Essendon* faltering. The much hyped bombers caving in two rounds in a row. The Hird dream is over as those who had wiser heads knew would happen. Essendon* are no threat now or in the near future to the top echelons of the competition.

And who is the beneficiary? The returning might of the Old Dark Navy Blues.

The brilliant return of the club who, bar some bad decisions, would have all but the Premier's scalps.

Quite simply, the top four is now there for the Blues to lose, and the first nail needs to happen on Sunday.

Exciting times ahead.

Can't remember who it was, but someone (may have been a couple of people) in the media had us missing the 8 this year.

Anyone remember who it was?

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Premierships: 1869, 1871, 1873, 1874, 1875, 1877, 1887, 1906, 1907, 1908, 1914, 1915, 1938, 1945, 1947, 1968, 1970, 1972, 1979, 1981, 1982, 1987, 1995.

"GIBBS."

bartlett

Looking straight at the muppets who had Norf in instead of us

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"I will rejoice in their anguish, delight in their failure and revel in our success"

We are Carlton, @#$%&! the rest !!!!!!

Lets knock over Port tomorrow and then Swans, Lions and Weagles and we will set a good foundation for teh top 4.

Next 9 weeks are crucial. There are many winnable games in this period. Looking ahead to the final 5 rounds we have a tough draw.
Melbourne who will be fired up
Freo over there
Hawthorn who we never beat
Bye
Saints who will be much improved and possibly pushing for the finals.

Simply cannot drop any "easier" games starting tomorrow.

It wasn't a couple, it was a lot of so called "experts", including Rohan Connolly

I get the feeling THIS Carlton side doesn't drop these games. We don't smash people, but we we don't let front runners scare us either.

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I hope Essendon* folds.

i agree that the top four is now ours to lose and Essendon* are not quite where some people had them BUT they are far from gone, with Watson and Hurley (& Hooker) to come back this year and they still have a POTENTIALLY strong spine to build on for next year... which is when we will definitely be looking at competing for the flag (this year, maybe.... next year is a must!)

The next few games all appear winnable but this is a stern test of where we are at Vs last year where we didn't win more than 2 games in a row. West Coast might not be the pushover they looked to be before the season started, even at Etihad. And Brisbane could give us headaches - we will know a lot more after their match against Sydney.

Last year we went into the 2nd half of the season at 7-4 but then dropped a few matches. This year, we must win all these matches against teams perceived to be below us (all of them... ) and it wouldn't hurt to smash a couple of them while we're at it. I would hope Port is ripe for a belting....

i distinctly remember that f***wit terry wallace on the last edition of TAC Cup future stars last year doing a run down on where every clubs list is at... had us in the 'I dont know what theyre thinking' category with f***ing brisbane... (which, by the way, was the category below 'pushing for the 8')

Facts are, our team finally has finals quality talent + depth.. and the hardness and courage that comes with AFL maturity.

The next 3-4 years will be fantastic for the carlton football club... if our recruiting remains stable.. hopefully the next decade will be a pleasure to watch.

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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..."

Gary Lyon had us finishing 10th

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You heard it here first!

How quickly we forget last year, the second half of it anyways...

I'm confident we can make a good show against the better sides but playing the lower ones has me a little worried tbh. Are we so far developed as to be able to take our "A" game and attitude to every contest this year? I hope so but time will tell.


Agree with the op - top 4 is ours to lose.

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

Plough = underwhelming

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"I had to eat"

Terry knows what he's talking about guys, he is after all thelistmanager and has a highly successful coaching career to back it up

what a fraud he is

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According to the experts you have a 3 year window to go from basket case (2007) to Premiers (2010).

Due to not doing this our window was apparently shut.

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"They're [REDACTED]'

TerryTan has 4 blues in his mid season all Australian team...

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

Hutchy had is finishing 13th

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2011 - Year of the Blues

.......and Gold Coast in the 8.

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"They're [REDACTED]'

Dont forget Hutchy had Melbourne in the top 4 this year.

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You heard it here first!

Had Simmo's kick not gone out on the full and had Warnock collapsed before the kick instead of after it, we'd be 8-1 and third on percentage behind Geelong.

3 point separate us from 8-1 and 6-2-1, third and fourth.

All in all, I'd say we're performing well enough to stay in the top 4 but our percentage is the killer. The pack is close and poor percentage could cost us dearly if we slip up and lose one we should win.

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Let slip the Blues of war (with apologies to William Shakespeare) (and Sir Francis Bacon, just in case)