So many little things that our coaching/drilling lets us down on.

- Not putting on enough pressure when its Play On
- All standing around a pack while Sydney's runners hang outside waiting for the ball
- Kicking it to the Ruckmen when he has 10 Swans around him EVERY FLOWERING KICKOUT
- Bombing it long as a first instinct instead of trying to retain possession

More than anything we need a cleanout of the coaching department in the offseason, and a review of our development and skills training.
It doesnt matter which players we recruit.
Even Top 4 grade players will struggle with Bottom 4 coaches and development teams.

If Sticks doesnt have the balls to do this, then we will turn into a hack team of chokers - Ninth-mond Mark II

FU%K

i am devastated...........when will carlton learn?

So near and yet so far....it's gut wrenching....we just couldn't put them away in the end.

When players of the class of Judd and Waite run into an open goal in a hectic last quarter and kick points....we didn't deserve to win.....and it really hurts.

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No ones listening till you make a mistake.

It ain't the time to bag players, many made mistakes. Its the time to think about the year we had, the year in which we were meant to do nothing. A year when we saw the makings of a forward line, hell maybe even a game plan!

It hurts like flower, but they gave it all. Experience, enthusiasm, call it what you will but litle mistakes cost you a game where its so close.. Biggest positive for me is we didnt get bullied, first time in 7 or 8 years against the Swans I reckon..

Long summer..

If you look at in abstract fashion it's not so ridiculous. If Ellard himself was not a liability on the day then the prospect of relying too heavily on rookie list players with weaknesses just might be. It's symbolic, if we are to bring in more talent from somewhere then, theoretically, someone must be pushed aside. There is a point when the idea of having players simply 'doing their bit' becomes effectively redundant. I don't know if everyone at Carlton acknowledges that. Games are there to be won, not preserved.

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Just because I'm offended, doesn't mean I'm wrong.

Too many mistakes at key times in the last quarter... Too many undisciplined free kicks in our backline early on that resulted in goals... Too many conceded goals from stopages when we knew this was where we had to watch the opposition... Ratts talked about the importance of getting of to a good start... So what do we do ? Concede the first 4 goals!!

Thought last years finals loss was burning deep in the minds of the players, and that might help us this time round if things got tough... Apparently not.. Apparently this mob like to f*ck things up when the game is close to being won... No killer instict...

Trully was BOYS vs MEN there in the nlast quarter...

P.S. Somebody for f*cks sake show Judd how to kick a goal..

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James Hird and Essendon* FC - #FOREVERDRUGCHEATS

Shattered ! Plan on getting seriously pissed ( halfway there already!)

In the end not big enough, not strong enough & not experienced enough.

But by christ watch the blues next year!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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We are the maybe blues

I'm talking about any kind of contact, including the ball. At that level, with the lactic acid making everything burn while you go for the grab, it's easy to feel the pinch of a nerve in one part of the arm and release a footy. 'Jelly arms' would be the best way to describe it.

When you get strength (and condition the muscles) through the arm and shoulder, one misfire like that is less likely to bring the whole attempt unstuck.

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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.

Thought our story of the year was lacking consistency.

The effort was their today.

We just lacked polish when it counted.

Time to reflect and build over next few weeks.

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Supporting the Blues No Matter What

Until we build midfield depth like the Filth, we are going no-where. Without Judd's superhuman 3rd Q, we'd have lost by 6 goals. Just not enough quality midfielders in our line up. Judd a champ, Murph is classy, and Scotto tries hard, but it stops about there. Hopefully Lucas can develop quickly to add to our stocks.

Time for another brew.

Reciprocated with a comment about Davies and Joseph both off the rookie list who were poor compared to Ellard. I am not a real rap for him but today? He was OK

We @#$%&! lost!!!!!!

So now we trade Tex, trade Betts, Hammer too, do we still get rid of JR, Army, AJ and Houla and how many want Bower gone and Jammo? Some want Ellard and Maclean to make way. of course many want the coach gone. Remember Yazz v Rich? Things can get wacky.

But at the start after Fev going and Stevo retiring I thought we might finish somewhere between 8th and 12th

then we won a few and my hopes rose even if Maclean was injured and Hendo had a long way to go.

Then Kruise went down and we never recovered, the balance was shot. We never reached the same heights.

That's not a good thing - we need more than Kruise - but you know what, by the end, some things had emerged.

Hendo will be good, Waite is a forward, together they are a dangerous duo, add Garlett yapping at their feet and the forward line is much improved. Murph is an A-grader, Warnock was a good get.

I am more positive about next year that I was about this year.

I am proud of their fight and disappointed like @#$%&! they when we need to kick the goal we miss. We are so close and yet, like the song, so far.

We need blokes who do kick that goal.

We need to tough up

we need to win a @#$%&! final!

Top 4 or 5 next year!

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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!

Very disappointing end to a poor season....have missed another opportunity to go deep into the finals....the game was lost early the rest was catch up....our decision making is amateur....yes we tried hard but that just isn't going to cut it....looking forward to the changes in the off season....off field changes would be a good place to start....BTW Roos does an amazing job with a list of ageing veterans who can barley walk yet manage to will themselves over the line when it counts....

Judd and Murph kept us in it....great games by both....

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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

You smoken flower cones or what? apart from the comment about Hadley and ellard the rest is @#$%&! crap, We made mistakes yes, but had a red hot crack and we fell short, we have to deal with it, but to criticise the coaching is just plain dumb or over emotion, i thought our game plan worked well, we were just beaten by a harder bodied more experienced side.

PLEASE enlighten me as to what more the coaching staff could have done?

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We are the maybe blues

Henderson is only 20. he gets to the right spot which is the hard part. His marks will stick, in time. Needs some good coaching. I remember a bloke called Aaron Hamill who didn't have a mark stick in his first five seasons.

Ellard was good today. Can't believe the criticism. 6 effective tackles and first to the ball in the pack many times. That was his 8th game...repeat his 8th AFL game.

Jacobs. Great job.

Ratts. For mine the Gibbs v Goodes match up was a mistake. Robbed us of our best playmaker and still didn't stop Goodes (who kicked 1 goal 4 behinds). The match up didn't work during the season and didn't work today. I was disappointed to see it and even more disappointed that no change was made at half time. Having said that, I have top sympathise with the coaching dept as Goodes is an incredibly hard player to match up on.

Simmo. Had a rare bad day.

Robinson. Not up to it yet. Endevour is great (wish some others could match it) but skills and footy nouse are not good.
Needs to work bloody hard this pre-season. Also needs some good coaching.

Armfield. Don't hang the guy. Made a mistake that you rarely see made by players who have grown up with the game. Played rugby till his was 18 which is possibly why he made such a basic error. He didn't have the greatest day, but got better as the game progressed. His progress this year has been good.

Judd. Superstar. Shame he missed those two shots. Could have been the ultimate superhero.

Bower. Has gone backwards. Was it the injuries?

Team played well in the clinches in the second half. Showed desperation. If we'd shown this during the year we would have won a few more games.

Agree that coaches need to instill more fire into the team. Next year we have no excuses. Have had a year to get used to no Fev and players are more experienced.

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Number 17 - come on down!

i thought ellard was good, judd sensational but in the last quarter did armfield get ambition and reality mixed up?

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“Hope? Let me tell you something, my friend. Hope is a dangerous thing. Hope can drive a man insane.”

So who wants us to trade Sauce still?

I hope the loss compounds the hurt from last year, and this burns all the way through pre-season.

Judd-exceptional 3rd qtr.

All the boys tried, even Eddie, who has dealt with alot closer attention in the second half of the year.

Gave away too many easy stoppage goals, and lost the ball out of qa contest too many times when Hadley or Ellard weren't involved.

Happy with most, and yes Hendo did lose confidence, but very happy with this kid. Has a future, unlike th ebloke we swapped him for.

Davies will be a player. Murph worked hard, and our backs improved in the second half. Russell was excellent for the most of the game, aside from two errant kicks in the last.

I wasn't as enthused about Robbo when others on here were glowing, and he wasn't great today, but he is getting smarter, will get bigger/stronger/fitter, and does add something to our mix.

Scotto has another year. Let's hope he has as good a preseason as he did this year.

Warnock will keep improving, but has started to show his worth.

Overall I think we had a constructive year, and are about where we belong for now.

Next year is a big test for us all, and I expect to see improvement across teh board. When you think about this year, you would hav expected big years from Murph, Gibbs and Kreuz. Murph has been best of the trio, despite virtually no preseason. Gibbs has gradually improved, and particularly looked good in the past month, and kreuz was solid in the half of the year he played. We are improving.

Go Blues.

They are football DUNCES.

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If I want your opinion, I'll give it to you!

Bottom line for me? We applied too many "tags" initially through the selection of the team. No side can expect to get through a finals series with players of the like of Robinson, Hadley, Joseph, Davies, Ellard, Armfield et al where their skills lie in negating. Name another team that has five negaters plus Carrots who actually gets the ball?
In the first half and late in the last quarter how many times were we pantsed at 50/50 situations?

Future?
Pray that Mark Austin is > Paul Bower
Include a fit and injury free Brock Mclean
Coaches to work on Henderson's body positions and marking as Leigh Matthews stated on the tv
Wait for development on the younger guys physically. Russell proved that his extra two years count as he was superb
Someone to teach kicking skills? Kieran Jack has developed them