Self belief is the new game plan...this has become apparent to me over the last couple of weeks....it is what we have lacked since Kouta went down in 2001 and given we have lacked player personnel along the way this has been the missing ingredient preventing us from achieving consistency in performance and eventually in the very near future ultimate success.

Some will say that I have blamed Ratts yada yada yada and whilst true this new game plan applies even more so to the coach than it does to the players and it is where I believe (Cazzessman) that the coach really earns his big bucks. The coach needs to first believe in himself and his abilities to take a team all the way. I have been critical of Ratts's tactics as I have found them to be very negative and re-active...right up to the loss to the scum..then when his back was to the wall and he could feel that he was really going to be under the pump....he changed direction

Ratts (IMO) has started to coach on instinct...to follow his gut...to drop players not performing no matter who they are...to give belief to the playing group by employing tactics that bring out the players own instinctive abilities. The run and carry we have seen in the last 2 weeks is Carlton playing instinctive football fully believing that this type of football will win on any given day...it is very difficult to beat a side who believes fully in its own ability and it is very difficult to out coach someone who coaches based on self belief..

We have won a few big games under Ratts sure...but there have always been doubts with the opposition having their excuses on the day and that we got them with players out blah blah blah...until last weeks win against the Cats. Prior to that game I said that this game would be of great importance because there are no excuses for the opposition...they had a full squad in (or certainly we had more out then they did)...they were the reigning premier, in top form and the best team in the last 3 years and the game was early on in the season with all to play for...Ratts took risks he backed the boys and they delivered...a turning point too big to ignore..

Lets not kid ourselves tomorrow is as big as it gets...yes there is no cup on the line but there have been big games against the filth...games that matter where we have delivered even with no silverware to be gained...IMO belief has always got us over the filth when it mattered...Carlton just knows it will beat this team before going out on the ground....this belief this knowing is growing again and it has the potential to snowball quite quickly from here on in...we have the personnel there is no doubt in my mind about this...Ratts has tasted what its like to coach on instinct....the players will thrive in being managed in this way and given the full backing of their manager to take games on...

Yes the filth with throw players back...why? because this is their game plan and they believe in it..if we fall into their trap and play static footy again their plan will have worked...but we don't have to..why? Cuz we now believe in our own game plan...those same players parked in our FWD 50 still have to run the other way and back again and so on...if we stick to our guns and keep running and attacking moving the ball quickly and with purpose knowing that this will get the job done...teams will wilt when under a constant barrage of attack from a committed group (on field and off)

..and yes we may have to hold the ball up on occasion but this should not be part of a negative tactical change but rather to buy us some time to catch our breaths before our next surge...if we continue to play with self belief I challenge the filth or anyone else to come close...and whilst there may be days when we may still get beaten...we will not have gone down wondering what may have been...but one thing I know for certain...if we play and coach instinctively tomorrow we will overcome the filth with points to spare...

It is our time now...It's time..

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"Truth, for the tyrants, is the most terrible and cruel of all bindings; it is like an incandescent iron falling across their chests. And it is even more agonizing than hot iron, for that only burns the flesh, while truth burns its way into the soul"     — Lauro Aguirre

I am hearing you J&K. We need to take them on. It will be a brave tactic as that is the tactic that the Maggies will want us to use and indeed any other team thats game plan revolves around throwing numbers behind the ball. They want you to over commit so they can get you on the counter and eventually break your spirit.

Only the tough can take the floody zoning teams on and eventually outmuscle them. The Cats being the only team i have seen consistantly outmuscle these defensive minded teams (see last years final series and GF as prime examples). Probably why Ratts likes the Cats style of play as a blueprint as opposed to adopting the Saints, Collingwood, Crows (last year) style of play.

Tomorrow we will see how far away we are mentally and physically from being able to take it to finals teams in finals atmosphere.

Go Blues !

I'm with Leigh Mathews on this one. Game plans are a pile of dog poo. Footy is a simple game. You have the footy, you don't or it is up for grabs. If you don't have the mind set, intensity and skill level to win the ball, regain the ball and use it well then you are flowered.

Look at Essendon* this week. Same game plan and players - more intensity and commitment and they win
Look at Hawthorn this year. Less intensity and some some passengers and the look average.
Look at the Roos
Look at the Dees

All these 4 teams had the same game plan from last week. But they won and lost directly inrelation to the amount of mental toughness and commitment they displayed to win the footy.

Intensity and full commitment over 120 minutes is what it takes to win games.

Regards Cazzesman

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Ricky Gervais - “Everyone has the right to hold whatever beliefs they want. And everyone else has the right to find those beliefs f***ing ridiculous.”

You know the blues are going to have a good day when you see 2-4 players wrapping up opposition players in a tackle to either force a ball up or win a free kick. The games we lost we seemed to just chase and not commit ourselves to body on body. Intensity is the key.

Can teams do this week in week out???

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Delulio is a member of TISM

^ I disagree (The Cman). the game plan is extremely important to modern football, and all the most successful clubs have had plans. It isn't enough to just try your hardest when the processes in place aren't allowing you to get the best possible return. That's the whole reason there is a coach, he is the 'manager', just like any workplace.

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#23: Lachlan Henderson

I agree to a point Cman. Just against these flooding/defence first teams even if you come to play and your intensity is up you still are not far away from a loss. They can choke the spirit out of you by suckering you into their trap and then scoring on the rebound.

I look forward to watching the blues scrap it out today.

I would add one more thing Caz, opportunities. Sometimes a team does come to play but squanders its chances and then all manner of doubts set in while ,for the opposition, their belief begins to rise.

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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!

No doubt intensity and commitment make up a large proportion of a game but to dismiss the tactical/style of play is either naive or an attempt to deliberately water down their importance.

I think the term 'choke the spirit out of you' is a bit dramatic though. Our tacticians simply need to find a style of play that draws the opposition away from their tactical style of play, in other words be proactive and dictate the terms. Malcolm Blight would be a great addition to our coaching panel as has always been an innovative and proactive thinker but he's with GC now.

Collingwood are not as good at getting all their players inside the opposition forward 50 as St Kilda. For this, as a TV watcher, I am thankfull because as a spectacle their game plan is boring to watch.

Collingwood will get players back but the key is fast ball movement to leading players.

If you kick to someone standing still it is certain that their marking attempt will be prevented.

The kick must be to a leading player.

This is where the committment to gut running comes to the fore.

If there is a fire in the bellies of the CFC players and recollection of how bad they were as a group against Essendon*, then who knows what the result will be. Jacobs will bring more than Warnock has shown in the past 5 games - he is keen and hungry. Lets hope he sets a good example and the players who get the ball from his tap outs move it fast.

The Point! The Point! The Point my good friends is...............................yes a game plan of sort is import BUT it means Jack Shite if you don't have the intensity to win the bloody ball in the 1st instance.

There is no point players spreading from a stoppage if you don't win the stoppage. There is no point winning the stoppage if the team-mates don't gut run to spread for the next possession. There is no point getting the ball inside 50 if the forwards don't put on defensive pressure should the opposition win it back.

Whether you zone, man on man, flood back or full on attack you won't win if you don't get your hands on the footy 1st most of the time and commit to winning it back should you lose it. Last week we got up in the face of the Cats defenders to stop their run and flow. If 2 or 3 players don't work hard enough to do it then there is a hole in the plan and plan leaks.

A plan is only as good as the preparedness and desire of the players to implement both physically and mentally.

Regards Cazzesman

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Ricky Gervais - “Everyone has the right to hold whatever beliefs they want. And everyone else has the right to find those beliefs f***ing ridiculous.”

[quote="Juddy&theKruezers"]
Ratts (IMO) has started to coach on instinct...to follow his gut...to drop players not performing no matter who they are...to give belief to the playing group by employing tactics that bring out the players own instinctive abilities. The run and carry we have seen in the last 2 weeks is Carlton playing instinctive football fully believing that this type of football will win on any given day...it is very difficult to beat a side who believes fully in its own ability and it is very difficult to out coach someone who coaches based on self belief../quote]

Ratts has dropped established players previously - stevens, scotland, houla to name a few
Ratts gave faith in the playing group/players previously - russell, bower, joseph, etc

We have also run and carry in patches in games previously - the issue is and has always been consistency. As we play more matches together we will become more consistent, and then the wins will come.

Imo, we have the talent covered.

Mods please close this thread...I was obviously on something when I wrote it...

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"Truth, for the tyrants, is the most terrible and cruel of all bindings; it is like an incandescent iron falling across their chests. And it is even more agonizing than hot iron, for that only burns the flesh, while truth burns its way into the soul"     — Lauro Aguirre

Nah, one loss doesn't change the world, as much as one win doesn't either. We are a mid-range inconsistent side, still looking for the belief and work ethic which will move us to a top side.

This is exactly where Carlton is right now..

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My Blue Heaven

We got back in the game when we kicked the ball instead of handballing it, funny that.

Too little, too late however

Well said Adam.

Just got back from the game and Juddy - I can assure you wasn't our game plan that lost the game for us today.

3 things:

- lazy running in the 1st half
- lack of clearences, particularly in 1st half
- terrible fumbling and skill errors all day

We blew the game for ourselves today - we didn't get blown away by a better team. It just wasn't our day unfortunately....

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"If everyone is moving forward together, then success takes care of itself" - Henry Ford

Your kid could read it for a laugh.

Sorry dude your posts keep winning hands down....

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"Truth, for the tyrants, is the most terrible and cruel of all bindings; it is like an incandescent iron falling across their chests. And it is even more agonizing than hot iron, for that only burns the flesh, while truth burns its way into the soul"     — Lauro Aguirre

He needs a laugh.

That was boring...no points for that one....

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"Truth, for the tyrants, is the most terrible and cruel of all bindings; it is like an incandescent iron falling across their chests. And it is even more agonizing than hot iron, for that only burns the flesh, while truth burns its way into the soul"     — Lauro Aguirre