TrueBlueBrad probably plays this role better, but I think the thing we have to remember about selection is that a) we always assume that what we would have done would just inevitably work and b) what would have been the consequences if we hadn't of played who we wanted out.

What's to say that even if he was fit that Hammer would have had any influence (remember that you cant always take into account the injury that happened to Thornton which was the main problem), and that we would have been lamenting the fact that LeCras cut to pieces as medium size forwards have had a history of doing.

Tuohy, Russell or Bower instead of Davies is more relevant.

On a side note Laidler also needs more

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"They're [REDACTED]'

The AFL website headline gets it right with "Eagles sneak final win"

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Bawditawaba

That game last night, combined with a flight back to Melb, we'd be lucky to get within 10 goals of the Cats next week.

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I hope Essendon* folds.

True, we would've been in deep shit against the Cats this week. But to play a prelim on the MCG again would've been worth it's weight in platinum to everyone at the club.

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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

Doc Larkins just mentioned that Thornton was back at the team hotel afterwards. Just a bit of a sprain. Will fly back with the boys

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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

The further into September you go, the worse it is when you lose!

Quote Hotox, In the end we had to many passengers. Players from 16-22 like Davies, Armfield, Joesph, Ohalipin etc were ordinary and cost us the game.

The sooner we get rid of the deadwood, the sooner we will play in a Grand Final.

I thought Joseph was one who stood up when he rot set in. He isn't flashy but last night he did a lot of good stuff. Davies did a defensive number on Le Cras. Oh'Ailpin took some good marks and played his guts out in the ruck, to which he is not suited. Armfield had a quiet night by his recent standards.

We won enough of the footy to win the game. IMO the ones who let us down last night were some of the better credentialled players. Judd was tagged out of it. Murphy had a seriously bad night in front of goals, Scotland was quiet after he got smashed, Yarran was taken out of the game by Worsfold and Ratts allowed it to happen for 3 1/2 quarters. Simpson was quiet and Walker didn't get a lot of it and his three goals aren't a fair indication of his night's performance.. Usually these blokes give you more. Obviously they can't turn it on every week and the others have to step up but it was a bad night for that lot to have off. Robbo was out top possie getter last time I saw the stats. Not good.
Despite all that, we almost got up. I won't mention the umpires because that's out of our control as are the injuries. All the boys, including the ones Hotcox mentioned and the ones I mentioned as well, played their hearts out and that's all we can ask.

I thought Laidler was the find of the season and he played well last night. Hard to believe he's just a kid. If we can jag another great trade like that one this year, we'll have done well.

The worst part of losing is the wait for next March. It seems so far away, the traditional round one thrashing of Richmond.

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

Definitely. Scotland was on fire early and battled ineffectively after the big hit.

Good news. He had his best season for a while this year. He has been a good servant of the club, despite his detractors, who have gone strangely quiet.

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

agreed with the AFL guy. Thought Davies' job on LeCras was stellar. His foray up forward wasn't fantastic by any stretch, but a necessity after Thornton went down.

Glass has been a rock there all year. o'hAilpin was never going to kick a bag there (the two he missed I thought were certainties though..), but he managed to get the smalls into the game early, so he was useful in that regard I guess. Hammer going down left us with no other option there either.

We rolled the dice with Kerr going head to head with Murphy, and it didn't work. Murph slots those two, who knows what we say about that one. Jim's point about the slower midfielders being behind the ball is a valid one. We got killed on the spread, and our midfield didn't know what to do without Warnock getting clean hitouts down.

Every year, there's a team that fails marginally, and the media pressure them into signing a key position forward, as its the difference between them winning and losing a flag. That mentality has yet to reap success, and at times, has prematurely ended teams' premiership windows. History shows that teams that have been prepared to stick to their structure, and focus on improving the quality of delivery, they go on to bigger and better things.

I just hope that we don't take the easy way out and pick up a key forward, instead we upgrade the midfield delivery. I don't think you can play Carrazzo and Robinson in the same team.

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BLUES 2010: PAV AND JUDD = FLAGS. DOING IT FOR THE LOVE OF DICK PRATT.

HAVE YOU SIGNED UP FOR TALKINGCARLTON SUPERCOACH 2009 YET?

That's what I was getting at - our luck with injured players is rotten. Gibbs' shoulder looked innocuous. Kreuzer's foot is just bizarre. Two very big outs in a final, Gibbs has been excellent lately.
Thornton gets KO'd and is out. Scotland gets a massive knock and struggles the rest of the game. Yet Cox and Kennedy look horrible on the bench in the first quarter, and then come back on and play well.

It's impossible for this not to come across as sour grapes but this is a real problem. I think it's a fairly glib and fatuous response to say, "Well, just avoid an interstate final then."

The AFL has made a plethora of changes to the game in the last 25 years as it has tried to modernise and keep pace with society attitudes and expectations. I believe all of them have been for the better, especially in the area of protecting the man going for the ball.
However, do other codes suffer from "home town syndrome" where one team is blatantly favoured by the officiating personnel? And I'm not talking about the extra adrenaline lift that players may receive from having a boisterous crowd behind them - that's a wonderful aspect of any sporting contest.

Most sports have rules which are quite clinical or black and white. e.g. the ball is either caught or it's not, it either goes through the hoop or it doesn't, the player's off-side or he's not, etc., etc.

With our unique (and great) game there are many shades of grey. What we saw yesterday was drastically different interpretations of rules - not just from different umpires but from the same umpire at different stages of the game! How could Jamison's almost perfect spoil on Kennedy in the goal square be a free kick at one end of the ground and yet Glass can deny Walker a fair and reasonable attempt to mark the ball at the other and nothing is called?

I feel strongly about this for obvious reasons, but it's not just Carlton who's been stiffed (again). I remember seeing a St Kilda game against the Weagles in the regular home & away season a few years back which, to this day, still ranks as perhaps the most celebrated example of a case in which the better team did not win due to poor umpiring decisions due, in turn, to them being influenced (perhaps subconsciously) by the home town crowd.

And this is the point - did the better team truly win yesterday? Until we have robots controlling the game, the AFL needs to do better.

I'm [not] Kent Brockman.

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Most users ever online was 271 on Wed Oct 10, 2007 3:50 pm

Last night we won three quarters on the scoreboard and lost the game... that shits me to no end.

I hate to single out players because there were many occasions that can be called upon but there's two incidents in the second quarter that I can't get out of my head.

Murphy's poster at the start of the second would have put us 4 goals up... WC kick the next 5 from memory

Davies brain fade and double goal... when a team has momentum, please don't contribute ffs

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

Emma Quayle's write up of the game is actually quite good. The rest, meh.

I don't think it was a comparison of who's a better player, just that when we cop an injury to our key players they seem to not play for longer than should/could be the case.

Don't agree with your judgement on Kennedy. He is good, but Jamo is better and Gibbs has also done more in his career so far despite being a year younger. JK has two years and one less reco on Kreuz, so can't compare those two. Still, I'd love to have JK, obviously.

Agree that it sucks how Collingwood got a shot at West Coast without two of their guns. The leadup to this game reminded me of the one against Brisbane 2 years back, with a few of their guns being under big injury clouds and then coming good and playing like they are 100% fit.[/quote]

That's what I was getting at - our luck with injured players is rotten. Gibbs' shoulder looked innocuous. Kreuzer's foot is just bizarre. Two very big outs in a final, Gibbs has been excellent lately.
Thornton gets KO'd and is out. Scotland gets a massive knock and struggles the rest of the game. Yet Cox and Kennedy look horrible on the bench in the first quarter, and then come back on and play well.[/quote]

Our luck with injuries at the wrong time of the year has been ordinary over the last three years. If you look at our injury list at round 12, there was hardly a key player who was on the sidelines. It then became progressively worse over the remaining rounds. As they say, injuries tends to determine a team's fortunes for the year. At least we now have some depth in our squad as I think our performances over the last two weeks has been impressive. Let's hope we have a bit more luck next year.

Sakc Judd.

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Never argue with idiots. They drag you down to their level and then beat you with experience!!!

After Monday and Tuesday, even the calendar says W T F .........
Visit http://fromthemoshpit.com/

Yep. Shoulda smashed them. Had such an opportunity with Cox and McKenzie not playing, and we didn't take it. Sakc Joesph!!!!

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Never argue with idiots. They drag you down to their level and then beat you with experience!!!

After Monday and Tuesday, even the calendar says W T F .........
Visit http://fromthemoshpit.com/

After that analysis, you clearly have the knowledge to follow the Swans or the Lions.

But I will say it again. If he slots the first then it is an entirely different game. He may never get the chance to have the second shot or he could slot 6. It is a moot point

fortunately we won't have to put up with the TEN team next year

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one you knock back is one you never have

I agree. The headline should also add "with umps help!"