Imagine for one moment that Collingwood played Richmond tonight and they were down by 14 points at 3Q time and were without their best 2 forwards and their best two backs plus their number one draft pick and had only 3 on the bench and then came out and destroyed the opposition in the last quarter, after having dominated the first half but but for poor kicking at goal should have been game over at half time.......Just imagine........Everyone would be saying what an amazing team they are......People on here really need to get some perspective and appreciate the positives.

Amen to that. He WAS good in the first, and is a very creative 3rd forward. Plenty more games up fwd for 1AW I'd say.

Who/what did Waite do re: the kicking?

Some people need to gain some perspective.

The only thing that prevented this from being another Round 1 thrashing was our inaccuracy. We totally dominated three our of the four quarters - we had 38 inside 50s to 13 in the first half! For three of the four quarters they struggled to even move the ball out of their defensive half. On another night we would have converted a couple more of our chances and gone on to smash them. We kept them in the game (their own accuracy also helped), they got a sniff, we fell asleep and looked like being embarrassed, before normal service resumed in the last 20 minutes of the game.

It's also worth remembering that we were without Jamison, Bower, Henderson and Waite (for the second half) - basically the spine of the team!

We can still improve and will when key players force their way into the side.

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Formerly Blues-Back2003.

But our third quarter was rubbish and it's not like we had rolled to a massive lead and had a snooze. Game was still very much up for grabs in the third.

Also Kruezer, McLean, Houlihan...

It's really only the one quarter we were shite... it was just inaccuracy for the other 3.

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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.

A win is a win.

We're on top of the ladder.

Nobody got injured.

Our coach isn't fired yet.

Had to giggle at the booing Grigg got.

The third quarter was only allowed to unfold as it did because of our inability to properly capitalise on our utter dominance of the first half.

But I agree, it was a terrible quarter from us, although Richmond in fairness did noticeably lift, got a bit of momentum and were able to exploit our relatively weak (on the night) defence.

But we steadied and were able to re-establish the pattern of the first half during most of the last quarter.

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Formerly Blues-Back2003.

I was actually happy with Thornton's performance. White got towelled once Riewoldt got going, but was good with the footy in hand. Thornton wasn't too shabby either after shaking off some nerves. I'd take Thornton next week unless we feel Laidler can hold down CHB. Duigan was hit and miss, and it looks like I was right about his agility (and kicking). As long as he can do everything first time, he'll be just fine. Otherwise, look out...

Laidler was classy but wasn't utilised as much as I was expecting him to be. Yarran served up a turd and really should have worked harder to get involved after making a silly mistake early on. One he'd want to forget really, and he can definitely do better.

Robbo, Judd, Curnow, Scotland & Murphy were great. Betts, Garlett, Gibbs, Simpson & Walker were busy but just ok. Walker, along with Russell look like they're missing a bit of zip, with Russell in particular lacking a 2nd gear sporadically throughout the match. Carrazzo was average and somewhat underdone, but he presented. Certainly looking forward to getting Kreuzer, Henderson, Houlihan, Bower, Jamison and maybe McLean back over the next month.

In terms of our play, there needs to be an emphasis on key reads kicking into the 50, and how to provide opportunities for them; too often we kick blindly to a designated point instead of steering it towards a contest that may provide an advantage for our forward. Too often we move the ball too slowly, fearing the turnover rather than putting the opposition under pressure by making a bold kick in short time. Our play early on last year shows that a quick kick to advantage in the 50 is all a decent forward needs.

Zone play needs a lot of work, and reading the opposition pattern is still sub-par, particularly on the kick-outs in the second half tonight. Richmond clearly signalled a long kick by placing a single man in their D50 along with the kicker, while we still have 5 to 7 of our blokes setting the zone. Kicker kicked to himself, got another 10 - 15 then hoofed. Thankfully Richmond don't have the strength in the contest to pull this off currently, but that was elementary. Nothing to do with Ratts there, unless he's not telling them to zone where the opponents are.

EDIT: Completely forgot Warnock & Hammer - both had fantastic games against young opposition. Look forward to more of the same.

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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.

Funny thread

Game should have been over midway through the second quarter.

Got to laugh at the comments about forward structure...who do YOU suggest we play there after Waite went down? Please....unbelievable comments....not sure how many people realise the personnel we had available after Waite got concussed.

Murphy's first half was excellent
Gibbs didn't have to go in given Curnow/others were doing the grunt work. Let him use his skills in space. Great DT game too.
Terrible Thornton.
Yarran would have expected attention, he has to deal with it/work harder.
Laidler good at reading the long ball and spoiling. Duigan got better as the game went on.
Terrific debut from Curnow...I'd have him ahead of Ellard given he's not as easily exposed in defence due to the height factor. Knows where to go.
Talls don't get smaller as the game goes on...their centre square work in the last was good.

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"I said I'd tell you the truth. Didn't say you'd like it." - Finch

Words fail me.

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Hooked on The Blues

I giggled even more to see Grigg not only named in the best players. But as one of the best players for CARLTON in the article on the Carlton website.

I agree. Surely if Jamo went, then that Richmond player has to go. Waite was completely defenceless.

I agree. One of my real pet hates. I'm sure it's occasionally significant and has a bearing on the game. But given that most teams now rotate to a pretty similar extent, it has negligible impact and it bores me silly.

Almost as bad as when they give us a lingering shot of the coaches box or a replay of Riewoldt's ability to wave his arms around, and we miss live action. It would have been nice to get to see Gibbs passing the ball off to Curnow for that 1st goal.

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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.

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dane's trolling again

i'd suggest you continue.

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dane's trolling again

Collingwood weren't on track after they drew with Melbourne and beat the Dees by a point last year.

The Dees are still young with Jamar and Green standing up in those games.

Ratten should be sacked after we kicked 14 goals and a winning score with Waite, Henderson, Setanta, Yarran and Houlihan not playing forward.

Bring back Fevola.