Good post indeed.

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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.

Cazz I read the Ratts report and am getting tired of him giving reasons / making excuses. I don't see Colonwood making the same type of mistakes week in, week out. They have either got a better set of players or game plan (read senior coach). I am a fan of Ratts but when is he and the team really going to deliver?

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"Get ready, Teddy - you're on": Ron Barassi half time 1970 Grand Final

He was BOG but yes had he not missed that we'd have been about 40 pts up at Qtr time and prob snuffed any chance of a Crow comeback. Judd would be a bit relieved we got across the line

We have been poor at kicking gls this year, lots of behinds

Is that a sign of a poor game (fwdline) plan?
Or of the fact we miss Hendo and Kruez?
Or of not getting the balance right (too tall last week and too short this week)?

Or are our players just not good at kicking goals?

Judd needs to work on his goal kicking, game would have been over had he snared that one
Missed crucial goals in final last year too

I think it is a personnell structure thing
They had Walker and Tippet and then Mckernan
We have Waite and a mid size Tex and a hapless Hammer
So Waite's the only decent tall

Hendo and Kruez are the key

Crows 3 talls bagged 9 btw them

Im sure they'll read your letter and follow your advice

Well in fairness it depends on his definition of isolated....

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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

Look the upside is we are winning ugly and after 5 games have only one loss
So that tells me we have improved

Think lack of a decent no.2 tall fwd to compliment Waite is hurting our structure
Though Tex was great tonite, we cannot expect Waite to do it all in the air
He has been a warrior the past 3 games Waite

Similarly, down the other end I thinm Laidler is being asked to punch above his weight division too often
White is working hard but between he and Laidler I think we need another genuine BIG defender

Brock was great today, 31 touches
Swans love the inside game, so maybe Brock comes in a la horses for courses?

Think the likes of Ellard and Curnow in midfield, plus likes of Yazz and Duigan down back, have made us a better team
Just need to get Hendo fit and Kruez back into the fwdline
And wish Watson was into his 3rd year not his first

Ellard clearly is in Carlton's best 22 as i stated when he was suspended and people like Jimmee stated that Ellard was not in the best 22. Ellard was terrific tonight with his contested ball work and his two goals show how much he has improved in the past 12 months.

Gibbs doesn't work hard enough when the team is not in possession. I had my eye fixed closely on Gibbs in the third quarter and he doesn't push himself hard enough to chase and harass when he doesn't have the ball. 17 touches isn't good enough.

Hampson must be dropped. He had 13 hit outs with only 3 going to advantage and Ratten in the end gave up on Hampson and benched him for the final 10mins of the last quarter. Took one mark for the game and isn't good enough.

Simon White is a trier but isn't good enough to be the 2nd tall in the backline. Walker and then Tippet both easily had his measure tonight and they should have played Watson or Bower.

Robinson is another who doesn't do enough and when he is in possession of the football his skills are clearly not up to AFL standard. Bring back Armfield and send Robinson back to the Bullants.

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You heard it here first!

Things i learnt:

Jacobs is NOT a first string ruckman. He looked completely out of touch tonight and as far as i'm concerned big Pat McCarthy and McIness are amazing compensation for a player who would have been stuck in the 2nds.

We were majorly exposed as having a lack of forward and defensive presence even when the mids are dominating and it's a real worry. I'm sure a fit and in the side Hendo, Kruze and Bower would help that quite a bit though. Good coaching on Craig's part imo playing how they did.

Jamo is awesome, but White and Laidler are often exposed 1 on 1. Laidler will be alright though i'm sure.

ANOTHER attacking backman cut us up tonight. As far as i'm concerned that's 4/5 games. Why aren't we marking them? IMO someone needs to make them accountable and it has to be Walks as he can hurt them going the other way.

(Newman, Shaw, Fletcher and Johncock thus far)

Murph is a Star of the comp and we need him going forward.

Juddy looks great even on a bad night

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#23: Lachlan Henderson

Pros

We won the game - Only just.
Matt Kruezer - only 5 weeks away
Walker can kick straight - No one else can!!!

Cons
Austin - Injured, will not get chance.
Bower - A fool in seconds, surely a better bet than Laidler/White.
Collins - When forwards are required - Injured shoulder.
Yarran - Just as he shows some form, injured.
Irish/ Henderson - Still under done and horribly out of form.

Betts - Poor form should be dropped.
Carrazzo - Generally ineffective - time for a wake up call, play McLean, harder body.
Gibbs - Poor form should be dropped - Really wake him up.
Hampson - Simply ineffective, should be dropped
Laidler - Not big enough, never will be, Watson must play
White - Like Laidler, not big enough never will be.

Ratts - Pick Laidler or White, but play Watson, instead of one of them. Watson will not be any worse, but if we play him, next year we will have a CHB.
Robbo - Needs to hit scoreboard

At least McLean, Lucas and Armfield are still available.

Note to Ratten - Play Waite about 35m out, like Kernahan used to - We need a target inside 50.

Goal to goal line is generally a mess, would consider going with just Warnock, need to find more options up forward.

Play Irish or Henderson, get them to pinch hit. Would try this in Sydney, small ground, less ground to cover.

Watched a part of the replay when I got home from the game, and a classic quote from Walls when we were 11 points down was 'This last 10 minutes will show us the resolve of Carlton'. Low and behold, we kicked the last 3 goals when the preasure was on and managed to win.
In years gone by, these are the games that we would ve frustratingly lost (think Freo game up on the Gold Coast in '09 when they were struggling).

The continued average form of Bryce Gibbs is a concern for mine. Seems he's happy just to float along and get cheap possessions. Looks like Murph has taken the next step this season and joined Judd as a genuine A Grader, but Gibbs has been left behind. Even Ed Curnow has played better thus far this year then Gibbs has, and he's a 1st year player! Not good enough Bryce.

Eddie Betts was a little better then previous weeks, but still a long way away from being in good form.

Hampson continues to float between average and awful. Should ve gotten rid of him instead of Sauce at the end of last year. Cant wait the K-Man comes back !

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James Hird and Essendon* FC - #FOREVERDRUGCHEATS

Watched a part of the replay when I got home from the game, and a classic quote from Walls when we were 11 points down was 'This last 10 minutes will show us the resolve of Carlton'. Low and behold, we kicked the last 3 goals when the preasure was on and managed to win.
In years gone by, these are the games that we would ve frustratingly lost (think Freo game up on the Gold Coast in '09 when they were struggling).

The continued average form of Bryce Gibbs is a concern for mine. Seems he's happy just to float along and get cheap possessions. Looks like Murph has taken the next step this season and joined Judd as a genuine A Grader, but Gibbs has been left behind. Even Ed Curnow has played better thus far this year then Gibbs has, and he's a 1st year player! Not good enough Bryce.

Eddie Betts was a little better then previous weeks, but still a long way away from being in good form.

Hampson continues to float between average and awful. Should ve gotten rid of him instead of Sauce at the end of last year. Cant wait the K-Man comes back !

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James Hird and Essendon* FC - #FOREVERDRUGCHEATS

Nyah de-dah -de dah...nyah -de -gaf -de dah..
bloody hair raising last few weeks eh?

I agree with missnaut..thought it was gonna be a nice relaxing night after 1dt q.
but....
it went....

Q1/ Bursting with pride for our team.
Q2/ wtf just happened?
Q3/ ???
Q4/ ......doh......ooh....oh.....

strains the nerves it does.
After watching the 1st and last Q's on the telly after...
it looked a lot harder..and I appreciated how hard the boys worked..and wanted to win.
Well done lads.
Well done Ratts.

Would like to see Army in next week.
Would alos liketo see us beat Swans without getting more grey hairs..
but...
I don't think it will be like that.

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That’s not a political statement — it’s a harsh reality, and we must act,” she said. “He is a clear and present danger to the things that keep us strong and free. I support impeachment.”

Carrazzo isn't that bad of a kick anymore, he has improved immeasurably, not sure why you would put him in that category of worst kick anymore

"Shaun Hampson is big, strong and athletic, and can take a contested mark."

Well what does Roosey know!!!!??
NFI

I think in the last 5-10 minutes of the 1st quarter and into the second our intensity level really dropped off. We got 5 pretty easy goals and Adelaide really showed very little and I have a feeling some of the players thought this was going to be Gold Coast Mk II. They started to do a bit of hollywood stuff, over use the ball and play too many fancy passes rather than just keep pumping them.

Once you let yourself go off the boil like that shit can go sideways and it really did for us tonight.

We gave a sucker an even break and nearly paid for itr.

See Carrazzo's player thread for a detailed discussion on this

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"The ability to speak doesn't make you intelligent." Qui-Gon Jinn 15-05-2005

"there’s more chance of me becoming the full forward for the [Western Bulldogs] than there is of any change in the Labor Party." Julia Gillard 18-05-2010

The article is obviously edited. he finished that sentence with "but never @#$%&! does"