Walker summed it up best post match when he said there are a lot of players out and they need to start playing as a team again. Hopefully today is a step in the right direction. With two of our best midfielders out and four of last years backing missing today, a 10 goal result is good even if it was against Melbourne.

This was the first match I've missed in years but watched it on TV at work and didn't think Kruizer was as bad as some are suggesting

His opponent would have a day out if kreuze played as a mid IMO.
He is to slow maybe he does need a break yeah but even if he was fit a firing he is no where near Goodes long way to go actually.
Krueze is still young but i am worried about players coming on and improving his not the only one.

Kreuzer is not a mid. He will be left for dead after a one metre break.
He's mobile but not mobile enough to play just as a mid.
Our problem with the forward line is not Hampson and Kreuzer.
It's the way they are used in there and the delivery.
When the ball hits the ground you should have crumbers at their feet.
When this happens we look extemely dangerous.
When we spot up Betts, Garlett or other smalls as focal points that's were we look slow and an easy rebound.
When the smalls don't mark it and the opposition do that's when the run off us.
When it comes to ground who is left to crumb it?
When we kick to the oppositions advantage how can you take advantage in your forward 50?

Everything has strengths and weaknesses. Game isn't as free running as last year and we've been found out alot because of it. It's alot more contested. Hence in that situation he'll be very handy. He'll get possessions, probably alot of them, take marks around the ground, be a nightmare for an opposing mid when he floats forward and be damn strong at stoppages. As long s he reds it well he'll be ok. He's a class act when in form.

Send that in to Barker redback
It might just give him a couple of ideas.

You always see cloke and JK up the ground as part of their team defence. Clark was up the ground doing the same for the dees. I don't think we were that ineffective today going inside fifty. We got inside fifty marks and shots at goal but we missed a few. I felt our press was pretty soft though and that didnt allow us to get value for our entries. It was a pretty new looking team with a different mix so that might had something to do with our team defence being lame at times.

We still managed to play the game mostly in our half and restrict their scoring after the first quarter.

Garletts bad form cost us a lot of goals. He would usually gobble a lot of them balls up but today he was way off.

Noone expects the 22 out there today to beat the top teams but it should be able to take care of teams outside the eight easy enough and we did by 10 goals.

Hopefully we can improve as players come back in and give the finals a shake.

His weakness's will by far out way his strengths Jim when the opp mid is running away from him at a release of a stoppage or an overlap infact anywhere around the ground. His strengths should be marking around the ground but its not atm. Like i said he is still young but needs work. He needs a break!

The equation is now simple - Get the ball more than 340 times and we win

any less we lose

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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

i can make it even more simple

score more than the opposition and we win

any less we lose

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*(grow - fun - gah)

Yeah but whatabout your whataboutism.

I am not conviced by that Redback. I reckon we score frequently when we target Betts. Keeps his feet, rarely outmarked, marks and crumbs his own ball and forces stoppages that we score from directly or from repeat 50's. Id love to see the stats on that play as it hasnt been taken out of our game for years so i assume the numbers are favourable.

Garlett is a different story. Hard to know he is so out of form.

I agree that our delivery often favours the opposition and that really kills us. I reckon thats why we go to the pockets. Better to get a stoppage out wide and compress than get killed by a rebound kicking to where the heatmap shows we have a high probability of being killed on the rebound.

I agree that big k as an onballer would never work. He would get killed on the spread.

no gf today so this stuff is hot and on time

Carlton highlights
[youtube]AV6C0tJ177U[/youtube]

Brock Mclean postmatch
[youtube]o9B3qL6w6N4[/youtube]

Mitch Robinson post match
[youtube]wQc6hWcF0ss[/youtube]

Marc Murphy half time interview
[youtube]xCbcvvPOaLI[/youtube]

Brett Ratten press conference
[youtube]x17TvF8cync[/youtube]

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http://www.youtube.com/user/Navyblue95 -
my youtube channel tracking carlton news on television and paytv

Really glad to be on the winners list.
Great to have a 10 goal win.
But it felt like a game we could lose till the 10 minute mark of the last.

There's plenty to improve on, and we're in touch of 3rd and 4th spots on the ladder.
Good to see new blood do well...Warnock, Bootsma, Collins and Brock

Warnock is #1 ruck as most have agreed since the 2011 finals campaign.
Hampson has become a dangerous prospect at FF.
He's far more dangerous marking within goal kicking range, as suggested by commentators.

Kreuzer at CHF helped structure when there, but he was more like a loose ruck rover.
He doesn't seem right to me. He's not running freely, or he's lost a yard.
If he needs a rest, and Waite and Hendo are back then I hope the MC give him a rest before the Cats & Eagles games

Jammo did well in the end, but he isn't in form. He'll improve when the other defenders return from injury.

Warnock, Bootsma, Brock, Walker, Betts, Tuohy, Scotto, Judd, Simmo and Bower all good games.

Robbo was my BOG. It was his spirit which shon through the win for me.

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Everyone looks good in Navy Blue

A simple equation? Kick long (and quickly) to your tall forwards and have the little blokes at their feet. Been workng since the game began, still works, ask a bloke called Ted Hopkins.

..betts is often a focal point up fwd cos he plays with presence, it comes with being a talented fwd.. ..we have tall targets up fwd in hammer and krooz, but more often than not they lack presence..

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..if you can't be good, be good at it..

They lack presence because they are nowhere near the goal square. Hammer was great today, but I'd love to see him as the target near the goal rather than Eddie (why do we do that?) and have Eddie and Jeffie as crumbers at the feet of the pack where they should be playing. It's not rocket science. Oh, and Eddie, a little less twirling the hands in celebration when what you should be doing is getting on with the job

Let's try to resist having all our players in their forward third of the ground. Gee, football has become ugly this year

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also on twitter @m_j_short

Violently? Just as well I am here and you are there or I may have had to defend myself...

I didn't criticize Bootsma, just said he was quiet but what he did was ok. I think if we ignore the hype that surrounds him here and just look a his stats, they don't stack up to anything more than a quiet night at the office. I think he shows good hands and feet and did a good job of standing up for himself when he was slung over the line (Melb player should be cited). He will learn when to go in and when to hang back. His attack on the footy that led to the Green injury was gutsy. Could have gone either way. I think he should stay in for next week at least. He will play a lot of footy for us but needs to eat more meat and have his own weights bench in the gym.

Collins was much the same. He got a few kicks and ran around a bit but it wasn't enough to keep him in the team if anybody else is fit (which they aren't). I think he will miss games because of the knee but he isn't going to get a regular gig based just on last night's effort. He is skinny to boot and by now should have more on his frame.

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

Very shaky start to the game, the Dees had us on toast and were crunching us in the vital stats area's, especially contested possesion.

Mitch Robinson was outstanding with his work rate and hardness at the footy and to kick 3 goals as well, BOG by a long way.

Walker, Ellard & Simpson were good contributors today, and good to see Brock McLean get amongst it.
I was always hoping that Brock & Collins would play some good footy and step up to be integral parts of the team, today showed that they can still play.

Gibbs had a bit of the pill today and was serviceable but I didn't really think his game was anywhere near his best. He didn't have his contested ball up which is a major concern to me, don't get me wrong, Gibbs is the Rolls Royce with ball in hand but I'm afraid he is not an in & under type player to find his own pill. Hope he can turn it around & get the contested possesion up.

We have a dilemma with the 3 talls in the team. They all deserve a game and they are all capable of what they do but it does seem a bit cumbersome with the 3 of them out there.
Warnock is the best ruckman we have, Hampson is the better forward out of the 3 of them and Kruezer is probably overall as a player better than the other two. What to do? Decision, decisions ... but Warnock has to stay, give Kruezer a rest, especially with is knee.

I agree, it also has to be remembered and understood that a new structure takes time to bed in, I saw some positives in the set up but I do believe that both Kruzer and Hampson need to stay at home and lead away from each other to be truly dangerous.

Garlett needs to get the Hollywood crap out of his game and start doing the basics properly I think a run in the twos may be the kick in the ass he needs, Walker has to stop trying to take mark of the year every time the ball comes down, he looked a lot better when he started to run and lead.

I thought Betts 5 flattered him although he did work harder than Garlett when we didn't have the ball.

Robbo was great and it was dumb to throw him into the fence as all it did was fire him up, it was his best game by far, leave him in the middle.

Maybe our injuries are not such a bad thing as it give those "B" graders a chance to play in positions they normally wouldn't get an extended chance to play in.

Overall just a win, but maybe just maybe there is some light at the end of the tunnel.

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We are the maybe blues

Team is very short of where they need to be but rebuilding confidence and form is not going to happen overnight.

Well observed mjs.
We look so much more dangerous when Betts doesn't hog the leading space for the tall's and he and Garlett crumb.
Hampson is taking some strong marks and has got presence when he is the focal point.
Kreuzer played a roaming high forward and did it well as a link.
The faster they control Betts and his fev attitude the faster we will grow into a forward structure to compete against the better sides.
Yes Eddie we all saw the goal now thank your team mates further up ground for making you look good. Enough of the lime light we have to play the team game.
Don't take too much out of this game apart from coaching deficiencies.