What we would give for a defender with some presence.

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"I had to eat"

Here are simple questions.

Ask people who barrack for other teams these questions:

Who is your full back?

Who is your centre half back?

Would be pretty safe to say that every other team in the league would be able to answer at least one of these questions.

Are we the only team where neither question can be answered?

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|♥♥♥♥♥♥| http://www.blueseum.org |♥♥♥♥♥♥|

Not sure we've had a settled back 6 since the 95 GF. It's so important - 6 average defenders who constantly play together, gel and know what each other will do would be a start.

Is Thornton going baackwards?

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"I had to eat"

It very much depends on matchups as to who plays at full back and centre half back.

I dont really have a problem with that, but it was working better when O'hAilpin was playing full back, Waite centre ha;f back and Thornton as the 3rd tall.

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"The ability to speak doesn't make you intelligent." Qui-Gon Jinn 15-05-2005

"there’s more chance of me becoming the full forward for the [Western Bulldogs] than there is of any change in the Labor Party." Julia Gillard 18-05-2010

Thornton was really good today. He destoyed Robertson in the first half, to the extent that we were wondering if Robbo was carrying an injury.

Robbo got on top in the second half, but Thornton was unlucky. Robbo kicked a couple of freak Robbo goals, and ended up with 8 possessions and 4 marks. If you'd have been offered those stats before the game, you would have taken them in a heartbeat.

Thornton was unlucky that 6 of Robbo's kicks were goals.

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Mens sana in corpore sano.

Bring back the laurel wreath logo!!!

I posted something similar on the Pagan thread Jars, but you can add ruck, CHF and game plan to that.

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Mens sana in corpore sano.

Bring back the laurel wreath logo!!!

Oh for a Peter Dean. One tough defender who lifted all those around him. He not only did the 1 percenters but also the half percenters. We need a Peter Dean or 2 up back more so than a Judd. And yes .... a ruckman.

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"IF YOU FAIL TO PREPARE, YOU'RE PREPARED TO FAIL" - Mark Spitz

1821 points kicked against us this season at an average of 130 per game & all the Coach does is blame the kids

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Cheats never prosper (except in the AFL)

To see Pagan put Grigg on Bate today early on was just a joke - clueless, careless, pointless coach!

1995

B Sexton Silvagni Rice
HB McKay Dean Christou

I miss those days

Who would u have played him on? He's been playing HBF with 'Ants. Perhaps Robertson or Davey.

Get real, Bate was an obvious matxh-up.

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"You can't polish a James Hird"

Thorton is the only true defender we have, and u have to admit, he is not that good. Our backline is in crisis.

of course - Grigg was a gun defender in his under 18s!!! And yes those dozens of games that he has played for the bullants were all in defence as well!!!!

But thanks for your reasoning Denis!!!

What about Bryce Gibbs? Maybe Denis is grooming him for FB.

In all my years of watching footy I have never seen a team playing week in week out without a defence. It's like 18 v 12 every time we take the field.
To make matters catastrophic we have no ruckman. We are the only club in the league playing without any Rucks. I am amazed how we even kick a 100 points a game.

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WE ARE CARLTON, WE ARE ARROGANT AND WE LOVE IT!

I was at the game and I wasn't as frustrated as most of you seem to be about our defense this time around.

Our defense today was: Thornton, Hartlett, Bower, Gibbs and at times Waite. Now I personally though it was no worse than our defense in previous rounds but the big difference was that the average age would've been around 20 instead of 24 and that these kids have the height and the physical tools to actually form a decent defensive unit in the future.. with a couple of additions.

My thoughts from today:

I thought Bower showed a bit in defense. I don't know how he looked on TV but from my view up in the stands it was a promising performance. Got himself involved in contests on a number of occasions.

Hartlett tried really hard but his inability to read the play and anticipate killed him. And because he doesn't have a burst of speed he was never able to recover. He's also very very skinny for a KPP and was unable to outbody his man either. Still needs a couple of pre seasons in the gym.

Funny that someone should mention Gibbs being our FB, I was thinking during the game that if Gibbs was 5cm taller we'd be declaring that we have a new SOS on our hands. Always seems to get a fist in at the last minute.

Waite isn't a defender. We all know that.

Thornton is being played back at full back yet we still ask him to continue with his rebounding from defense which means that his opponent get plenty of opportunities.

I think you need to settle on a core defence of 4 and play them together regardless and rotate the other 2 spots if necessary. I would persist with Setanta as a defender. Given more time, he'll pick it up. He's never going to be a ruckman and i doubt he'll be a reliable forward

Intersting that when Essendon* is being dominated eg 2nd Half v Carlton, mal Micheal looks past it. When their midfield is applying decent pressure, he doesnt.

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T E A M

What makes you say that with authority?

I think that when Pagan gets axed he will say something along the lines of 'they (the club) pressured me into playing a certain style, this is the reason why such high scores were kicked against us' - he never accepts responsibility for anything - this won't change when he gets sacked