Thanks to www.talkingcarlton.com player guernsey sponsorship, buzzaaaah, The Shag, BluDude and myself were at the presentation dinner tonight. There was a lot of optimism in the room as you would expect, the club is happy with the preseason and the new coaches; some of the players are jumping out of their skins for round 1.

Unfortunately Paul Bower did not attend due to his injured foot and so buzzaaah and I had to make do with Dennis Armfield only on our table. We had an opportunity to mix with the other players during the night. Poor Marc Murphy - everyone was on his back to re-sign.

The players were great, happy to have a chat and a photo (I'll upload a couple to the site in the next day or two).

Anyway it was a great night. (Thanks to Ms Caz for drawing me out of the hat, I had a great time).

C'mon the Blues.

- Twinone

Great stuff TwinOne! Any word on Paul's foot? Just a bit of bruising I take it?

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Twas a great night. Was made awkward for me by the fact that the organisers somehow placed me on the JR table, and my guest on the PB table... Luckily with PBs absence, there was a spot for me on the same table with my mate... though, we were the only table in the room with just one player... and that was Dennis!

Still a great night. Many of the things weve already heard in the press were reiterated... "8/10 preseason..." "relentless Brand of footy" "deepest list for many years" etc etc. Players were in great spirits, very approachable and willing to talk footy..

Great night. Thanks for the opportunity.

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R A D I C A L B R O T H E R S

Inspired by the One-Minute Sculptures of Erwin Wurm

"All in all is all we are..."

Thanks for the reports guys.

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Thanks for the update TwinOne. If Bower's foot is too sore for a function like that he must be a fair chance to miss Round 1?

Without Bower & Jamison, White and Watson would have to be fair chances of playing. If so it would have to be one of our least experienced KPP duo in defence for many years - even harking back to the Livingston / Thornton duo of 2004. Thornton would be a fair chance of playing in defence.

The word was 2-3 weeks. I am worried about him really. As you said, if he couldn't attend a dinner, he must be pretty sore.

Great sitting with TwinOne and being his official photographer. I didn't know TheShag was 2 seats away from me till the end of the night. I blame mrs caz for that. She told me he wasn't on our table. BlueDude and ?BlueGal came over and said hello at the end of the night.

more to report later.

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T E A M

Few people interviewed on stage.

Ratts was first I think. Said much the same things we have heard over the preseason. The focus is on "uncompromising footy". Happy to have the intellectual property of Collingwood, Essendon*, St Kilda, hawthorn and Freo with the new coaches arrival.
Focused a bit on Murphy saying that they expect him to have a really big season and push Juddy for the B&F. He and Gibbs are getting to the 100 game mark and we expect them to make their mark on the competition. Earning and winning a home final are the pass marks.

Andy Collins and Laidler came up next.
Collins was asked what we were aiming for, he looked at ratts and asked if he was allowed to say, then answered top 4. Also his best movie ever is notting Hill.
Laidler was interesting. TwinOne and I both liked what he said. He is pretty upset at geelong's assessment of him. Said they didn't show him any interest till Carlton did. He sounded like he really had something to prove this season. I think he is up for a big one. Said he's happy to play on smalls and talls in defence but that he came to geelong as a FF.

Carazzo spoke. He's well spoken but offered nothing new from memory. i stand to be corrected.

Mitch was next. Said he has a habit of throwing the ball on the boot and is working on assessing his options and looking for the best one before disposing. TwinOne and I spoke to him after and the guy is bursting out of his skin for Rd 1. Says something is going to happen early "blood -rule, concussion , something". Enjoying the new coaches esp gav Brown. Besides the magpie tattoo, reckons he's a top coach to work with.

There was a celebrity heads with Lucas, Betts and dare. lets just say there are no potential MENSA members there. All in good fun.

I spoke to Houlihan about our shared pizza shop in coburg. he has a calf strain which has made him miss a chunk of the pre-season. He'll play again this week but he's a few weeks off I would have thought.

The most pressing topic of the night was Murphy and GWS. I am going to do a Libba here and say the vibe was that Murph is going to sign with Carlton. I think he got asked by a few people and he didnt evade. he said I'll be staying. I was confident before last night. I'm very confident now. he's a quality person from a quality football family. He knows he'll be taken care of by carlton and carlton people long after he retires. What i didn't ask him and I wish I did now was whether he liked falafel.


Overall a fun night. Twinone and i spent the night with a pretty passionate Blues fan and his wife who is the other sponsor of Bower although they stuffed up his plaque. Even enjoyed the vegetarian option for dinner. (Lent not animal welfare)

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T E A M

Bluedude says Thank-you very much to Mrs caz for drawing his name and the opportunity to represent Talking Carlton.
I was his guest and we had a great time, on our table were Jordan and Andrew Walker and their other sponsors, both players were very polite and happy to chat. Andrew is very happy to be still at Carlton and said that everything is going well.
Had quick chats a few players and all are looking forward to a very good season.

A few of the senior players will play in the The Bullants tomorrow at Visy for extra game fitness.

Glad to have gone over to say hello TwinOne and Buzzaaaah, even if it was only for a short time.

Once again thank-you.

Blugal/Bluedude

Cheerz buzz - love Mitch's comments about Rd 1.

Hopefully Houla is back by round 3 or 4.

And Armfield insinuated to us that he won't be playing much defence this year, at least intially. he's a midfielder/forward which means he'll have to run all over the ground IMO.

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T E A M

Buzzah,

what's the pizza shop in Coburg? I live around the block from Princess Houla and am still to find a good one.

cheers

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This might sound extreme in the context of alleged sexual assault, drunken violence and a drug trafficking charge...

Joe's Pizza on Reynard St

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T E A M

Right, it's on the list.

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This might sound extreme in the context of alleged sexual assault, drunken violence and a drug trafficking charge...

I was there last night as well (part of the WA Blues) as we sponser Ellard and Lucas. Was an excellent night, most of the players were very approachable I had a good chat to quite a few of them.

Would recommend that if you ever get the chance to be a aprt of the evening, to go!

Nafan Brown must of been his mentor @ Richmond