na, we got the best of the umpiring decisions

There has been an absence (which is a good thing) of what is the game plan.

It is now clear:

(a) contest every ball when not indirect posession of the ball
(b) hassle and deny easy movement of the ball
(c) tackle like there is no tomorrow
(d) when the ball is under CFC control, maintain posession at all costs
(e) get it quickly into the forward scoring zone - let the speed of the delivery be the key - no defender wants the ball coming in quickly
(f) let the smaller players share the ball as they can help set up scoring chances
(g) the taller players need to mark the ball (more often they they have done so to date)
(h) high conversion kicking for goal is an excellent way to get reward for effort

Since there's no R5 Play of the week that I can find - I'll put down as a pro the Warnock chase when Wojo went for his 3rd quarter gallop.... He's definitely picked up the pace since Brisbane - and his effort was appreciated by this household!!

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Now stalking Carlton on Twitter and Facebook!

Pros

Wonderful win. one of the 10 best of the last decade. Played very well and maturely for the most part. Amazing turnaround.

The team is faster in the backline and forward line. And that pace worked both ways, with offensive run, and causing panic in the opposition when they had the ball. That is what gave us a chance to win today.

Army, Lucas and Walker have added massively to the backline with pace and dare.
Lucas is just a star. Murphy is the only 1st year mid type to have come in and performed better immediately in my recollection. A great all-rounder. Makes a big difference.
Gibbs adds some zen to half back when it gets hectic.
White doesn't panic, nice player but gets beaten a little easily on the lead.
Russell is a very good footballer.

Scotland is in career best form - as a mid

Yes the small forwards killed them

Cons

McLean's presence helps Judd, no doubt, but lacks poise when he gets the ball in traffic. Looks a scrubber at the moment, minor upgrade on Bentick. If he gets a clear run of 6 weeks of footy I'd expect much sharper responses when he wins the ball.

I like Hendo, but from what I've seen his marking is generally a serious weakness. Which is a problem when you're a tall marking forward

Joseph beaten by a better player, kept working, but he's in poor form. I didn't mind him taking on Gazza, he's proactively trying to turn his form around instead of going into his shell.

Kreuzer took a couple of nice marks, which is a welcome improvement but he's looking scrappy at the moment and his kicking is an issue. the ball drop is ugly and doesn't work under pressure

+1

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I would like to thank Collingwood for helping me keep faith in my old man. He always told me that 'People are thick'.

Best off and on the ground was Ratts. Has copped heaps (rightly so for our game against the Dons) but clearly outcoached Thompson with his match ups. Walker on Hawkins was a masterstroke and generated all our defensive run. As soon as Walker was taken off, we lost that drive.

Moving Scotland out of defence (way too loose for my liking) into the midfield rotation has handed us a very damaging midfielder. Really made a difference and this is his best year by far.

Moving Houla out of defence is a master stroke. Took Enright out of the game.

Most pundits would not have played all thre indigenous boys up forward against the Geelong defence. When the ball hit the ground the Geelong boys looked slow and lost. Poor old Harry Taylor could not find an opponent to match up on. Our Koori brigade is exciting and will only get better with more game time. Reminds me of the Krakouer brothers in terms of the understanding they have with one another

Ratts could have played it safe and brought back the underdone Waite and out of form Thornton for this big occasion. He has sent a strong message to the playing group that no one is a protected species.

Judd won the game for us in the first half. Did the bulk of the extraction against the best midfield in the competition. Blew Selwood away before being heavily tagged by Ling.

Walker until injured was our second most influential player providing us with most of our defensive drive

Gibbs was quiet until when it counted in the last when Judd's dominance waned, Gibbs held our backline together when they attacked

Russell, is a different player with his confidence up. Looks decisive and is prepared to take the game on.

Army knows how to play only one way. Stuffs up but I dont mind because he gives it a red hot go. His opponent will never get an easy kick.

Cons

Joseph has not had the best of years and should rely on last years form. Needs to be dropped. Got smashed and did not hurt Geelong when he had the ball not to mention got exposed in the air.

Warnock. Don't care for his 1%ers if he cannot do anything contrutive with the ball. Does not know how to find it and his ruck work does not compensate enough. Bring in the ranga.

Henderson cannot buy a mark. Maybe slot him in defence where we are exposed for height until he picks up his confidence

Maclean maybe I under estimate his value but he seems so slow . Gets caught a lot with ball in hand. Not only is he slow in movement but also in decision making. Was brought to the club to relieve some of the pressure fof Judd but we still relied on Judd to do most of our extracting. Maybe replace him with an in form Hadley. Not sure why he is preferred to Hadley.
Both average kicks but at least Hadley is strong overhead.

Conundrum

The contested marks that were replayed during the coverage were mostly running with the flight of the ball. That's a tough grab... He's in the right spots. Just got to clunk a few to get him going... At least he's getting the ball to ground and to advantage.

I don't know whether trying to get hold of mongrel punts in the VFL is going to do him any good.

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"The best argument against democracy is a five-minute conversation with the average voter" - Winston Churchill.

Pros
----
- We won every quarter!
- Band of Brothers (particularly Garlett today)
- Army/Russell/Walker
- Gibbs BOG (against a a beaten Geelong, incl 'Best of Draft Selwood' )
- Ratts for a) planning, b) match day tactics, c) courage to drop/leave out waite & thornton
- Last year, AJ kept Ablett's influence minimum. This time, he ran riot and we STILL beat them well

Cons
----
- Walker's collarbone (thank Judd its not another shoulder reco!)
- Don't want players to pin their belief on Judd's presence (SHOULD have beaten Lions & Bombers...)
- Cats missed several easy goals which could have evened things up a bit

Agree with this. Even after a mixed start to the year, great to hear our supporters coming in numbers and exerting some influence.

other Pros:
Would have to be close to the quickest team we could play. Smart, smart work by the MC. Put your quickest players in the defensive and offensive space, and then everyone else in the midfield throng. Nice to think we've got Bower and Waite also to come back in, and add some defensive run (even if we lose Walker for a bit). Also (as someone else has mentioned) really like the move of Scotland to the midfield. He's been terrific this year.
Warnock's obviously got a way to go. But love his willingness to compete at ground level and chase. He's seriously athletic.
Even though Ablett was great, was really pleased with Joseph's game. Was beaten when Ablett went forward, but thought he reduced his effectiveness when in midfield (haven't checked the stats, but would think his goal assists would be down on usual). Also was really pleased to see him trying to run off Ablett the other way.
Gibbs could be one of the best players in the competition, if allowed to continue to play off half back.
Russell now in our top 6 players.
Good to see Kreuzer looking dangerous up forward again.
Really like White's speed and good disposal. Really like just about everything about Lucas.
Hoops was terrific again.
Judd, Simmo, Betts, Garlett and Yarran.

Pros:
- The Yatrix sees stuff no one else does, that grubba kick at the end to Simmo seemed like a bad kick to the naked eye, but he knew it would have been smothered and also knew Simmo would pass to Garlett. I'm not kidding. This guy just may be The Chosen One.
- Garlett. He seems to finish games real strong, taking some nice strong marks and running non stop.
- Betts should be top 5 for B&F right now.
- Gibbs/McLean - The fact McLean is just as good in tight as Gibbs adds to our structure so much. Gibbs is an outstanding man to have defending and running the play.
- Star shut down jobs

Cons:
- Nothing is a negative except that Walker went down after it seemed we found his perfect role. Very sad. Hope he bounces right back up.

PROS
Probably my most enjoyable Carlton win in quite some time. We went head to head with the best team of the past 4 years and smashed 'em. The stunned looks in the Geelong coaches box said it all really.

The new forward setup - excitement machines in Garlett and Yarran.

Running off half back - Armfield, Russell, Walker - awesome

Just the way we ground it out in the second half - Geelong tried to turn it into a scrap and we outmuscled them.

Defensive pressure in the forward 50. Ours is the best in the league - bar none.

CONS
Eddie looks to me like he is lacking a little confidence - wonder if he is feeling the pressure with Yarran and Garlett outshining him.

Handballing automatically to a player under pressure - we put ourselves under the pump unnecessarily at times.

Con

We still @#$%&! lost to Essendon*

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WADA medical director Dr Alan Vernec describes Essendon* FC drug case as biggest scandal in team sport the world of sport has seen. #WC2WB

#GUILTY

Don...breathe.......out with the bad air, in with the good.....

You're just going to have to build a bridge AND GET THE F%^*& OVER IT!

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And so while others miserably pledge themselves to the pursuit of ambition and brief power, I will be stretched out in the shade, singing.

I can't and won't GET THE @#$%&! OVER IT until those smug pricks get what they deserve!

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WADA medical director Dr Alan Vernec describes Essendon* FC drug case as biggest scandal in team sport the world of sport has seen. #WC2WB

#GUILTY

What he said .... +1!

Scotto has added some real steel and cool evasiveness to the midfield .... hard as nails.

Great performance but 3 changes next week for me ....

Bower will come in for Walker
I think Hadley deserves to come in for McLean (who has ordinary yesterday)
And, to fit Waite into the side, I would give Hendo a run in the Ants to regain some confidence in his marking (the kid will make it and become a very handy CHF but he has to hold those straight forward marks)

Go Blues!

Lots of pro's, but one major con..poor old Walks just can't take a trick.

Pro
Juddy's afterburners!!

Con
1aw's injury

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i don't wanna spend my life explaining myself. Either you get it, or you don't- Frank Zappa

This is just a confidence thing. You don't get drafted in the top 10 as a KPP if you can't take a grab. Hendo will take time, as KPP do. He's still only 20. Have a look at Kennedy over at WC. He's going along very nicely now and we all know how long it took him to get the hang of things.

Hendo didn't get a lot of game time at Brisbane and almost none in the forward line.

I would not move him back as our backline is looking great. I'd either persist with him forward or possibly give him a spell in the 2's, maybe a straight swap for Waite forward.

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I almost wanted to start a thread on how under rated this bloke is. Gotta love the way he goes about it. Kicking is superb these days also and he knows how to kick a goal. Easily our best draft pick out of those dark years

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Pro:

The Yarran, Betts and Garlett forwardline worked beautifully.
Judd's power and pace.
Gibbs' poise and ball delivery.
Russell destroyed Showpony Johnson.
etc
etc


Con:

Was going to the game until plans changed on Wed

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"One of my favorite philosophical tenets is that people will agree with you only if they already agree with you. You do not change people's minds." - Frank Zappa