Fair enough. And I strongly doubt anyone at the club is going to be happy if the season were to end in Perth.

Regarding the 2nd half of the year the fact that Waite, Hampson and Jamo were out did not help the cause. Not an excuse just a fact.

Guys like Eddie, Jeff and Walks must put their best foot forward in the finals. We can have no passengers anywhere but certainly not in our forward line. Lack of effort by any of them will mean our downfall. All 3 needs some big scalps on the big stage to really cement their standings in the AFL.

Playing a strong defensive unit like the Saints is just the tune up needed pre-finals.

Regards Cazzesman

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Ricky Gervais - “Everyone has the right to hold whatever beliefs they want. And everyone else has the right to find those beliefs f***ing ridiculous.”

Gerry we are not good enough to make the Grand final we will need all the cards to fall our way if we are to make it- All 4 teams above us have beaten us and we cannot get away from that fact - We can all say " if only " but I have a feeling we will be saying if only come finals time - We have the best forward structure against weaker teams but cannot penetrate the better sides we really needed Waite fit - Bower firing a better impact from Brock Maclean and our Ruckman resting forward and around the ground clunking marks and we have not been able to acheive that . The team has not been able to string 5 wins in a row and they still lack that something to take them all the way

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If you allow the Government to change the Laws in an emergency
They will create an Emergency to change the Laws

We potentially finish the H&A's with 15.5 wins compared to 11 last year (even if you say 12 factoring in GC) which would have got the side to 3rd on last year's ladder results without two experiened book ends for much of the season which, to me, seems to be what Collingwood, Geelong, West Coast and Hawthorn have largely been able to rely upon for the most part of the season.

Maybe I'm being a bit simplistic here but thats seems to me to be a pretty good result whichever way you cut it.

I want the boys to smash the living daylights out of Essendon* as much as anyone but I would hope any assessment of Ratts and the coaching staff's performance wasnt solely factored on the result of one EF performance.

I reckon we are comparable with all but the Pies, Sydney. We ran the Cats to 5 pts and I think they have slipped a little since then and we have matched up with them well for 3 years. We should have beaten the Hawks after only scoring a goal in the first half (which in itself casts questions over our preparation, how could we start so terribly in such a big game) and we didn't turn up to play ag. the WCE - again a question mark over our prep and approach in big games. WCE were last in 2010 - maybe they are better than that, but they can't be that good.

I reckon we have moved into the comfort zone of finding reasons why we didn't win or can't win rather than doing the things that enable us to win. We have weaknesses but so do all sides - even the Pies, they have a great system that means some of their average players appear better than their talent - that's what coaches can do. The Saints came within a kick of 2 flags in a side boasting Robert Eddy Andrew McQualter, Raph Clarke, Sean Dempster, Jason Blake, Zac Dawson, Brett Peake - all of whom would struggle to get into our 22, yet we continue to think winning one final ag a dud side will somehow be an achievement. The Bulldogs, coming from pretty much as far back as us played in 3 consecutive prelims and were unlucky to not get to a GF with a side cobbled togther out of midget forwards, rejects, rookies and a couple of high draft picks and long serving stars. Surely no-one would think their list 2008-10 is better than ours in 2011. Yet Eade was sacked for underachieving.

I think undoubtedly we have improved, and so we should, we have the best player at his best and a swag of high draft picks getting to 100 games. But whatever improvement we may have made is only measured in the big stuff. A prelim is a pass mark I reckon, anything less and we are treading water.

At this stage the only certainty on the injury list is Waite. Every team has injuries, we have been pretty lucky. No excuses - tine to deliver. If Ratts delivers this final series his contract will take care of itself. If he doesn't then he couldn't expect anymore than a year extension.

That's an interesting way to spin it. Why didn't you write this year's fourth placed team at full strength in the hardest road trip in the AFL? Last year is irrelevant.

Anyway to me it seems fairly simple. The criteria all year has been the same for Ratts - win a final, get an extension. We should start red hot favorites against Essendon* and there's no real excuse for losing. If we expect to be a premiership side in the next few years we must start winning games like this. Falling at the same hurdle three years in a row shouldn't be tolerated at Carlton.

Well the reason I didn't write it like that is that I am sick of us setting micky mouse goals. WCE are 4th this year but were last in 2010. If they can improve that much is it too much to expect us to improve a fair bit. We seem to constantly look for ways to explain why we won't win.

We should smash the Dons - big deal. but if we go to Perth believing its all too hard we won't win a game we can and should win. They won last years spoon, they have been good this year, but not that good. Out insipid effort ag them this year flattered them and embarrassed us. If we are made of the right stuff we will beat them here, in Perth, on the moon. Still we can always just turn up and congratulate ourselves on winning a final ag a Dud team we finished well ahead of during the season. We have to start taking some big steps and the next month is when to do it.

I know a lot of supporters are easily satisfied, I am not, and lets hope the players MC and committee are not either.

some big calls by the match committee this week...which one would think will have a big bearing on how our season finishes.

if you believe what rats said during the week, blues are treating rd 24 as a dress rehearsal for finals.

if that is the case, mc are backing into our finals team a guy who has not played a senior game all year (ie. lucas) and the perennnially inconsistent setanta...presumably with a view to playing them in the EF (and beyond)....while putting a line through others such as JR, bowser, hammo and brock

We are often told by people on this site that the mc are the ones in the best position to determine selection...so we will have to just trust them

BUT ultimately, the results will either vindicate them or prosecute them ????

The Setanta selection is desperation for some KP forwards. Having said that, it might also be last roll of the dice for him as well. Lets see if he's learned anything over the past month or so in the VFL. Unfortunately with Hampson not being ready, Waite might not be back now and Hendo is playing back replacing Bower. The last one obviously has me bewildered and annoyed but I won't go there.
I expect Russell to be back next week though.

Well said Gerry. I think you should be brought in to give the prematch address for the EF. Inspiring stuff

I'm not as optimistic as you because I dont think we'll get close to Collingwood or Hawthorn, as we havent really given either of them a real shake for quite some time. Both appear to have our measure at this point. Jamison and Waite are two of our most important three players structurally, and maybe even more difficult to replace than the Champ. Their absence for prolonged periods has been more significant than for most other teams with their injuries and I think this limits our ability to compete with the Pies and Hawks, where we need absolutely everything going right for us. As Cazz said, not an excuse, but significant.

But its your attitude I like. Some of the old Carlton coming through and perfectly reasonable to have decent expectations that go beyond the weak 'win a final" bullshit.

I think you're right about Ratt's tenure. Lose the EF and he is GAWN. I'd be absolutely devastated if this happens, god forbid. Win the EF but lose in Perth: One year (grudgingly). I'd be disappointed with this result. Win through to the PF and he'll get 3 years, and I'd be reasonably OK with the season.

But why not the friggin GF? LET'S GO BLUES, TIME TO RAMP IT UP AND PERFORM IN THE REAL STUFF. Who knows. We must take our chances when they arrive.

How (yeah) @#$%&! annoying (yeah) is Matthew (yeah) Lloyds Inter(yeah)viewing technique?????

Did he actually listen to anything Ratten said?

What a muppet(yeah)

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Fat, drunk, and stupid is no way to go through life, son.

Ratten will only get an extension to his contract because Malthouse probably won't be available, it's as simple as that.

I'm sick of excuses, too. It becomes pretty week when people say we are 'not good enough' and then settle on it like all we can do is pretty much go through the motions like any old club. That's one of the reasons why I'm pretty picky and 'out there' when it comes to the way I view recruiting because at leasts it represents doing something. Everything is all a bit too passive and careful at Carlton for the most part as if we have lost our teeth. I don't see us going to the top with that kind of attitude. Once we've proven something, perhaps then we can settle down and become smug and not before.

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Just because I'm offended, doesn't mean I'm wrong.

I'd prefer Mark Williams as coach 100 times before I'd want Malthouse near our club.

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Looking forward to seeing our potential realised.

I wouldnt say a line is through JR Bower Hampson and Brock. There is a grey area. They just werent picked this week. MC look to be backing our system going into the final more than the 22 selected for tomorrow. Everyone knows you have to take 25-30 fit and ready players into a finals campaign if you mean business so i like the selections.

Ratts wants us to reach our KPI's this week. Fingers crossed we do.

I just don't seem to get it...

For example, we put 23 weeks into D Ellard, back him in, get him entrenched in the system.... and then all of a sudden decide to replace him with a guy who has hardly been around the senior team all year !

Now I'm not a massive ellard fan...but surely you need to follow through with what you have started.

also just don't understand the reluctance to play JR...am now just assuming that there is more than meets the eye...which is extremely disappointing.

I am also extremely frusrated at the mismanagement of P Bower by the MC...in as a sub..then out...and never to be seen again...all the time while M Davies has been filling space when most around would agree he is not the answer. Not sure Bower is either but surely he was worth an extended run in the seniors...

MC is confusing me...but have to just trust they know best...time will tell.

Lucas was first choice at the start of the year. They put him into the squad for round 1 even though his form line was awful. It persisted, they sent him back to the VFL and it hit his confidence hard. Now he's finally worked himself back into a good form line, and they can't ignore him.

Meanwhile, Ellard's form has been on the wane, and we can talk about the possible reasons why for a month. My personal view is that there is a niggle or injury at play, and either he or the club have been wasting opportunities for others out of stubbornness. JR is lacking zip, has been all season. Need to factor that in, and where he can play as a result as well as who's ahead of him. The answer is quite a few.

Bower is absolutely disappointing, but they've gotten scared by his injury history. They also screwed him over with how they used him when they did deem him fit, and their "run laps if you're the sub" policy is @#$%&! rubbish. The club should petition the AFL to have the sub rule integrated into the VFL, or a ruling about subs being able to be named in the VFL the same week.

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

Reckon he'll get a 2yr extension before the finals start. Don't think he's far off agreeing to terms. We've lost only 6 games, surely that's enough. Haven't lost less since 1995. He has us prepared. Lose the EF and it's between the players ears, not coaching. Handling finals pressure is the domain of the sports psychologist not so much the coach. Folly of basing everything on one game. He can only prepare them for the game.

That depends on the tactical depth we show in said game. You train them up to handle multiple scenarios and they'll win through under finals pressure. You train them to play one or two ways, they'll buckle against quality opposition, who'll always look to dictate terms.

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

big week for rats...(dare I say it, BUT could very well be his last)

a couple of tips...

1. don't let the opposition sit loose blokes behind the ball...it never ends well for us !

2. don't rely on betts, garlett and walker to kick our winning score....I wouldn't be pinning my future employment on those guys...as much as I love 'em.

3. have a plan to free up yarran....because I have no doubt hird and co will place a hard tag and have some serious plans to nullify his impact

4. don't play injured players.

good luck rats...

It's been an interesting season, but if ends with three losses including another EF then who knows what the powers that be will do.

Good luck Ratts.

How would you suggest we stop them doing it?

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Looking forward to seeing our potential realised.