Henderson on Riewoldt, Bower (?) on Vickery.

Vickery matchup could get ugly.

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"You are being watched. The government has a secret system. A machine that spies on you every hour of every day. I know because I built it." - Finch

pretty sure thornton took him last time and did well

No Laidler, Jamison and Duigan... how lucky is Jack?

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

Like I said, built-in excuse.

Call me a chicken little, but the fact that we've got so many key players already declared out 10 days before our season opener, doesn't give me a good feeling about how our fortunes will go this year.

But at least we can always say "When we get a full team on the park, we'll be flag contenders!"

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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

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i don't wanna spend my life explaining myself. Either you get it, or you don't- Frank Zappa

AFL Premiership Round 1

CARLTON BLUES VS. RICHMOND TIGERS

vs.

LADDER
(Nothing to see here yet, but left here for future templating purposes)

FORM
(NAB Cup)
Carlton: L L L L (?)
Richmond: L W L W W

The Blues have come into season 2012 with their sights firmly fixed on a Top 4 ladder position with some pundits even tipping us as a serious flag contender. Although some injury concerns and suspect NAB Cup form have put some doubt back in the minds of the masses, we're yet to see a purposeful four quarter effort from a full strength Carlton side so far and the preseason training efforts of the Blues shows that we really should see a marked improvement some crucial names who will bolster our side.

The Tigers have had a promising preseason campaign capped off by a huge win against a fairly experienced Geelong side and as I'm typing this I assume they'll put the GWS away. Riewoldt is fitter than last year and another year of improvement in Martin, Cotchin and co. doesn't look too bad either. They'll be aiming for finals and want to kick start that by beating us in round 1. Word is they've got a doomsday count down to Round 1

RECENT GAMES BETWEEN OUR SIDES AND OTHERS

[youtube]K35SotyzrVY[/youtube] [youtube]e1JS86DQOIg[/youtube]

RICHMOND VS. GEELONG ROUND 3 NAB CUP
http://ken-cdn220-is-3.se.bptvpd.ngcdn. ... ull_2M.mp4
http://ken-cdn220-is-3.se.bptvpd.ngcdn. ... ull_2M.mp4
http://ken-cdn220-is-3.se.bptvpd.ngcdn. ... ull_2M.mp4
http://ken-cdn220-is-3.se.bptvpd.ngcdn. ... ull_2M.mp4
CARLTON VS. BULLDOGS ROUND 2 NAB CUP
http://win-cdn220-is-1.se.bptvpd.ngcdn. ... ull_2M.mp4
http://win-cdn220-is-1.se.bptvpd.ngcdn. ... ull_2M.mp4
http://win-cdn220-is-1.se.bptvpd.ngcdn. ... ull_2M.mp4
http://win-cdn220-is-1.se.bptvpd.ngcdn. ... ull_2M.mp4

POSSIBLE TEAMS: (my opinion)

CARLTON
FB: Davies, Henderson, Thornton
HB: Yarran, Bower, Tuohy
C: Lucas, Scotland, Simpson
HF: Gibbs, Waite, Robinson
FF: Garlett, Hampson, Betts
Foll: Kreuzer, Judd, Murphy

IC: Carrazzo, Curnow, Mclean, Russell/Collins (s)

RICHMOND
FB: Newman, Rance, Grimes
HB: Morris, Post, Houli
C: Grigg, Cotchin, Foley
HF: Deledio, Miller, Nahas
FF: Maric, Riewoldt, Vickery
Foll: Maric, Martin, Tuck

IC: Conca, Jackson, Edwards, Batchelor/Ellis (s)

KEY PLAYERS & MATCH UPS
- Jack Riewoldt vs. Lachie Henderson
From memory we'd all remember Lachie as doing pretty well, but Riewoldt kicked four goals two on him and was under an injury cloud. That was Lachie's first full match as a defender though and he's completely shut down other Riewoldts in the mean time.

- Paul Bower or whoever plays CHB/3rd tall
In Jamison's probable and Laidler's definite absence we'll be forced to play two of Watson/Bower/Thornton on Vickery and Miller. In an ideal world we'd have Jamo sit on Riewoldt, Hendo shut Vickery down and Laidler deny Miller.

- Ruck Battle
Probably where we have the upper hand. Kreuzer needs to run out a fair chunk of the game so Hammer can play forward and provide us with a target. Maric has done pretty well in recent weeks too.

- Deledio
Should play HF, which is why I've included Davies in the Blues side, could be the deciding factor in the game, just like he was in round 1 last year (Thanks Jeffy)

- Carlton's Midfield
We've been weakened up forward and back, we need to dominate here.

Judd, Murphy, Gibbs, Kreuzer, Simpson, Scotland, Lucas, Robinson, Curnow, Carrazzo, Mclean with Yarran and Tuohy having a run here and there. Get it done boys.

PREDICTION
Carlton by 19

Seriously what is up with Walker, Jamison and Duigan?

Walker and Duigan have been injured for what, over a month now? And no sign of improvement? Some answers need to be provided b y the club. I mean both players were brought back too early clearly - they played last week and now are ruled out for a game in 10 days time. piss poor player/injury management.

B: B. Thornton S. White A. Carrazzo
HB: B. Gibbs J. Laidler J. Russell
C: H. Scotland C. Judd K. Simpson
HF: A. Walker J. Waite J. Garlett
F: E. Betts M. Kreuzer L. Henderson
Foll: R. Warnock M. Robinson M. Murphy

I/C: D. Ellard R. Houlihan Z. Tuohy C. Yarran


This is the team that crushed the Tiges by 103 last time we played them.

Out (injured): White, Laidler, Walker, Warnock, (possibly Ellard)
In (fit): Hampson (Bower?) + fitter Kreuzer


Now obviously Laidler and Walker are big losses, and Warnock was brilliant in that game, but we should have the ruck coverage given Kreuzer and Hammer's form. Duigan and Jamo missed this game last year anyway.

Fingers crossed that we have no more injuries tomorrow, and that guys like Bower and Rusty stand up, but there is no reason that we shouldn't be able to win by at least 5-6 goals against the Tiges.

I'd have AJ in that backline

I'd have AJ in too, but I don't think you needed to include that half-page quote.

You have to look at the tackling stats in each game to understand it's still pre-season.

The difference in Round 1 will be if Carlton = 80+ tackles how the Tigers respond with there disposal efficiency.

Thornton Henderson Joseph
Davies Bower Yarran
Scotland Curnow Simpson
Robinson Waite Gibbs
Betts Hampson Garlett
Kreuzer Judd Murphy
McLean Lucas Carrazzo Tuohy

Smash them in the middle.

Jesus mate settle down - surely you have better things to do than bust someone's chops about half page quotes

Huge opportunity here for Thornton

He showed last year he could be a fine fwd, maybe not a gorilla but certainly a more than handy no.2/no.3 tall fwd.

Now he potentially gets a chance to show he can still be a worthy key defender. If he can do a job on either Riewoldt or Vickery, it will be a major feather in his cap. He hasn't shone as a defender really for some time, but if he can do a big job in R1 down back he makes himself almost invaluable for the side moving fwds as an experienced tall who can play back or fwd, like Waite.

Hoping also 2E can have a breakout game

Bower, I am sorry to say I am not convinced on at all, too flaky for my liking, and Davies has a red hot go but seriously lacks polish.If both of these lads are picked for R1 I would be concerned to say the least

While I'm terribly nervous about those outs, it's better than playing them injured/underdone and getting run over.

With the side we'll put on the park, if we can't account for Rich and Bris then we'll need to fully reassess our publicly stated goals.

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We are on our way back...

Exactly. Even with those outs we should still win both games by 4 goals or so.

If not we simply just haven't improved enough to be a serious flag contender.

Our defence is quite weak on paper, and I would like to see more of the mids kicking goals.

http://www.blueseum.org/tiki-index.php? ... Milestones

Milestones for ROund 1 could be;

- Henderson, 50 games
- Robinson, 50 games
- Garlett, 100 AFL goals!

From the Blueseum

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Check out www.blueseum.org for all of your Carlton information needs.

id have russell instead of davies. want russell to get back to that 2010 form.

give mclean a go as sub

Robinson needs to fire tomorrow to avoid TC having a meltdown.

Rucks are ok and Waite replaces walker in some respect, but it's down back that's the worry with half our back six out.

Btw apparently walker out for 3-5 weeks !!

Wonder if club will rest Hendo tmrw given his importance to team now that Jamos out for R1. Prob not as he needs a proper hit out