Sydney - I know where you are coming from. Our selections are really vanilla in my opinion.

We dont have anyone with any shit in them. We seem to recruit skinny guys who dont fit into one position. Mainly small backs and small forwards. Who are average to maybe good. Nothing outstanding.

We lose Weitering or TDK and there is no depth.

But we get 2 SSP picks and the best we can do is White, DGB, Phillips, and Evans. Ordinary at best.

Are we too lazy to look in the state leagues?

We need to seek out Geelongs, Collingwoods or the Swans recruiters. Im in the opinion on changing recruiters every couple of years anyone to get a variety.

Did anyone see the other teams in the pre-season and see how fit, and bulky other teams are. Geelong, Essendon* last night. Those two teams ran and cracked in the whole game. No injuries and still running to the end.

Did anyone see Adelaide, i mean they are huge.

What is wrong with us? I may be over-reacting after one practice game, but we are made of chalk and this was the last few years and now continuing to now.

Sometimes when you draft, you need to not just focus on super talent or the potential of it and go safer. Did we with Jagga ? Not sure sure in hindsight. The guy is skinny as a rake. And we gave up a lot for him. Was he worth it more than a langford for example? Not so sure.

Its confusing to see our club like this. We seem to be focusing on feel good stories and getting the good boys rather than players that fit a need. Its nice that White was a Carlton supporter and all the feels, but should we have selected him, i feel we could have done better or sought more pressing needs.

Evans - Why was he selected? We have enough of these players.

I hope i eat my words of course, and i will come in here and put my hand up if that is the case.

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

Austin is the list manager.
I’ve been told he’s engaging and open minded but will make the hard decisions.
SOS on the other hand was a dictator: his way or the highway.
Admittedly the list was at different stages and therefore courses for each.

Recruitment team has been strengthened since SOS, and the Football Director is one Diesel Williams who not only bats straight, but oversees and is engaged in the Final decisions on list. He knows what he sees and what he says. Anyone doubt Diesel? He doesn’t suffer fools.

List management is not a one man show anymore, so don’t focus on the messenger.

The list is the best it’s been for 2 decades, and the sky is falling.
We had 17 out injured but still made it to Finals, but didn’t have the personnel available to move past 8th.

The footy world knows Jagga Smith is a keeper, and would add to our already big bodied midfield.
We aren’t too skinny in the midfield. Quite the opposite hence traded out Kennedy to add something different.

Jagga injury had nothing to do with his age or weight. Have a look at the incident. I did an ACL trying to slow down after a sprint, all in a straight line, no hitting, no twisting. Shit happens. Put Jaggas to bad luck, not bad list management. That’s all it was.

I wanted McMahon, but really happy with Wllie. McMahon has great attributes, but he didn’t put on any muscle over the preseason to stake a claim as a KPD. I am not a fan of DGB, nor Phillips. Vanilla.

On the positive side, there’s a great chance the other 2 long term injured, Cincotta and Newman both look to be recovering quicker than expected, and at least one will be back in 6 weeks, and the other by midseason

Let’s hope nothing bad happens to Weitering or TDK, but let’s not forget, there’s no replacement for this 2 players in any other league. That’s why one is on $1M and the other is offered $1.7M to leave Carlton.

My last post I said I expected O’Keefe to be the one to have his breakthrough year…at some stage, and after watching him, as posted, he’s the real deal and much more mobile and athletic than Pitto. Watch this space, and my boy Matt Carroll will be the other surprise…then there’s Charleston who is ready made…there’s a lot of surprises to be enjoyed in the future….from existing list.

Our list not as bad as some think, and it’s not as good as some think. The list evolves every year, and we have a better list this year, backed by a better S&C group than last year. That’s progress, and there’s plenty of pressure on important positions of weakness.

We have 6 more months before Finals, and I thought and posted O’Farrell was too skinny and too early in his development to crow about this year, but geez he’s got a lot of talent and HAS shown a lot. He can play a role this year,

Don’t underestimate Young to feature in defence. He is on our list too. Just look at the facts over summer. He IS depth, But he’s given Harry a hard time all preseason. Niggling, harassing, getting under Harry’s skin all summer. Harry kicked. 8 goals in a half against DBG. Get that straight. Against DGB, not Young. Don’t put a line through anyone unless it’s an Achilles or ACL, season ending injury. Surprises always happen and players and coaches can improve themselves and others around them.

Go Blues…..this weather in Melbourne is outstanding….I hope it’s half as good at Manuka on Friday.See you there baggers.

Keep punching TC.

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Everyone looks good in Navy Blue

Apparently our top 6 is really really really good though..........

And TDK is going to be the player of his generation!!

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I'm shocked to be sitting here

Bondi. Love your posts. But we cant afford to keep on waiting anymore. We need a go now approach and we have moved from it. Whilst i agree with it to a degree.

I didnt want us to trade for Houston - so i will put this out there straight away.

But i expect that we do smaller trades and use the rookie path to focus on players that we can add to the team now. ie Recruit all players that fit positions of need, ie KPP and genuine mids and genuine small forwards so the damn hybrids that we try and turn into something they are not.

We have Cripps, Docherty, Newman, Acres, Hewitt who are not getting any younger.

Charlie is injury prone now.

How long are we going to have this window open for?

Its why i admire a Hawthorn and Collingwood. I hate em but admire them. They have added players that will help them succeed now. They dont shy away from saying they want to win finals.

We are so timid, we have Harry saying he wont be defined by a premiership. I mean WTF !!

We dont like pressure so we dont embrace what is expected of this club anymore. It is to make top 4 now and win a grand final now.

I feel we havent addressed what we needed from last year. Its spin and rinse again hoping we dont get injuries. Well injuries are starting now again, so who is going to pick up the slack ? We are talking about power and speed. Where is this going to come from especially in the midfield?

Where is the guy who is going to run and gun from the midfield take a few bounces and kick a goal?

Where is the small forward who is going to demand the goal and kick goals out of his bottom?

Where are the powerful small backs who are going to stop the gritty small forwards from the opposition. Will it be Ollie? Will it be JSOS? Not sure about these options. Why cant we try the players we draft. Wilson, Charleston, the pre-season is the time for it.

We recruited so called ready made Evans, why didnt he play in the pre-season. Hopefully White plays this week, but i doubt it. We need to use the pre-season for these experiments. I dont think we experimented as much as everyone thinks against the St Scum.

We are scarred of trying new things and players. Who knows we may uncover something amazing. Only positive for me last week when we did try something new is Carrol - This is more what im talking about.

What my issue is we recruit guys because they played in the VFL or they were Carlton supporters. I really dont give a toss bag how nice you are and feel good stories.

I want guys with the shit and want to win a contest. And i dont want good and servicable anymore, we are now past this stage. We need a role player that we can rely on. Not waiting on hoping they will be good eventually and leave them in the ressies.

Wilson has been performing well for a while now and hadnt been given a go. It took Binns ages to be given a go. Then the confidence leaves.

Why did Kemp and Hollands get left out of the team last week? They are the type of players we need.

If Hollands has an issue, then please share that with us.

Its so frustrating !! Essendon* smashing it against Geelong with Kako and Caddy just shits me. They have recruited role players from the rookie/midseason draft that are best 22 now.

Geelong havent had high draft picks and look at the guys that are coming through for them? Is it our development, what is it?

I just dont know anymore.

Hard to disagree with much of this Drewgirl.
I am also still confused on the "for the future" approach, I thought we are in the window now.
And I don't care if Austin is a nice bloke or approachable, I want us to win a premiership.
I have no dog in the fight about him, but his approach over the last couple of years has been questionable IMO.

I know recruiting had nothing to do with Jagga going down, but it does make this season a little less exciting not being able to watch his development.
I just have to stop thinking what Houston and Boxshall could've given us instead.

Thanks Bondi. I am in your camp.
Too many people here expect the club to be meeting their own expectations before we even play round 1.
I am more than happy to let those at the club that should know, make the decisions and I will pass judgement at the end of the year.
BTW, I am definitely not a Young fan and do not think he has what it takes to hold down CHB, but will be very happy if he proves me wrong.

I dont get his draft strategy
He seems to trade for 1 player
Pick kids in draft
then look for recycle rookies

Trading up for Jagga was the lazy way of recruiting - anyone can nail a pick 3 - every Tom dick and Harry has their mock drafts with the same first 4-5 players in them all the same - Nailing a pick in the 10 to 20 is a lot harder.

He should not have traded up unless you are talking Harley Reid type player and I dont think Jagga is in that league

I dont think he has nailed a pick yet and with the exception of Acres his trades have been under whelming - Cerra might drag him up a bit if he can stay fit - but our drug courier seems like he is in trouble again if we listen to the rumors

We should have topped up this year and had a crack starting with Houston

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

You might change your mind once Jagga starts playing. Easy criticism when he is not playing due to injury and can't be assessed. For all we know he will be better than Reid.

Would Houston really the reason we would win the flag this year?

Really?

Say so, if that’s the case.

The flag. It’s not easy to win them. Ask the 1968 Effendopes, the 1969 Blues, the 1970 Pies, the 1972 Tigers the 1973 Blues ….moving forward, last years outright ladder leaders Sydney….hey Sydney have lost their last 3 attempts by a total 225 points despit being ladder leaders in those years.

Let’s just aim for top 4 and be happy to be there, coz that’s when anything can happen, even for Carlton THIS year.

A Nick Daicos accidental knock can end his and Pies campaign…and then they are left with 7 players over 32yo, with a couple in their mid 30’s.

I know which list I’d rather have between Pies and Blues. The Pies have thrown all their chips in to get Houston this year and they didn’t make the 8 last year.

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Everyone looks good in Navy Blue

Spot on Bondi. Aim is to finish top 2 - 4 at worse. Then it's a different ball game.
As for Naicos, if any flowering coach lets him run around unchecked, they deserve to lose their job. The guy hates contact, but loves to run and create, force him to play contested footy, by shadowing him!!!
Just to add - the filth are a different team when he is not on. People say we depend on Crippa, but they depend on him more!

Why is it that they dont smash that little Narcos into the ground ? Surely he cant be that unbreakable.

How long can he keep on doing what he does? GRRRRRRRRRR

Yeah , good stuff Bondi . Talking about Flags is good but we need to be talking about being a contender first and that means finishing in the top four . Crawl before you walk Bondi ?

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All my dangerous friends

A lot of stories and ifs and buts

I could throw up Boyd, Saady and Cowan as your ‘big’ small fwd defend options

Walshy and a fit cerra running out of the square - I can see it and have

Elijah played second half against the saints

It’s the time of year to be curious as a supporter. What have we been working on. How might we show up. We’ve heard ‘speed’ all summer long. We have 4 small forwards supporting Harry and Kempy tomorrow, I can’t wait to see what unfolds. Hopefully more zip up and down the ground and in the forward line.

Speaking of which what has happened to Boyd, did he play at any level last week? Not on the injury list…

i fear we won't make the 8.

i'm expecting a big drop off on the list with a few of our guys (doc, mcgov, saad, fog). other areas we are too dependant on one player & one injury will cook us (weiters, tdk, charlie) ... and other areas (coaching, small forwards, moving the ball from CHB and kicking goals) i can't see how we are anywhere near it.

for some reason i keep thinking about your call last season, "in voss, you trust" ... i just can't. we've had flashes since he was coach, gone on runs. but the baseline hasn't been very good at all under voss, imo.

This was in another thread ...

I saw footage of him at training with his nose taped up actually.

You sure that wasn't Elijah?

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#DonTheStash

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Looking forward to seeing our potential realised.