Because we won?

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And so while others miserably pledge themselves to the pursuit of ambition and brief power, I will be stretched out in the shade, singing.

Stevens 28 poss 1 goal
Simpson 20 poss
Bentick 23 poss
Betts 19 poss 2 goals
Houlihan 29 poss

Regardless of what time of year it is I am stoked with our effort tonight. Mid way through the third quarter I was having my doubts... the fact that the boys came back is a credit to them.

Murph = porn

Setanta = brilliant

Fev = awesome

slow_mo = drunk

I believe the Roos started preseason training in the year 2047BC

CLOKE.....!

It was not just a 69 point turnaround it was 69 points unanswered if i recall correctly.

When was the last time we did that - even in preseason?

An excellent comeback, but in truth we were the dominant team for 3/4 of the match, but we never actually capitalised on our dominance until the last quarter.

I am loving the way we are moving the ball across the park at the moment. The skills are still a bitch, but so are everybody else's at this time of year. The question is how much improvement is there for round 1.

Does anyone have a link to audio for this quote?

No ghosts of 2005 for Pagan.

Just home from the game tonight.

Thought I would share a few observations of those things you can't see on the TV.

Backline:

We will struggle to get flogged by anyone this year and it will also be hard for teams to beat our backline.
So long as the midfield don't let the ball stream in uncontested as we did in the first 15 minutes on the 3rd quarter.
Backline looks very settled, tall enough to compete with any team and if not for a few shocking umpiring decisions, really dominated the Kangaroos forward line.
Setanta's closing speed to get to a contest is as good as I've seen by any backman in the 35 years I have been watching AFL. His reach to spoil is equally as good.
Disposal and particularly decision making needs a lot of work still however he is gaining confidence in this area. He is going to be a massive asset to the backline for a long time.
He was really helped out in the decision making area by the likes of AW, Hoops, Waitey (makings of the most attacking, damaging CHB in the competition after only 3 weeks there) and T-Bird as they were stream past for a handball more often than not. This takes the thought process away from Setanta (and the lack of kicking skill) and makes him very effective.
Rebounding from the backline should not be underestimated in tonights win. Very pleasing turnaround from our struggling backline of the past 5 years.

Midfield:
Still working each other out a bit but Geez-Louise we win the ball so much more than the opposition. AB & JR are very unassuming in the middle because they are the in-and-under hard ball get types.
They will make the likes of Murphy, Simmo, Gibbsy, Stevo, Carrazzo and Scotto look even better than we think they are because they seem to be on the right side of the pack to clear when the hard-ballers nip one out of the scrimmage.
But .... just when we looked to have the midfield working out how to play together and position for each other, we went and changed the whole team structure at the start of the 3rd quarter. To look across the whole field at that time we did look very unbalanced. Even to the naked eye it just looked really weird - something didn't look right. When we reordered things again the game turned in a heartbeat .... almost too late.

I must say that we really didn't look like we were getting smashed in general play even when the Roos got to 37 points up.
To be honest I didn't think we were that far out of it because we were by far the best team at that stage but just hadn't converted.
I wasn't checking the scoreboard during the early part of the 3rd and said to my wife "sh1t we need a goal to get the confidence back" then looked up at the scoreboard and couldn't believe we were 6 goals down.
We certainly hadn't played like a team who were 6 goals behind.

Anyway to complete my midfield assessment, I think we have a very good ruck team in Sugar & Cloke (maybe we should rename them Rum & Coke?).
They are not the tallest ruck duo but they are both very fit and strong bodied players. They were under-sized tonight but they crashed and muscled the leaner, taller ruckmen all night really wore them down to the point that they dominated in the last 30 minutes of the match.
Great foil over the next 2-3 years for the developing Hampson, Aisake and co.


Forward Line:
Interestingly enough our best area of the last few years looked to be struggling for a big part of the game. Actually looked as though they didn't know 1. where to lead without getting in each others way; and 2. where the ball carrier was going to kick too.
If not for poor execution and finish we should have been 3-4 goal up at half time because we had killed them around the ground.

Great captains effort in the forward line by Lance in the 3rd quarter when he sacrificed himself as a step-ladder for Fev to take Mark Of The Day and kick a goal which turned the game on it's head. Lance was taken off shortly after and did not return (not injured .... just dragged).

The momentum swang right there and then and we started to run off the opposition and made them look pedestrian. Passes started hitting targets, backline and midfield were streaming from everywhere.
You probably couldn't see on TV but when we started running we obviously looked very good, however we actually had 3 or 4 options through the midfield and up forward nearly every time.
I believe that it was having so many options and the quick, clean use of the ball that allowed Fev to be 1-out a lot more and the goals simply flowed.
Fev sensational with 8 but Eddie Betts was outstanding in the 2nd half. Good chasing by him to keep pressure on the rebounding backline right throughout the game (although he couldn't actually make a tackle a stationary wheat-bag) and really did some of the 1%ers.
Fev could take a leaf out of Eddie's book here and still needs to learn not to drop his head (we don't need a Richo at Carlton).


Some general observations:

I didn't agree with everything Synbad has written about Lance Whitnall - until tonight.
Regardless of his B&F win last year he looks the player most unlikely to have an impact in our team this year. Far, far too slow and can't get off the ground to get anywhere near taking a mark in the forward line.
No spot for him up forward if Fev & Kennedy are fit.
Can't see a spot in the backline the way the current setup looks as they are too tall, fast and are playing a running, rebounding style that he can't keep up with.
May captain from the bench a lot this year and would have to be lucky to hold down a spot in the first 18 without injuries to other players.
Could not see him being captain after this year as he won't be a regular starter.

Harts will be a huge asset if he stays fit because he is versatile. He and Waite can both play half-back/half-forward and be dangerous at either end. Harts shows he has the skill, body and intensity to make it big time. Hope his body hold together and has some better luck with injuries because he is a huge plus for us when fit. Very strong mark and good judge of the flight of the ball and jumps for it at the right time.

Special mention to Cam Cloke.
Was not a fan of picking him up pre-season but given a Navy Blue jumper I was prepared to give him a go and not bag him.
He was thrown into the game during the first half and had only been on for what seemed to be about 5-minutes when he got dragged. He looked a bit disappointed to be dragged but did the team thing and absolutely sprinted about 100m to the boundary for the interchange. Did the team thing, kept his head up, did what was asked and waited his turn again without sulking or carrying on.
When given the chance again in the 3rd quarter I would say that his effort and intensity level played a big part in the comeback and should not be underestimated. He really looks like he wants to be a Blue-bagger and stick it up everyone who said he can't make it.
If he isn't BOG when we play Collingwood I will be very surprised.
Has a point to prove and is playing like it as well. I'm converted.

Mr Caz is spot on to say that midfield delivery made Fev look good. The standard of delivery lifted in the last 30 minutes to a level I have not seen for a number of years.
But the midfield also has to take credit for pressure, harassing, chasing and simply winning the ball at the contest. We must have won centre clearances for the first time since I can remember and I saw a few Gibbs to Murphy and vice-verca plays that made my mouth water.
Mr Caz also said Gibbs first 2 touches were worth the price of admission .... I paid $75 for me and my missus to get the best seats in the stadium and could have gone home after 5-minutes a happy man feeling like I got my monies worth.

........ and Murph ....... pure silk - total class - next captain.

If anyone has any specific questions about players I haven't mentioned or anything that you may not have caught on the box, let me know.


Final word ...... refer to signature block below

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^^^

Don't worry Essendon* ....... We still hate your guts

^^^

if were starting with a clean slate then..

I liked this group against the scum

thought the game against the dawks was great with some very very good signs

I now love this group, today we muddled and fuddled at times and even had a snooze but we still steamrolled and strangled em

Great stuff all round.

Good Sunday tommorrow

PS how good is our back half looking!!

Back half were exceptional.
Always backing up and the hard running off the ball to create space and options was first class.

_________________
^^^

Don't worry Essendon* ....... We still hate your guts

^^^

The back half were great indeed and it's clear that Pagan has set them up to play offensively which is sensational. Each of those blokes down there is not only capable of defending, but they play each other into space and run with the ball.

It's the sort of counter-attacking teams have been doing against us for a few years now.

I just hope that when the season comes and 4 points are up for grabs we'll continue to play like that. I am sure we'll get smashed from time to time, but we will also win more games if we are happy to take risks.

I'm pretty sure that's a balls up from the author of the article. I heard/saw that post match interview on Fox and I'm sure Denis said Hartlett.

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We will win the cup,but i think most people here will get carried away with it, all we would have done is gave the young team some confident for the season.

This is a good thing, but you got to remember we beat Essendon*,Kangaroos,Hawthorn and possibly Brisbane,but they all bottom sides of last year and realistically only Hawthorn is a possible chance of making the 8 who were missing several players when we beat them.

I think 6-10 games will be a good effort after last year,but who knows with footy,but with our squad best 22 constantly playing without much changes for long period we will get better instead of dropping players all the time,that's what Fremantle Dockers used to do.

Dude don't get to cocky with the Kangaroos,they can be quiet sneaky and bite us in the ass in the real deal,we want that win against them in the real deal, because i guarantee you they will remember and try to give us a hiding like they did before.

Bentick has been a a top player, because he wasn't chosen in the national draft and Gibbs,Murphy and Walker were at number 1 or 2 picks plus Simpson and the addition of Russell and Blackwell,some people on this site are actually hoping he fails so this years draft kids can play already and replace him,his only 20 or 21 and they want him already gone in a couple of years same goes with Brad Fisher,he still young and getting better.

If they were in the club for ages and were just ordinary in a team still struggling at like 25,26,27,then they could say their time was nearly up.

Scotland,kouta,Lappin and even Stevens are all around 27 and over and possibly three might not be around in 3-4 years,so those guys picked in the draft will replace some.

No his in poor form plus the silly family spat is probably getting to him,they both looked like turkeys taking each other to court,now they both done it,they should both shake hands and forget about it and tear the stupid agreement and if the wives don't like it,stuff them in my opinion.

Hey 95Perfection - thanks so much for the thorough update from the game last night.

I was especially interested to read your comments re: Lance. I am living in the USA this year so obviously don't hear much and certainly don't get to see any highlights. I had noticed though that his name hadn't been mentioned in any of the match reports. Is he struggling that much? Where will they slot him in? You can't have the captain out of the team all year. It'll be interesting to see how he goes this year.

Take it easy. I wear my Carlton guernsey over here and get the strangest looks!

Betts 19 poss 2 goals impressive,wasn't sure on Betts even thou he has done pretty good in his short time, can be good one week and very quiet the next,plus his size but he still young.

While i was watching the game,i knew we would win even after trailing by 37 points,we were playing a lot better,but not delivering it to the forwards like they should.I had a feeling we would come back plus i didn't feel like throwing something at the TV,lol,when i know there isn't going to be some comeback.