Hey Suzz , i'd love to see Crippa belt a few .

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All my dangerous friends

Yep - problem will be, we won't receive a 'Cotchin' review.

Under my system he wouldn't have to . It would be legal .

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All my dangerous friends

Cowan, Weitering, Young
Docherty, McGovern, Saad
Acres, Cerra, O'Brien
Silvagni, Curnow, Fisher
Motlop, McKay, Owies
Pittonet, Cripps, Hewett
TDK, Kennedy, Hollands, Newman

Blues by 16

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*(grow - fun - gah)

Yeah but whatabout your whataboutism.

By george I think you have nailed it.
That is brilliant.
Like the bench.
You have TDK but then it gets smaller and quick with Hollands and Newman is versatile can go on a wing and provides defensive depth.
Good job I say.

Yep, and Walsh comes in for O'brien in due course.

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O say does that star spangled banner yet wave.

The number one thing I dislike in football these days is when players decide to stand off and not tackle a player. They are "protecting the space". I think it is a soccer type tactic. They don't want to look foolish I presume by having a player get around them? But either way a tackle is better than just standing up and down waving your arms around.

I just saw it again when re-watching the Rd 23, Carlton vs Collingwood match of last year.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x0FkLgeOss4

5:29 into this video - Carlton is in front. 74 to 57. Quaynor receives a handpass that bounces so it gives the tackler enough time to tackle, but you look at the footage of this and Motlop actually bounces backwards...electing not to tackle, forcing Curnow to come in and make half an attempt. "And to put them back in the game" Elliott has a shot at goal as a result.

Now Motlop brings a lot to the team, but his tackling is a real weakness. When he does tackle he usually aims for their head or does something illegal, and then other times he is busy playing soccer "protecting the space".

I just hope Round 1 they don't elect to play all three of Motlop, Durdin and Owies... Players that get few possessions, and can have a low impact. Two out of these three should be the maximum. Owies got 66 tackles in in 2022, Durdin 48 and Durdin played more games. Motlop got 29 tackles.

Good team and good win expected with that team.

I really like Young as the intercept 3rd tall when Gov isn't minding a gorilla.
Young is such a good mark, but he's not quick off the mark.
He's best we've got till (if) Marchbank ever comes back to fill the role permanently.
I'm glad we have Young, and has plenty of upside imo. Just wish Williams was take ball off Young.

Owies or Durdin. You've gone for the one whose played a praccy. Fair enough.

I wonder who your sub is???

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Everyone looks good in Navy Blue

Motlop played 12 games

IIts my pet hate, but I wouldnt single out Motlop because all of the players do it....just go and tackle at the hips and dont get sucked into looking at the ball.hate it.

18yo Motlop pound for pound is one of the most effective tacklers in the team when he tackles.


He applied some good tackles in the Round 23 game.

Have to be mindful Carlton have a few young developing players in their team:

Smalls: 19yo Motlop, 20yo Durdin 18yo
Mediums:Cowan 18yo Hollands 23yo Cottrell 22yo Honey
Talls: 23yo young
Ruck: 23yo TDK

Alot has to go our way this year to make Finals, let alone Top 4 and Flag, and development is the most important....and FFS tackle and hurt them in the tackle....doesnt matter if its a free...and Motlop does do that at times. I like his mongreal. Real footballer.

OBrien is still learning, so is Fisher imo.

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Everyone looks good in Navy Blue

Sub. Forgot about that gross thing.

Maybe Dow or Ed

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*(grow - fun - gah)

Yeah but whatabout your whataboutism.

Old Ed would be good to come in and tag Prestia out of the game.
Current Ed might blow up though.
It's a tough one out of the two.
Either way, I think our midfield may be in for a tough day.

That's if Prestia plays

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#DonTheStash

We can only hope he doesn't.
Same goes with Short.

Bring them all on - no more excuses- beat them at full strength- beat up on them when they’re undermanned.

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

Winston Churchill

I want all their biggest guns to play.
And then I want to beat them anyway!
I think their mids are better than last year but we should still at least break even if not win that battle. (Crippa/Hewett/Kennedy/Cerra Vs Taranto/Prestia/Hopper/Bolton?). Our backs will have their hands full with their forwards; but their backs will really struggle with our forward line!

PS. I think its the instruction rather than the player choosing to corral rather than tackle. I presume it is aimed at holding up the ball carrier while defenders get back to cover their man/position and also to avoid a run around situation which effectively gives them a player up on us as they move forward sans pressure. But I also hate it.

I like this.

Throwing Hollands in to get steamrolled is a consequence of conflicting ideologies.

Carry a second ruck to squeeze more from our greatest strength. Or;
Defend the rebound at wing/half forward to mitigate our greatest weakness.

I’m not sure there’s much else we can do. Silvagni’s defensive game is miles in front of the other forwards, so taking him out would be even worse.

Winning more forward half contests would help. Harry kicked 45 goals with a one-on-one win-rate of 20%, so there’s some gains to be made there.
Motlop & Durdin look like they’ve been doing the work required to win their fair share of contests if we isolate them up forward. Martin could do similar if he can get on the park.
Elliott, Bailey, Bolton, Papley… they’re masters at using the centre bounce to get separation up forward. Their teams play at a higher intensity to ours though, so we may not have that option.

But hey, at least we’ll have wings…

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"The best argument against democracy is a five-minute conversation with the average voter" - Winston Churchill.

Good side. Martin will play Thursday night in a practice match and if he gets through I think he will play. They have been very cautious with him to ensure he is ready