.....after praising him (and Mclean) two weeks ago for their ground level grunt.

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"They're [REDACTED]'

Don't always agree with Wallsy but must admit he was pretty spot on tonight. Except for his thoughts on the Waite suspension. For mine, he's very unlucky.

Seeing the iso footage of Judd and McPhee made my blood boil AGAIN. Still can't fathom that not one player bothered to do anything about it (excluding Lucas). In all honesty, if this was not raised by the coaches at qtr time, half time, 3 qtr and via the runner throughout the game, then we need a full overhaul. Seriously.

For a supposed professional AFL club with resources now the envy of most, we can be so amateurish at times.

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We are on our way back...

Rather than bag Thornton who went into the ruck against Sandilands and kicked 2 goals, Walls should have asked Ratten the following:

- why Grigg couldn't get a game ahead of Browne recently and now Hadley?

- why he refuses to maintain a forward structure by allowing Waite and Henderson to line up 50
meters out from goal and we continue to kick the ball in the air to Betts, Yarran & Garlett?

- why the only bloke that has some severe mongrel (Robbo) can't get a regular game in this
side?

Maybe the reason why Thornton shows some frustration is because he actually cares !!

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Life is made up of 3 things: Pre-Season, Post Season & Footy Season.

I thought Ratts was pretty good, was impressed with the way he spoke and handled the questions thrown at him. Wasn't afraid to agree or disagree with Walls.

He mentioned Thornton's poor body language, but also stuck up for him a little bit and mentioned there were three teammates around the marking contest and only Simmo assisted.

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"The ability to speak doesn't make you intelligent." Qui-Gon Jinn 15-05-2005

"there’s more chance of me becoming the full forward for the [Western Bulldogs] than there is of any change in the Labor Party." Julia Gillard 18-05-2010

Just wish he would learn the correct usage of the word 'seen'.

I see.

I saw.

I have seen.

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THEY LIKE TO SEND UP!!!!!!!!

Until each team plays each other the same number of times, the AFL, as a fair dinkum competition, cannot be taken seriously.

He (Mr Swann) said the honour and pride associated with the club's traditional navy blue jumper was priceless.

He's spent most of his life firmly entrenched in football club culture. Bit of a black hole when it comes to the conventions of the English language.

Very few thesps amongst that lot.

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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.

Wallsy was all fired up until Ratts came on it was a bit of a shame he mellowed it could have been quite firey

sum up

had a go at waite
Had ago at Judds fellow mid fielders for not protecting him
Said hadley was a dud and to slow
Basically said we recruited badly with Maclean Warnock and Hadley
didnt miss thorton said he was selfish and should be moved on
said Jamison needs to do more with the footy

when ratts arrived on the panel

he asked about Kruez

he praised Yarren and asked why he wasnt in the mid field more
Ratts agreed that thortons body language wasnt good
said they willmake a decision on rucks next week and whoever gets in will be given a good crack at it
siad the season was a balance between wanting to play finals and developing for the future

Holding the ball was discussed - 250 up til round 12 in 2004 - 760 in 2010
but the number of ball ups was the same

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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

did he really say we had to balance between wanting to play finalns and planning for the future???

werent we looking at top 4 2 weeks ago???????????????

Not sure that would have helped anyone. Two Carlton Hall of Fame members going at it on national TV? Both have close mutual friends. Both have a deep passion about Carlton. In relation to that - some of the questions I would have liked asked would have gone something like this -

* Are you too close to Carlton? Carlton has been your life since the age of 15 - it's really all you've ever known aside from 2 years outside developing your coaching skills. Can you separate love of of the club with clear, concise thought process?

* What does Craig Bradley mean to Brett Ratten? Is he the friend and confidant you need beside you on match day as opposed to a senior mentor who has had senior coaching experience?

* There's a school of thought that if you drop numbers back into Carlton's attacking zone that they can't cope with it. What do you say of that suggestion and what have you implemented to combat it?

* Matthew Lappin and Bret Montgomery. Respectively - they're in charge of your forwards and backs. Are they up to it? What coaching qualifications do they have if any - or are they deemed experienced enough as long term footballers to be assistants at the Carlton Football Club? Robert Harvey after all is more experienced as a footballer, yet is an assistant to Mark Riley who is an assistant to you.

* You turn 40 next year Brett. Does life begin at 40? Have you put a timeline on how long you want to stay in the top job? Your current contract expires at the end of 2011. Most Carlton people both inside and out would say that years 2007-2010 were about development and instilling belief and a winning attitude into a young side, but expectations are going to be very high in 2011. Do you agree that in 2011 expectations should be as high as they're going to be?

Me too. Dunno why Waite couldn't have thumped McPhee instead.

The other thing was Ratten saying that we needed clarification on what was OK regarding tagging tactics and then maybe we could implement some of those tactics. I know we prefer to play "fair" but far out, every other side has their pests out there in full flight each week, why don't we? We're being regarded as a soft team and it's starting to have an effect.

Not always a fan of Walls but i pretty much aggree on all of the above.

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"We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit"
- Aristotle

This with On The Couch bloody fired me up last night. Personally I just wanted to punch McPhee in the nose. So sad it was Pavlich and not McPhee who got belted. Someone should had a crack at him. Not a little punch or anything, rather a prolonged assault by pushing him, shoving him, elbowing, get right in his face, scrag him, run into his path. Do it for a whole quarter and then another after that. He would shit himself and Judd would've been able to play his normal game. We needed Robinson playing and Ratten needs to get tough. Bugger playing nice. McPhee should've been harassed all night and Ratten should've instructed someone to do so. Armfield, Carrazzo, Joseph could have done the job.

This is what the Hawks have that we lack. Physicality and an all round attitude of protecting their team mates. If McPhee had done it against the Hawks to someone like Sam Mitchell, I could safely say that a Hodge or a Lewis or someone like that would have stepped in and roughed him up a bit. I really hope this is addressed.

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Premierships: 1869, 1871, 1873, 1874, 1875, 1877, 1887, 1906, 1907, 1908, 1914, 1915, 1938, 1945, 1947, 1968, 1970, 1972, 1979, 1981, 1982, 1987, 1995.

"GIBBS."

Problem is we have no one big enough and ugly enough to do it - Carrots AJ and Army are no match for Mcphee - and Robbo is still a kid - Waite Ohalpin- Wiggo and maybe Maclean look like they are the only real physical big players on the List - but Waite uses the Elbow - Irish avoids it Wiggo cant get a game and Maclean hobbles on one leg - This is where you need a Rhys Jones type - I was hoping Harlett was going to be the man - Opposition side now we are soft

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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

Don't entirely agree with this. There have been several instances where Setanta has roughed up the opposition. Lloyd, Jonathon Brown, and Fraser Gehrig to name a few.

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Premierships: 1869, 1871, 1873, 1874, 1875, 1877, 1887, 1906, 1907, 1908, 1914, 1915, 1938, 1945, 1947, 1968, 1970, 1972, 1979, 1981, 1982, 1987, 1995.

"GIBBS."

Thats short term agression to his direct opponant off the ball.

We have no one willing and able to show agression to the man during play, put blocks on for a teammate and harass taggers.

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"The ability to speak doesn't make you intelligent." Qui-Gon Jinn 15-05-2005

"there’s more chance of me becoming the full forward for the [Western Bulldogs] than there is of any change in the Labor Party." Julia Gillard 18-05-2010

The Hawks should be sanctioned with their attack by knees into opposition players, whilst packs are formed. Full credit to them by using the rules at hand to their advantage. Umpires are loathed to call a ball up or ping a player unless they sense stagnation, hence playing right into the Hawthorn psyche. Unsociable football my arse, just blatant thuggery.

Last year Simmo was in our bottom six, this year our top six!! Go figure.

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You want the flame? Give us the marbles!!

I hope the comment regarding playing for the future or finals, means that Ratten recongnises certain players like carrots, Houlihan, Thornton are not good enough to be part of our next premiership side. We would be far better off getting games into others

Not according to Acker