Read this...

"Blues need to swallow their pride"

http://www.heraldsun.news.com.au/footy/ ... 62,00.html



Unfortunately we've already suffered the pain, but didn't experience the gain, thanks to draft penalties co-inciding with a wooden spoon.

Call it bad luck, a co-incidence, or a vendetta - which ever way, it's done now.

_________________

************************************************************
NOW YOU'RE JUST SOME CLUB THAT I USED TO KNOW.

It's a fairly c-grade article, or "op-ed" piece.

Doesn't say much. Lots of piss and wind really, signifying nothing. We're a woeful side? Pffft. We're not good, but far from woeful. Ralph is a Bummers fan, I think. You want woeful, look in your own backyard, Ralph.

What's the point he's trying to make about Mott, Kenna, Harford and McCormick?

From the sound of the article, and I read it twice to make sure I wasn't reading it with just my Carlton Glasses on, he is endorsing the Tanking method of cheating the draft. Yes, cheating.

Just another waste of precious tree resources by the genii at News.

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

He was fairly spot on except for the "swallowing our pride" bit. If we could have picked up early draft picks then we would have. We had no choice about the matter.

Great article. Spot on John Ralph!

_________________
When Dick became President, it was as if everyone at Carlton came out of the hailstorm and into the sunshine - Stephen Kernahan

YARRAN!!





.

Look, i'm a bit mixed with the whole draft picks issue. I really believe that we are where we are today NOT because of the draft picks we missed out on, but because of the draft picks that we got.

We had problems BEFORE we lost those picks. Wasted efforts in the recruitrment department is the reason as to why we are struggling.

While we were picking players such as Vance ect, ect, ect other teams were drafting for the future.
What we need to do now (and what we have started to do too with kids such as Russell and Hartlett) is look for the future and NOT a short term fix.

But i could seriously look to Delisting quite a few players this year as in...................Bowyer, Clarke DeLuca, Johnson & Possibly Wiggens.
Trade the likes of Norman (which saddens me) Whitnall (which also saddens me!) Scotland (if anybody wants him!) and Prendagast (see Scotland).
Draft quality kids and look to the future rather than a quick fix.

As much as my ultimate dream would be to see my Hero Kouta lead this team to a premiership, i think right now..........i would rather see him stick with the club and be a mentor for these young kids!
Not just because he is an absolute Champion of the highest order..........but also because he is the most Honest and Fairest Football player i have ever seen! I could not think of a better role model!

So, whilst we are a rable now, i do believe in the youth that we have at the moment! YES - even Davies who i believe can be an absolute Superstar!

I reckon that's a pretty good point.

We harp on about missing Goddard, Wells etc and no doubt having them in the side would make us better. However, in the 2000 draft, we had picks 4, 11 and 15 and didn't really capitalise on that.

Livo is an ok player who's important structurally but for years many supporters were calling us to get rid of him!

Sporn was pick 11 and he has been injured I know and he has some ability definitely but pick 11?

Wiggins was pick 15 and whilst he tries very hard he's just a battler at the moment, however I do think he has improved this season. But a first round pick?

You can also look back to Murray Vance at pick 6 in 1998 and Kris Massie at pick 7 in 1997. I know that every club has these stories but in recent enough times we've had 5 picks in the top 15 and as a whole, for a variety of reasons, we haven't got anywhere near what we could and should have out of it.

_________________
Formerly Blues-Back2003.

We had no picks (by our own choice) in the first 2 rounds of THE BEST DRAFT EVER in 2001.

_________________
"You are being watched. The government has a secret system. A machine that spies on you every hour of every day. I know because I built it." - Finch

We brought all those players in because we did not have access to high draft picks. What else were we to do? Once we can start using the draft most of the recycled players will go. We did pick up Teague who will play with us long term and has already won a B&F. Also did well out of French and Scotland & Bannister have been good at times.

Yep we've wasted a lot of our draft picks since 2000 but at least we had the actual picks to @#$%&! Up.

Our Draft Penalties meant that we didn't even get any Draft Picks to @#$%&! Up whatsoever!!

I guess that's what pisses me of the most. We finish Stone Motherless LAST.... that's the time when you need to draft the most... and what happens?... we get excluded from having any meaningful participation for not 1 but 2 years!!

For me personally (and this probably won't be very logical to many but I don't give a shit) the reason why I'm supporting bottoming out this year is to at least make make up for one of those years of having no picks. Do it for one year only! That's all I'm looking for! Something to at least balance the ledger. I want to get the "reward" we missed out on for genuinely finishing last 3 year ago! flower AFL cheated us so @#$%&! it, I'll cheat them back!!!! ... Using their own rules and their [REDACTED] up equalisation system to boot!... I can live with that sort of "cheating". Screw those BASTARDS Demetriou and Evans!!! If we're still crap after bottoming out this year, fine! I wouldn't advocate playing for a priority pick again and just let the competition take it's natural course. If we're still crap we'll get the picks anyway and if we're mediocre then that's fine as well... Geelong has shown it can be done without bottoming out.

At least we're not in the positon we're in now wtih a huge 2 year chunk of draft picks missing from our list.

I'm like you ryan2000 (and I guess many other supporters) I can see the reasons from both sides why we should or shouldn't bottom out. There are good arguments on both sides which is why there isn't a whopping majority on this issue (the poll we had last week indicated a 60-40 split).

It basically boils down to a choice between the Heart or the Head. Such is the DILEMMA facing all Carlton supporters at the moment!

_________________
When Dick became President, it was as if everyone at Carlton came out of the hailstorm and into the sunshine - Stephen Kernahan

YARRAN!!





.

But we also gave a lot of them up for has beens like O'Reilly, Mansfield, Devenport, McKernan. It's not just the ones we lost from the salary cap sanctions it's all those others that have left us so short of talent especially in 23-29 year olds.

Agree with you BW. That's what I'm getting at. Whether it was through our draft choices or our trades, we had draft picks which we totally [REDACTED] up one way or another.

_________________
When Dick became President, it was as if everyone at Carlton came out of the hailstorm and into the sunshine - Stephen Kernahan

YARRAN!!





.

I'm always intrigued by the assumption that bottoming out is a conscious decision. Unfortunately I think our list can take care of it themselves without doing anything deliberate to bottom out.

Our link to being competitive is tenous at best. (eg What if French, Fev, Thornton and Kouta got injured?)

I think the conscious decision we need to make is who amongst the young players will be with the club for a few years and play them all together in the Bullants (I'm thinking Walker, Simpson, Russell, Hartlett, Blackwell, Bentick in particular) and develop them in a winning side - let them get to know each others capabilities. My recollection is that the Geelong youngsters played a season together in the reserves and may have even won a flag.

Instead of a revolving door of Bowyer, Bannister, McGrath, Johnson, Morrell, lets keep playing them - see who stands up and who doesn't secure in the knowledge that they will keep getting a game for the rest of the year. At the end of the year we will know who can stand up to AFL footy on a consistent basis. It maybe none of them, but hopefully someone will step up.

To further explain, I think dropping them to the Bullants gives them a release - they come back a couple of weeks later with a renewed attitude. If they are going to get better and be of any use to us - they need to learn how to be a consistent player week in week out and they can only do that by playing sore, playing against the best and encountering the scrutiny of being a senior footballer.

_________________
Get comfortable being uncomfortable

Would people prefer to win 6 games or 5???

_________________
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.

2.5 synbad

_________________
*(grow - fun - gah)

Yeah but whatabout your whataboutism.

Cue, Loretta, or is that Stan?????

_________________
"Hence you will not say that Greeks fight like heroes but that heroes fight like Greeks"?

Winston Churchill

It says "Tank it" for draft picks, handfulls of them.

I can't agree with the sentiment.

_________________
"Two roads diverged in a wood,
and I,
I took the one less travelled by,
and that has made all the difference."

Robert Frost

Thank you. I said that originally, and for some reason, people think that tripe published under the dubious title of "comment" seems to be thought of as some brainwave by Ralph.

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

Had to laugh coz I think I'm missing something. KK, I assume your comment was directed at me. Explain to me how you came to the conclusion that "people" who happen to agree with the gist of the article must think it's "some brainwave" by Jon Ralph?!

_________________
When Dick became President, it was as if everyone at Carlton came out of the hailstorm and into the sunshine - Stephen Kernahan

YARRAN!!





.

Not sure that 'tanking' is the solution, The AFL sees we are in line for some high rnd draft picks and I fear a team of Auditors will be pilfering through Carltons books from September to Draft eve... If not, we will be the first team to stripped of draft picks after being found guilty of 'Tanking'. Just a little gunshy when it come to draft picks nowdays. Agree that the draft picks we lost will start hurting in about 2-3 years.

I've got a very poor sense of direction....I keep forgetting which way is forward..

" Geoffery Parfitt "