If i were on the MC , id show Russell a video or two of Kennelly from the Swans.. and id look him in the eyes.. and id say "Jordan, do you think you can do that?.. show me!!!"
Id never waste a player who tested faster than Judd at draft camp as a run with back pocket for his development...
Different story in the firsts...he plays where it suits the best interests of the team whilst trying to improve him also...


But a back pocket run with player... kept out of the play as an eighteen year old is ludicrous

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Weren't you the one Synbad that wanted the culture of the club changed? No more sugar coating to the players.

Can someone confirm for me where Kouta finished for contested possessions in the AFL? Top 5, maybe Top 3, possibly numero uno.
I think there is no greater lesson for a youngster than winning a contested ball.

I think Kouta should have to win the contested ball against Jonathon Brown .. not just blokes 20 kgs lighter and 3 inches shorter..
Then he should trek back with his man...

No point winning 10 contested balls against smaller opposition than having those guys picking up 30 kicks on you and 10 assists.

Look.. you have to put things into their context.
Kouta does get the ball out better than most people... but after that he is as useful as a tit on a bull.

I liked the look of our midfield a few times when we went young....
No kouta no Campo...

In fact it excited me...

It was terrible watching Kouta hiding from Brown....
In fact Kouta was terrible whwen the opposition has the ball.. (which is more than when we have it)

Bowyer would have stood him!!!...he would have you know??... he would have put h body in front of Brown and stopped Brown from just doing as he liked...
What did Bowyer weigh?? about 80kgs???
Top bloke!!!.. and a team player...!!!

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Where is Bowyer playing now?

Kouta had 28 disposals against Brisbane that night. Thornton was on Brown when he kicked all his goals.
So what did Kouta do wrong exactly? He had 3 tackles to Browns 1.

Synbad you complain about the culture and how the Pagan culture should be implemented on the senior players but you don't want to implement it on the young from the start of their careers. Makes more sense to get them while their young that try and change older players already made ways.

The Game.. maybe you didnt watch the game when Kouta and Brown were both in the middle???
embarassing that was....

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I know what's really embarassing for Carlton.

I was there. It sucked for us when Brown got the ball the same as it sucked for them when Kouta got it. You bag Lance and Campo for getting easy kicks, now you bag Kouta for only getting the hard ones.
You know very well if Kouta isn't capable of chasing down players the way he used to. He still did better than every player we had last year despite his knee problems. He should only be used sparingly now anyway but Pagan leaves him on the full match because he knows he is the only guy we have who can get the pill himself.

You were there and you came awway from the game thinking Kouta played Brown in the middle well did you???

And Juzz.. whats emebarassing is to see our supporters pretending we have have a leadership group... thats embarassing.. because we need to find ourselves.. and grow something great again....

Kouta would struggle in any other club... Campo will struggle next year... Lance ditto...

Thats why weve been struggling....

No efforts.

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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.

I wonder with Kouta whether he should contemplate doing a James Hird? Kouta is not a natural leader. He is probably the first to admit that he is not S. Kernahan. Kouta's leadership style is to lead by example on field and due to his ageing body, he can no longer perform to the standards we have come to expect of him. So, is he smart enough to realise that perhaps it's time to hand the captainacy over? It may do him the world of good. Who knows?

As for our youngsters, yes it is very tough coming down on a couple of 18 year olds living away from home for the first time. But, I guess it's a dog eat dog world and the boys (Hartlett and Russell and to a lesser extent Walker) need to turn into men very quickly. Perhaps the coach has seen things he doesn't like. Perhaps the progress isn't being made at a fast enough rate. If you take Russell for instance, he was drafted 9. Egan was drafted 10 by the Pies. Egan played quite a few games in 2005. Russell on the other hand was no where near breaking into the worst team in the league.

In Walkers case, he was drafted in the same batch as Cooney (1), Sylvia (3), Ray (4) and McLean (5). Cooney has already established himself as being in the top 6 players at the dogs. Ray would be considered a certain starter in their best 18. McLean is considered a superstar in the making at Melbourne. Is rated extremely highly for his professionalism, determination to succeed and his leadership. Considered by many at Melbourne to be a 250 plus game player. Sylvia has struggled a little but when fit is likened to Riccutto and should establish himself firmly this year. That leaves Walker out of that top 5 batch who really needs to nail it this year. Let's hope the gamble of taking the athlete (Walker) over the footballer (McLean) pays off. I think this is the message that Pagan is trying to ram home.

In the case of Simpson, I think most people, even Pagan, saw that he had skill. The problem was that he first walked in the door weighing 68 kilo's or thereabouts. That's the prime reason why he went so late in the draft and why the MC took their time in playing him. To put in simply, his body initially wasn't up to it, but now it is. I don't think you can compare Simpson and Russell for this very fact. Simpson wasn't played because he needed to add 15 kilo's and some muscle whereas Russell is not played because he needs to lift his intensity and his desire. It would also greatly help his cause if he learns how to take a hit and not to jump out of the way in heavy traffic.

I never said they were leaders but none of your positive comments are constructive or groundbreaking for Bluesfans.

Garbage.

The Melbourne President would disagree with you on Lance and Lance may not have starred up forward like he should, but our backline's deficiencies with injury and Norman's exit as a tall defender haven't done him any favours.

Campo and Kouta would still be an addition for the side that has the right mix of players to use them effectively.

Talent.

I agree with all those points.
The AFL "system" is extremely tough on everyone. There's no room in a club for anything less than 100% committment from players & administrators alike.

We have had quite a few "passengers" over the last 5 years and it's resulted in utter failure.

Carlton needs to get tough NOW.

Carlton needs to start performing.

Those young guys on our list need to work their @#$%&! arses off because only the 100% committed ones will survive and eventually perform.
Pagan is tough & ruthless no doubt but if a young player works at 100% and cements a spot on the list, he WILL make it and WILL be a good player.
IF A PLAYER'S NOT 100% COMMITTED HE SHOULD BE SHOWN THE DOOR!!!

NO MORE "SOFTIES" AND NO MORE "NEAR ENOUGH IS GOOD ENOUGH" AT CARLTON FROM NOW ON!!!

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There's so much I could say...

I was on Synbad's train for Camporeale, and pretty much Whitnall just not to the same extent

but this ritual bagging of anyone who happens to by 26 or older is just plain rubbish. Kouta is a Carlton champion, dual best fairest winner and should have won a Brownlow. He was almost the perfect footballer in some parts of the 1990's, and nos has aged. Get off his back.

He can only beat the players he is on, and he does that more often that not. to say that he should have to be played on taller guys because he is tall ignores all the other bits of football, clearances, winning the ball out of the middle.

to say his preparation isnt good is just plain wrong.

You say he is not accountable and on that I reckon you're half right, he's not accountable enough, bnut that whole midfield sucks at that. He should be better at taht but at age 33 and as a natural ballwinner and Carlton champ we need to find other alternatives to that..

Before I go for you to call other supporters embarrassing because they see it differnt to you is completely and utterly wrong. It was a great matchup and Brown would always use his body more, but Kouta still got the clearances and was our top vote winner on the night, which is pretty good, surely?

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Formerly: Ackland the Wonderkid / Army the Wonderkid / quivering mess / molsey / Tony Lynn Fan Club

I am looking forward to this year.

I am looking to see a improvement in the junior ranks.

I am looking forward to seeing how Setanta goes in the bigtime

I am looking forward to Fev making a real committment to the team and himself. ( It never ceases to amaze me how while some have been ripped to shreds by various posters and yet Fev displaying the same traits has been hailed as the 'Face' of the club).

I am looking forward to Dennis's gameplan being a little more flexible as he best utilises the players he has.

But I am really looking forward to the developement of some real espirt de corp by the current group

I am going to go to the footy this year and enjoy it, for mine this year is a development year and were we finish is pretty much immaterail.

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A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty" -Winston Churchill

L.M 35-06

I'm really enjoying your posts Preacher but I cant agree with this point.
I heard Blackwell got the same speech from Pagan but to compare Russell etc with Egan is unfair.
The TAC system gives draftees like Egan a huge advantage over interstate recruits. The pathways, training and operations are modelled on AFL clubs and some clubs systems are virtual AFL replicas.
Only the elite interstate players can adapt to AFL football without this grounding.
Interstate players from the top dozen drafted like Thomson, Meyer, Russell, Williams are at a distinct disadvantage to players like Egan and Lewis and I would rate them at least half a season behind in development.
If Pagan cant comprehend that for himself, he needs his arse kicked.

As for Russells intensity and desire, he looks a million dollars at the moment and appears to have put in plenty of hard work. I thought his intensity was very good last year as well.

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Looking forward to seeing our potential realised.

Athorn, when we are shit.. we shouldnt judge players on how many touches they get.
What we have to be doing on ALL levels is building platforms and standards.
At te moment as supporters were looking at anything to cling to. Were looking at individual 'counts' as a measure to some kind of success.
Ã

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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.

Egan is just another Leon Davis IMO...flashy front running goalkicker.
Mclean has been a good player but I'm not sure what improvement he has left in him...Sylvia isnt anything like Riccuito IMO...sure he is a nice goalkicker and takes a good mark for his size but I have not seen much evidence he is a genuine onballer...Jordan Lewis did better than expected but I will be keen to see how much he improves.
I think Walker is better than all of those players and has more upside...
re: Jordan Russell....i think he would make a good wingman, I'm keen on having tall wingers who can take a mark and I think Russell can do that job for us...good skill level, only doubt on him is maybe his lack of physical presence but he is still a very young man and I think he will improve in that area and grow in confidence...he impressed me with his comments about wanting to help some of the new draftees and to me demonstrates he has something happening bewteen his ears unlike a few other players we have had recently and i'm confident he will make a very good senior footballer player in a couple of years...

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

I agree but i dont think we're carrying Koutoufides. his stats speak for themselves.

as for Russell, i thought it was great that they tested him out as a defender in his first year and i dont think he failed in that role. He wasnt out of the play as you suggest as the Vfl game is quite back & forth and even though the Ants made the finals they didnt win by lots that often, Russell was in the play alot and his ball winning in the last line of defence was pretty good.

I like your comment on Simpson trying to say that the Coach seemed to be the only one that doubted him. I reckon most doubted Simpson after his first few games, if not all of us but his relatives.

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Formerly: Ackland the Wonderkid / Army the Wonderkid / quivering mess / molsey / Tony Lynn Fan Club

Wonder if the Lions fans were embarrassed that their man let Kouta get the ball 28 times, probably a third those clearances.
Brown is widely regarded as the comps best, why criticise a legend from our club on his last legs for not being able to stop him when no one in the comp can.
If you want to know who Brown took to the cleaners that night it was Thornton but he tried his best on the comps most dangerous forward.