I've often said that Melbourne is the type of team we need to emulate in terms of their personnel, despite the fact they've underachieved with the players they have. They're what we hoped our team would look like if all our draftees from the past few years realised their potential or could stay on the park.

Unlike the Dogs (where we had the edge in the ruck and our forwards) I look at their squad and don't see a weakness right now, or an area where we can break even.

Their midfield is stacked, led by the best ruckman in the comp and potentially best midfielder (Petracca), and with their Murphy equivalent (Jones) playing in the 2's.

Their defense is experienced and the most cagey this year, with May and Lever more than capable of blanketing Harry, and small/mid defenders capable of running it out at will.

Their forward line may not be the most dangerous, but still have enough weapons to tear us apart if their midfield is allowed to run rampant (as the Dogs were). And if Ben Brown gets close to his best, that just exacerbates the issue.

The only chance of beating Melbourne is the fact that they are Melbourne, which means they are prone to fall in a heap at some point. Other than that, I see no possibility but a pasting coming our way.

_________________
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

Good post Don only other way of beating them is to actually play 4 quarters for a change the vacation quarter where we snooze on the banana lounge is getting ridiculous for a side with our age and games played demographic

Honey for Silvagni is not like for like but Honey is in good form and has some weapons to add to our forward line.

_________________
It's never as good as it looks and it's never as bad as it seems.

Good post Donstuie


We can take some heart from the fact that last year, Dees fans hated their team. And their coach.

Sent from my SM-A115F using Tapatalk

_________________
#DonTheStash

we can beat the dees only by when going into f50 our players lower there eyes and choose best option,if we play our u12 style (long bombs) we got no chance lever /may to smart. Pittonet just punch the ball against gawn move the pill forward.

This is true but I also think we have other issues that are a bigger priority.
Our conversion rate is not too bad. I think our team defence is a bigger problem and skill execution would be next cab off the rank than how we enter the forward 50. But yes, it is also an issue.

We really need a big scalp to give our boys some belief.

Luke Jackson out injured

Sent from my SM-A115F using Tapatalk

_________________
#DonTheStash

Weiderman not a bad replacement

Sent from my SM-G960F using Tapatalk

_________________
If you allow the Government to change the Laws in an emergency
They will create an Emergency to change the Laws

I like your post Donstuie. Good comparison.

The Murphy conundrum is an issue that doesn't go away, and in our opinion, typifies the lack of pragmatism of our MC. Perhaps caught up in sentimentalism and marketing opportunity.

In addition, their midfield is stacked with fit players after a great preseason.

We have Cripps playing every week with a fractured back, Williams nursing groin and achilles niggles in his new role, Curnow, the most dependable mid we have, but he's a tagger, butchers the ball and isn't quick for an attacking mid, and our First round draftees selected for the midfield, Dow, SPS, Setterfield, Cuningham have been played in other positions, add injuries to part time mids Martin and Fisher, and you can see where the difference lies.

Other first round mids Stocker is only 20yo, Kemp, 20yo and Philp 20yo, that latter 2 haven't seen game time at all this year.

It's always been stated that Carlton is 2 years behind Saints and Lions and 3-4 years behind Dees.

Patience and understanding is needed. Too easy to get frustrated.

I just want to see a 4 quarter effort with good signs from our up and coming developing players in the positions we recruited them for, even for cameos.

Go Blues. Lets shock them. They are due for a loss sooner or later, and we are due to play 4 quarters sooner or later.

We have a 50-50 chance.

_________________
Everyone looks good in Navy Blue

Cripps needs to rest we can’t afford for any long terms issues with him and I definitely don’t trust the club

They ruined kouta career as n his prime and could happen again here


Let cripps rest it’s that simple , we ain’t winning the flag this year or contending

_________________
#sayerscouldbetheman!!

It will be v interesting to see how Crippa goes this week after the club has put the heat on by denying reports of a current back issue (referring to the problem being earlier in the year and he has now been recovered for a few weeks).

We will absolutely need to win the midfield battle this week as their bookends are pretty good. Crippa's role in this, and hard tackling at bounces will be crucial given they are likely to win the hit outs to advantage by a significant margin. Will need to rotate often through the middle to maintain focus and intensity. Cripps, Walsh, Curnow, Cunningham, Stocker, Williams, Dow and SPS, assuming they are named, and Murphy if he plays.

Who does Curnow go to? Oliver or Petracca? I could make a case for either one...
I really really hope we are preparing to rove to Gawn! (But I suspect we'll go in expecting Pittonet to win the tap )

I assume Plowman will take McDonald? (Weitering and Jones to take Brown and Weidering). Who take Kosi?
Someone will need to make sure Lever is accountable - separate and look dangerous. Our small forwards will need to make every post a winner (as distinct from making sure every shot hits the post!).

It will be interesting to see if Eddie can back up (again). And we'll learn a lot about Harry after hitting the lead in the Coleman and getting so much media praise this week.

PS. Just a couple of years ago we had one player who was clearly our best and pretty much our only leader; then daylight. Now we have 4 who might have a claim to be our best player (Cripps, Harry, Weitering & Walsh) and 4 who could lead the club (substitute Docherty for Harry...). We still have a way to go. But we are getting better.

Cripps playing well for one week means nothing, he'll push his body through the pain barrier for a week, then it will tail off again as the pain wears him down.....for those reasons I wouldn't be surprised at all if he has a cracker this week

We typically play pretty close games against Melbourne, regardless of ladder position. I can't see this being hugely different.

We have four players with major concerns:

CRIPPS - Is he injured? Is he struggling with the new rules? His lack of ability to defend and chase anyone suggests injury. There's been a lot of talk about how 'invested' he is in the group, but at what point do you have to say 'have a rest - we'd be better without you'.

WILLIAMS - In the pre-season he had real zip, and he kicked goals from forward stoppages due to power and pace. He hasn't had any of that in the regular season. His kick for goal last week against the Dogs was so weak it seems like he's got real issues with his power.

PITTONET - He's our only fit ruckman, but he's in awful form, giving us very little outside of ruck contests. He has gotten back on occasion and helped out, but he doesn't do anything around the ground and he doesn't get forward (ever). He's broken even in the ruck the last two weeks against first-gamers, and he should be doing better than that.

CASBOULT - He actually played better against the Dogs, but he's providing so little up forward. His only saving grace is his ability to go into the ruck and relieve Pitto. He is also clearly carrying an injury, and has always been a real confidence player.

We have two blokes in great form - Walsh & McKay. The rest are going okay, having their good and bad weeks. On the bubble would be Newnes, Gibbons and Cottrell.

So much of the issues outlined above come down to TDK's fitness and form. If he's up and ready to go you can solve one of the Pitto / Casboult problems. Cripps and Williams are trickier, and I'd be half a mind to rest them both until the bye and then re-set for race to finals.

From the bye we'd then have Cripps, Williams, Martin, Fisher, Newman all ready to go. Possibly even Kemp and C. Curnow.

We have four weeks until the bye, and three of the four are really winnable games: Melbourne - tough. Hawks - tough because we struggle against them, but they're not much chop at the moment. Swans - tough because it's in Sydney. West Coast - tough, but it's here and they don't travel well.


With all that in mind:

Parks - Jones - Plowman
Docherty - Weitering - Saad
Cottrell - Setterfield - Newnes
Fogarty - McKay - Cunningham
Betts - Casboult - Owies
Pittonet - Walsh - Stocker

Dow - Murphy - E. Curnow - Gibbons
SUB: DeKoning

Stocker to run with Petracca everywhere, both forward and into the middle.
Docherty to stay in defence and organise, trying to release Saad to play further up the ground.
Setterfield to focus on what he's been doing on the VFL - laying tackles in close.

Hello to anyone from Demonland reading this

They have a mega thread over there on what's being said on the Carlton forums, hahaha

Sent from my SM-A115F using Tapatalk

_________________
#DonTheStash

Thread will die a death after the Queens Birthday weekend - unless of course there are no snow falls a little late this year.

_________________
"Hence you will not say that Greeks fight like heroes but that heroes fight like Greeks"?

Winston Churchill

Snowing now!


Go Blues

_________________
“Every single element of the Club has to be the best in the league, meticulously and methodically, and only by doing this will we be elite and challenge for number 17.”
Greg Lee

We are 3-5 with a percentage of 95, seems fairly normal to me, if anything you’d expect a lower percentage with that win loss record.

Sadly we don’t play a static opposition.

Thing is we need to limit the damage when sides are on top of us. It will happen in most games, other side will have a period where they are on top, we just need to get better at stemming the bleeding and turning the tide quicker than we do.

In my view it’s part lack of good personel, guys carrying injuries and lack of belief in the group which can take a long time to shift. We just need to keep fronting up and soldiering on.

Thanks for your insight Big G.

Something that stood out to me with with Betts, Owies and Gibbons as our small forwards, is not a mosquito fleet (because Gibbons does not zip around-pace issue), but a Midget Fleet, who are not strong over the ball, Gibbons in particular. He seems to get brushed aside too easily and his tackling isn't strong enough for mine.

I would like to see more speed and strength in the forwardline. I feel a bit dirty wanting to drop Owies because he has kicked goals, but I was a bit dirty he missed his snap in front of goal vs Doggies; right in front!

I wanted bigger bodies. I see what Cottrell brings. IMO its a lot of perceived pressure because he gets to spots others can't because of his speed and endurance. I would like Honey because Honey can stick a tackle, but I can't wait for Honey to catch up to Cottrell because no one has the speed and endurance of Cottrell.

_________________
Everyone looks good in Navy Blue

Another post I missed. Yeah, I just mentioned I felt dirty not selecting Owies and explained.

I would like stronger bodies in the midfield, and feel only one of Owies Betts and gibbons is my preference. For now, I favour Betts for the small forward role, till he runs out of petrol tickets.

Conundrum is, we need to find out/ develop Owies. I feel Owies has a higher ceiling than Gibbons.

I am thinking about our mix for Dees game, and wanted to squeeze in bigger bodies like Dow, Setterfield, Honet, SPS, and knew Murphy would be picked regardless of his shortfalls (hope he's 23rd man).

I too think Owies deserves a game, but that's another story.

I too feel we can beat any team on our day, IF, the MC selects midfielders who can win for us and stop expecting unfit players to hunt the ball (Murphy, Cripps, Williams). That's where we are getting smacked, and the weakness of Pitto in the ruck is only half the problem...imo

_________________
Everyone looks good in Navy Blue