Were we?

I expected us to finish somewhere between 7th-12th. I didn't have any definite views about where I thought other clubs would finish.

Having said that, I generally expected us to be competing for a spot in the eight with the Crows, Lions, Bombers, Weagles and Port Adelaide...

How did THEY go?

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It's never as good as it looks and it's never as bad as it seems.

I would have liked to have seen Knockers spend a bit more time at FF.
Waite go to Goodes, and free Bryce up.
Was disappointed the way Gibbs was used for the entire game.

You have to be proud of the boys today. We can not play with more heart. I don't think we are any better than we played today......They did the club proud.

We have to face facts on coaching. We need to face facts that some guys who give their all can not collectively lead us to a premiership. You can afford one or two of these guys but (Ellard, Joseph, Robinson, Carrots, Hadley, Jamison) are not elite enough to take us to the next level

We must only recruit players with elite kicking skills. We carry too many players who are average kicks
Judd needs an elite midfielder to tag team with. He single handedly got us back into the match and then Goodes & kennedy nullified him

THE ONE MOVE THAT COULD REALLY HELP US NEXT YEARIS HENDERSON TO CENTRE HALF BACK AND KRUEZER TO CENTER HALF FORWARD AND PLEASE DON'T TRADE A RUCKMAN BECAUSE OUR BIGGEST ADVANTAGE IS THE FLEXIBILITY THEY GIVE US.

I went to this game expecting to lose but walked away feeling ok
It was a wild ride of emotions all from being totally pissed in the 1st quarter after being murderedby the umps to feeling dejected at half time to riding a wave of excitement in the third to feeling gutted at the final siren

It was. Terrific game and Kudos to Ratts for mixing things up a bit

the truth of the matter was we missed our chances and we were not physically big enough to match them

Judd set us alight in the third
Murph was good all game
Russell was simply brilliant
Warnock and Jacobs dominated the rucks
Simpson could have been a hero
Walker up forward was terrific
Carrazzo was good in the second half
thought Jamo held his own
Ellard and Joseph did their jobs
Gartlett was ok in patches
Waite was good but should pla the ball and not the ump
thought Armfield and Bower were disappointing
Davies was quietish but really should not been there yet
Betts interesting
Robbo yeh nah needs to keep his feet
Gibbs was ok withou being brilliant
Hendo busted his arse but panicked a bit
Scotland I didn't notice
Hadley did what he does


We are not there yet and still lack polish and hardeness

we will get there

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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

Look we're a young side just like we were in 09 and in 08 and in 07 and in 06 and in 05 etc.

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

I dont know what you are getting at. The stats show we are a young side.

We have two or three older players in the twos that could lift that stat. Playing them may have even won us a game or two more but thinking long term playing blokes like Fisher, Wiggins and Thornton isnt the answer i am sure you agree.

No surprises for me today.

Tried their guts out but a predictable result, sadly we are miles away from a top 4 position right now and will be hard pressed hanging on to a top 8 next year without an injection of experienced players.

The Club will trade players and picks to achieve this so expect some shocks during the trade week.

I think Thornton and another would have made the difference. Sure it's great to play as many 'kids' as possible, but leaving out a couple to give 20 others the chance to go another game further would have made more sense.

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end of message

You flatter me bit as it was merely theoretic. It wasn't meant to highlight a dearth of quality ‘inside’ mids as much as the fact that I think our peripheral players are, perhaps, weaker than many other clubs. I'm all for keeping him on the list and developing him but I don't think our injuries were deep enough to suggest that we'd be relying on a player that is at the level that Ellard is at. Not for a final.

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

while we are still on this thread, i must mention 2 umpiring decisions that just pissed me off beyond normal.
first, however, i do think the umpiring overall was much better than it has been during the year with more of play let run and i think we were screwed in the 1st half but i always think that and there were certainly frees not paid against us that could have been.

BUT....

WTF - Bower/O'Keefe & Judd/Jack???? I reckon Jack should actually be reported for a spear tackle. Since when are you allowed to grab a guy by the legs, left him up and slam him backwards to the ground??? let alone, get a free for it!!! if a player rams another player with his head, it should be play on. both times judd/bower played it kind of like lifting the stump for a runout after the bails have already been knocked off - they made obvious & concsious attempts to tackle them underneath the arms. it was only the sydney player that caused the head high contact.

anyway, this should be looked at for next year. (it also resulted in 2 goals for them...)

I like to get on and read the posts after a game, gives a decent cross section of the supporter basis reacation.
Still perplexed why we have so much negative critism coming out of this game, especially towards the coaching staff.
A couple of mistakes the other way and we win.
Its as simple as that. Then, all the short sighted fools are spruiking about what a great win it was.
FFS you cant have it both ways.
Who here realistically expected us to win the flag? No one right? To win a flag it takes a damned lot of hard work, planning and ,absolutely a damn big dose of luck . Wether it be the 2 draft picks that happen to come on, or the 3 wins by less than a goal that gets you a top 4 position.
This game has many dimensions to it, unfortunately today the coin didnt land our side up.
We cant all be the hawks and have all planets to align and pinch a flag. That is the exception NOT the norm.
Patience, it will come.

Now for the post game review.

Let me start and say it was a pleasure to meet so many Blues supporters who travelled from Melb, Perth, Brizzie, Adelaide, Canberra...even Wagga to SUPPORT our kids win or lose.

What an amazing woman that Adele is from the NSW Carlton supporters club: Sydney supporters....time to show your support in 2010.
Adele was given last minute notice of the function at Novotel and she was at Central station (when she didn't have to) and spruiked the CFC pregame function...amazing...so when she asked for support I was there with young Carlton (his first Blues final)....selling raffle tickets.

The support from CFC supporters was incredible...all for a signed Gibbs and Betts cap...amazing.

Thank you for those you said nice things about that Carlton bloke from Bondi Beach....you see I'm just about having lots 's' fun...and a bit of hanging shit adds to that.

Now to the game...in that third when my vocal cords still held up, I was constantly yelling out the vitues of the "Carlton Kids". Incredible, even Swans supporting kids liked my messgae and I had the feeling they wanted us (or rather...my team) to win. Such is life.

We nearly got there...and in the last, when Swans supporters were calling out to me "what about the Swans' kids?" when Hannabeery and Denis-Lane were kicking goals...I tended to agree that we are not the only team with good kids.

The 1st was marred by some bias umpiring...cost us 3 blatant goals imo....welcome to Sydney...I'm a Swans memebr too and the umpiring support is part of the parcel of games in Sydney; no one from either side was surprised with that. When I suggetsed that certain frees given would only happen in Sydney, many of the Swans supporters (who know footy) gave me a wink.

Hey, don't think for a minute I went in half hearted as a Blues supporter...fellow brethren (ashamably) I was ready for a fight till the last man was standing. Easy to do when there's 100 wimps around you. Nah, this was finals and it wasn't time for the faint hearted.

WE lost the game...and Sydney had plenty of opportunities they missed too. Some of those shots at goal by Waite and Judd (the senior players) were costly to say the least (they cost us).

Betts was in no mans land, and based on form, he should never have been selected. Robbo...seriously ultra defensive (when the camera was off him) and....and...I don't think he was ready for finals footy.

Remember, Kreuzer, Houihan, White, Lucas and Grigg were players I would have played in front of trhe players selected. Having said that, Jacobs was fantastic. Not better than Hammer in form, just different...but great. Kruezer at CHF or FP would have really exposed them....as would have an in form Hammer (which he was not in the last game against Freo).

The joy I got from my team in the 3rd was unbelievable. I was ecstatic and in a bit of good form. Young Carlton (who sold shit loads of raffle tickets for the cheer squad) was also very proud to be a Blue bagger in that 3rd.

The result was sad after such a galant effort.

Please remember we lost by a goal against Freo at Fre and less than a goal against Sydney at Sydney. Playing away matters' umpires are easily influenced by parochial interstate clubs...plus I'm sure that the AFL gives umpires plenty of encouragement to be favourable towards the NSW and QLD teams...yeah...nah....I don't care what anyone thinks....I only care about what I know...we don't have the umps favouring us in NSW and QLD let alone anywhere else...but it's savage for the intestate team in Sydney.

Yes to all the above...Waite and Judd missing easy shots at goal, Hendo missing a couple of marks...I could go on...yes they cost us, but we did really well against a more hardened and mature team, with a sprnkling of youth. That Waite miss in the last was the damaging miss.

Betts may as well stayed at home. I watched hi and he did not go full tilt....he's resting on past performances...@#$%&! credits in the bank when it comes to finals...Sheedy woul'dve dropped him based on current form.

As for Jamo and Bower....well they both did some great things in the last, but Jamo in particular.....if we had an alternative then imo Jamo would not have been selected over the last 3-4 games, let alone the elimination final, based on form and confidence. Overrated is Jamo imo. He really let a few go through, but then did some great stuff in the 2nd half....but a lack of form allowed a few easy goals for the Swans in the 1st half.....that cost us. We didn't have an alternative, although based on his form in the Ants I would have selected Thornton ahead of Jamo and Bower. That's the cost the MC chose to accept. Dumb imo because the writing was on the wall with Jamo and Bower...and Iwas an anabashed TBird critic when he was dropped.

The moral to the story is that we should not allow players to find form in the finals campaign. They are in form or they are not. The cost is too great to pay by risking them in finals.....lets get Brock...oh yeak...he's gone to the GC17. Damn.

Simmo was fantastic in Q2,3 & 4...........................wellafter the 1st. What a disaster his opponent (Kirk) was to us in the first.12 disposals to Simmo's 1....say no more.

Judd and Waite were very good too....their misses were costly....cost us the game...but their game was good.
Murphy is a champion too....but I expected a tad more from him...not unhappy with Murph.
Walker looked very dangerous as a forward too. He's not a great kick and you have to accept that...if you want to keep him as I do.
Hendo presented well and did really well in the 1st half...but hey he's a kid at 21yo and I expected him to slow down in the 2nd....yet he still prestented, time after time. I wish he would have taken that shot from 50m with 30 secs left on the closk rather than giving it off to Garlett who kicked the point.

At the end of the day, I thought we did really well for 4 quarters.
Yes there were little things that cost us, but we only went down by less than a goal whilst: interstate, with a home crowd against us and easily infuenced umpires by the home crowd, and against a more exprienced and hardened team.

We have to improve in the middle, up forward and in dfense in 2011 if we are going to be a top 4 team in 2011; I think we can.
Lets see what we recruit befor we jump down the MC's and WH's throat.

We are a work in progress....have a looked at the mean age and games we took out there against the opposition....and as much as it hurts to say...we nearly pulled it off....and yes we should've....but....we didn't.

We're heading in the right direction though. We need a power KP backman and for Hendo to get another couple of preseasons under his belt...Kreuzer will be back...and if we can mould Hammer into a KP forward or backman...I'd appreciate that.

I got asked a lot about what I thought of Ratts....and I have to say I don't. The players are ultimately resposible what they serve up in a do or die game. I think we could have done better, but I'm no super coach nor am I Nostradamus. I remember all those flags we won between 1968 -1995 and that 11-15 other teams could easily have blamed their coach for not winning the flags CFC did, when truly the list they had was ridden with too many gaps and couldn't match the formidable opposition, in Carlton at the time. Same applies today for us.

I expect us to rise better in 2011 than Freo did this year. Sure I expexted more this year...and I lost a lot of my preseason bets, but the one I expected the most, and that is to make the finals was one we ACHIEVED.

Well done in 2010 Bluebaggers....and to the supporters of the 'Carlton Kids' ...great effort to come across the border and support the team today. You did everyone proud.

Proud Bluebagger signing off...and yes I'm proud of the boys and I had an enjoyable Father's Day (not letting the result get to me like it usually does).

Sorry to see the close of 2010 for us. Good effort without the speahead at FF. Yep, today he may have helped, but we've moved on since his departure.

Onya everyone

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Everyone looks good in Navy Blue

Agree. Bower hurt us badly like he has over the past month, seriously he was gettin demolished by Dennis-Lane till he was moved off, Goodes broke one of his tackles to goal also all in the first qtr. If he isn able to take those players why is he one of our KPB's.
Armfield played well but that brain fade to bounce was a complete joke, 8yr olds no you should never do that.
Hendo should have backed himself in the dying seconds but it shouldn of come down to that, too many easy oals missed.

The boys fought hard and it was a good game overall, deserved it but wasn't too be.
Have a rest boys and come back rejuvenated.

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The climbing has alread began

Me, in a nutshell.

Just got back from the match. Absolutely gutted losing such a winnable game!

Unfortunately Bower continued on his recent bad form... was getting well beaten in the first half but at least improved slightly in the second

Hendo dropped a lot of marks which he got a good handle too... cost us big time!

Sauce's tapwork was brilliant esp in the third quarter... would almost hate to lose him but at least he upped his trade value by this performance.

Judd awesome in the third also... almost single-handedly won us the match.. pleasure to see him live!

Still a long way to go for us but overall I was proud of the way we fought it out.

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When Dick became President, it was as if everyone at Carlton came out of the hailstorm and into the sunshine - Stephen Kernahan

YARRAN!!





.

I'd say that he's saying this is a 'no excuses' business that the club is involved in.


Starting to hurt even more now.

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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.

today was a great fight from all of our kids, but.....

i still don't believe we won our share of the game to be worthy of winning the match. I think we lost the 1st and 2nd q's comfortably, easily won the 3rd, and lost the last by a very small margin. On the whole we were outplayed but dug deep, very very deep, to almost snatch a finals victory.

Stick fat people. We are, without doubt, heading in the right direction!

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i AM CARLTON

your right - far better to get ahead of yourself then get angry then sack the coach and then get ahead of yourself and then get angry and then sack the coach and then..oh you know what I mean - call it Richmond.

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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!

After 44 hitouts, I don't think anyone could offer us what sauce is worth. I'll chuck bricks through the front window of PP if they trade him .

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end of message

Dennis-Lane had 6 touches............and 4 goals

Genuinely excited about Lachie Henderson, his work rate is incredible. His marking not so at the minute but that can be worked on over the summer months. If i was Ratts i'd sit him down and tell him he could be as good as Riewoldt, just needs to work doubly hard on his deficiencies and he'll get there.

Judd was absolutely immense in the second half but those 2 goals he missed were very very costly. His skills in front of goal is the only thing stopping him from reaching the levels he had whilst at WC.

We've now lost 2 finals by 12 points combined, that's got to hurt the boys immensely.

Oh, and i love Armfield. The only thing he did wrong all day was taking that bounce when trying to take them on. That would flatten most, very next time he gets the ball he does exactly the same. Beautiful to watch and will be an asset to this team for a very long time to come.

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"I will rejoice in their anguish, delight in their failure and revel in our success"

We are Carlton, @#$%&! the rest !!!!!!