wont last to see 100.

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Blue blood is running through these veins!!! Go Blueys!!!

Brown was being the humble diplomat......like I said him and Charman have had no preseason. Even if I buy the WC tired theory why wouldnt the MC make more than one change ie Jackson.
If fresh legs were an issue wouldnt the coach and MC include some more runners ie Blackwell, Bower, Edwards for example as well as Jackson.???
Lets make Eddie coach if that was the main reason we lost?.....

re: Whitnall..comparing him to Brown.....why not?..both get paid large sums of money to perfom, both play CHF, both are captains.....plenty to compare IMHO.....only difference is that Lance doesnt have an entire backline playing on him like Brown does and has Fev to take all the best backman.....


re: Houlihan and Judd.....lets be sensible..... Houlihan doesnt get paid like Judd, isnt captain, doesnt have 4 blokes every week rotating off him and isnt expected to win Brownlows......

_________________
"When you have the attitude of a champion, you see adversity as your
training partner."
- Conor Gillen

unfortunately that's just the way Murph plays footy. Put him in the forward or back pocket and he'll still put his body into places where it shouldn't go. About the most courageous player in our team right now.

nytdog wrote:

unfortunately that's just the way Murph plays footy. Put him in the forward or back pocket and he'll still put his body into places where it shouldn't go. About the most courageous player in our team right now.

I hear what you are saying mate but having Stevo out is really hurting us in teat regard. 18 games into his career and he is getting a hard tag every week. Need some big mids to provide some protection against grubs such as Copeland.

_________________
Blue blood is running through these veins!!! Go Blueys!!!

He didn't have the whole backline on him on Sat night, he had a 14 gamer who hadn't touched a footy by the time JB had played CHF in 3 flags. JB also had acres a space and some gun midfielders drilling it to him. Fev has Daniel Merritt, almost as inexperienced as Santy.

Maybe the WCE game isn't an excuse, but most teams have in the past acknowledged the effects of interstate travel, and stats suggest that teams run out of legs the week after travelling west. Also we don't have midfielders with the class strength or experience of Black and Power and I think our guys needed to expend a lot more energy breaking even. Any other night 13.1 at half time might have been 9.5 which would have reflected the first half efforts of the sides. The Lions weren't as hard in the first half but their accuracy kept them in it, they had more run left at the end of the game.

We are an improving 12-16th side. The Lions, courtesy of the best forward and two of the best midfielders in the AFL, and younder players who have been aorund a few years more than ours and are physically stronger, are a bit ahead of us in current talent.

I'm nowhere near as disappointed about losing this game as I expected to be.

I think the way in which we lost has told us a lot more about our team than a fall over the line victory with Fev kicking 7 would have.

We were beaten by experienced campaigners who knew how to lift and when to lift.

We were beaten because we lost our cool, both individually (Fev, Waite) and as a team.

We were as hard at the ball as I've seen us for 5 years.

We know we can play a brand of football that is accountable yet attacking, skilful yet disciplined.

If we'd fallen over the line, it would have been an amazing feeling after the highest standard game of the year, but it wouldn't have made us realise quite what it was that kept Brisbane in the hunt.

We didn't lose because we fell apart at the seams, we lost in the last quarter because the lions had the skill and experience.

We have the skill. And we will get the experience.

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Congratulations CK95