Back in '72, "It's time" was the Labor Party slogan for that election, and I found myself humming the tune whilst watching the beating of Sydney.

For the last twenty years we've watched a succession of recruits come through the club, but only in the occasional single instance were they a success. It was great when we got Judd, but what I remember each year is watching the highlight reels of the draftees and seeing glimpses of promise. Unfortunately year after year they would come to nothing, and so with trepidation I watched them again last year, dreaming of what might be.

What I couldn't have anticipated was how many of those draftees have come into our team so early, and that there are so many. Petrevski-Seton, Williamson, Macreadie, Fisher and Polson have all played, and Kerr is showing good signs of making the grade. This is on top of Weitering, Curnow, Cunningham, Silvagni making the grade last year and McKay looking the goods as well.

The best part is the clear quality of these players, and that of the eleven draft selections, it seems all are very good chances of being long term members of the Navy Blue. These guys aren't being played simply to give experience, they've earned their places. When I look back on the successive draft disasters of recent years, I feel like it's a dream what we've seen these past two years.

SOS, take a bow.

But more and more, I'm starting to believe that our best recruit is Bolton. There is a structure, discipline and passion in this team which is as a direct result of his leadership, and the comparison against Buckley's coaching last game was incredibly stark. Bolton not only seems to have a high football intelligence, but has that rare quality of gaining commitment from those around him.

No doubt this will continue to be a roller-coaster of a year, but for me, that Sydney win will remain with me as the day I finally believed that success is not too far away.

It's time!

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"The old believe everything, the middle-aged suspect everything, and the young know everything." Oscar Wilde

Lot of hair and mutton chops there.

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"Hence you will not say that Greeks fight like heroes but that heroes fight like Greeks"?

Winston Churchill

Agreed.
Last time around, we botched the rebuild by sticking with a clueless clown as head recruiter (Hughes), bringing in a cashed up 'old Carlton' dinosaur as president (Pratt), hiring an untried coach who hadn't completed a proper apprenticeship at AFL level (Ratten), and giving up when the kids weren't coming on quick enough, and getting Judd, hoping he and Fev (who virtually had a license to do what he wanted by the Club) would lead us to glory.
No wonder we really didn't reach any great heights and things fell apart so quickly.

It's all so very different this time, and I'm loving it.

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James Hird and Essendon* FC - #FOREVERDRUGCHEATS

Hughes and Kids not coming on?


If your complaining about Hughes, there weren't any kids to come on.

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"Hence you will not say that Greeks fight like heroes but that heroes fight like Greeks"?

Winston Churchill

It's time is 2020.
Green shoots for me was the Collingwood win
We haven't had the win for the true believers yet, the one where we beat a bonafide top side.
Stkilda? It may be a tad early

Reckon we'll roll the Saints.

if we do.. rock AND roll

Got plenty of good young talls however we need more mids - need to nail this years draft as well.

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In the Truth there is no news, and in the News there is no truth.

The roller coaster has been on the up lately, but there are many more troughs and peaks to go through over the next couple of years. Enjoy the ride.

29/66.

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It's never as good as it looks and it's never as bad as it seems.

Nice thoughts Jack!

The thing I'm liking most is the absence of a "saviour". That has been the Carlton method for waaayyy too long. It's nice to be seeing a spread of exciting young talent.

Agree with you about the change in focus away from a saviour. The board may not be perfect, but the indications are that it's progressively becoming more professional. Still much to be done with our balance sheet, but getting it right on field makes it a lot easier to improve finances and attract sponsors.

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"The old believe everything, the middle-aged suspect everything, and the young know everything." Oscar Wilde

Totally agree.

There will be another big name signing.
Most clubs will do it too.
It has always happened.
All clubs, and conventionally our club.

And there were a few in every decade since the 60's. I'm talking 1860's.
Just looking post 60's from another team: Barassi, Wells, Perovic, Hunter, Kernahan, Bradley, Judd.

This time it maybe not a 'saviour', but the cream
I think we have built a team first this time around, rather than a saviour and building around him.
Wit Judd we learned about what salary cap constraints felt like, because we didn't get any more but our No. 1 dtaftees.

Good thing is we have a cavalry of good young ones from drafting and trading nowdays.
Just the last 2 weeks, we've become part of the talk, and with that, probability of a destination club.

I expect to get someone to the club that believes in the club and wont cost us a bomb.
Like Hawks have done over the last 5 years, but they had premierships to show.
But this time we have promise.

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Everyone looks good in Navy Blue

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end of message

SPS (Deisel)

Crippa (Juddy)

Docherty (Andy McKay)

Fisher (Bradley)

Charlie (Kouta)

Weitering (Doull)

Byrne (Motley)

Willo (Hunter)

Pickett (Harmes)

Silvagni (Silvagni)

#17

Marchbank (Dean)

McKay (Walls)

Cunningham (Glascott)

Macreadie (Sexton)

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In the Truth there is no news, and in the News there is no truth.

GWS are kind of a top side!

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"Who discovered we could get milk from cows, and what did he think he was doing at the time?" Billy Connolly

As much as these "honourable losses" are infuriating and frustrating, this time it finally feels different.
Instead of a couple of kids showing glimpses here and there we desperately cling to amid a sea of have beens and cast-offs from other clubs, we now have a group of highly promising talent coming thru at the same time with real, genuine potential. And we're not getting flogged by 10 goals or more.
This club has frustrated me so much since we started pissing drafts picks up a wall for the likes of Michael Mansfield (who was a good servant) and O'Reilly, et-al with not an eye on the long term future.
Remember hoping beyond hope we would cash in a washed-up Lance in to the Dees, but our arrogance and lack of foresight circumvented that. The rot started with Parko, no matter what he did for the club before that.
How refreshing we have/are doing it now with Tuohy and Levi. Short term pain for long term gain. Who would have thought????
Next year will tell more of the story and we still have many holes to fill and a long way to go but finally many of us have confidence in people making decisions at the club. And it's been a long time since we could have even countenanced that. (Though Redpath worries me
A mate who follows the Dees was shitting himself about today's game with the Saints. Look forward to having that feeling of expectation and fear of failure when we play in big games again that mean something ... instead of just hoping we beat the likes of the Scum and Filth for bragging rights.
Cripps, Curnow, SPS, Weiters and Co are, hopefully, going to give us so much enjoyment in years to come.
Reckon we deserve it, too. It's been a loooong 15 or so years.

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I just want my old club back.