Our first intra club practice match is on Monday 5 February, pencilled in at 9.30 to 10am start.

A match has been proposed against Hawthorn on Friday 16 February, hopefully held late in the afternoon so more people can attend, where proceeds will be donated to victims of the bush fires.

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With 12 seconds to go in the 1947 Grand Final Fred Stafford snaps a left footed goal. Carlton beat Essendon* by one point..

Number 17 in Carlton's 25 Greatest Moments.

Thanks Freddy.
On the ball as usual.

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Looking forward to seeing our potential realised.

The fact that Barnaby Bench is even near Nick Stevens in tackle count for the season is disgraceful on Stevens part, he is a ruckman for goodness sake.

Please stop with the excuses ' until I found out that he'd been playing with a pair of cracked ribs since Rd 3 ' who told you that.... we make too much excuses for bigger named players.

He doesnt work hard when we dont have the footy thats all im saying, he isnt as good as people make him out to be. Good player yes... superstar no where near it!

He doesnt want to be at Carlton its obvious.

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Matty Kruzer you star!

Good post Brizzyblue.

IMO there is nothing wrong with a midfielder such as Stevo having the same amount of tackes as our "bullocking" ruckman. That's Frenchy's style. He gets a lot of tackles because his style of play requires that. To say that Stevo is soft because he had less tackles than French is bizarre. That means Simpson, McGragh, Walker and Lappin are all soft too! Steven's isn't an in and under player. Neither was Craig Braddle and he was a star. Actually Bradley got tougher with age and so will Stevens. He'll prove you wrong this year, mark my word. Top 3 B&F for sure. Bona Fide midfielder who would fit in the best midfield in any league team.

Sorry mate, gotta pull you up on that one. I dont think anyone will argue that he didnt have a superstar year last year or even the year before that, but he has been consistently in our best and struggled with the fact we have had such a thread-bare midfield in terms of class that he just gets worked over by the opposition.

As far as not wanting to be at Carlton, I suggest you try and head down to training and see the enthusiasm, leadership and hard work he is putting in before making a statement like that. I have no doubt Nick Stevens is passionate about the CFC and wants to be a part of getting us successful again.

He has no defensive game, will not man up when we dont have the footy.

I hope he proves me wrong i really do, but it just annoys me how people make him out to be some sort of superstar when in my eyes he is a good player, not a superstar

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Matty Kruzer you star!

My biggest problem with Stevens is that he is too Unaccountable. Good post BB I agree with you on some points but I agree with nytdog more.

Steven's was played injured and shouldn't be judged purely on 06' as everyone knows what a quality player he is from his 2004 and 2005 form. He's not the most defensive midfielder we have and I completely aggree midfielders simply can't afford to be unaccountable in our team because we just don't have the troops to cover purely attacking players, so Stevo needs to lift here.

As for the tackling stats, I believe players have roles and while I'm sure tackling is a high ranking KPI for us, Stevo would have more important aspects of his game that he'd be concentrating on. A guy like Bentick needs to be very defensive and have a high tackle count, because he can't hurt teams offensively like Stevens can; he needs to justify his spot in the team and tackles and clearances are his bread and butter, I would think goal assists and inside 50's would be something Stevo would want to score highly in. Stevo needs to be more accountable but I refuse to write the bloke off just because French averaged as many tackles in 06' FFS, he's one of our best players and FWIW Ben Cousins averaged 1.7 tackles a game in 06 to Stevo's 2.9 - a stat that reveals @#$%&! all

One of Barnaby's strengths, maybe his only strength, was his presence around the stoppages where he could use his big frame to bump, shepherd and tackle the opposition out of the contest. Not really surprising that he has a fair tackle count.

Lets all hope for an injury free 2007 for Nick next year because he hasn't had one for years... and he's had to carry them through match after match when he gets them.

are you serious, get every game jarrad waite has played in and watch him. ONE of the only players in our team that you see still chasing players too far, he almost over chases. He seems to waste too much energy, everytime i watch him, he is chasing a player, and then you see him with his hands on his knees. do people notice that about waite, with his hands on his knees a lot. HE IS FIT, it has been proven by his time trials, but his hands are on his knees because he is always CHASING. no offense but watch it more closely and don't post stuff that is false. I watch waitey a lot and sorry but you are wrong in this case. He chases too much. He trains almost too hard, resulting in stress fractures. Give the kid a break, its a result of people on here and everywhere putting too much "star" ability on him at a young age when hes had injuries. You have all hyped him so much that you are dissapointed because hes not a star. Far out, hes played just over 60 games, and has represented australia, and been in our best absolutely numerous times. He kicks a goal a game usually, is an absolute athlete and opposition threat. He is not a star, probably never will be. But a very dangerous player and at this stage in his career most young footballers out there would lose an arm to have achieved what he has. It is about time that people stop getting in to him. Let him get on with it, and you should be happy with what he has produced, not dissapointed because he hasn't kicked 10 goals a game yet. Far out.

waitey wrote



Yep!

Chases even when he has no hope of catching them. He's a real goer in my book...He has a BIG NAVY BLUE HEART...and will be a star of the game.



Good to see you back Waitey.

Keep up the good work!

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Everyone looks good in Navy Blue

Did someone actually say that Scotland's not a gun??

FFS, you cant really be serious. He was one of the best trades Carlton has made in the last 10 years.

Skill, pace, guts, composure, class, damaging ... a massive possession getter that can deliver the ball and rarely gets injured. Favourite player of 2006.

On top of that, you get to hear Pies supporters groan every time he flaunts his talents. Come on now, he's no workhorse, he's a gun, a Carlton gun.

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"It was like calling your ex girlfriend after a night on the booze, just a really bad decision".

Damn straight Scotland is a gun. He had a ripper year last year. Was a team leader and had a sensational year in terms of possessions and his use of the ball is impressive. Love him and yes the best trade we've made since the early 90s.

As for Waitey, Hollywood is completely off the mark. This kid tries his heart out. He isn't a slacker in any sense. We leave that title for Bryan. As the team gets better you'll see players like Waite improve more and more. Less pressure on them and doesn't have to take the oppositions second best backman when we have Lance and/or JK up there next to him. Or we may even have the luxury of releasing him to a wing.

Here's my attempt at Probables vs Possibles ignoring injuries. I shudder to think of the end result but...

1st

B Bower, O’hAilpin, Thornton
HB Walker, Whitnall, Lappin
C Simpson, Murphy, Scotland
HF Waite, Kennedy, Houlihan
F Betts, Fevola, Fisher
R Ackland, Stevens, Bentick
Int Cloke, Carrazzo, Koutoufidies, Gibbs

2nd

B Anderson, Jamison, Flint
HB Teague, Saddington, Russell
C Jackson, Wiggins, Bannister
HF Aisake, Edwards, Young
F Benjamin, Hartlett, Raso
R McLaren, Blackwell, Grigg
Int Hampson, Austin, Jacobs, T.Johnson

I didn't say he wasn't a decent player, i just said i don't consider him as a 'gun'.

I think we use the term 'Gun' a bit to much. A bit like 'Champion'.

Yes Scotland was a good trade.
Yes he had a very good 2006.
Yes he is a good player and is a handy inclusion for our leadership group.

But Scotland would have trouble avoiding the bench or 2nds in most of the other clubs out there too!

Is he a gun? I don't think so. But maybe my understanding of the term 'gun' is different to others.

In-fact, i really don't even like the word 'Gun'..................much to bigfooty.com for me.

Good luck to Scotland this year! Keep up the consistancy!

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

I saw Anderson play in the NTFL grand final last year for the Darwin Buffs.

All I can say is that he is a gun.

during the game I kept hoping that Carlton would recruit him.

Dont be suprised if you mistake him for Fraser Brown this year.

Hard as nails....exactly what the doctor ordered.

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Revenge is a dish best served cold

&

I AM PROUD SPONSOR OF THE CAROLINE WILSON HATE CLUB

get your hand off it.

What? Your suggesting that he'd be a walk up start in teams like West Coast & Freo? Or Sydney? Or the Bulldogs? Or Adelaide? If that's the case then perhaps i should keep my hand on it!

Maybe in teams like Essendon* or another club in a similar position to us.

Look. i'm not trying to bagg Scotland here. I thought he was easilly the most consitant player last year and if he continues that consistancy this year then he will be very important to us.

All i said was i don't think he's a gun!

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

THAT'S EXCITING~!!!!!!

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

yeah good point ryan2000 but its still hard to judge if he would be better or worse at another club.

not a gun though..... good player yes.

fevola is our only gun at the moment.