There will be plenty of ‘late’ bloomers in this crop. The kids that were outside the system as 14 year olds have only been under the microscope (if you can call it that) since they’ve turned 17.

For mine, there is a serious risk of falling into the Massie-Vance effect & you can see it with the wee men finding their way to the top handful. That’s not to say they wouldn’t be any good as senior footballers (they’d be expected to get their bell rung a fair bit), but while everyone is trying to be clever Moneyballers, because they’ve finally read the book but still don’t quite get it, the ready-made option will be in the middle rounds.

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

Yup agree , there will good depth overall, I meant 1st Rd , intending the top 20 or so lads, my bad.
2023 Cohort has very good potential, again our scouting , preparedness is vital, we need astute & intelligent selections.
Whom would have dreamed Butters or Duursma in 2018 draft selections 12 & 18 respectively absolutely spot on choices just nailed it.

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Go Blue Boys

History proves you right Cru.
There's always players outside the first round who deserve the title.

There's 23 spots in a team.
If we can add 2 'great' players from the next 2 drafts; a mid round, a late round type, we could have the luxury to trade first round picks for players wanting to join our quest for a Flag.

Massie, Vance, Watson, Lucas, LOB, SPS, Dow, even Russell, Boekhurst....just so many embarrassing misses.
I agree its a huge punt to draft small players whose bell is in each by every opponent in the comp: well, not in the first round.

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Everyone looks good in Navy Blue

A mad Carlton member rattled a list of players who have played less than 50 games, and its impressive, just before the next draft.

Kemp Boyd Cincotta, Owies, Cuningham, who played and Cottrell, DeKoning Hollands Durdin out injured and Binns Cohan Honey Motlop in the reserves.

Its a good profile and all the above have huge upside.

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Everyone looks good in Navy Blue

"A mad Carlton member"
That's an oxymoron!

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Our tradition demands success!

No shortage of howlers - and we’re not on our Pat Malone - but, the point is that the risk with these wee men is the expectation that they will become strong enough. Massie & Vance were expected to play taller than they were.

Expectation and hope. Betting and gambling.

Rogers looks like he has the right mix (albeit against us).
Watson, has himself a nickname and is still only ‘maybe’.
O’Leary has played senior footy in the ‘burbs.

Only O’Leary comes with a gambler’s price tag. The other two will want to be a good bet.

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

I'm also planning for the future !

I would have said tautology…

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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

Tautology

I didnt know how to describe this fella who is a member and heavily invested and involved in the club moreso than not so called mad Carlton Members like me.

Let me say this. The more you know on the inside the better our picture looks.

Our list is nowhere near as bad as the negative nellies suggest, and no way do we need to start again as Keogh suggests.

Now that hot head Mathieson is off the Board everyone off field and on field is committed and focussed on the plan.

We want to be a feature in Finals for years to come, and we are finding out more about our list whilst adding quality year in year out.

When you look at how good we play when our injury prone stars play you can see their value to our success, but when you look at how many players have played less than 50 games or under 23yo there's only a couple more positions we deep to fill and add some more depth. It is happening, and like I've mentioned before, if there is a big fish out there, we could get them if they wanted to come over.

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Everyone looks good in Navy Blue

Went to the Reserves yesterday.

Lot to like with Binns, Hollands, Lemmey, Carroll, O'Keefe & Motlop. Hopefully with another pre season a few will really step up next year

Big positive is our 23 and under group

Walsh
Cerra
Motlop
Durdin
Hollands
Carroll
Kemp
Cowan
Lemmey
Binns
O'Keefe
Cottrell
and we will add another 4-5 at years end

Good onya Farmer. This is the most exciting aspect of our list. We can hold some bac and give them time to develop properly instead of rushing them in, like we have, and did with Hollands (but then again we did it in '95 with Camporeale).

I like every player on your list. All have something to offer, and its not just the 4-5 we draft this year, its the 2 we add to the list who should be good footballers, but the years thereafter giving is 2 draftees a year, (Camo boys) plus top ups/FA'S as WE NEED THEM....We are finally back to an even keel. We've balanced the books...or the list

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Everyone looks good in Navy Blue

Sam Edmund gave contract updates on the following players tonight:

Zac Fisher: “I don’t think he’ll be at Carlton next year, in fact I’d be surprised if he was and that’s with two years to run on a contract. He appears to be on the outer down there & can't get a look in.”

Mitch McGovern: “can’t get the Blues to the table at the moment to discuss a new contract. There are some superior players, I think, without disrespecting Mitch, out on the open market in that position right now in Ben McKay, Harry Himmelberg, Mason Redman, even Esava Ratugolea and Tom Barras has signed long term but there’s some smoke around him.

“So perhaps Carlton doesn’t have to rush in. Nevertheless, nothing there yet.”

Jack Silvagni: “No offer at this point for Jack Silvagni, but his last couple of weeks have been important. Jack’s happy at Carlton, just wants to play consistently, ideally in a set position.”

Paddy Dow & Lachie Plowman: “Paddy Dow will be elsewhere, Lachie Plowman will depart it sounds like.”

Caleb Marchbank: “Caleb Marchbank is playing for a new deal & by all reports was good in the VFL & looms as McGovern’s replacement [through injury this week].”

Tom De Koning: “They continue to brace for a decision on that. There’s still no change, St Kilda & Sydney right at the front of the queue, Geelong doing what they always do. All four options are really open at this stage.”

Good update, thanks Farmer.

Fish: No loss. I was a fan early doors and was impacting games, but started to go missing and in the end was a total passenger.

Gov: If he stays on the park to the end of the year, and the price is reasonable, give him 2 more years (he'll turn 31 right at the end of season 2025). Who are the gettable "superior" players?

Jack: Hope he gets an offer.

Dow: Time to move on. Maybe package with Fish and Lob to a rebuilding team to plug some gaps?

Plow: Don't let the door hit you on the way out. Or maybe, do.

Marchy: Will his body stand up?

TdK: Another team will turn him into a star, so be it. If he's this way inclined now, wait until (...if!) he strings together some decent games. He'll be a liability to the salary cap and team harmony. Just make sure we are duly compensated and move on. It's about time we turn a pick 30 into a top 10 pick.

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O say does that star spangled banner yet wave.

Our midfield group continues to hunt the opposition's midfield group with the superior ruck, just as it happened in Adelaide, except we were the hunted in Adelaide, and they had the superior rucks.

I recall back in the Gather round robertbb's disappointment in TDK and his lack of footy IQ: headless chook. He may well become a good mobile ruckman. Who knows? Will he dominate? Who knows?

I've changed my thinking on rucks. I've always been adamant in 2 rucks. But those 2 rucks don't have to be dominant (800K rucks) to work for their team.

Unless a ruckman really impacts around the ground helping the backs with defensive marking and a marking option on the kick out, plus kicks a goal or two, they are not really valuable high end ($800K) rucks but just another really tall player who competes and may quell the dominant ruckman somewhat.

With the absence of Pitto and TDK we have seen the mids get to work. Pitto is good enough for our midfield group, and losing TDK for a Top 10 pick is worth it unless TDK wants to be a one team player around $600K.

SOS is a great depth player, but if he brings what he has for the last 2 weeks then he's a keeper. I know he is a Blueboy through and through, and is heart and soul, but I dont think he's a consistent performer, and his kicking for goal is not quite I would want from the 3rd tall TBH. But he's worth keeping as depth. He will feature.

Are Sydney, Saints really offering $800K for TDK? If so, let them, and we get a Top 10 pick. Cats really offering anything worth considering , other than playing the brothers together? If they want him, go and find us a Top 10 pick.

I'm not too fussed about TDK staying or going. I'm sure he can see the boys are starting to click with or without him. Ball is in his court.

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Everyone looks good in Navy Blue

From The Heraldsun today

They missed Cerra for $600K and Martin who was $1M front ended now $500K??



No doubt TDK can soak up a pile Gov is on, or get us a top 10 pick and a nice albeit warchest (combines TDK 2024 and Gov 2023 salary) for another star mid, or KPD and another ruckman.

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Everyone looks good in Navy Blue

Cincotta, O'Keeffe and Akuei all signing new 1 year deals.

Rookie list?

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

Good. Was a little bit unsure about Akuei but has shown a bit since settling in defence. Does he have to be upgraded from Cat B?

2024 will be his third year of eligibility.

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

Watson is quite amazing for a midget.
He sounds like he could kick goals from day one, such is his elusiveness with his bag of tricks.
What happens with the young ones Durdin and Motlop?
Owies and Fogarty has brought to the team what those 2 couldn't. Fisher is on the outer.
A lot invested in small forwards, and we got Betts in whilst Fisher, Owies, Durdin and Fog were developing.

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Everyone looks good in Navy Blue