Pro's

-Believe it or not we are playing much better footy than last year. We appear to have a structure and purpose.

I actually thought this was an issue at both ends of the ground. Opposition talls seem to initiate contact, our talls rarely do. No doubt relative size and experience have a little to do with this. But even McKernan was pushing our guys around. Wouldn't mind SOS or Sticks or someone like this putting some work into our key position stocks in this area.

Ironically I reckon our most physically aggressive 'tall' at the moment is Simon White, and I love him for it. It's just that he's always going to struggle against the really big boys.

Pros
Walker-loved his mark on half time.
Murphy
Duigan
Scotland
We won


Cons
Gibbs
Betts (again)
Our kicking for goal
No trains going through the loop on the Hurstbridge line.

cons

Gibbs....is a watcher..not a doer

Pay close attentionn and u will see he doesnt go in when its near him and lets his opponent get away with the ball

Not a number one draft picks heart.

I hope he gets harder or he will never reach his potential

Dissapointing year after year...

Sorry about the quote but I like your Avatar.

Pros
4 points gained
Last ten minutes- boys showed some character
First quarter performance. Best one quarter display I have seen for a while.
Jamison puts in another strong display after a forgettable last season. Is prepared to back himself and contribute to our rebounding effort
The addition of Laider and Duigan adding stability to ouur defence along with Yarran pre injury
Ellards recall. Should never have been dropped.
Walker's effort. I just hope he will no longer feel the urge to take a speccy. Much more valuable on the ground
Murphy is clearly our best performenr to date this year
Cons
Ratten's persistence with Hampson as a forward. Adds nothing.
Russell in defence . Has gone backwards this year. Needs to be tried elsewhere other than defence. Duigan has taken his spot.
kicking skills 62% disposal efficiency by foot is very low. Our inability to hit a stationary target with our short kicks is disheartening.
Too manny times their tall forwards were competing for marks one on one. Where was the loose defender? Not to be seen.
Simon White makes too many basic errrors for more liking. We leave our defence exposed matching him on bigger opponents
Gibbs needs to step up. Does not push himself enough. Playing nowhere near his ceiling which is frustrating. Would play him as a half forward this week. Needs to model his game on Nathan Buckley.
So too many missed tackles.
Judd's kicking. Has lost confidence in his kickking for goal. Our mids need to score more goals to relieve pressure from our forwards
Warnock and Hampson are very sooft at marking contests easily outboodiied by smaller opponents. Lack of upper body strength.
After watching the Bullants no onne apart from Army and possibly McLean putting their hand up. Hendo Setanta and Thornton had no influence. Bower did well until injured. Kicking skills also a problem for the Bullants. Port were much more polished.
Our spine is still a big problem.

Conundrum

Round 5 Pros and Cons


There is a recurring theme this year with our beloved CFC. We dominate the play, the contested ball and the inside 50’s and manage to have no effect on the scoreboard, whilst the opposition has disproportionately high inside 50 to goal conversion.

It happened against Richmond, happened after Q1 against Essendon* and happened tonight, and it is a worrying trend. Thankfully, we found something at the end to take home the 4 points, but it should’ve been over long before.

PROS

1. Andrew Walker – I thought our best player tonight. Good pressure, good kicking and stuck one finally.

2. Ellard and Curnow – These guys put their head over and get the ball, something one of their high-drafted midfield friends could learn from.

3. Jamo – had a ripping game except for one clanger. Intercepted a lot of footy.

4. Simpson and Scotland – these guys are just consistent and honest week after week.

5. The move of Russel forward – If I’m gonna can the coach for some things (read on), I’ve gotta give him credit for this. Good move.

Special mentions to Murph and Yaz who were great

CONS

1. We had 22 I50’s in the second quarter and kicked one goal (after the siren). They had 10 I50’s and kicked 5 goals. If it was a one off, fine. But it is a recurring nightmare. Remember Richmond? This is a structural breakdown in our forward entries and the coach needs to take responsibility.

2. Bryce ‘fat side’ Gibbs – I kept an eye on Gibber tonight for some time. He spends so much time on the fat side of the ground, running away from the contest and it is an insult to his team mates. Bryce, we all love you – put your head over the fricken pill and earn some respect!

3. Our deep defence to long balls. Pump one in to the goalsquare against us and your key forwards will get hands to the ball. We are very fragile down back.

4. Decision making under pressure – I feel that when the heat gets turned on, like in last week’s Q4, we make poor decisions. Whether that reflects inexperience or a lack of structure in which the players are confident is open to interpretation, but I know which side of the argument I’m on.

5. Shaun Hampson forward – just ain’t working, but there’s not much we can do until Kreuz is back. He does ruck decently in his defence.

Good win but we made hard work of it. I feel like I’m saying that a bit lately.

Gibbs Hmm. Doesn't run, he glides. So he looks as though he's not interested but I reckon is and very much the case. He did have a poor game and when he's a bit down it looks worse than it is because he looks as if he's not trying. But he is. There are players in all clubs like that. It's misleading. My felllow Talking Carltonions, don't fall into the trap of misreading him. He's a class act and has been a durable and worthy servant. Our expectations are not commensurate with the reality of playing football. It doesn't help that he was a top draft pick and I can understand, from that, why people seem disappointed.

Betts trying hard - spent too much of the early part of this season almost afraid to get his hands dirty. Got dirtier last night and looked all the better for it.

Pros... got out of jail.

Cons... GIBBS, the most selfish and pathetic game I've seen from him. I watched him very closely all game and it was like he was instructed to run (very meekly) away from the contest at all times.