Yeah, I too know what you mean.

I by no means think last season was a false dawn as some naysayers believe.

But, in losing arguably the clubs greatest full forward, we have to be realistic and be prepared for our relatively young side to get that little bit bigger, stronger and more experienced.

If guys like Bower, Austin, Anderson, Yarran, Lucas, Robinson, Henderson, Gartlett et al can improve and mature and become more damaging/accomplished players as the season progresses we will not only see where we are come August, but, we will be readying a solid platform for 2011 and beyond.

Of course we have the likes of Murphy, Gibbs, Kruezer, Thornton, Simpson and McLean amongst others, who we hope will improve as well.

Finals would be superb outcome, but perhaps we should have more pragmatic goals for players as individuals. As you said, KK, when our list becomes stronger on an individual basis we will become stronger as a team.

2010 is a developmental year I believe, perhaps a trying, testing year. For our list, of course, but also for our coaching panel and match committee. They made some tough calls in the 2009 post season, and now they have to cope with the outcome of those decisions. Whether that be building a more accountable midfield, a multi-pronged forward line or a stronger, steadier back-line, all of which I think they can do. It'll be a question of how long it will take to achieve, as well as how long they will be given.

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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.

A pass this year is making the finals and beating Essendon*. Anything less aint good enough.

Sure Fev is gone but this should be more than offset by the recruitment of McLean (& Warnock), Waite returning, a fit Jamison & Walker plus the natural improvement in the kids.

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There is no footy god

I am tired of hearing everyone talk about the loss of Fev ... I for one honestly believe it will make little difference as long as our midfield begin to believe in thier own capabilities and here is why.

How many times last year did we see a midfielder streaming towards goal, no one in front and all he needed was to bounce the pill one more time and have a ping at goal? But what happenned instead? Give it to Fev ... every flowering time. Regardless if thier was another forward alone whilse Fev was triple teamed.

To his credit I recon Fev took 1 in every three opportunities presented to him ... BUT ... the other two times the ball would be rebounded quickly and more times than less a scoring opportunity was presented to the opposition. Which if they kicked a point ... a goal would then ensue 1 in every three times with our shocking kickins.

Now say the midfielder backed thier abilities or gave it to the best option (which will happen this year), add the fact with the addition of McClean we should get even more of the pill I think we will more than cover the loss of goals through the fact that opposition rebounding will be way less than last year and hopefully kick ins too will be much better as well as the fact the midfield will kick more goals and there are still forwards in our line up that will kick goals! Maybe not 80-90 in a season but the midfield, forwards and crumbers will more than cover for Fev's loss. Do not quote me on it but I would not be surprised if the team as a whole ended up kicking more goals as a whole then we did last year!

Also people are forgetting that our young defence will also have improved from last year which will result in less goals scored against us.

In the end if Ratten cannot make this happen (with the list at his disposal) then its a huge fail. I for one hopes he can and will be pleasantly surprised if it does happen.

If not ... get someone who can get these things done. I love Ratts the player and am willing to give him this year but will not sacrifice a decent tilt at no. 17 because I liked him as a player! I do not know if he has the skill to be a successful coach but i think tyhis year will prove once and for all if he has the right stuff.

Huge opportunity for him to prove a lot of people wrong!

Making the 8 has to be the benchmark .
Our defence and midfield should be stronger , with all the talent available being a year older and , generally , more developed .
The ruck situation too , will be that much more experienced and developed . Kreuser will be the best in the business in another year or two . Jacobs is already showing a lot more maturity , and improvement .

The big worry is the forward lines . Eddy is looming as our major goal kicker . Setanta is going to be very important . We really need him to step up another notch . Need improvement too , from Yarran and Garlett .
Henderson has only played 15 games and kicked only 3 goals .
Hardley the credentials to step straight into a key forward role full time . He's young , and will need some time .
Ruckmen ( eg. Hampson , Warnock ) very rarely make star forwards . I know there have been exceptions , but it is rare .
Salmon being one , but Salmon they ain't .

So , I think we may struggle to score enough goals to go further than eighth . Could even finish lower .

If we don't finish in the 8 , Ratts could well be gone .

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Get the facts first.
Then you can distort them at your leisure.

- A multi-dimensional forward structure
- A team that runs both ways and does the team things the way the top teams do them
- Plan B

I don't know whether this is more realistic than saying "6th place", but I think this year is more about the future than ladder position.
This is the best chance they've had in a few years to make a fresh start.

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Gaga and The Hoff party hard in London

Fev shmev

making the 8 and winning a final.

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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!

Must wins: Richmond X 2, Port Adelaide, West Coast Eagles X 2, Melbourne, North Melbourne, Freemantle X 2 and Sydney. So that's 10 must wins.

50/50 games or underdogs: Essendon* X 2, Collingwood X 2, Brisbane X 2, Geelong X 2, Adelaide, StKilda, Hawthorn, Western Bulldogs. We should pick up a minimum of 2 of these and possibly up to 5.

12 wins is a pass.

This is when we know if Ratts can coach or not...

Ill be honest... im waiting for the excuses to roll out....

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Due to recent budget cuts and the rising cost of electricity, gas, and oil....... the Light at the End of the Tunnel has been turned off. We apologize for the inconvenience.

So based on this analysis we could be in a bit of strife by round 9.

Lets have a look should win round 1 [tick] but I would think we could be underdogs for 7 out of the next 8 games.

If we are 5 w and 4 l or better after a tough draw to round 9 we are finals bound. To me the first 3 games are critical for us and for Ratts to get our confidence rolling. Otherwise we could easily drop 4 in a row during rounds 4 to 7 ... then an away game in Adelaide would look very tough regardless of how Port are travelling.

1 RICHMOND MCG
2 BRISBANE LIONS Gabba
3 Essendon* MCG
4 ADELAIDE AAMI Stadium
5 GEELONG CATS MCG
6 COLLINGWOOD MCG
7 ST KILDA Etihad Stadium
8 PORT ADELAIDE AAMI Stadium
9 HAWTHORN Etihad Stadium

My simplistic view of the world is that we need to start the year flying and challenging teams who finished above us last year immediately. We don't have the luxury of an adjustment period.

The temptation is going to be to play defensive footy to stay in every contest, keep it tight.

The coaching staff may be measured on how well our defensive unit can hold out the good teams and whether we can score enough goals from rebound footy.

Regards,


CB

Losing Fev will make little difference I thought school holidays were over ? NFI

+1

To say we won't make the 8 this year is a complete and utter cop out. Kreuzer and Gibbs will be so good this year plus JR, Joseph, Yazz, Aussie, Warnock, Hammer - a list ready to explode.

If we had Fev we'd be top 4, easily.

I wouldn't hear of us not making the 8 in 2009, ditto 2010.

Look we have lost Fevola who won the coleman last year.

He also won the coleman in a wooden spoon side.

Sure we can say we only ever went to him, but when he kicks 80 plus goals again this year as the second target atBrisbane that argument will fall flat.

Just remember we are talking about a coach who is a club legend here. A player who bled navy blue. Who helped us to a premiership in 1995 (and indeed was awarded the best and fairest in that year).

Just remember that anyone without bias can see while our top echelon of players are great, our bottom 6 just don't stack up when compared to a Geelong, or Bulldogs, or Collingwood, or St Kilda or Hawthorn.

If you think Dennis Armfield would get a gig in any of those sides you are dreaming.

if we miss the finals it won't be Ratts' fault, it will because our bottom 6-8 players aren't up to it and the fault doesn't lie with Ratts on that one.

So we dont have the cattle????

And every club has a Fevola do they?(except us)

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Due to recent budget cuts and the rising cost of electricity, gas, and oil....... the Light at the End of the Tunnel has been turned off. We apologize for the inconvenience.

Ask yourself where a player like armfield, who has been earmarked as crucial if we are to improve next year, would slot in at geelong or st kilda or the bulldogs or collingwood or adelaide. we're using the top clubs as a bench mark i hope..
no.. when it comes to our bottom 6-8, which is the difference between the top teams and those just making up the numbers, we lack the cattle.

I've asked myself and myself responded with Armfield could do what McQualter does at StKilda,
what Ben Johnson does at Collingwood, myself also reckons he could get a game in Hawthorn's backline. Myself reckons he would struggle at Geelong and the Bulldogs.

Very interesting proposition woof. Agree with you, but I resckons he may get into the Bulldogs backline since his kicking picked up half way through 2009.

Dunno who the bottom 6 are. Everybody seems to have different teams. No one knows who will be Ratts' team in round 1 (neither does he), and if the bottom 6 are just OK with Judd, Waite, Murphs, Houla, Betts & Walker missing, the I suppose with them included by round 4 we will be a perfect team? Conundrum.

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Everyone looks good in Navy Blue

Nothing less than winning the NAB cup
going on and winning all 22 games with an average winning margin of 50 points
then winning all three finals including the GF
Increasing our membership to over 50000
Breaking record crowds

and once they he has acheived that him and Sticks can hand in their resignation becuase they are shit and dont know what they are doing

Old boys club


Oh and developing a kick in tactic that involves going coast to coast everytime the opposition kicks a point -

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If you allow the Government to change the Laws in an emergency
They will create an Emergency to change the Laws

We could do all that and people would still complain. Just the way it is.

It's hard to pinpoint an exact position in which we will finish but we're good enough to make the 8. Fortunately, our midfield is very good and can really only get better and I think that if you could only be strong in one area, you would choose the midfield as this is where it all begins.

We will obviously miss Fevola and his 80-90 goals, but, and what a lot of people fail to consider is that we should be better defensively provided Jamison, Bower, Thornton etc. remain injury free. We will also improve in this regard with expected better defensive midfield pressure and better in-and-under midfielders like Hadley and McLean giving us first use. So while we might not score as freely, we might not concede as heavily either.

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Formerly Blues-Back2003.

I just hope all the people that were happy to ditch Fev are not going to cry that it's Ratts fault when it costs us spots on the ladder... but they will....

Like Fev or hate him his 90+ goals a year are gone.

A pass for Ratts is make the eight. But finishing ninth or there abouts is likely.

Having said that we have a few wild cards. Hendo, Waite and or Kruez up forward could be anything.

Bring on the season!

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I support the Navy Blues whatever happens!

Im thinking alot of teams have alot of average footballers....but turn them into footballers or some of them.

You didnt happen to see Clinto Jones first year or so did you?
Or Gwilt?
McQualter?
Eadie.
Dumpster
Ralph Clarke
Zac Dawson
Blake


Actually StKilda have invested heavily in thse kinds of players and seem to be doing the job

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Due to recent budget cuts and the rising cost of electricity, gas, and oil....... the Light at the End of the Tunnel has been turned off. We apologize for the inconvenience.