Friday 19/8/11
7:40pm
Etihad Stadium

Massive game for Carlton. we need to beat a top 4 team for our own confidence coming into September and to keep our top 4 hopes alive. Lots of players should be in contention for a spot in the side as well.

Bower, Ohalipin, Russell, Waite, Jamison, Hampson, Lucas, Twooney, Curnow, Mclean, White all pushing for selection.

_________________
You heard it here first!

You left out Austin.

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

Austin is not in contention for a spot in the side

_________________
You heard it here first!

I still reckon that one game he did play was to shaft you....

_________________
"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

Massive game for us. Pretty much a must win. We have done waht we have neeeded to do to win over the past few weeks ( Wasn't it Bartlett who suggested we wouldn't win anymore games after the Footscray defeat?) Now its time to take it up to a serious team. With luck the Hawks will be 'off' after thier big wins of late and if we play four quarters of good solid footy we can and will beat them

_________________
A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty" -Winston Churchill

L.M 35-06

Short turn around coming back from Perth and also at Etihad which will need a slight change in structure. Personally I wouldn't risk Waite or Jamo with the bye to follow. Let them resume for Bullants over bye weekend then play St Kilda.

Possible In: Lucas/Russell. White/Bower/Setanta
Out: Thornton (inj) Davies

_________________
#NewBlues beginning 25th August 2015

Sounds like Jamison will get two Bullants game in before we return from the bye. Waite is set to resume next week also.

If Thornton is to miss a week, and I don't think he will then I think it's:

Out: Davies, Thornton
In: Bower, Waite

Joseph to midfield in order to free up Ellard & Judd more, Lucas the first emergency depending on how Betts, Armfield & Yarran pull up. Setanta or Hampson a slim chance to replace Kreuzer.

_________________
29 different attributes,
And only 7 that you like;
20 ways to see the world,
Or 20 ways to start a fight.

We'll be up against it. As we know our record against them isn't good, and in the past when they pushed us around a bit we went to shit and let them have their way with us. We're a tougher unit now, so hopefully when "tough guys" like Hodge, Lewis and co try that shit with us again we'll respond better than we have in the past.

But our lack of backline personnel (with Buddy looking ominous), our occasional brain fades (ie: Robbo today) and our tendency to get caught on the rebound is something that worries me greatly against this mob. They simply don't make mistakes and are a disciplined unit. Not to mention the fact that today they made a statement with minimal effort, so will be well rested compared to us travelling back from Perth with some bruises.

They'll be favourites, and rightly so. We need to be much better to have any hope against this mob.

_________________
WADA medical director Dr Alan Vernec describes Essendon* FC drug case as biggest scandal in team sport the world of sport has seen. #WC2WB

#GUILTY

It's pretty simple really.

We win and it confirms that we are a legitimate contender and have improved over the last two years.

We lose and we confirm what the critics are saying which is we are the fifth best team in the competition.

Errrr, maybe sixth if the Saints roll us the week after.

Being a glass half full kind of guy I think we will prevail in a tough encounter which will do wonders for our confidence heading into the business end of the season.

_________________
Go Baggers...

Why Bower?....

_________________
"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

Why is Davies being dropped? In form and improving every week. Nobody at the Bullants is taking his spot on merit, nobody.

Leg speed and reach advantage over Davies. Leaves the door open for a plan B on Buddy when Henderson inevitably fails in the role.

_________________
29 different attributes,
And only 7 that you like;
20 ways to see the world,
Or 20 ways to start a fight.

He has hardly played any football....is in no form whatsoever and should not be considered for a senior call up until he satisfies those requirements....no matter who we are playing IMO....

_________________
"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

They played Port. They could have fielded a VFL side and still won by 10 goals.

This year we are showing that our "previous bad record" against teams is just that - history.

Oh absolutely. My main point is that we still have some habits that sides like the hawks are very good at exploiting. We'll need to be better than we have been to knock them off, and not push the snooze button as we've been known to.

Whether or not it's better to have their preparation for the game vs ours, is another argument altogether. But admittedly they deserve the "flat track bullies" tag just as much as we do right now.

_________________
WADA medical director Dr Alan Vernec describes Essendon* FC drug case as biggest scandal in team sport the world of sport has seen. #WC2WB

#GUILTY

I reckon you're spot on with that missnaut. It's happened all year - most notably against Sydney at the SCG.
From that game on I reckon the "history monkey" has been off out back.

Tell that to the Doggies & West Coast as we slaughtered ourselves at Etihad. We still have our mental fragility, it's just that no one opposition is a tormentor any more (he says, the week before the Hawks game).

_________________
29 different attributes,
And only 7 that you like;
20 ways to see the world,
Or 20 ways to start a fight.

Yes, but the Dogs and Eagles weren't any of our "hoodoo" teams. In fact we hadn't lost to the Eagles in about 3 years.

I've said this before but it's just rubbish saying that we have a bad record against various sides over the last 10 years when we were absolutely shithouse and won several spoons in that time.

at the mcg - we win

etihad - we lose

_________________
*(grow - fun - gah)

Yeah but whatabout your whataboutism.

Think Buddy will be too much of a handful for our undersized defence....

_________________
James Hird and Essendon* FC - #FOREVERDRUGCHEATS