Not that it means a whole lot, but great to finally get a win over North Melbourne.
Good margin.
Good skill level by foot.
Good spread of goalkickers.
Depth is certainly improving. Robinson, Jacobs, Johnson, Garlett, Bentley all showed they are capable of contributing at senior level. (Even Joseph did a few nice things.)
Continued improvement from some of the younger players like Gibbs and Grigg.
Get to see them on tele for another week.

It was an impressive performance by the boys no doubt. I don't think the Kangaroos expected us to come out with intensity like that and sharpness like that. Boy did we look like we were trying!

Last nights game proved Setanta can play a role for the blues. Again Hale kicked a few on us, we need his height down back.

I was at a pub watching the game and have to say Robbo impressed many non carlton supporters. Comments such as he looks like Coon dogs

Positives for me were Robobo, Robbo and Robbo. Synbad, which charity is my hard earn goin towards?

I like Stevo's role as sweeper off half back. I think he, Thornton and Johnson are just what the doctor ordered in terms of there precise foot skills.

We beat the shitboners and did it well, even though they've been training hard and we haven't
Young blokes were great, even Bentley who I wasn't real sure was a great choice for a rookie spot - only disappointment was not seeing more of Yarran.

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Our skill level stood out IMO, when compared to previous years

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"I had to eat"

.. ..biggest thing for me was we didn't try that crappy clarko cluster like the other teams seen to be toyin' with.. ..we didn't flood like mad, instead our midfield ran and pushed back hard [defensively].. ..gibbs and grigg looked sharp thru the middle, and jacobs.. ..bloodyhell, 18 hitouts.. ..not bad for a rookie hey.. ..i know some posters have been on his wagon fer a while now, but folks.. ..yer gonna need a bigger wagon.. ..F50 pressure was great to see too.. ..and robbo looks intense..

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..if you can't be good, be good at it..

The big sauce did well in the tapouts IMO, seemed to hold his own there.

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Wherever you go, there you are.

Pace We were quick causing turnovers

Kicking out of defence. Stevens ,Johnson can deliver it well out of there.

Jacobs Finally gave us a presence in the ruck. Has to play in the real stuff

Our key defenders did well

Gibbs Glad I put 20 on him for the Brownlow at 200s

Will play more in the middle this year

Youngsters were terrific


Depth is there No Scotland, Walker, Bentick,Fisher, carrazzoo , Browne, hampson etc

Overall atop peformance even though its early days


Final 8 beckons reckon top 4 is a real possibility

Jacobs has to play. He gives us a presence in the ruck
Robinson and Yarran, Johnson will be bonuses. We have depth.

The pleasing thing for me is that one game doesnt mean things have turned around but last night's game highlights the MC have tried to address the onfield weaknesses of the club
no ruckman( still would love to see Hammer in)
more forward options
new roll for Stevens
more pace
kicking skills improve
better tactics


THEY KNOW WE ARE COMING

Finally i reckon I can go to work with a reasonable amount of arrogance

Pros:

Robinson, Gartlett, Grigg, Jacobs & Johnson. All will add to the depth of the side.
Guys like Hadley, Walker, Carrazzo, Fisher, Setanta, Hampson, Scotland, Pfieffer, Hartlett, Browne, Warnock, Austin now have to EARN their spots.
Our running in numbers
GIBBS!
A fully fit JUDD!
Definite improvement in skill level
Fev bulking up, adds another dimension to his game. Don't know anyone who could out muscle him.
Jacobs in ruck gave us a lot of first use of the ball. Showed need for a genuine tap ruckman
Defence was very good. Jamo & Bower in particular.


Cons:

To Fev reliant, need other options.
Umpiring, really finding some decisions hard to understand.
Thornton, everytime he runs out of defence he takes to long and kicks short. The opposition then drop back and block our run. Happened a number of times.
Didn't get to see Yarran in full flight.
Waite not a man on man player with bigger opponents, needs to run free.
North are in the middle of heavy workload and it showed.

The disposal of Russell excellent -didnt miss target

Grunt of Cloke -hurt two in separate marking contests

Exquisite skills of Gibbs -reminded me of Nathan Buckley last night

hardness of Grigg

Rookies -all showed something

THE SIZE/STRENGTH OF HOLLYWOOD FEVOLA

a couple of swoopers on the forward line

run out of the backline

coolness of houlihan

Spot on with this comment.

It's as if he prancing around like a show pony.

He should take the game on rebounding out of defense. He needs a rocket planted up his backside or the brunt of a Setanta bot up the arse!

Well you must of missed the one where he tried to get the ball through the corridor with a poor kick putting a player under pressure which resulted with the roos kicking a goal

russell. suck it haters, he's a part of the team now.

plenty of other positives too, but that one sticks in my mind.

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"In fairness it did seem in the early days of the draft teams would just pick a name totally at random out of a hat. I'm pretty sure we picked James Cook at #2 one year. The mediocre forward, not the explorer" - Me, 12/9/2011

Carlton 2012: Lets remind them why they once feared the Dark.

Percentage.

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#DonTheStash

I thought Houlihan was excellent... He is generally critised for not going hard at it but last night he chased hard, made some impressive tackles and forced some good turnovers. In his absence last season it could appear to some that we don't need him but he showed last night what a valuable addition he is to the side.

Also thought Gibbs played well without appearing to be going at 110%. Grigg is looking good except he needs to work on his disposals at times and Robbo just kept trying the whole way through and showed some great courage.


The backline did an excellent job defending a dangerous forward line which has good tall and short forwards.

As for the rookies, Sauce and Joseph both appeared to have some afl potential

Negatives:

Ando didn't look very confident and his disposal let him down at times.
Yarran's injury
Still really Fevola conscious

Lots of positives in last nights game

Beat the Roos long time since we have done that and even better though Pre season cup the Roos where really only missing one key player so i belive they where playing to win... They would be using the NAB for increasing membership so would have been a good hit out for the blues.

Good to see some definate game plan that the team played to ... where very good last night in switching play and creating loose players which is a good sign also we didnt get caught out to much when the roos tried to do the same thing.
Good for the players to have a serious hit out

Also Great for the Blues to get wins early but use this to lead into the season proper

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CFC TAC Squad everyone over 25 must be traded sounds like Loguns Run

didnt' we beat the roos in a pre season game on the gold coast two years ago?

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Between our dreams and actions lies this world

Just watched the game - my positives:

Midfield finally has depth - Judd didn't have a huge impact - whist he was good, we didn't rely on him as the sole midfield star.

Fev Fev Fev - continues to be a star.

Robbo - forget Gibbins - it's the ROBBIGINS show now

Other Rookies and young guys - all showed glimpses

Houla back and fit is a positive.

Team confidence - this is the biggest improvement i noticed - the guys look poised and confident in their ability to beat opponents.

Skills seem better - time will tell how they hold up under greater pressure.

There's still some quality players to come into this team.

I'm bloody excited about this year...

ROGGINS?

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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.

Certainly did. Came back in the last quarter from about a 38 point margin I think.


Last night- Robinson! What a weapon. He's both super footballer and cartoon hero.

Just loved the fluency and effort displayed by the team. We are finally back to being a team again. New blokes Johnson and Jacobs and Gartlett did brilliantly.

Gibbs, Fev, Judd just top shelf.

Thought Houlihan, Russell, Simpson and Bower were great too. Loved seeing Harvey in Carlton gear on the boundary line also. You could just see he wished he played for a real club in his time the poor bastard.

Onto next week...looks like the Hawks just pipped the Dees at the post.

Sick'em Baggers!

For me the biggest positives were the Rangas. I honestly think Sauce was the third best player after Fev and Gibbs. He was sensational. It's not about getting the most hitouts... it's the hitouts to advantage. He was brilliant. His disposal was good aswell.

Robbo... what can i say... I'm in love with a man. You can tell he's gonna be a cult figure. There's gonna be alot of kids with the number 12 on their backs.

Neg: Gibbs will take too many brownlow votes from Judd

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cruise (Kreuze) missile:
a very accurate flying bomb.
SOURCE: http://library.thinkquest.org/3785/glossary.html