I know this has got linked in the game plans and structures thread, but it probably deserves a full thread on its own. Ratts discusses the pre-season as a whole (for example, Yarran rolled his ankle before the Adelaide game), and his thoughts on the gameplan and the individual players. Plus this link goes back to the club - which can only be good

http://www.carltonfc.com.au/news/newsarticle/tabid/4311/newsid/90649/default.aspx

I think it's a really good interview; he outlines that he feels the players need to take more risks on field and not play quite so wide. Takes a bit of confidence and leadership, which we get from Gibbs, Judd, Waite, Murphy, Bower, Russell and a few others. They all love to storm straight up the field and take the game on.

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29 different attributes,
And only 7 that you like;
20 ways to see the world,
Or 20 ways to start a fight.

shows he a complete fool and that so many on here know so much more than him its not funny.



actually it looks like he is aiming for 2011/2012 when our experience begins to push us into the top 4.

I enjoyed the responses.

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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!

Thanks Molly, that's s very revealing interview. Nice and meaty, plenty to ponder. Well done to Ratts and the club for this!

Quite agree with Dannyboy and Jimmae that the interview is good.

Even if you don't like Ratts, at least have a read and you'll get a better idea of what the club is trying to achieve for this year. And yeah, that is a top 8 birth this year, and a premiership in 2011 or 2012, so we'll all just have to be patient.

It will also help explain to you all why we sometimes go wide and backwards. You might not like it (neither do I - it is frustrating to watch), but it might give us a better shot against some of those teams that give us a regular pasting (St Kilda, Adelaide, Sydney, etc)

It's only early doors but I think the team is headed in the right direction.

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"One of my favorite philosophical tenets is that people will agree with you only if they already agree with you. You do not change people's minds." - Frank Zappa

Some obvious stuff re booze cruise, Waitey, Murph, Hendo.

Interesting bits from my perspective-

Obviously game style, more stop-start football concerns me given that oppositions are so well drilled in protecting areas of the ground (flooding). I think possession football (chip chip kick backwards) in defence lets the opposition dictate terms too much and only puts pressure on our players. We should be pressuring the opposition into mistakes by attacking them IMO.

Happy to see recognition of Simon White. He looked a player from the get go I thought.

Don't see keeping the leadership group a secret as necessary. Silly. Let your fans know who they need to look for when the going gets tough.

And the last bit
I'm tipping patience from the supporter base is pretty thin after the last decade so for Ratts' sake there better be some results.

last year's results didn't help him.

People do need to be realistic.

We need improvement not the magic wand.

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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!

You want the ferals to be realistic??

Not a shot at you Rexy (this is a general spray)... but the only people it probably bothers about not knowing are some smart butt fans on the internet who get their jollies out of second guessing everything the club does. I'm guessing the man in the outer looks at Judd as the captain and Simmo as the (probable) vice captain and doesn't give two hoots about who else running around out there is in the leadership group.

Yeah it's no big deal, but I wouldn't mind knowing who are our onfield leaders are.

You might find this interesting...

[youtube]cMjt8Qz80Rw[/youtube]

I did.

Looks a bit like Balmey.

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STURDYISM!!

early doors indeed

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NG
S M C , S F L

Interesting on keeping the leadership group secret. Not sure I really see any benefit to it, but then again, no real benefit on announcing it.

I have no issue with them experiemnting with the tempo either. The interesting thing was I don't think I've ever heard it put quite that way before, its normally explained as holding up play when the other side has momentum, but never that its a balancing act and you can play slow or quick for too long. When you think of it that way, you realise how difficult it can be for players to get that balance right and why its taken years for Geelong, Hawthorn, St Kilda etc to get it right. We've been doing it 2 years at most so you'd expect another year, especially given the other changes to our structure.

The one thing that still bothers me most about Ratts is his communication. I hope Leading Teams are working with him on that. There's a lot of 'I think' in the interview. It would come across more convincing if he used absolutes like 'we do' and 'we will'.

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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

Good interview.

I thought Ratts played with Fev when he was 20

Pity Yarran did his ankle, I hope he is ready for Round 1.

His comments on Kerr playing like Gray is similar to my thoughts. Very exciting if he turns out like Gray, I think Gray is capable of being a Sheehan Top 50 this year.

michaelangelo rucci has already named robbie gray in his top 50

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*(grow - fun - gah)

Yeah but whatabout your whataboutism.

Good interview by Ratten handles media well.

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Bawditawaba

The problem with using terms in certainty such as "we will" is that if it doesn't happen, it will come back to bite them. Just look at Terry Wallace's 5 year plan. It was the first of many nails in the coffin.

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Premierships: 1869, 1871, 1873, 1874, 1875, 1877, 1887, 1906, 1907, 1908, 1914, 1915, 1938, 1945, 1947, 1968, 1970, 1972, 1979, 1981, 1982, 1987, 1995.

"GIBBS."

I realise that Captain, but the following quote isnt a 5 year plan he's committing too.

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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