"We'll use the pain of today to motivate us for next year"

"We've learned a lot from experiencing finals pressure"

"This is a crucial step in the development of this young list"

"With more gametime and experiences, some of these rookie mistakes will iron themselves out"

I can go on. These were words spoken last year by all and sundry after Brisbane overran us, and will no doubt be spouted again in light of today.

It looked to me as if we learned very @#$%&! little from that night at the Gabba last year. Yes, we weren't expected to make the finals without Fev, and yes we showed in spurts we can compete with and beat the best. But today, the same mistakes and stupid decisions reared their heads again. The circumstances were different, but today was almost a carbon copy of that Brisbane game (not even mentioning all those games we lost that we shouldn't have).

So I put it to you, do these players truly have the ability or intelligence to actually learn from today's experience? Do they actually have the nous to say "Shit, this is looking like Sydney in 2010, better not let that happen again" next time? Do they have the mental strength to take advantage of simple opportunities to bury their opposition when they arise?

In short, when all the above sentences (or excuses) are spoken, I ask you, will you believe them?

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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

IMO, this year is completly different.

whilst we lost, the way in which we fought back from 4 goals down, played a seriously hard and aggressive game of football for an extended period of time, as compared to leading by 7 goals and losing, there is far more to take out of this game than the last final we lost.

its all a learning curve for the blues, until we have a group that are aged between 24-26 (rather than 20-23) i dont think we have the physical and mental strength to win games like this. IMO, in both finals, that was the difference.

we have three or four players in that age group or beyond it, compare that to the swans who would have had 3 or 4 players not in that age group ... that the difference

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Got to love the stare Down by Setanta on Llyod

Different circumstances this year. We never got run over, but failed to turn up in the first half with the required intensity.

However, both games we never played four quarters.

Neither did Brisbane last year, or Sydney today. What they did do was take their chances.

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"I had to eat"

I don't believe them because I have no faith in the coach. Right now, I reckon Melbourne and Richmond players believe in their coach more than we do. I don't know who the answer will be but I'm more and more convinced it's not Ratten. Our gamestyle is a dysfunctional mish mash of movement. Ratts is coaching in 2011 but don't hold your breath for significant improvement

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

I can imagine Ratten is in his presser right now saying how proud he is of the players, about what a fantastic effort it was.

I am sick of hearing Ratten praise his players each week after we lose.

To dish up that tripe in the first 15 minutes of a final is inexcusable.

How many times inthe last 3 months have I read about how we are focusing on getting off to a good start?

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Mens sana in corpore sano.

Bring back the laurel wreath logo!!!

No.

All signs point to the fact that we will not learn.

Ratts will get 2 more years
- None of the Assistants will be under any pressure to keep their jobs
- The handballing skills will not improve
- The Game Plan will not develop much further
- The Kick-ins will continue to be a joke and every opposition Forward will relish playing us for that reason
- The footy smarts will not eventuate
- The sheparding and support will stagnate and vanish
- Sticks will sit on top of his castle
- We will not win a premiership for 15 years

Dont get me wrong, I am happy that we finished 8th and i don't think you can fire Ratts based on his performance.
I think we have some fantastic players who are sublimely skilled.
I think all our players are good kids who try hard and genuinely band together and have a crack.

But have we or will we learn?
No.

We will be the new Ninth-mond and mediocrity will be rewarded.
None of the hard decisions will be made and none of the persisting weaknesses will be tackled head on.

Unfortunately that is still the culture and the regime at Carlton.
That is the reality.

It wont be too long before Judd will retire and Murphy and Gibbs will be past their prime.
All the other teams will be sitting there shaking their heads saying:
THANK GOD CARLTON NEVER GOT THEIR SH&T TOGETHER!
OTHERWISE WE MIGHT HAVE STARTED TO WORRY

Age is almost irrelevant. Its developmet. Look at Sydney's 20-23 y.o players. Gibbs has been in the system 4 years. Gone backwards. Murphy 5 years, stagnating. Bower freefalling. Jamo poor. Betts tradeable. Yarran still unconvinced. Hampson meh. Walker ok today but a wasted top 3 pick despite injuries. Grigg a nothing player. Joseph backwards in 2010..should have spent a few weeks at Cramer st.

LIST DEVELOPMENT IS OUR SINGLE BIGGEST PROBLEM

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

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

Waite n betts choked n backline is terrible

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It's a small world, but I wouldn't want to paint it

Wait kicks the goal or Judd kicks the goal and its all a different story.

However to go into this game without a back line and do as well as we did says we have improved. We need an Austin or another tall defender to come on pretty quickly or we will get left behind by other teams. I think our mids and forwards did pretty well and our small backs did ok too.

In addition... our key forward is 20. His crumbing off sider is 20. Our half back flanker is 20. Our rucks are really young and have a lot of improvement in them. Everyone is being too emotional. We are still a few years away from being a real contender. Perspective please.

Well all the nay-sayers can kiss my a$$.
I thought todays was great.
Heart-breaking but great.
The old Carlton would have folded and been done by 60.
We rallied, we worked, we gave them a hell of scare.

We didn't take opportunities, they did.
They had passengers galore, I thought we had contributors everywhere.

Armfield is star - most will only remember the bounce when tackled.
I'll remember the continued efforts after that incident, willing the ball forward and being responsible for creating the Lachie goal.

Yes, we have to learn from this, but we are a better team than last year.

With a pre-season, Murphy will win 2011 Brownlow

Players or club? Ne desperately need to review n re model backline bec it's horrendous. Swans had 74 to half time. Jamo n bower are far from convincing. We need more quality down back and one more midfield gun. Trade hammer, betts, thornton and walker and try to get quality in areas we are poor in.

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It's a small world, but I wouldn't want to paint it

Would you be saying all this if we kicked 1 more goal and won?

Gibbs still has all the qualities everyone was raving about when he first came to the club and id say he's stalled this year but i think thats about adjusting to a new position and role

Whats wrong with Murphy? He had a pretty good game played his part went in the contest hard and did some good things. Had a pretty good year he's improved towards the end didnt get a preseason.

I thought Jamo was pretty good today was rarely beaten 1 on 1 and was usually able to contain Jesse White.

Yarran is ony in his second year give it a rest...many of the top players in that draft still havent come on yet

Walker was good today and has played well when he gets a decent run without injuries...they are what have set him back...


BTW who are these Sydney 20-23 year olds you are referring to in comparison? I think you'll find Sydney have a lot more players with experience

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Carlton Premiers '10

Whilst I don't disagree with everything said in this thread...let's get some perspective here.

If Garlett's kick had sailed through (and we'd won in extra time), we'd all be celebrating one of the barvest most courageous wins for the CFC.

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Number 17 - come on down!

I don't know cause we keep doing the same damn thing.

Bad start: Check
Judd inspired comeback: check
Missed chances: Check
Blew our load coming back and lose: Check

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

That's right.

Carlton had the youngest team playing this weekend, followed by Fremantle.

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Number 17 - come on down!

Of course they will learn from today. We are a different team to last year. We have offloaded a lot of experience in exchange for long term gain and we still managed to match last year.

2011
- We get Krooze back
- We get a pre season into White, Yaz, Lucas, Garlett , henda etc
- We get in more recruits and trade a ruckman.
-Whatever it is that has slowed jamo down from being lightning quick off the mark to so so can get looked at and repaired.
-The quad /OP that has stopped Bower in his tracks can get looked at.
- Players can add an extra kilo or two.
- Players can learn more about the game and mature.
- Waite gets a proper pre season and builds on his first year back.
- Tanks like Zac and Okeef are chance.

Plenty to look forward to.

I am disappointed we lost. But we came up against a side most are raving about on their patch. A side that has loads of finals experience, us travelling for the second week running and we lost by a couple of simple skill errors.

Things are not as bad as some like to believe. We are on the right track. We just need to keep working at it.

+1

What a crock of shit this thread is

Can't believe Don is the author

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I see you watching me watching you.