both games we never played four quarters.

"We'll use the pain of today to motivate us for next year"

"We've learned a lot from experiencing finals pressure"

"This is a crucial step in the development of this young list"

"With more gametime and experiences, some of these rookie mistakes will iron themselves out"

I can go on. These were words spoken last year by all and sundry after Brisbane overran us, and will no doubt be spouted again in light of today.

It looked to me as if we learned very !@#$%& little from that night at the Gabba last year. Yes, we weren't expected to make the finals without Fev, and yes we showed in spurts we can compete with and beat the best. But today, the same mistakes and stupid decisions reared their heads again. The circumstances were different, but today was almost a carbon copy of that Brisbane game.

So I put it to you, do these players truly have the ability or intelligence to actually learn from today's experience? Do they actually have the nous to say "Shit, this is looking like Sydney in 2010, better not let that happen again" next time? Do they have the mental strength to take advantage of simple opportunities to bury their opposition when they arise?

In short, when all the above sentences (or excuses) are spoken, I ask you, will you believe them?

IMO, this year is completly different.

whilst we lost, the way in which we fought back from 4 goals down, played a seriously hard and aggressive game of football for an extended period of time, as compared to leading by 7 goals and losing, there is far more to take out of this game than the last final we lost.

its all a learning curve for the blues, until we have a group that are aged between 24-26 (rather than 20-23) i dont think we have the physical and mental strength to win games like this. IMO, in both finals, that was the difference.

we have three or four players in that age group or beyond it, compare that to the swans who would have had 3 or 4 players not in that age group ... that the difference

No.

All signs point to the fact that we will not learn.

Ratts will get 2 more years
- None of the Assistants will be under any pressure to keep their jobs
- The handballing skills will not improve
- The Game Plan will not develop much further
- The Kick-ins will continue to be a joke and every opposition Forward will relish playing us for that reason
- The footy smarts will not eventuate
- The sheparding and support will stagnate and vanish
- Sticks will sit on top of his castle
- We will not win a premiership for 15 years

Dont get me wrong, I am happy that we finished 8th and i don't think you can fire Ratts based on his performance.
I think we have some fantastic players who are sublimely skilled.
I think all our players are good kids who try hard and genuinely band together and have a crack.

But have we or will we learn?
No.

We will be the new Ninth-mond and mediocrity will be rewarded.
None of the hard decisions will be made and none of the persisting weaknesses will be tackled head on.

Unfortunately that is still the culture and the regime at Carlton.
That is the reality.

It wont be too long before Judd will retire and Murphy and Gibbs will be past their prime.
All the other teams will be sitting there shaking their heads saying:
THANK GOD CARLTON NEVER GOT THEIR SH&T TOGETHER!
OTHERWISE WE MIGHT HAVE STARTED TO WORRY

No.

All signs point to the fact that we will not learn.

Ratts will get 2 more years
- None of the Assistants will be under any pressure to keep their jobs
- The handballing skills will not improve
- The Game Plan will not develop much further
- The Kick-ins will continue to be a joke and every opposition Forward will relish playing us for that reason
- The footy smarts will not eventuate
- The sheparding and support will stagnate and vanish
- Sticks will sit on top of his castle
- We will not win a premiership for 15 years

Dont get me wrong, I am happy that we finished 8th and i don't think you can fire Ratts based on his performance.
I think we have some fantastic players who are sublimely skilled.
I think all our players are good kids who try hard and genuinely band together and have a crack.

But have we or will we learn?
No.

We will be the new Ninth-mond and mediocrity will be rewarded.
None of the hard decisions will be made and none of the persisting weaknesses will be tackled head on.

Unfortunately that is still the culture and the regime at Carlton.
That is the reality.

It wont be too long before Judd will retire and Murphy and Gibbs will be past their prime.
All the other teams will be sitting there shaking their heads saying:
THANK GOD CARLTON NEVER GOT THEIR SH&T TOGETHER!
OTHERWISE WE MIGHT HAVE STARTED TO WORRY

Wait kicks the goal or Judd kicks the goal and its all a different story.

However to go into this game without a back line and do as well as we did says we have improved. We need an Austin or another tall defender to come on pretty quickly or we will get left behind by other teams. I think our mids and forwards did pretty well and our small backs did ok too.

In addition... our key forward is 20. His crumbing off sider is 20. Our half back flanker is 20. Our rucks are really young and have a lot of improvement in them. Everyone is being too emotional. We are still a few years away from being a real contender. Perspective please.

Well all the nay-sayers can kiss my a$$.
I thought todays was great.
Heart-breaking but great.
The old Carlton would have folded and been done by 60.
We rallied, we worked, we gave them a hell of scare.

We didn't take opportunities, they did.
They had passengers galore, I thought we had contributors everywhere.

Armfield is star - most will only remember the bounce when tackled.
I'll remember the continued efforts after that incident, willing the ball forward and being responsible for creating the Lachie goal.

Yes, we have to learn from this, but we are a better team than last year.

With a pre-season, Murphy will win 2011 Brownlow