|
Not sure this will get up in time and I'm flying out soon (no, not to Brisbane, I'm off to Canberra and the French Masters)
Close Encounters of the prodigal kind.
Let us just plonk the obvious on the table and stare at it shall we. Let us not shirk from the shadow, not stare into the camera. They, the media and the crowd, will make this all about Fev and so we need to accept the change and not pretend it never happened. This week it is Fev show. Fev in that butchered jumper that was once my second favourite but now moves towards being a paraody of the football gernsey.
Let us face the facts. We have been partying a bit this week, we're proud of ourselves, we've won the first, we'd like to win the second but the prodigal son has wandered up the drive and we're left standing under the lights, feeling a bit betwixt and between.
Oh don't get me wrong, I wanna moider the bum! But still. Remember the chant those blokes would scream out with every one of his goals. Remember that impossible shot from the boundary against the Crows, and then remember the 15 a millenia ago – or so it seems – in a nonsense game that only the advertisers really enjoyed. Remember the toyota moment when he claimed 'he still loves me' while talking about another bloke no longer with us.
So its that funny feeling inside. I remember the first time we played the Sainters and Jezza was in their ridiculous colours – it was a bit like watching a sheep devour a wolf. I remember Wallsey as a Lion and even though the best of him had passed, still he was ours, he was always ours, and Camper and Matty Allan as Bombers – but thats where it seems to have changed. Scotty is their's now, well and truly, and so too with Fev and his feral outbursts.
It is easy when it goes the other way. Brock is a Carlton man now, nothing more, nothing less. Judd is our captain and sometimes I have to shake myself when someone talks about his Weagle days. But it is not so easy when it goes the other way. So lets first focus on those we know about and must stop.
Gibbsey to Black and that's that – curtains for the player I would love to have had in a Carlton jumper. AJ on Power for the shutdown. T-Bird to shake hands with Browny
and then set about showing him a clean pair of heels. Its T-Bird on Brown for me because T-Bird reads the play so well he can avoid tests of strength.
In the middle is where we will dominate even without Juddster and his rockets. Murph, Carrots, Brock, Scotland, Tex and Hoops. And then there is our forward line. In the old days, if a side was behind us, they knew they could plonk three in front of Fev and we'd lose the plot. That's not how it is now though. There is Waite and Santy, Yazz and Betts and young Hendo as well. Once we get in front on Thursday I'm thinking we'll stay there because what's their strategy to stem the flow? We have options, lots of options and that means they have to match us in the middle.
And in the middle stands The Kruise and 206. Good luck stopping those two! What a game Kruise played last week. I thought he ripped that game open, held is apart and said 'come on lads, come and have some fun with these Tiger innards!' What a beauty this kid is. What a joy it is each year to see the development. And then there was 206, who hadn't strode the turf for a while, but he never looked out of place, not for a moment. And even when the Tigers tried to rumble the big fellowe just joined in for the fun of it, as did the rest of the team, a real 'one in all in' affair! So if the Lions are thinking they can match us in the middle, well, good luck lads.
And so we come again to Fev, he's their hope isn't he. He's their bankroll in the sock. I remember when he was ours and a bit of me will feel a bit funny watching him play against us, its hard not to. So often in the dark years he gave us a light, he lit up the darkness with a starburst of goals, so that even if we lost, at least we could enjoy ourselves at points throughout the game.
But we are not in those dark days, not now. We have emerged and its time to get all the factors right. To work ourselves into a cohesive unit, a band of bluebagger musketeers – the thing about prodigals is that they are lone wolves aren't they, not really belonging to the group. So we have re-jigged ourselves, given ourselves a fighting chance by not being so predicatbale, not just against the Lions but every week and then into the finals.
Though I'll miss the big bloke, still, I'll not miss that obvious ploy of three men back and watch us shoot ourselves in the foot over and over again. These days we look for the best option, thats what every great football side does. Thats the Carlton I remember, the great sides of Carlton from '68 through to '95. It was always about the team, about the us, never about the me, the tally, the coleman or any other individual award.
I am happy with the shift back to the team ethos, and on Thursday night I'm betting our team will beat their three or four champions.
Hendo for 4
Santy for 3
So too Betts and Yazz,
Waite for 2
and Scotland B.O.G.
Go Blues!
_________________
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!
|
Login
Register
FAQ
