Wow! I just checked the weather forecast for Brisbane.
35 degrees on Thursday
Fortunately, 23 degrees on Saturday.
Go Blues!

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Our tradition demands success!

This was shown On The Couch last night, IIRC the percentages were something like:

Carlton 138%
Giants 134%
Brisbane 114%
Collingwood 110%

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crazy thing homefield advantage. if we're playing lions at the g, we win by a few goals. chances are up there in briz, we lose by a few.

SHHHHHHHHH

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Brisbane have a bit of Adelaide 2017 about them to me. We have the exact gamestyle to completely upset them in a big final...

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I am not confident haven't been confident in any game we played but I keep going back to how team went coming off the bye this year - I think nearly every team that played the week before who played against a team who had the bye won ( I could be wrong )

Win the midfield win the game- Lions beat up on 3 kids when they played Port I think we match them
Sure Dunkley took Cripps to the cleaners early this year but at the time it was stop Cripps stop Carlton.
We are a different team now and they have no one who can stop Walsh

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our midfield is something else. they send dunkley to cripps, he'll still get his, but walsh and cerra will shred them.


our achilles is ball movement from the D50 - if they lock it in and pressure us into errors, cameron and bailey and co will rip us.

We’re not far off it on the transition.
Just need to nail some of those 25m passes into the forward half a kick before the F50 entry.
We had that sorted early in our run and Cripps alluded to it last week so we are working on it.


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I’m starting to think I would keep Kennedy in place of Fogarty. Kennedy can kind of do everything Fogarty does, but offers more. He can provide the forward pressure and tackles and can go into the middle as Fog does. But he’s bigger and stronger, he’s strong overhead, he’s a beautiful kick for goal and he can kick them from outside 50. Maybe I’m underselling Fog and I won’t be unhappy either way, but I just feel Kennedy has more weapons and is another bull in the contest for a big final


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I'm a Kennedy fan but he was too slow up forward. He's a mid or nothing. Fogarty doesn't fumble, he tackles for keeps and as much as he's not quick, he has a good first 5 which enables him to place maximum pressure. He deserves his spot IMHO.

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Looking forward to seeing our potential realised.

We need to switch it more across half back and get it to the fat side. That creates movement up field and unsettles the defence and options open up in the corridor for the 45 degree kick back inside. We were doing this a lot when we were playing well.

Now we seem uninterested in the switch, even though it’s almost always available. We just keep going long down the line to congestion. It’s a safer play in that it makes it hard to get scored against on the turnover, but i don’t think this is going to cut it against Brisbane. We’re going to have to score more. Need to be bold and take risks, like the last play that resulted in the winning goal vs Melbourne


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Fair enough. That is my main concern with Kennedy, lack of pace. Would be nice if Fogarty just had a few more offensive weapons. But if he’s selected I have full confidence in the value the coaching team put on him


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As much as I don't want to bring in Harry - I understand the perceived need to based on match-ups and forward targets. So for mine it's:

In: McKay, Martin, Boyd

Out: Kennedy, Kemp, Cuningham

sub: Hollands

I'm a big fan of Brodie's but I can't fit him in and he had a shocker last week. Boyd is the match up for Zac Bailey who'll spend most of his time forward. I'd also like another kick-out option and Boyd provides that. Kennedy might be better for the run, but was essentially a faux forward and didn't do any bull work inside. Unfortunately for Cunners, form counts.

Yep, it would be great if his kicking was a weapon but he still had an equal game high 7 score involvements for us. His ability to read the play and be super clean with his ball handling is underrated.

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Looking forward to seeing our potential realised.

Absolutely. I left the game thinking Fog would be lucky to hold his spot. Then watching the replay saw how valuable he is.

I’m keen to bring in Boyd but I want him for Cameron. If Boyd goes to Bailey who goes to Cameron? I guess it has to be Cincotta?


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Harry had 7 score involvements in just over half a game against Sydney and you want to drop him

Need to get over your hatred of Harry its been going on for far to long now

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I'd like Voss to put Newman on Cameron again. There's no greater encouragement you can give to someone than by saying this failed last time, but I totally back you to make amends.

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Carlton forwards coach Ash Hansen has shot down any suggestions the Blues’ attack functions better without Harry McKay as two forwards face selection heartbreak ahead of the preliminary final.

McKay is a certain inclusion after concussion forced him out of Friday’s semi-final triumph, while Jack Martin’s return from suspension will also force a change to the side that managed to scrape together a winning score despite Charlie Curnow being convincingly beaten by Melbourne defender Steven May in last week’s semi-final.

Hansen said the Blues coaches would lose some sleep over the decision on who to drop, with Matt Kennedy and one of David Cuningham or Jesse Motlop looming as the unlucky forwards to make way from the starting 22.

He said Cuningham, who fought back after several injury-riddled seasons to establish himself at half-forward at the start of the Blues’ surge in July, had a strong case to hold onto his spot despite being subbed out for the final quarter of the semi-final with nine disposals to his name.

“I think it’s too easy to say (Cuningham will be dropped) – if you look over the course of the year, guys who have been subbed out haven’t missed the following week,” Hansen said.

“That was a tactical call we had to make on the game, but we take in a body of work into (account for) selection, not just three quarters of football or a tactical decision we make on game day.”

Hansen also praised Kennedy’s resilient performance against Demons interceptor Jake Lever, who started strongly but was gradually worked over by the 188cm Blue.

“Certainly, Lever started well early but then I thought Matty Kennedy worked into the game,” he said.

“We wanted to make sure we picked a healthy team, and Matty’s ability to play the game out until the 120th minute was shown when he kicked that soccer point in the final seconds because he had the ability to cover the ground.

Hansen joked he was “flabbergasted, bemused and shocked” by external commentary that the Blues’ forward line worked better without McKay.

“I understand it creates great debate … but this is a really easy question – we’re a better team with him in it,” he said.

“Sometimes it’s intangible what players can do for your group … I think guys walk taller when Harry’s out there, it reduces Charlie’s workload which allows him to be more energetic and dynamic in other contests because he’s not having to get to everything.

“Harry is super important for us – I think in the last game he played he was the leading score involvement player on the ground before he went off.”

He said it had been difficult to tweak McKay’s wayward goalkicking routine during the season, but the pair had already put plans in place to fix his scoring woes in the off-season.

“Just having more time to make those adjustments, which is really hard in-season to be able to do – we’ll do an assessment of where those shots are, be really deliberate with the practice and get to work on it,” he said.

“There’s a level of urgency that he wants to get it right, and he’ll put the time into it.

“Sometimes the humility piece is understanding where you’re at, but certainly we don’t want him thinking there’s a microscope on him because that just inflames the problem even more.

“He’ll have his moment, and I’m confident as his coach that he’ll take it.”

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Carlton before Harry McKay was subbed out vs Sydney & after he was subbed out:

Before: 10.6.(66)-6.9.(45) (+21)
After: 1.2.(8)-3.5.(23) (-15)

FYI: McKay was subbed out just before three quarter time.

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If you allow the Government to change the Laws in an emergency
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