In joke with Synbad. Sorry to distract you from your rants. Press on!

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.”

I wasnt eloquent enough for the official private school debating team.... but i did have my ways on getting my points across...

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Due to recent budget cuts and the rising cost of electricity, gas, and oil....... the Light at the End of the Tunnel has been turned off. We apologize for the inconvenience.

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.”

Rants, after a decade of this sh&t things need to be said. You may think it's okay but I don't.

Essendon*'s full back is 34 years old, the only reason he's not playing now is that he's injured.
Their CHF is 30, the only reason he's not playing now is that he didn't get a kick for the first 7 weeks.
Their FF and Captain is 31.
Hird played until he was 34 and won their B&F in his last year.
They're playing kids now because they've got no choice.

Yeah youre rtight... they have a lot of injuries young and old... and WOW! how well are they doing?
And arent they playing to a plan???

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Due to recent budget cuts and the rising cost of electricity, gas, and oil....... the Light at the End of the Tunnel has been turned off. We apologize for the inconvenience.

What they're doing, and doing well for now, is playing to their strengths.
They are quick but not highly skilled so they always look to move the ball quickly and get players wide in space so that if the delivery isn't perfect there's a margin for error.
One on one their full forward will beat most players.
It's frighteningly simple, but so far so good.

Yes they do play to a plan. They have been recruiting quick players with good skills as they believe that is the way the game is going. They have a definite plan and structure. They are well drilled and will get better and best of all they give their supporters hope and excitement.

To me it is no conincidence that they are player better more consistent football since Lucas and Fletcher have gone out of the side. Maybe there is a lesson in that?

As for not being highly skilled that is way off. Wait until their kids get 40-50 games into them and get more confidence. They will be very very good.

Yeah, they're playing to their strengths. Amazing how they've improved since they moved Lloyd back to FF from the wing. Sound familiar?

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"I had to eat"

That's way too simplistic.
Every team, and I mean every team, would like nothing more than to recruit a swag of quick, well skilled players.
You make it sound as though all a club needs to do is say "right, we need quick players with good skills", and then go and get them, but it's nowhere near that simple.
The point with Essendon* is that they have held onto their older quality players and used them to take the group forward, the only players they have cut or traded were utility types like Johnson, Peverill and Soloman and young players like Bradley who they made an early call on, but you seem to be advocating that Carlton dispense with players who youdeem deficient and play young players regardless of their performances, ability or potential.
You advocate players like Pfeiffer, Ellard and Anderson and say that we can live without Stevens, Houlihan, Fisher, Russell and a few others.
A first 22 team of the make up that you suggest would be barely competitive, with no guarantee that in two or three years time the young players we have invested so much faith in will be capable of taking the club forward.
It's still highly debatable that some of the young players currently in our senior team will prove good enough, and yet you want to introduce another half a dozen.
It's a knee jerk reaction and a recipe for disaster which could well see another 4 or 5 years (or more given the upcoming drafts) at the tail end of the ladder.
Maybe we should have traded Fevola, Thornton and Houlihan three or four years ago, but the only time we seriously considered trading Fev the only thing on the table was a late second round pick, Thornton would have netted two mid second rounders, so it's unrealistic to suggest that we would now be better placed.
Players like Bannister, Houlihan, O'Hailpin and Fisher can fill roles in a well structured, well coached team and are of more long term value than a fourth round draft pick in my opinion.
For what it's worth I think we should look to trade some of our younger players who have some currency, rather than throw away players with experience and ability, in some cases limited I'll admit, just for the sake of it and for no worthwhile return.
Essendon* traded Richards to Sydney for Dempsey - win/win.
You want to throw the baby out with the bath water.

Synbad is spot on in his observation that in free running shoot outs we are very good - like the bulldogs game. This shows we do have considerable talent. He also made the point that we struggle against teams like adelaide and the swans; who are a) physically stronger and b) control the tempo and have structures in place that stifle our 'only' way of playing

So what can we conclude from that:
- we do not have a well drilled game plan to cope with adelaide, swans etc and we need to develop this. we tried a few things against the crows that failed. my opinion is that some of these things will work as the same group of players continue to practice the approach. skill errors could be blamed but i think skills improve with practice and degrade when you have to think too much
- physically we are still too small - experience is the only cure
- we do not have the right mix of players yet

i would love to give a few of our players the chop but there is a balance that needs to be striked where you cannot have too many kids in the same team. just look at how many of our players have played <50 games

I think we have too much young wood rather than deadwood. But we have to persist with this approach because as everyone has stated the deadwood will not get us a premiership.

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The glass is neither half full nor half empty. Rather the glass is twice as big than required.

@#$%&! off ciccio stop being so damn logical!

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This type of slight is alien in the more cultured part of the world - Walsh. Its up there with mad dogs, Englishmen and the midday sun!