Its times like this you should be left alone verbs....see ya...

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Due to recent budget cuts and the rising cost of electricity, gas, and oil....... the Light at the End of the Tunnel has been turned off. We apologize for the inconvenience.

hmm. Perhaps you better report me again.
That seems to be your modus operandi.
Stir shit and sook to the mods when you recieve it back.

How many people have been "spoken to" because you cant handle it Verbs?

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Looking forward to seeing our potential realised.

Who said you can't teach an old dog new tricks? Good to see you and BV have finally caught on...good on you blokes!

Sweet!

Saying someone is crying into a half full glass is really so terrible???

Maybe you should read the code of conduct BV, and then assess your own behaviour in the past, compared to the above comment.

I am fast losing faith in the ascertation of "reasonable".

Go away Verbs.
I'm here to talk about Carlton.
What you're losing faith in doesnt interest me in the slightest.

Getting back to Lance, according to Kouta, Lance improved his 3km time trial by about 30 seconds from earlier this pre season.
Interestingly Libba appeared to have the role of "pacing" big Red in the run.
Whatever the case, it seemed to work.

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Looking forward to seeing our potential realised.

Never!

anyways the point is not whether lance can hit Kouta lace out amid a herd of stampeding elephants, rather the question is How often? Over the last two to three years my answer would be not often enough. Its a bit of the weight issue, knee soreness and (it seems to me) loss of flexibility but Lance has lost distance and accuracy over the past few seasons. That 'arise sir lance goal' would be beyond him these last 3 seasons. Mind you I am biased, and I freely admit it, I fear the way this game is umpired, the speed of the game and lance's body seem to be conspiring against him. It may be his attitude, it may not, don't care really (cos I can't do a flower thing about it either way) but I fear Lance will always be the third cog in any forward line he plays in. others see him as one or perhaps two. I do not.

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This type of slight is alien in the more cultured part of the world - Walsh. Its up there with mad dogs, Englishmen and the midday sun!

He had a very good 2005. Hopefully, for everyone's sake he has an as good, if not even better, 2006.

Or not?

See thats the thing.

Would i swap Lance for a speedster for our future?
Hell yes!!!

I really dont see what Lance offers this club where were at now.

He is a luxury.

He should be playing for a team that needs that kind of player.

Give me Courtney Dempsey anyday.

Or an Albert Proud from next years bunch.

Someone who will be added to our aray of kids that in my mind will amount to something in a couple of years.

Lance has had his chance and in my opinion blew it.

Its not about what he did or didnt do in the last year.

Its about what he has done over the last four.

It really isnt much.

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Due to recent budget cuts and the rising cost of electricity, gas, and oil....... the Light at the End of the Tunnel has been turned off. We apologize for the inconvenience.

Fair enough...but life is made up of "what ifs" which are worth nothing. There is only "what is"...and that's Whitnall is playing for Carlton in 2006.

Given the off season fiasco regarding possibly being traded and then the on & off again contract negotiations, no player on the Carlton list is going to be as heavily scrutinised as Whitnall in 2006. Even Fevola with his new huge contract will be given a little bit of slack occassionally but old Lance is not going to be able to slack off at all. Whether the media blow-up about his pre-season weight is right or wrong, it sent a poor message out about the club and it involved supposedly one of the leadership group.

With the recent drafting of Bower & Kennedy plus Hartlett & O'hAilpin have been at the club for over a year now, Whitnall's importance & worth to the team may not be as great as it might have been in season's past.

Can he still play CHF ?? I doubt it actually, plus I don't think he should be used in defence either. This is where it becomes a problem for the club, in which position are they likely to get the best return onfield from Whitnall ?? The simple answer IMO is somewhere close to goal, preferably in the square.

I predicted some time back that Whitnall would be finished by the age of 26 and my comments here are not solely being put up to justify that original prediction. I do believe he has a limited shelf-life which is at least 3-4 years less than the normal playing span. If that figure is right, then he is rapidly approaching his use-by date which will mean that his effectiveness to us has just about run out.

Whilst I despise the guy immensely, Kevin Sheedy has the uncanny knack of unloading players when they have no more to offer the club yet still hold some serious market value. When I look at Lance Whitnall, I can't help but think that we are at that time where we should seriously consider getting some good value out of the trade table whilst we can. His new contract would be a lot easier for other clubs to handle plus I'd be confident that we could cover his loss quite easily in 2007.

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GROUND ZERO + DRAFTING YOUTH = SUSTAINED SUCCESS

Isn't Lance's contract bigger than Fevola's?

Agree with the pro-trade posters. If he's playing as a forward he needs to be in a structure that has good delivery in to limit his weaknesses. At the moment that means another club. Let him go somewhere else where he might enjoy his footy more, let another club use him that is closer to a flag then we are, and let us get some reasonable trade value for him.

I can't see that scenario as anything other than win/win/win, especially with the makeup of our list post the draft and trade period. He'll add more value where the delivery to him is better...

Agree with Steve..Melbourne were going to offer their first draft pick and something else..we should have jumped at that deal and we would have had Courtney Dempsey or similar....like the Sheik said Whitnalls importance to the club has diminished and we have other better options with more upside....we now have to find a spot for Lance so we can justify re-signing him on 400K a year...

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"When you have the attitude of a champion, you see adversity as your
training partner."
- Conor Gillen

As ive said in the other 50 Lance threads over the past year.

We should have traded Whitnall for a first rounder!.
He is 25 going on 30 - The modern game is faster and the modern lance is slower.
I really dont want a 400k player playing loose man in defence. Any player can play that position.
Besides the Wizard cup he had a very dissappointing season compared to 2001. Remember the board had to give votes to someone even if no one deserved them. Lance played sweeper and gains easy possessions. You look at the stat sheet and it looks impressive!, but did he really help out the team. When in defence did he beat his direct opponent?.
He doesnt take his chances when up forward and thats why he gets moved frequently!

IMO i would of traded him and targeted Marcus Drum and we would of had a cheaper, younger, fitter, defensive rebounding playmaker.

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"Dont count the games, make the games count"

In relation to his kicking he hooks all his kicks because he kicks across his body.Watch him it is unbelievable.We need Peter McKenna down there to straighten him up.

Not anymore according to the Hun...

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“When a clown moves into a palace, he doesn't become a king. The palace turns into a circus.”
Turkish Proverb

Why does Lance get the 2nd best defender when he plays forward if we have better forwards down there?
Answer is we don't. Waite whilst he is coming along nicely is not as dangerous up forward as Lance hence he gets the 3rd best defender.

2nd best?

3rd best?

Whose rating?

Surely if you're an opposition coach you match up the more mobile player on Waite and the bulkier KPP on Lance. Whether they're rated 2nd or 3rd best is going to differ from team to team depending on their backline resources.

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“When a clown moves into a palace, he doesn't become a king. The palace turns into a circus.”
Turkish Proverb

Many fans here think Waite is gonna be the next CHF, I think his job gets much tougher when he starts blaying on the best backmen in the comp. Thats why he will always play a supporting role like Hamill. Nothing wrong with that, thats just how he plays.