CARLTON

INJURIES
Dennis Armfield (hamstring) test
Ciaran Sheehan (hip) 2 weeks
Harry McKay (back) 8 weeks
Jack Silvagni (hamstring) 2 weeks
Andrew Walker (calf) 1 week

ON THE BLOCK: The Blues appeared to get through the loss to Gold Coast unscathed so there is unlikely to be any injury changes. Dale Thomas was the one player who is likely to come under the most scrutiny. The defence had a poor night also, but with the Bulldogs ahead, is this the week to make a statement at selection? They won in the rucks so Andrew Phillips should keep his position backing up Matthew Kreuzer. who was one of the few Blues winners.

ON THE CUSP: Andrew Walker has missed the past two games with calf tightness. The Blues could not take a mark inside 50 so if Walker is fit, surely he gets a look in at half-forward. Jacob Weitering, in just his third game, was the Blues’ best player. Will they swing him forward and see what he can do?

ANDREW HAMILTON’S FORECAST: The one impressive factor about the Blues is their pace. Not just with the ball, but also with their ability to shut down space which troubled the Suns early. One veteran Sun said after the game it was the fastest first half of footy he had ever played in. The Bulldogs play with jets too so that should be a frantic contest. However, the Bulldogs are in another league when it comes to class and it is hard to predict anything other than another belting for the winless Blues.

Doesn't get near it enough for it to be a major issue anyway...............often out marked by players 3/4 his size too

Pros:
Encouraging performance from Whiley.

Interesting, I find it completely deflating watching him play. Not that he's terrible exactly, just seems such a nothing player to me.

Interesting, I find it completely deflating watching him play. Not that he's terrible exactly, just seems such a nothing player to me.

I get frustrated with the dearth of Carlton players who can kick a ball well over 50 minutes, or drill it low and accurately. Whiley is just one of the many who make the footy look like a beach ball.

Hey, I'm as bitter, twisted and pessimistic as any Carlton supporter out there, but to suggest that Casboult isn't a good contested mark is going too far.

All 3.3 marks per game are great

Boekhorst averages 40% more marks this year.

Right, which means BB is better at finding space for uncontested marks. Doesn't mean jack shit about Casboult's ability in the contest, or the number of opposition mofos he pole-axes in the contest.

No offence, but your post makes you sound like someone who judges people by stat sheets alone.

Hey, I'm as bitter, twisted and pessimistic as any Carlton supporter out there, but to suggest that Casboult isn't a good contested mark is going too far.

I agree. Every time he got possession I got the feeling that he didn't want the responsibility of having the ball in his hands. He is never creative when he gets a first touch either. Maybe confidence? I don't know but I don't see anything that is AFL standard about him at this point.

@Chelodina: If by survive the cuts you mean he could get traded, then I think it's possible. If you mean delisted then there's no way it happens. Casboult will be on an AFL list next year, there's no doubt about that.

At the risk of being 'stats sheet guy' I'll back up GreatEx's point; Casboult has 6 contested marks this season, next best forwards for us are Walker (2), Lamb and Curnow (1). Casboult has 8 marks inside 50m, 5 ahead of anyone else on our list. Without him there's an even larger gaping hole in our forward line.
Fact is we're spread very thin for talent on each line. Cripps (46) is 16 contested possessions ahead of the next best on our list and is the only player with more than 10 clearances this year, and he has 26.
Meanwhile in defence Weitering has 8 contested marks this year and the next best defender is Rowe with 2. We just leave too much to too few.

Patrick Keane ‏@AFL_PKeane 19s20 seconds ago

Congrats Carlton's Jacob Weitering on being named the rd3 #NABRisingStar after his 26 possession / nine mark game against the GC Suns.