SOMEONE once said to me the best way to motivate a donkey to move in the direction you want it to is not to whack it with a stick but to entice it with a carrot.

Footballers aren't donkeys, but the same applies. I've had several coaches over my career. One chose the stick, the others the carrot.

...

I owe a lot to Roosy and the Swans. He gave me the confidence to turn into the player I am today. I remember a lot of the conversations I had with Roosy, but one in particular stands out that I had with him in round three of the 2005 season. I was pretty flat, playing ordinary footy and was focused on the mistakes I was making during games. He told me he didn't care if I made mistakes as long as I was having a crack. He spoke about confidence and how he would always give me the confidence to believe in my ability. His door was always open and he wanted me and all his players to come in and have a chat with him about anything.

In the five years I was there, Roosy hardly ever lost his temper during or after games, but would tell you constructively the things you didn't do well and what you needed to work on.

Players can put a lot of pressure on themselves and so it was truly inspiring to have a coach who would ease that pressure, give you the confidence to just play and not think about anything else and be constantly talking with his players and making sure he was up to date on how everyone was feeling.

There's no secret why the Swans were successful in those years. We didn't have a team full of superstars, we just had 22 guys with an extremely strong culture playing their hearts out for each other and a coach motivating them and leading them in the direction he wanted us to go.

The problem appears to be his ability to think laterally on game day.....maybe even beyond that.

The disappointment Noonamah is that since round 4 we haven't seen any change in the way we go about things at stoppages. Clubs are having success against us employing the same tactics Essendon* did back in round 4. Surely the coaches have had enough time to make some changes.

Heard a discussion on this on 3AW on the weekend. Both Mick Malthouse & Leigh Matthews agreed that due to the high number of rotations during a game , positional changes have minimal impact on the day.

I feel that a lot of the criticism of Brett Ratten is due to supporters being bitterly disappointed after having high expectations from the three early wins including the flogging of Colonwood( I enjoyed typing those last three words).

IMHO we are not as good as we were portrayed in the media after 3 rounds. The bottomline is we are 5-3 after 8 which many would have found acceptable before the season commenced.

I feel that Ratten should be judged on the whole season and to call for his sacking at this stage to me is totally ludricrous. I am staggered that there are even posters on this site hoping that we loose against Melbourne & Port so that he is sacked sooner.

I have been a supporter of this club since 1966 and in my world a True Blue Carlton Supporter would never wish for the team to loose.

I accept that the jury is still out on wether Ratten is a good coach or not, but as a loyal long serving player & coach he at least deserves to see the season out.

Heard a discussion on this on 3AW on the weekend. Both Mick Malthouse & Leigh Matthews agreed that due to the high number of rotations during a game , positional changes have minimal impact on the day.

I feel that a lot of the criticism of Brett Ratten is due to supporters being bitterly disappointed after having high expectations from the three early wins including the flogging of Colonwood( I enjoyed typing those last three words).

IMHO we are not as good as we were portrayed in the media after 3 rounds. The bottomline is we are 5-3 after 8 which many would have found acceptable before the season commenced.

I feel that Ratten should be judged on the whole season and to call for his sacking at this stage to me is totally ludricrous. I am staggered that there are even posters on this site hoping that we loose against Melbourne & Port so that he is sacked sooner.

I have been a supporter of this club since 1966 and in my world a True Blue Carlton Supporter would never wish for the team to loose.

I accept that the jury is still out on wether Ratten is a good coach or not, but as a loyal long serving player & coach he at least deserves to see the season out.

Here we go round the mulberry bush
On a cold and frosty morning.