Kicking as a general skill is way down across the board at most clubs (both goal shooting and general field kicking.

Seems to be a product of the modern game....handball, handball, short kick etc...and trying to find the next target through a maze of opposition players.

We just seem to be at the lowest end of the scale. Our field kicking lacks penetration and accuracy and apart from "Big Fev" our goal kicking is well....woeful....and I saw nothing in the Bullants yesterday to suggest that we will address the problem anytime soon.

The more talented clubs have some super skilled players, some of which you would trust to kick for your life. Clubs such as Carlton have a major deficiency in this department. (Being able to run fast is not the be all and end all!)

You can talk all you like about kicking coaches, the problem is this; if you can't kick well enough as a 16 to 18 year old, you have a small chance of becoming a Gary Buccanara (spelling?) or a Nathan Buckley. (Blokes like Ian Prendergast and Setanta will never improve their kicking a great deal as it is their unnatural style that is the problem.

Lets face it modern football (Basketball) including the junior level doesn't exactly command that a player develops his kicking past the point of kicking the football to the vicinity of a teammate 30 metres away.... usually backwards or sideways.

But by all means attempt to improve the players kicking with the use of kicking coaches because any small improvement has got to help prevent me tearing my hair out.....oops, sorry I haven't got any left.

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Lets be fair to Carrazzo... he was awesome EXCEPT for this..... "YOU WERE SHIT, YOUR GOALKICKING WAS SHOCKING" is probably the last thing I'd mention in my assessment of his match, after all the superlatives.

Its more a memo for the team.... he's an excellent adaptable player with one obvious weakness in his game.... they've got to find a spot for him that minimises his utilisation of that skill.

I don't know why he's not played on the ball.... He would have been a great tag for Hodge. I would play him in a negating midfield role every week. He'd be perfect for that role because he's strong in stoppages and a great tackler... so he'll win the side ball and get us going forward, while quick enough to go the other way.

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I agree that it would be preferable if we could play him in the midfield more consistently. But I guess that means bringing in either Bannister or Wiggins to play the defensive/tagger role on attacking flankers. Or using Russell as more than a midfield rotation. With the team they picked last week, there weren't all that many options to shut down Guerra. (Since we still lack pace and defensive accountability among our running players.)

Our kicking for goal this season has been very good thus far.

I am assuming or hoping that Friday was an aberration at this stage.

This time last year people were criticising Carrazzo for his disposal in general.

The guy has had to do everthing the hard way. Rookie list at Geelong, rookie list with us, finally elevated to the main list, played in a back pocket. He has worked, and worked and worked to make it as a footballer. He gets better and better every week and he knows how to find the ball.

It was the first game he had to play up forward and I would imagine his job was firstly to shut down Guerra and attempt to kick goals second. He had a fantastic game, goal kicking aside.

He keeps stepping up to the next level, and I would imagine before too long goal kicking won't be an issue for him either.

Andrew has played really well this season and will continue to improve.However it doesnt hurt that Friday was a reminder that although he has somewhat cemented a spot in the senior team he has to continue to work on his disposal skills and in paricular to be a multi- dimensional player has to work on his kicking for goal.All 3 shots were gettable

Goal kicking in a game is very different to training. Think of it like having a bat in the nets as opposed to out in the middle.

Why would his kicking have anything to do with batting????

Its more like golf....

think of it like he has the Ian Baker-Finch yips..

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I was talking about everyone's practice not just one's.

It's a different situation having a swing in the nets to batting out in the middle.

Yeah but i dont agree its more like cricket batting in my honest opinion its more like golf putting...

You dont agree???

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I thought he was excellent on Friday night.

His speed off the mark was exceptional and I thought he really beat his man every time. If he can get his goal kicking right, he could be a very deadly player in the forward line should Denis play him there again.

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A Carlton supporting friend described the Blues as 'the biggest cockteasers' after Friday night's effort.
So close yet so far away. I honestly think that the 32 point margin flattered the Hawks a little. If we kicked straight.....

if he is to play forward he should be able to kick a bit better than he did, you can't just plonk a guy in th forward line & expect him to get goals without some guidence

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I think if Carrots wants to improve his game he must improve his shots for goal.
If you look at Class A midfielders they all regulary score a goal.
I know Carrots is a defensive minded midfielder but if he could score goals when put forward he would be a real asset to the team, and get more attention from the opposition.

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Watching the replay I think he did alright. He killed his direct opponent who in turn has been having a tremendous year. He got the ball a lot just outside his kicking range and I think he shanked a few of them trying to kick to hard. I think this guy has been one of our success stories. I don't think we would have noticed it so much if we hadn't been so reliant on him to score each and every time he got the ball. I mean our other key forwards were non-existent.

Just a few other comments on the game:
How good was the Walker/Whitnal swap at quater time. Lance killed them up forward and Walks did a job on Croad.
Deluca is an absolute waste of space, no presence for a big man, no ability to hit a target. Waited so long for options then kicked it to a contest. MMM commentators were saying that Hawthorn were prepared to let him run free knowing he could do know damage. When I saw the game I thought he presented well and played the best game I have seen him play, but still no vision and not really up to league standrard. Hard to see where he could play.
Ohailpin should be given another chance. He should be learning the game with other forwards, not dumped in the shit as a key forward at the moment as he had know idea on Friday night. Liked his work rate though and second efforts.
Big well done to Eddy and Kade... Man those two guys showed some tremendous effort tackling two, three, four opposition players to win possession of the ball....

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He has never been a good kick for goal. I'm not sure why, but there is obviously a reason he doesn't get played as a midfielder often.

He isn't terrible on the run though. I can't remember him having too many set-shots before the Hawthorn game, which is much more difficult.

Here's a thought, maybe his kicking is why he isn't a midfielder.

very insightful and not at all based on reality. he seems to miss targets when he has longer for the kick (ie, out of defence or for goal)

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It's all about confidence.

Kouta used to be a terrible shot for goal, but as he became more confident in his ability as a footballer, his set shots improved considerably.

Fevola used to be a woeful kick for goal in the Brittain years - he shanked everything, had a really short run-up, kicked under the ball etc. Then all of a sudden Pagan comes along and says "Brendan I think you're the bomb" and all of a sudden he's splitting the sticks from 60 metres out.

Having a definite role, the confidence of your coach and team and the expectation that you are going to nail the shot can make a huge difference.