But this time it's not about our opposition!!

http://www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-news/w ... 11koi.html

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Spot on wallsy!!!

Captain obvious comes in 3 weeks after the horse has bolted once again.

No wonder Walls was voted most annoying football commentator after Kelli undipants.

Unbelievable he gets paid for that crap.

Over the top Wallsy. Hits more notes than it misses, however.

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29 different attributes,
And only 7 that you like;
20 ways to see the world,
Or 20 ways to start a fight.

Can we ask Kelli to change her name to this?

I don't think she is going to last any longer on the box.

They are calling her a work in progress but they know she is an experiment gone terribly wrong.

I was dreading hearing her last week but she didn't get the gig.

Tx for coming, be sure to close the door on your way out.

That quote lacks sense IMHO. Carlton beat the Saints and Cats because they were better on the day. They played with confidence, tackled hard, caused the turnover and punished the opposition who were running forward of the play.
You dont beat quality opposition by accident.
I'd also like Wallsy to define "ordinary".

I understand he's frustrated and so am I but coming out with statements that are diametrically opposed to statements of 6 weeks ago are embarrassing.
Yes we're playing poor football at the moment but it's more about mindset than talent. We need to start working harder and many other aspects of the game will fall into place. Like most other teams we score quickly when we force the opposition to give the ball up. Whether by tackling or applying pressure and causing turnovers. When you cause turnovers, you catch the opposition out on the transition and space and often the corridor are yours to utilise. That results in open forward lines and quick ball movement.

Our biggest issue at the moment is we're only getting an opportunity to get our hands on the ball at stoppages and kick ins. You wont win many games of footy that way. The opposition have set their zones up and any forward ball movement is slow or high risk. Forget corridor footy, forget playing on. They should be viewed as outcomes, not pre-determined actions. If you tackle with intent, hit the contest hard and get the ball back off the opposition when they're in an attacking mindset, the corridor and the opportunity to run the ball in space will be yours. Then you'll see the confidence, attacking run and skills return with it.
The challenge then for the coaches is to retain the correct balance of attacking/defensive workrate.

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Looking forward to seeing our potential realised.

That was Walls' "go out and flog Essendon*" article. Noting more.

No one reasonable thought Carlton would contend for the flag this year and the bottom reaches of the 8 was always going to be a good result. We still might not make it and our last 8 weeks or so have been poor, but to suggest that we should throw out what we have and start again is ludicrous.

Many here and in the media have been quick to jump on Warnock. He has not had a great year, but he is young in footballing terms and has plenty of time to prove himself. The only question mark appears to be suggestions that he has not pushed himself to the extent he could/should, but I don't know that for a fact.

The nucleas of Judd, Murphy, Gibbs, Grigg, Walker, Yarran, Betts, Warnock, Kreuzer, Hampson, Bower, Jamison, Henderson, Russell, Armfield, Lucas, Simpson et al is extremely promising. Most sides would kill for that. We need to address specific (read key position and grunt midfielder) options, but who doesn't?

I disagree. I think Walls is one of the FEW commentators that analyses games, analyses individual contests and players etc.
Whether or not he was an ex-Carlton player is irrelevant to me in terms of his commentary- he also had a large role at Fitzroy/Brisbane.
He isn't shy in praising Collingwood and other teams when they deserve it.


In terms of TV commentating, Leigh Matthews is also a top notch commentator.

The worst in my opinion is Darcy, who copies a lot of what Walls says. Watson used to do the same thing when
he commentated with Matthews...copy and repeat but in slightly different phrases.

Walls's article is spot on.

It will be interesting to see where Waite is positioned in this match. It got me thinking about the 1999 grand final. Do you play defence or offence. In the 1999 grand final, Kouta was placed on a defensive role on McKernan. After his match the week before, a more attacking role would have been a worthy gamble. For me, the game was over at that point...but i guess Carlton didn't have many alternatives for McKernan.

Waite has the power to be a team lifter if he plays an attacking role. I wonder if he will be a defensive flanker yet again.

Julia underwood

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Bawditawaba

Walls is right about the weak part but how can you blame the recruiters when they trade away our top picks?

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"We used to sit around and talk about how bad the game plan was." Anthony Koutoufides

What parts do you consider over the top Jimmae?

Opinions on particular players ability ???

I think Wallsy is spot on.

Our list IS average hence why we've seen no improvement.

Where the hell is OUR first/second year player to burst out of the blocks and stamp their name on the comp?

Look at all other clubs and they have one or two kids who are stamping their names on the comp. take away our No 1 picks and we are in the negative in comparison.

We seem to have nothing 'exciting' happening from any of our younger players and it just seems more of the same average player. His comments about our back half are also spot on. I love Jamo but sheesh, we are lucky to get 6 average kicks a game out of him.

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Maybe, but Wallsy is just doing his job. He would have told Ratts that he was writing an unsavory article and Ratts probably would have said 'about time'!

The bigger question is - will the players read it? In a time not so long ago, players would have - but I have real doubts as to how many of the current list take criticism. It mightn't be a good idea for Wallsy to pair up with some of the boys he wrote about at the next Spirit of Carlton golf day...

In comparison, here's the article Walls wrote earlier in the season right before we slumped where he praises our list and depth!
http://www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-news/r ... -y0g5.html

in particular I agree with his comments about our backline, Waite and Walker though.

56 days is a long time in football...

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“When a clown moves into a palace, he doesn't become a king. The palace turns into a circus.”
Turkish Proverb

I understand where you are coming from with our form of late, but I reckon you are completely wrong when it comes to our younger players.

Off the top of my head I can think of 3 (Lucas, Yarran and Garlett) 1st or 2nd year players which have made their mark on the comp this year. The problem is these guys are always going to struggle when the team is stuggling - particularly when our more senior players are.

You can't expect 1st or 2nd year players to come out and dominate and have a huge influence on the outcome of games if those around them aren't providing the leadership and support they need. You only need to look at how well these younger players were travelling earlier in the season compared to now for proof.

And when you are looking at players like Beams and Sidebottom at Collingwood or a Joel Selwood at Geelong a few years ago, just think about the massive depth of support they have to be able to do what they want when on the field. They don't have to be the ones that "make it happen" like ours do at Carlton. Put any of those players into the current Carlton team and they would struggle.

Likewise, throw a Lucas, Yarran or Garlett into one of those teams and watch them flourish.

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

I thought the most damning part was the bit about no game plan. Just what every young coach wants to hear. Ratten must be getting seriously close to the chopping block. (Not sure what I think about this).

Imagine if Gibbs had been drafted by Geelong. Would probably have 3 premiership medals.

The comments on Bower just show how little Walls actually knows about each player - the guy has struggled with injury for the entire season.

You only have to look at who Walls rated as A-graders on the Geelong list to see how out of touch he is.



Mooney, Ottens, Mackie, Enright A-Graders?

He's been out of touch with the game for a long time now...nice to see him give the club a bake but in terms of substance he is lacking.

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