I actually think its a good thread mark.. plenty of people discvussing it.. and i think you really have been beating your head against a brick wall way too much....it showing with your logic...

some people think these threads are negative. i would rather think its a delve into the reality of where were at... we can all sit around the fire hold hands and sing 'KUMBAYAH' instead.

Its a forum Blue.. you reckon youre positive and im negative..
I prefer to think im a realist and youre a tripper!!!

Yes i started a thread thats gone 50 posts in less than a day...most pretty interesting .

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I had flagged the Thornton to CHF move before but it was more out of desperation and its something I would rather not do as I believe when you have a player doing well in a position ie FB or CHB you leave them where they are...but when you are desperate you consider anything..

Thanks to Dom for getting the topic back on track and in especially for his support about the CHF issue....we are a mess with our structure and getting a CHF who can mark the ball is the first step.

I dont see us stealing anyone from another club...no one in their right mind is going to give a way a good CHF in the making.
We need to get one via the draft....Hawthorn got themselves a CHF in Franklin and a Justin Leppitch type in Roughead.....we have to do similar.

Lance Whitnall at his best still isnt the CHF we need...he isnt the go to man, the protector etc....he is the level below the very best CHF's.
I am not saying we dispense with Lance but at 190cm and lacking real mobility and vigour he doesnt fit my image of the 195cm streamline athletic powerhouse we need...

Maybe Jordan Russell at No 9 should have been a project CHF.....we do lack pace and creative runners but my priority would be the spine of the team and a CHF.....maybe Ryan Willets, Ivan Maric , Adam Pattison could have been a better choice for us...a big imposing player who we could build the team around......pick a running player with a later pick.
Its easy to be wise after the event but to me it goes back to the age old recruiting question of best player available or what you need most......I think Hawthorn went with the what you need theory and I think when you are rebuilding I agree with them...

I think Hartlett is more a forward than a defender.

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I think what Freemantle are doing with Mcpharlin is interesting.Blooded him in the backline and now moved forward.
The guy is a fantastic mark and is a real danger if the opposition become to preoccupied with Pavlich.
How i would love someone who can mark at Carlton.By marking i mean ONE grab,strong hands!
Look at our boys....
Deluca..always 2 or 3 bites
Prenda..rarely takes a pack mark
French....Can take a one grab,but does'nt do it enough..1 or 2 contested marks a match for a bloke who is 6 foot 7 is not good enough.
Kouta....Once upon a time but rarely now.
Whitnall...Inconsistent.

All these are big bloke who don,t take enough marks.Worse still they don,t bring it to ground!.

The marking issue is our archiles heel.Even our mediums and smalls(with the odd exceptions) are not strong overhead.Our inability to catch the ball hurts us badly at kick ins and makes it very hard to implement a Pagans paddock policy.
I watched Peter Bell,a midget,take 2 strong contested marks in 5 minutes last week.How often do we do it!

Recruit players who can mark,hold their feet and bring it to ground..

We have a couple of second tier players running around at other clubs right at the moment. Sure McKernan is finished, Allan is nigh on finished, Beauy and Murphy are serviceable at other bottom ranked clubs, but what about Hamill? Surely this was the player that should have been our CHF for the next period. While he is no Tredrea or Brown he would take a key backman and would allow Lance to run around as our third forward. Losing him was the beginning of our fall in my opinion. I know we can't change the past.

Why couldn't we do that this year?

To win a GF you need the real thing like a Kernahan, Brown etc....Hamill would a very good player in our team but not at CHF..not tall enough..what he might do is allow Lance some more breathing room as you said and provide some much needed muscle.
I'm not sure if everyone else would agree but I found Aaron Hamill didnt play so well in the big games for us...maybe things have changed at Stkilda but I think there are still doubts about his ability come finals time...but I agree his leaving has hurt us in several areas.......maybe if Kouta, Lance and Campo were on more reasonable deals we may have kept Hamill....he probably would have been captain as well...

nice .....

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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.

Fisher