I haven't been as bullish as some about our top 4 chances, so perhaps that’s why I haven't been as alarmed as some about our poor pre-season form….but I’m now at the point where I’m actually having difficulty seeing us beating Richmond in Round 1.

Some posters will call it an overreaction to pre-season form. I say it’s based on my observations from the last month and, although pre-season form isn’t everything, the club can’t just flick a switch overnight and make everything better.

It’s my understanding that the “who cares? It’s only the pre-season!” attitude does not extend to the coaching staff, who are not pleased at all with what they are seeing at the moment…

It has NOTHING to do with today’s scoreboard. I think it's because:

* fitness - we've been thumping our chests all summer about our high performance unit, elite facilities and overseas training camps...but when I looked across the ground late in each quarter it was the Carlton players that were hunched over with hands on hips and shuffling through the corridor unable to get back to help an undermanned defence. No wonder we bleed goals in red time. We can only hope that the heavy legs we saw out there today were due to training loads that are about to be eased back. There's also the issue of having an unusually high number of players injured or underdone. I'm not qualified to say if that is a failure of the fitness/medical staff, but the cruel fact is we don't look prepared for Round 1;

* skills - I'm surprised that we don't look fitter, but I am NOT surprised that our skills are still below premiership standard. I went to a training session in January and couldn't believe there was no sign of improvement in our kicking. It's one of the main areas where we fell short last year. Seeing senior players turning the ball over regularly is depressing;

* defensive aspects - our forwards & mids better bring their defensive positioning/tackling/chasing A-game in Round 1….because, if they don’t, our backline will bleed more than Dusty Rhodes. Our defensive pressure was why we improved last year. If we have a drop off in that (which will happen if our players are ahead of themselves and/or not fit enough) our backline will be exposed. The situation is only exacerbated by the absence of Jamo, Laidler and, to a lesser degree, Duigan;

* cohesion/teamwork –the really good teams are able to cover injuries because players coming into the side know exactly what their role is. Can we say the same thing? Some of our players are looking like they have no idea where they are supposed to be or what they should be doing. From a spectator’s perspective, the Carlton players appeared to lack any sense of teamwork today. What’s more, there wasn’t much in the way of gut-busting running to support a mate, and just little ‘bounce’ in the body language of the Carlton players. Some of them looked like they weren’t enjoying being out there and looked like it was all too hard. Maybe the pressure of expectations is weighing heavily on them? Maybe our coach is out of form? Whatever, North looked a better drilled team than us today.

Anyway, a few positives:
- Kreuzer: I really enjoyed watching him today. He’s probably the only mid that enters the season in really good form;
- Waite: looked sharp. An injury or suspension is always just around the corner, but he is a very important player for us (even more so with Tex out);
- Robbo: made a big difference when he was up & about. Only played a half, but I assume that was a fitness management thing, as opposed to an injury (?);
- A few players on the fringes did enough to stake their claim for Round 1 selection, ie. Armfield, Bower & JR;
- You could see Gibbs slowly easing himself into form. I thought his last quarter was very good.

Other observations:
I was disappointed with Hammer. His positioning & judgement up forward continue to be problems (not to mention his kicking). He wasn’t much better in the ruck, where he gave away a number of free kicks. I don’t think you’d pick him in Round 1 on form, but with 206 (and Levi?) injured, and Rowe in the VFL, Hammer needs to step up as a forward/2nd ruckman. He doesn’t need to kick bags of goals, he just needs to make himself a target and stop the opposition marking the ball in our forward 50. He also needs to use that agility and pace of his to chase hard and cause turnovers, and lock the ball in our forward line until our smaller players arrive and swoop on it.
Unfortunately, Davies & Watson stood out as the two players that are not up to it at this stage. The club has given Davies more chances at AFL level than I would have, but his confidence now looks officially shot and I’d be surprised if he makes the Round 1 team. Watson is a great kick and has some smarts about him, but he seems miles away from AFL level in terms of athleticism and intensity.
Judd & Murphy deserve enough credit to give them the benefit of the doubt and say that they were only going at 2/3 pace today and that they still have a lot of upside to them for 2012…
I don’t think Brock & Curnow can play in the same team. It hurts our rotations too much to have players in the side that can’t play multiple positions or roles. It’s basically ‘inside mid or bust’ with both of them –ie. it’s not like you can send either of them to a back pocket to lock down Nahas, or play the sweeping defender’s role, or even go forward to kick goals. I’d have a slight preference for Brock, simply because I think his disposal is better of the two. It would be a massive bonus for us if one of these 2 or Ellard (who didn’t play today and I think is injured?) could step up in the midfield, but all 3 reek of ‘too good for VFL, not good enough for AFL’ syndrome in 2012, IMO.

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

Observations
Concerns;
Must have another marking option up forward. Waite was terrific but needs help
Hampson can't mark consistently and brings his oponent to contests that cuts our advantage.
Several times he brought MacIntosh or Goldstein to marking contests where a teammate had the height advantage
Thornton needed in the backline. Went forward after halftime and left a huge hole.
Watson has no intensity. Not sure what he needs to fire up, you'd hope 3 key defenders out would do it.
Davies doesn't want the ball.
Armfield's disposal is diabolical.
Lucas's disposal is worse
Goals scored over the back from kick ins. Our press is too high and we're exposed by pace from the second possession.
Maclean is smart and uses the ball well enough to play rnd 1 v Tuck

Pleasing aspects

Waite looked very fit
Garlett and Betts worked very hard
Robinson was important and looks set for a big year
Judd and Murphy got better as the game wore on.
Kreuzer marked as well as i've ever seen him
Russell looked better today
Gibbs , Simmo, Scotland Carrazzo all ok
Tuohy will be a player
Hampson rucked well later



Our depth is our issue. poor disposal will kill us this year more than ever before.

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"I'll tell you what I didn't do;
I never injected anyone."
AD 3/3/14

Positives
Waitey moving very well was the big positive for us today
Kreuzer Robbo and I reckon Curnow also had a crack


Biggest disappointment was Hammer - don't know if he's crook but apart from some occasional nice tapwork he was bloody hopeless today

There is absolutely nothing confusing about what they did, and they are not a good team, merely one that doesn't make such painfully simple mistakes.

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

I am a huge Bryce Gibbs fan, and I have big expectations of him. I thought he got plenty of the ball but he fumbled uncharacteristically at times and his disposal was sloppy. Not like him. Probably harder on him than I should be given how much I think of him. I also want him in the midfield this year, moving forward. The haircut also put me off.

I was sitting in the Pratt Stand and I can tell you no-one was overly happy.

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

Winston Churchill

Lucas butchers the ball far too often.

Davies butchers the ball far too often.

Curnow butchers the ball far too often.

Carrazzo butchers the ball far too often.

Joseph butchers the ball far too often.

Bower butchers the ball far too often (although not so much today).

Armfield butchers the ball more than any of the above.

Yarran's "elite disposal" is a myth.

Waite (who was fabulous) misses far too many shots (mainly cos he gets most very wide out).

Betts can't make the distance from any more than 40m.

Hampson would be the man I'd get to kick for goal for the Syrian Presidents life.

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"You can't polish a James Hird"

Well we were known as "The Butchers" many years ago.

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

Winston Churchill

Here I was thinking it was all doom and gloom.

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

For the life of me I don't know why Waite seems to lead constantly to the point where the 50 meter arc meets the boundary line.

For the life of me I don't know why Betts seems to be the go to marking option - especially today when Kreuzer was on his own so many times.

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

Winston Churchill

Agree with all of this, particularly the last line. Looks like another wasted pre-season with the Hammer. I'm sure that he is really fit - just can't mark or kick - but who cares about that ? The guy should be practicing marking and kicking all day every day, but the "brains trust" are obviously pleased with his lack of progress - for a priority pick. What an absolute joke ! Hampson is a rare talent who has never been coached appropriately to remedy his obvious deficiencies. An absolute waste !

Plenty for the coaches to work on after today.
Firstly, the coaches themselves. The 3rd quarter saw North go with a midget forward line and we failed to adapt. We had watson (195cm) playing CHB on Patch Adams (About 175cm). Adams ran him around and was actively involved in 2 of their first 3 goals in the 3rd quarter. As soon as the avalanche was underway, our only method of stopping the momentum was pushing Gibbs loose into defence.
Unfortunately the damage was being done in the guts, not in the forward line.

Credit to North, some of their young mids have taken huge steps in the past 12 months. Harper was very good, Bastinac had plenty of it, McMillan was very impressive and Swallow and Adams taught some of our highly credentialled blokes a lesson. With Anthony, Ziebel etc, they have a lot to look forward too.

Getting back to the Blues, I loved Kruezers game but at 200cm, he wil struggle against the big guys. Our forward line was poor and until our forwards work their opponents over with workrate, we'll never gain the ascendancy in the corridor. It's interesting hearing people think waite had a great game but kicked poorly. He kicked poorly because his opponent commanded the corridor and Waite took the easy option of continuingly leading to the fence. He needs to work his opponents over with workrate until the cant demand the space he needs. Until he does that, he'll be an average forward at best. Watch how hard Cloke and Reiwoldt work. that's whats required.
He actually looked his best when behind the ball.

Goldstein was Norths loose player and Russel and or Hendo were ours at different times. Needless to say, Goldstein dominated our forward line and our plus 1s were far less influencial. Until we can develop a player who can dominate games as a loose player, this will continue to be our achilles heel.
I though Russell was poor. (flat handed at least 6 marking attempts and dropped them all) McLeans was good when he was on, as was Bower. Gibbs was better when placed on the ball in the last and Juddy was able to blow out a few more cobwebs. Lucas worked hard but kicks too many lob wedges.

Lastly, it wasnt the best pre-cursor to a season but I'm not hitting the panic button. I suspect the pace will stepped up immeasurably Round 1 by our "better" players.
Looking forward to seeing Judd, Murphy and co show their class when the real stuff starts. (hopefully)

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Looking forward to seeing our potential realised.

Thank goodness this crap's over with for another year.
I expect us to slaughter Richmond and Brisbane.
Collingwood's the one where a statement will be made one way or the other.

Where do I send my $40 for Hammer to buy a glove?

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- I work hard, because millions on welfare depend on me -

unfair to include Carotts as a butcher today - apart from one shot at goal I was pleasantly surprised by his disposal

fair comment for all the others - even Yarran, I think he believes everyone can run like him! Misses targets consistently.

not sure about Judds disposal, waiting for him to get one!

Good summary BV. I reckon you're harsh on JR though. I thought he did OK when he came on. At least he used the ball well. You make a good point about Waite, it was obvious he was leading too wide and it made it hard for him to convert (although he's never been a reliable kick from any spot). On the positives, he moved well and won the 50/50s. Hopefully he's another one that turns it up a notch when the 'real stuff' starts...

As I've already posted, I'm not confident against Richmond (FWIW, remember they have beaten both Hawthorn & Geelong this pre-season) based on what I saw at today's "final dress rehearsal" (not to mention the last month) and our injuries. This is the best chance they have had to beat us in Round 1 for years.

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

Gee we missed some friggin easy shots at goal today.

Marcus Davies

Matthew Kreuzer

At least it wasn't Lindsay Thomas who kicked 7.

I always love doom and gloom after pre-seasons. People know they have little relationship to the season proper but still continue to base everything off them before round 1. What do you say about people who make the same mistakes time and time and time again?

Wonder how many times tall young draftees like Watson have been written off after just one season. Some things are simply confidence. Right or wrong supporters people never learn. Might be worthwhile to wait a couple of seasons first. That wouldn't work for supporters though. It's important minds are made up in 5 minutes. Like I said above, what do you say about people who make the same mistakes time and time and time again?

I was standing in the south-eastern forward pocket when Hammer took that chestmark behind the pack when everyone else mis-judged it (how did that happen?).

As he lined up I was calling out for one of our players to position himself in front of me.

None did.

A North player marked the ball uncontested in front of me. That was a rather annoying (I've calmed down a bit).

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"You can't polish a James Hird"

Top post, or rather, I agree.

Regarding the forward line, we're going to miss Walker over the next month or so to provide the work rate that I'm honestly not sure Waite is capable of at this stage of his career.

In defence, without putting to fine a point on it, I think we have a number of players that could grow into it. Or we could move Gibbs back there.

And lastly, I reckon Patch Adams is the most underrated player going around at the moment.

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STURDYISM!!