Ok then, Whitnall fans!.. so you can honestly tell me right now that Whitnall was very good, consistently over the 22 rounds??

How many times has Whitnalls opponent been unaccounted for, only to kick a winning goal! His first half was good but the award smacks of a David Teague medal in 2004, which was absolutely laughable! What did Lappin do to deserve being pipped by such a dissappointing player! He was tremendous that year, Lappin!

Thats about as stupid as Vandenberg being captain for the hawks.

It was very dissappointing how he dropped off in the 2nd half of the year, obviously not watching his diet enough and being lazy when it came to being accountable for his opponent!

Scotlands ball winning ability.. EVERY WEEK! And Fevola who kicked about 35% of our score! In my mind it should have been Scotlands CONSISTENCY VS. Fevola's CLASS.. And Not Whitnalls umm FOOTY BRAIN!

Just stupid!

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In other news.. Melbourne has stepped up its Bid for Whitnall.. offering a 2nd round pick and it's promise to Whitnall to offer him a spot up forward with a Mega box of Krispy Kremes!

And he hasn't made the AA team.

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I just want my old club back ... (edit) maybe I have!

I'm not 'un-happy' that he won it! I think he is very valuable to this team and some of the things he does goes un-noticed.

Like setting up plays around the ground..................you just don't get a stat for those types of things.

Personally, i would have given it to FEV!

But while i'm happy (and proud of him) for Scotland in his improvement this year, i'm kinda glad he didn't win.
Playing off Half Back this year is the best possible way to rack up possesions each and every week. And i think todays game is just way to 'Stats' focused. It's like, if you nab 30 possesions you've had a good game..........

Not at all happy to see Nick Stevens come in 5th spot. I must have been watching a different Nick Stevens this year!

Congrats to Simmo & Walker for great years! NOBODY would have predicted these two to poll so highly at the start of the season.

For what it's worth (and it's probably not worth much) my Top 5:-

1. Fev
2. Simmo
3. Whitnall
4. Walker
5. Scotland

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"We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit"
- Aristotle

Bluebood 101,
Unfair to deride Teague's 2004 B&F based on his what has happened since. In 2004 he was very good, although I would agree it was a huge surprise that Lappin didn't win the award.

I would have thought Fevola, Whitnall and Scotland were the three contenders for the B&F this year and if it were a Rising Star type poll they would probably have finished in that order - or Fev, Scotland, Whitnall - with Fev well clear.

But the B&F is voted on week by week and there would have been games where Fev kicked 3 or 4 but through no fault of his own would have had few other opportunities and might not have picked up votes.

I suspect Whitnall was well clear in voting after an outstanding first half of the season and just held on after tapering off later in the year. As a defender he plays a dangerous game trying to read the play, playing well in front of opponents to make up for his glaring lack of speed - and for most of the season he got away with it.
But even as he struggled in defence later in the season Whitnall was working hard to create opportunities at the other end. Then there the games like Collingwood: beaten by Rocca, he went forward and was effective enough that Clement had to be moved off him.
Maybe what detractors like to put down as laziness was simply a matter of teams exploiting his weaknesses better - as happened to Teague post-2004? Perhaps with the development of O'hAilpin, Whitnall can go forward again next year.

Fev, who was fairly quiet in the last three weeks by the way, would have been a thoroughly deserving winner of the B&F - as would have been Scotland, and IMHO, as was Whitnall, based on the whole season.

Then again, we could go down the man-on-the-grassy-knoll route and make the assumption that Fev had a large bonus due if he won the B&F, so therefore the powers that be made sure that didn't happen ... and ditto with Lappin in 2004

If people are surprised that Whitnall won the B & F over Fevola, spare a moment and consider that he earned it.

Votes are cast at the end of every round, not at the end of a season, and Whitnall was the outright winner.

We should be thanking him for a good season overall, and for an oustanding first half year.

Sure there were abherations, such as the Hawks game, when Croad cut loose in the first quarter, but even the football critics considered that it was strange that a bloke who had been beaten in the first quarter (Whitnall), could be considered for BOG after he was thrown into the forward line, and performed exceptionally well.

You have to look at a whole game, or a whole season to define the B & F for any team. Looking at a quarter here and there to determine your B & F is to taking things out of context .

Well done Whitnall. You were in AA form in the first half, and not so in the second half (actually, since the captaincy was handed to you in Kouta's absence). You were our B & F player for 2006 for this great club. You won it on your merits and that means a lot to me!

Conrats to Fev, Scotland and Murphy for your efforts in season 2006.

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Everyone looks good in Navy Blue

Excellent post Out oftheBlue. Given that none of us are privy to the coaches intructions we are probably not in a position to assess exactly how well each player carried them out. Whit got caught out a bit, often trying to create and cover - presumably under instruction. He also ran a hell of a lot despite constant criticism of his fitness. Fev was very very good and only just got pipped by a fraction. Remember Jezza didn't win the B&F when he kicked 110 goals in a season. And Fev would lose votes from the Match Committee for too often not chasing hard enough, often enough. He has improved his 1%s but still has a way to go. There were a number of games where he kicked 4 or 5 goals and I wouldn't have put him in the best.

And Scotland was good, but to me he carried the ball miles but only rarely carried it forward and he didn't hurt the oppo enough. B&F is the best reflection of a players season, as it is given by the people who know exactly what the players have been instructed.

Fev, Whit, Simmo and Scotland were our best and that is how it finished. If Fev improves his work when he hasn't got the ball, he may win it next year.

PS Really disappointing coverage on the Official website. Yhanks to the SS boys for there pics.

Who got the other awards?

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Writer for SuperCoach Paige www.scpaige.com.au
Twitter - @johnfeeney24

Here you go PJ, buried deep on the site


Murphy, last year's number one selection in the NAB AFL Draft, won the Best First Year Player award, while 2004 club champion David Teague was named best clubman.

Irishman Setanta O'hAilpin picked up the Past Players Encouragement Award and Adam Bentick collected the Women of Carlton Player Ambassador of the Year Award for his on-field efforts and work within the community.

2006 John Nicholls Medal voting:
1. Lance Whitnall 174
2. Brendan Fevola 164
3. Heath Scotland 146
4. Kade Simpson 105
5. Nick Stevens 93
6. Andrew Walker 91
7. Bret Thornton 90
8. Matthew Lappin 84
9. Marc Murphy 82
10. Anthony Koutoufides 57

Legend, Gerry.

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Writer for SuperCoach Paige www.scpaige.com.au
Twitter - @johnfeeney24

I would give Nick Stevens a bit of slack - he was playing injured and without support this year and had two very good years prior to that. I would much prefer Stevens AND Fevola as dual captains than having Whitnall as captain.


I watched one of the so called great games Whitnall played from the first half of the season - Carlton vs West Coast - just recently.


Hunter cut loose in the second half and Whitnall was nowhere to be seen.

The problem with Whitnall is that defence isn't his best position - but they persist in putting him there. He doesn't have the endurance to keep performing for the whole match.


Talking about that match - i was also interested in why the interchange bench wasn't used to its full potential. The interchange bench is used by Sydney and the Coasters to a far greater degree than Carlton. Each week the coaching staff have players - like Prendergast in this game - who played less than 10-15 minutes of the match. No wonder they ran out of juice in the last quarter.

I think the saying is while Rome burned, Nero fiddled.

Yeh, it doesnt matter that he was unaccountable and unfit and unable to perform for an entire season..

Whitnall had a good first half, but after that he put on the kilos and become lazy again!

And we want this guy as our CAPTAIN????

I'd rather someone who has real CLASS, A modern day footballer like FEVOLA as our captain rather than Whitnall!.. Fevs game against the hawks showed the leadership potential he has!.. But no! Let's go safe and choose a FATTIE!

FEVOLA can win Carlton a game off his own boot! WHITNALL CAN'T!

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In other news.. Melbourne has stepped up its Bid for Whitnall.. offering a 2nd round pick and it's promise to Whitnall to offer him a spot up forward with a Mega box of Krispy Kremes!

This CONVERSATION pops UP every couple of WEEKS with the SAME things being SAID over and OVER again. It's so 2003.

Can I get this out again verbs?

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Congratulations CK95

I was wondering where that thing had got to. It's been in safe hands I see.

Perhaps its because we havent moved on since 2003!

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In other news.. Melbourne has stepped up its Bid for Whitnall.. offering a 2nd round pick and it's promise to Whitnall to offer him a spot up forward with a Mega box of Krispy Kremes!

Id love to know how many goals Whitnalls opponents kicked this year....

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Due to recent budget cuts and the rising cost of electricity, gas, and oil....... the Light at the End of the Tunnel has been turned off. We apologize for the inconvenience.

Congratulations Lance on winning the B&F. You were a deserved winner despite what some may say. You see the collective wisdom of the members of this forum thought that Lance was equal 3rd best. So that is close enough.

That doesn't mean that we don't need to collectively improve as a team and a club. We did finish last after all. So something is not quite right.

Agreed!! Well done Lance. Spent a massive amount of time at CHB but still managed to kicked 15 goals (4th on our list).

The way this club operates it wouldn't surprise me if they traded him for a second rounder . if they have no intentions of this, they should send signals that he will be captain in 07.

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end of message

What a pathetic, miserable bunch of "supporters". I am disgraced. Just be happy for Lance. Regardless of where we are at, the quality of the list, and off field dramas, this is a fantastic achievement. If all you can find are negatives, then I feel sorry for you people.