I know its early in the season ( Whizzer and all that ) but Sunday, was that the worst umpiring I've seen for a while or what. I haven't watched the replay yet, but there at the game it seemed very one sided.

By the way hello everyone....nice not to be homeless anymore

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A Life!.....Great....I wonder where I can download one of those.

Agree it was 1-sided but...

when are Carlton players going to get a bit smarter? I would estimate that at least half of the frees were for high tackles, not hard enough to hurt you, but high. We continue to fall for the James Hird kneel manouvere - we must tackle lower and not allow the guys dropping to their knees a free possession.

I think the new interpretations they've pulled out this year are going to frustrate every football supporter at one time or another. Why tinker with the rules incessantly.

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The only way for some people to understand is for them to be on the receiving end

Left wing moralists
In self serving denial
They shit me no end

While I agree the maggots were F#@%king us around on Sunday I definitely agree with Molesy on his main point.

Too many times we do not go low enough in the tackle so a quick shrug of the shoulders means we a re pinged for head-high. I think Waite is one of the repeat offendors here. He can ruin a lot of the very good work he does just by being careless (that being said, I think he improved on Sunday night compared to the Bummers game).

Prenders and Davies can alos be a bit too reckless.

The other side of the coin (although it is anathema to me seeing a Blues player take a dive) maybe there should be some attention paid to how the Bummes exploit the umpies

First let me state that a maggot in any other colour is still a maggot

Having now seen a replay I'm not as angry about the umpiring. A couple were soft, a couple could have gone Carlton's way but really the frees were there.

Now that smothered goal...well thats just maggot territory

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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!

What's worse is giving away those soft free kicks when the opposition has the momentum of play. It so difficult trying to halt the opposition when they are in full flight and playing with confidence eg. Melbourne in the 4th qtr 10 frees to nil. Most times that's the difference between winning and losing.
Carlton must play "smart" footy instead of "dumb" footy.

After watching the replay of the game I too agree with Molesy. We do not tackle properly, (plus and minus for Libba!!!) too many above the shoulder stuff. Still, only early days and I want to believe our coaching staff will fix this!
One of the basics of footy is to get to the ball first, we did not do that often enough in the last quarter, a contributing factor to the lopsided free kick count.
Go Blues!

Maybe Libba's being teaching them: "Look guys, you have to swing your arm like this in the tackle (indicates going in with arm stretched out coat-hanger style)", which worked for him cos of how much of a shortarse Libba is, whereas when the boys try it, unsurprisingly it's neck high, not chest high, as happens when Libba tackles.

Just a thought.....

Still, at least they're tackling. Next step is to make a higher percentage more effective....

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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.

G'day all,

Im with Taff here, the umpiring was one sided because we couldnt get to the bloody ball - really lacked an in and under midfielder like Kouta or a Johnson (40 in the magoos must rate well for this sat) to get there first, get under a pack and get us first use - its no coincidence that all the frees against us came when we were chasing the dees like an under 12's team playing seniors. To our credit players like McGrath and Chambers found some space and stemmed the flow - that wouldnt have happened a couple of years ago (Im thinking Brisbane v Carlon at PP a couple of years ago - hammered them in the first half then got annihilated in the 2nd)

Agree we have to hit the waist not the neck - maybe some Melbourne Storm coaching is needed... anyone know what the brick with eyes is up to these days?!

By the way, nice new pad...lots of O'Hailpins floating around

The umpiring was dis (f%$#ing) graceful last Saturday - 10 free kicks to 0 speaks for itself.

They are maggots and knobs and Gieschen is the biggest knob of all.

As I keep on saying Black Friday wasn't just about Draft Penalties and Fines.

It isn't just about penalising us for tackling incorrectly.

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

Winston Churchill