There'll be nothing to worry about. We showed something tonight, if we don't smash teams like Melbourne from now on then it was false dawn and we're no good.

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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

I'm not worried mate i think we have come on from last year and will dispose of them easily.They have important players out
and should not be a problem if we are serious.

If we are going to take the next step, we must win these games.

No more honourable defeats.

Warnock did not lose the game, but he must kick those.

We will beat this mob on the MCG next time.

Na, looked like he just kicked a Geelong player's leg as he was following through on a kick. I'd say a slight sprain. Nothing that a bit of ice and Voltaren won't fix.

With all due respect.........i've played and coached a bit to

The Duigan decision was in the 3 rd qt, and it's debatable as to whether it was there.
Warnock had a shot from 15 mt out in the last minute, to win the bloody game. The 50 against Duigan was not more telling in the context of the game

Warnock missed a shot he should've kicked...simple, no bloody excuses. I do not hold it against him personally, i do not hate him, they're just the damn facts.

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I see you watching me watching you.

This.

An inform Henderson, offering what he did late last year will be invaluable to the team. He is not there yet, but hopefully he is on the way back. He and Waite swapping high and low will be a powerful combination, with Walker the third tall, and Betts and Garlett roving and adding pressure.

We are not taking full advantage of our midfield dominance, and if we can become more efficient up front, we are a genuine threat this year.

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Have I run too far to get home?

Why did we bomb it so wide though? Surely we'd be better suited to a kick 15m directly in front. Had to be to instruction...

As for tonight, I don't think I'll get too much sleep. Still wired and upset with letting this one, like the Bummers game slip through our fingers. I don't buy the Geelong are a good team crap. We were the better team tonight and should have one if not for poor conversion again.

What tonight illustrated was the need for a big forward like Hendo or Kruze to make the most of our forward 50 entries.

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“I would rather have questions that can't be answered than answers that can't be questioned.” ― Richard Feynman

He did miss and he should have kicked it, but blaming him for the loss takes attention away from other reasons why we lost. His miss was just one the reasons we lost, it was not the sole one.

We need to improve our total effort throughout the game, minimising errors and become more efficient up front are the key, not one kick late in the game.

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Have I run too far to get home?

my opinion (rated or not, I don't care) is that we are currently the 3rd best team in the competition. Even if we finish 3rd, I do not back us to beat Collingwobbles or Geelong in a final. That means we will need to beat either the Dawks, Dogs, Freo, Sydney or Eagles, in Melbourne and I doubt we would beat the Dawks or the Dogs.

That's my concern.

Despite how good we were tonight, that's my concern.

I am an optimistic Carlton fan, but the above is what worries me.

I dont care what people say about Selwood being a good player, the guy is a cheat!!
Ducks into tackles so that contact can be initiated.. Dives forward when tackled so that he can get in the back decisions... Its quite pathetic, and the fact that the wider football community just accepts it as him ' having a good technique' or getting the ammount of frees he gets because 'hes a ball winner' annoys the crap out of me...

5 frees out of 15 for Geelong says it all....

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James Hird and Essendon* FC - #FOREVERDRUGCHEATS

and some KP support for Jamison and quick.

If the above worries you, then you are NOT an optimistic fan. The Dogs are battling big time, and their window has well and truly slammed shut. Hawks are without nearly all their tall backs and genuine rucks for the rest of the year. FFS, we should beat them both, and the Cats on the Gee in a prelim.......no wuckas.

Ok...so the tactic is to set up for an arsy shot at goal....that explains our consistent inefficiency in front of goal then.....Look IMO we need much more work on our fwd 50 entries....we too often dominate a game and find ourselves scrambling to win it or in tonights case painfully lose what we should have won....on the flipside as I said earlier we have improved greatly in many areas and our intensity is fantastic....we are close to taking the next step but not there yet....

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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

Curnow, Bower, Hendo, Kruze, Houla, Lucas, Watson etc still to stake their claim in our best 22


If we finish top 4, we'll give September an almighty shake this year.

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“I would rather have questions that can't be answered than answers that can't be questioned.” ― Richard Feynman

When should we accept that the Brock recruitment was a massive stuff up ?

I had high hopes on him doing well tonight, especially after hearing how good hes been doing at the Ants, and how well he trained over summer. Thought he'd bust a gut to try and hold his spot, but all he did tonight was show us that a 21 year old whose played just 7 games in Ed Curnow has overtaken him....

I think Ratts should give him a few more weeks to show something at least, and if he still plays pathetic and slow footy like he did tonight, he should be bannished back to the Ants and never wear the Navy Blue jumper again unless theres an injury crisis with our midfielders.

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James Hird and Essendon* FC - #FOREVERDRUGCHEATS

first team to lick 100 points against the cats this year so the forwards are doing something right. Great game and we should have won. 3 chances at the end, just needed to nail 1.

Great game, high intensity, nothing held back.

For me though

T-Bird and Carrots are the first two off the rank for mine - Houla and Bower? (not that this will happen) and Ellard tackled brilliantly but his kicking was off early. Duigan and Laidler - 2 great pickups. Add Curnow and we did very well this year and this side is much stronger than people realize.

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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!

We are not afraid of any side! Our best is good enough to beat them all.
All we need is a bit of luck with injuries and a couple of "big" types back in the side.
We should have won tonight and unfortunately apart from some terrible decisions that went against us we lost it ourselves. The guys though where magnificent and have proved they are top 4 material.

Time to consolidate a top spot over the next few weeks now. No looking back!!!!

and then there was the goal umpires decision in the last quarter to pay a touched decision when the ball appeared to come off setanta's boot when leigh matthews also asked the question because he thought it came off setanta also

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one you knock back is one you never have

Maybe the thinking was that it would be easy to create a stoppage by bombing wide. You can imagine the tactic is not relying on someone marking as that will happen twice a game at most for all teams. It would be the ultimate outcome but i think the concept is to mark/crumb/or create a stoppage and set up a press to keep the ball in our half and create scoring options with repeat 50's.
The data the coaches have might say that the Cats defense take a high % of marks when the ball comes in long to the top of the square. Last thing you want is a defensive 50 mark to the cats. They are very good at rebounding.

The tactics tonight worked. According to Ratts 7 or 8 out of then things they wanted to achieve they did. Improving conversion i assume was one of the other 2.

What a difference a fit and firing KROOOOOZ will make come the pointy end of the season. Can't wait to see how he goes tomorrow.
We matched it tonight with the best in the business. Yes we should have won, but as it stands we are a genuine contender.
We still have a lot more improvement in us than Collingwood OR geelong.
I am very happy that we are showing consistent improvement and are heading in the right direction.


On the down side..
Warnock for the most part is not offering enough in the marking department.
I still think we are one Key Position defender short. One of Bower (maybe too small anyway), Watson, Austin needs to take the next step.
Mclean looked out of place tonight. I was excited for him being back in after his last month in the 2s but he did not look up to scratch. His disposal seems too slow, opposition players read what he is going to do and he doesn't adjust quick enough. He also just doesn't seem to know where to run at the moment and is getting stuck in no mans land. I know he's been out for a long time and i'm happy to give him a solid month in the team to get some form, but I can't help but feel we're a much better team with Curnow in.

All in all.. The glass is half full

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