But it was all that good work and gang tackling the little runt that got ruined with the smother.

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“It is a state of mind, a system of belief, a way of seeing the world, a deep faith that, because you are Carlton, you belong to something great.” - Mike Fitzpatrick articulating what Out of the Blue means.

Positives
1. We thrashed North, even in the preseason this is a good thing.
2. All the new players added something to the side - mucho kudos to the too often maligned recruiting staff.
3. Bulk heaps goal kickers.
4. Robinson's mentalism. Garlett making Skinny look fat.
5. Not getting thrashed in the ruck, particularly against the strong North ruck division.

Negatives
1. We still don't make the most of our oppurtunities. We should have beaten them by more.
2. Still Fev-centric, but their are worse problems to have.
3. North supporters claiming that Fev kneed Pratt in the back with intent, and should be reported.

That's a ludicrous claim, even by those turkeys.

To really piss them off, you should tell any North supporters that Pratt wasn't really hurt, and he went off in this:

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And so while others miserably pledge themselves to the pursuit of ambition and brief power, I will be stretched out in the shade, singing.

yes we still seem to have two standards in respect of disposal -one for Russell and Carrazzo and one for the rest of the team -Neither are superstars but both are good honest senior players who for the most part dispose of the ball more than adequately - imagine if russell had shanked the 30 metre kick right in front of goal like Wiggins did - imagine the hysteria - I told the people I was sitting with that Wiggo would more than likely miss but that doesnt mean I dont rate him

What is good now about russell is that his team mates trust him in terms of disposal and positioning -also on Friday night wasnt getting the cheap kicks as the hit up forward where he gets a lead on his man and gets it out front -was linking through the corridor or on the back flank- was cool in his disposal and his confidence is rising

My negatives were

Still FEV conscious -need alternatives


Dont really go for Stevo on the backline -great offensively but doesnt have touch at all on his opponent - a Rioli et al might have taken him to the cleaners - cant seem to get in the right position to take an overhead mark

Only a NAb Cup game but Juddy news more protection from our other midfielders - he is going to be very sore if he does that workload all year extracting the ball as well as getting poleaxed every time he goes for the ball - need some real grunt apart from Juddy thats why I like grigg in there

Bentley played well but disposal a bit iffy

Pros:
4 Quarter workrate by all that played
Proactive in running to space (fat side) to give an option when the ball went inside defensive 50 preparing for the rebound if it happened.
General Skills
Fitness
Intensity
Attitude
Clokes 1%ers - Crashing the packs, blocking for Fev/Wiggo, providing a big target.
18 man defensive set ups that pushed them wide.
Playing for each other.
Light at the end of the tunnel is no longer a train.
Having Houls back fit and healthy.

Cons:
Duck egg for this time of year in a 1st NAB game.

Regards Cazzesman

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Ricky Gervais - “Everyone has the right to hold whatever beliefs they want. And everyone else has the right to find those beliefs f***ing ridiculous.”

To those who think that we were too Fev-centric, your joking right ???

He kicked 6 of 18 goals, that's only 1/3 of our goals. We had 2 other multiple scorers and 11 goal scorers in total.

Now how on earth can you call that too Fev-centric ???

After all, Fev is still our no 1 forward, its his job to kick goals. If he wasn't getting more of it than most we would all be accusing him of not doing his job well enough !!!!!

If you try & say the rest of the team didn't contribute enough, let me suggest that if the rest of the team kicks 12 goals every game on top of whatever Fev kicks we will win most weeks.

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1. Walker,
2. Menzel,
3. Murphy,
4. Gibbs,
5. Judd.

Baring mind if Garlett had kicked straight that would have been 5 goals to him, if the Chief hadn't missed, 2 goals to him, if Houla hadn't missed, 2 goals for him.

That's 4 goals actually kicked instead 8!

The issue isn't that we are Fevcentric but rather he knows how to kick the flowering Sherrin thru the big sticks.

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“It is a state of mind, a system of belief, a way of seeing the world, a deep faith that, because you are Carlton, you belong to something great.” - Mike Fitzpatrick articulating what Out of the Blue means.

I agree Amers, even though he still got a lot of ball most of the time it was the players honouring perfect leads. There was far less kicking long to a contest than there had been previously.

He's the best full forward in the comp, he's going to get a lot of ball go through him because of that. As long as its hitting him on the tit from leads he's destroyed his opponent on i don't really care.

Its only a problem when we direct kick and hope balls his way continuously, and that happened Sweet FA.

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"I will rejoice in their anguish, delight in their failure and revel in our success"

We are Carlton, @#$%&! the rest !!!!!!

+1

There is no logic in the claim that we were too Fev Centric.

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Hooked on The Blues

Based on last Friday's game it is certainly a DFO (Data Free Observation).

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

Winston Churchill

Beautiful work in this thread regarding the Fevcentric rebuttals.

I felt Fev was only the target when he lead well or no-one else was offering anything, and this is exactly how a forward should play and how the rest of the team should honour him. When Fev takes off and has 5 metres clear of his opponent, you have to honour that. And when there isn't any real leads, just go to Fev cause he's the best mark.

I believe went always went for the best option. Murphy, Gibbs, Wiggins, Houla, Simo, Bentley, Betts, Cloke, Jacobs + more all had leads (making space) honoured and kicked to. What i think people have in their head straight away that we need another "sub-main" target ala Hawks and Brisbane. Say had Murph, Bentley and Simo not kicked their goals, instead Cloke got them, there will be no-one here saying we were Fevcentric.

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cruise (Kreuze) missile:
a very accurate flying bomb.
SOURCE: http://library.thinkquest.org/3785/glossary.html

Nice to get a win but lets not get carried away, i've seen more pressure at under 11 games than I did on Friday!

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C'mon Blueboys!

You're not used to seeing the defensive pressure applied by a Carlton Team.

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

Winston Churchill

That could be it. Hoops gave us an example or 2 again on Friday, God bless his cotton socks!

But the shitboners did not give a yelp in that area the other night so I have downgraded the win on that basis.

Still more than happy with the night and what I saw! Robbo, gotta love this kid…

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C'mon Blueboys!

Our Fev-centricity is a fact but what is certainly up for contention is whether or not this is a bad thing.

I think until the Kruise is ready to take over at CHF Fev will always be the first option looked for but what I liked about the game on Friday night was that we rarely went to him when he was out-numbered or out of position.

The best measure of any improvement in our forward line structure (or good Fev-centricity) is by looking at the percentage of times shots at goal were generated for each Fev-focussed move into the forward line.

My assessment is not scientific so purely based on how it appeared to me but I thought we were very good at finding Fev and more willing to try other options when Fev wasn't appropriate.

On this basis Fev kicking 6 goals is a GOOD thing

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Carlton - Nothing's changed
I still love you, oh, I still love you
Only slightly, only slightly less
Than I used to, my love

For the next NAB match we should rest Fev (and Juddy too) and explore other forward options such as Edwards,Hartlett or Austin. Would be good to know we can revert to plan B in the proper season if needed.

Looking forward to all the reports from any High School Age TCers out there (even Primary School Age ones if any) - who are doing the:


Carlton School Yard Strut

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

Winston Churchill

Cheating oompa loompa jumped forward of the mark to effect that smother.

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"One of my favorite philosophical tenets is that people will agree with you only if they already agree with you. You do not change people's minds." - Frank Zappa

That's a positive. Opposition supporters whinging about stuff like that is awesome.

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"One of my favorite philosophical tenets is that people will agree with you only if they already agree with you. You do not change people's minds." - Frank Zappa

Yeah I'm with you - I couldnt work out how that could possibly anything other than positive.

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

Winston Churchill