The point re Judd is a real worry. Hawks did it to perfection too. We need midfielders just as badly as we need KPPs it seems ?

Punter your post is the most accurate thing I have read all week.

Our record against the top teams this year is atrocious. We are not like Coll and Hawth, we are not good enough to flirt with our form, think we can flick the switch.

Two losses to two top teams running into the finals is just not good enough. Why can't we win these games?

Our main problem is we get our goals from midgets, and history shows midget forwards go missing in the heat of finals. If our core midfield don't pull their fingers out next week, then we are stuffed, because Betts, Garlett and Walker have already gone AWOL the last two weeks - what hope is there form them next week ??

Let's put it this way, even if we do win next week, the forwardline of midgets is NEVER going to win us a premiership.

Our other problem is our second level midfielders lack skill. Armfield and Robinson continually turn it over under pressure. Just not good enough.

The other clear issue is against the top sides, especially those that lock you down like Hawth and St.K, is the manner by which the opposition lock down on judd. Ratten had better come up with some solutions in the next few days

Garlett.........................

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BLUES 2010: PAV AND JUDD = FLAGS. DOING IT FOR THE LOVE OF DICK PRATT.

HAVE YOU SIGNED UP FOR TALKINGCARLTON SUPERCOACH 2009 YET?

Just back from the game.

We were absolutely dominant in the first half, ran them off their legs, and were just playing with them. Should have been 8 goals up at half time. Statistitically at that stage it was one of the most lopsided games of the season!

Lyon completely outcoached Ratts after the break, closing down space, clogging our forward line, and then rebounding for easy goals.

Should have been an easy win the way the game was going, but we just froze after half time, lost all our run, and resorted to static chip passes to easy tartgets until we inevitably turned it over.

St Kilda were very ordinary. Right up until midway through the final quarter I thought we'd ramp it up and come home victorious. But we just couldnt get our run back. Looked tired.

Very disappointing on the eve of the finals. No momentum and fragile.

Simpson unbelievable, clearly BOG. Tuohy, Laidler, Murphy, and Henderson all very good, despite he latter gifting two easy goals to the Saints with incredibly poor judgement and lack of basic football nous. Davies not up to it.

More disappointed than I should be I think.

Pretty much spot on there pal.
I cant see us beating these plucky pigs i seriously cant.

I missed the lot tonight, out at dinner.

Can someone give me a rational assessment of the night? Perhaps not.

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"I had to eat"

Carlton played uncontested footy, ran over the ground well to build a half time lead, then stopped running and pressuring the Saints in the second half.

42 tackles tells the story.

We were a class above in the first half, but wasted our chances. Put the cue in the rack at half time, and played like Collingwood did last night. It was very frustrating. Kreuzer got subbed off in the second quarter with a foot injury.

Simpson, Gibbs, Lucas, Tuohy, Joseph, Hendo, Yarran all good

Jeff, Robbo, Scotland, Walker, Eddie were poor.

Pretty clear and consistent trends in the messages above Horse. Dont like whats written? How would you know if its rational when you didnt even see the game?

Cheers. Disappointing.

Mark Robinson tweeted about a supposed Judd sling tackle (that he didn't see). Anyone notice anything?

Jeff, Eddiw, 1aw....0.1...

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"I had to eat"

Garlett I am pretty sure hasn't played a final yet, has been dropped on the eve of the Elim Final 2 yrs running. After his pitiful effort tonite, characterised by blind handballs and playing on when he should go back and take the set shot (er, Ess draw, Fletcher anyone!!!!) you'd be tempted to drop his ass again

Seriously, he, Betts and Walks need to pull their digits out. If they fail again next week we will lose, simple as that.

have to agree, it was very obvious to me too. And i noticed Judd, Murphy, Gibbs and even Scotty didnt seem to spend as much time in the middle and around the contests tonight. Army seemed to do a bulk of work as well as a few others. Have I got this wrong??

Thoughts

Steady on mate. We outplayed them early but 8 gls is an overstatement.


Maybe we should have been 4-5 gls ahead, but not 8

Only info i could find on Kruezer

http://one.com.au/one/newsarticles/AFL- ... injury.htm

Is dead foot worse than turf toe?

Accidentally seen the result on news, switching off at end of 1st half (in Canberra)

He played against sydney last year

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#DonTheStash

One query

Thought Touhy was off the ground a fair bit in the middle of the game

Not sure why, thought he was really good and thought his absense mid game hurt us, ditto Scotto seemed to have a fairly long spell at one stage

Maybe that is resting players?

Hopefully a little perspective on it:




http://one.com.au/one/newsarticles/AFL- ... injury.htm


We were effectively a man down for the entire game.

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"I had to eat"

Strangely I don't feel that disappointed, however sides with real intent make a statement on the eve of the finals and play the way they intend to next week. Having been confident we would beat the Saints on the way to the prelim I now feel we see next week as and end in itself rather than a means to an end and we have become a mediocre club that finds adversity to be a convenient excuse, rather than using it as an opportunity for the club to show strength.

Having said that ....some excuses. Losing Big K virtually from the start of the game left our ruck strength as a weakness. Setanta looked very likely up forward but had to spend half his time and lots of energy trudging around the ruck contests.
Warnock is a good knock ruckman and nothing else. Our MC seem to have been looking backwards instead of forwards when they went so hard for him. He is okay but gives you nothing outside of knockouts, so his knockouts have to be super effective to make up for that which is impossible most times with the crowd around the ball. Certainly has had an inferior season to Sammy J.

Tuohy was terrific, Duigan and Laidler very good. Simmo good and Robbo showed the sort of desperation we want from all our players.
Hendo another superb defensive game. He is a defender and will take and beat Hurley next week.
Yarran sublime, but sometimes too cool for school, sometimes you just have to hack it towards the line - like the play leading up to Schneider's last qtr goal.
Eddie and Jeffy - for about an hour of the game it was hard to believe they were playing.
Can we have a team rule that anyone who marks within kicking distance goes back and kicks the goal, what the hell was Garlett thinking, he had a man a metre from him and a mark at the top of the square.
AJ solid again but his lack of skill catches him - not sure he's the future and not sure I would be offering him 2 more years.
Davies I thought did okay in an unfamiliar position and on Fisher, but why would you pick a medium defender as sub? I would have thought a sub should be someone whose attributes are exaggerated when fresh late in games - ie a speedster who is harder to catch when players are tired, or a tall who is more effective when the pace has slowed and defenders can't leap as high. Maybe we have just run out of players.
Can see why JR has struggled for a game, hard to believe he is the same player from last year
Let's hope Hammo has a blinder for the Ants tomorrow
It's starting to feel like the last two years again. If we lose next week we will have a welter of excuses, and Ratts will get an extension, but he shouldn't. Winning next week makes the season a bare pass and should be essential for his future. Winning next week and then losing to WCE shouldn't be seen as a step forward.

Ah that is right, Hendo handballed to him at the death when he should have gone back and had a punt

Anyhow, Garlett was terrible tonight and that is the point, when is he going to mature and grow up on the football field?

The blind handballs and playing on is killing us. Stupid turnovers.

Setanta also guilty of playing on and missing when he should have gone back and taken set shot from 15 m out

So many bad misses from 15m out this year have hurt us, Warnock another culprit against Geel

I think the cue was put in the rack early in the third quarter - when it was clear that St. Kilda would not die wondering trying to win the game and secure a home final.

Dont forget Round 22 in 2001 - when Geelong with nothing to play for spiflicated our finals chances with Porter and Silvagni being concussed and Ratten doing an elbow.

We just needed a good hitout tonight - we had one in the first half and did what we had to do.

Saw some great signs from Lucas and Russell - which will add something to our mid-field grunt come finals time, liked Tuohy's game as well - Duigan and Laidler were sensational against the odds - we just need to make sure we structure properly against Essendon* and play 4 quarters of clean and composed football.

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

Winston Churchill