I was reading Inside Football and the interview with Rod Ashman where he states,


"We were always criticised for not going down to the backline to help out,

but why would you when you had Southby and Doull there. I was really

dark on Doully one day when he kicked it to me on the wing and it wasn't

lace out!"




It got me thinking about the best six for Carlton's defensive positions.

Mine are: -


BP - Ryan Jackson FB - Bret Thornton BP - Jordan Bannister


HBF - Heath Scotland CHB- Sentanta O'Hailipan HBF - Jarrad Waite


Now I know this may need some tweaking and some may be shocked to find Bannister there.....but he does play an aggressive style of footy.

Maybe someone can redefine the perfect Carlton back six.

I know Waite is good in the forward line........but that was also a quick thought.

My back six is (with some options):

Armfield, Setanta , Thornton/Jamieson
Hadley, Waite, Bannister/Bower

What we need from these six defenders s:

(a) the ability to kick the ball to our players only (retain control of the ball)
(b) speed to run and carry and then kich accurately
(c) defensive pressure on both tall and short forwards to force errors and to get the ball

We do not at this time have players who are at the standard of Southby, Doull or SOS, so we will need lots of help from the midfield.

Sam Sunshine,


I agree with your point that our back six needs help, but what a great luxury it was to have a self-sufficient back six.



At the very least there will be some competition for the back six this year.


Bannister/ Bower... both don't have the best kicking skills, but Bannister can surprise with his kicking from time to tima and he plays with a bit of mongrel. Bower seems more agile to me...so both have their pluses.



Would like to see Ryan Jackson get more of a look in this year though.

it will be very interesting indeed.
austin showed loads of composure and maturity for the bullants & jamo can show he is a great competitor - but he will give away as many goals as he stops - his footskills are woeful. jamieson coming off the bench as back up -- keep developing austin he is going to be a beauty....

setanta hmm not convinced at fullback albeit it will be nice if he can make it his own.....the back six is so young that anything can happen...we can only hope the dice roll in our favour

Woeful?

Jamison would have better skills than most of our kpp prospects.

_________________
Looking forward to seeing our potential realised.

Bingo.......... Well said.

Bannister will be banished from the club come the end of 08. If Banno is in our best 22 god help us. Says a lot about our depth.

One thing is for sure to have a chance at September action, no mater how strong the mid field is we must allow a settled defence to emerge this year.

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"Truth, for the tyrants, is the most terrible and cruel of all bindings; it is like an incandescent iron falling across their chests. And it is even more agonizing than hot iron, for that only burns the flesh, while truth burns its way into the soul"     — Lauro Aguirre

If i were the coach i would be setting up the best defence possible first, and then working my way up the magnetic board......

This would mean someone like Waite would play down back supporting Thornton, Setanta and Jamo.

Our midfielders will kick plenty of goals, as will Fev, the Fish, the Kruez missile, and Houla who will be released back into the F50 now that Skinny has hung up the boots.

Back six for mine are:

Backs - Anderson Setanta Jamo

Half backs - Scotland Thornton Waite

Scotland and Anderson will rotate through the midfield with say Hadley and Gibbs etc... Waite would be able to run through to the wing and cut the opposition to threads ala Kouta of old.

I was contemplating throwing Saddington back as our most experianced defender, but i think he could cause some trouble in the F50 instead.

Bower would also get an opportunity in the back half as well..

The truth is it's getting hard to settle on a back six with more options now, and i could easily squeeze in a few more players......

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Circumstance has no value. It is how one relates to a situation that has value. All true meaning resides in the personal relationship to a phenomenon, what it means to you.

If Saddington gets games then we will get hammered on a regular basis and wont improve....Jamison, Thornton, Setanta, Bower and Mark Austin are where the future is...if we cant find some decent No 1, 2 and 3 defenders from that lot to negate the better forwards in the comp then we wont be going anywhere....players like Brown, Franklin, Pavlich, Gehrig, Lucas, Mooney etc cant be allowed to get their regulation bags any longer.

Thornton needs to retrain...hacking arms in marking contests and the hands in the back rule have comprimised his style and he needs to wise up...no more dumb free kicks..

Jamison is promising in the Michael Sexton mode....

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"When you have the attitude of a champion, you see adversity as your
training partner."
- Conor Gillen

Yeah, good points here.

I don't know too much about Jamison yet, but I agree that one of the players you mentioned above needs to step up so that we don't need to play older players such as Bannister.

I like the mongrel in Bannister, but I know he has a lot of downside to him as well, so I would prefer him not in the team if one of the players above can step up.

I'm a Bannister fan and he is one of favourite players and I'd luv seeing him kick on and cement a spot but he carries the burden of only being as good as his last game and doesnt have any more lives left...mainly due to his age and the youth program the club has embarked on.

At his best he can beat players like Chad Cornes, at his worst he can turn it over with the best of them, ....three good games usually mean the fourth can be a shocker and the challenge for JB is to find some middle ground with his performances.

If he and Saddington are getting good game time this season then its probably because injuries aside... Bower, Austin, Jamison,Hartlett etc are not kicking on....and thats not going to be good for the future, as much as I like seeing JB out there the future demands he spend most of his time in the Bullants and be used as a backup player.....Simon Wiggins is in the same boat...great trier and clubman is Wiggo but you have to have a few more weapons in your game to beat the better players and thats why Armfield, Browne and Anderson should get preference over him.

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"When you have the attitude of a champion, you see adversity as your
training partner."
- Conor Gillen

Banno is SHITE end of story

So what you're saying Melvey is that Banno will play all 22 games and finish quite highly in the brownlow count?

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Back like a raging case of pubic lice

It will be a back 7 or 8 this year

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If you allow the Government to change the Laws in an emergency
They will create an Emergency to change the Laws

Sydney Blue,


who do you think will be the permanent defenders and who will be rotated?

Hadley rotated?

Scotland rotated?

Thornton and Jamison are the only two I see as permenant defenders
Sentanta will depend on what happens with the ruck and who the opposition is , he is a good type of match up for Brown or Lloyd or even a Richo but not every club relies on the Power Forward so it's difficult to find an opponent for him

The rest will be horses for courses depending on who we are playing and the match ups. I don't think Ratten will do a Pagan and pick the same side week in week out - I have a feeling he will size up the opposition and pick the side he feels best suits . Pagan was more these are my best 22 and unless your injured your playing

Rotated

Scotland
Houlihan
Waite
Austin ( if he shows form)
Anderson ( Fitness)
Saddington ( if he gets in )
Gibbs ( now and then)
Walker ( match up dependant)
Armfield( if he gets a gig)
Hadley ( I guess haven't seen much of him)
Others
Russell
Bower
Wiggens

_________________
If you allow the Government to change the Laws in an emergency
They will create an Emergency to change the Laws

Setanta (according to Coach Ratten) will not be playing in the Ruck.

I think if he is allowed a bit of freedom from the half back line when he is not playing on Brown or Lloyd - its the other clubs who will find it difficult to find a match up for him.

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

Winston Churchill

My main request for a back six is that Hoops is never part of it. He is a talented footballer but just way too loose to play down back. Up forward he can actually cause damage.

Similarly, I would prefer Scotland to be part of the midfield rotation rather than coming off the back flank. While he collects a lot of stats he gives up just as many (if not more) goals than he saves because he does not man up closely enough.

Also, other than possibly short stints on the half back line, Gibbs should always be part of the midfield setup

_________________
Carlton - Nothing's changed
I still love you, oh, I still love you
Only slightly, only slightly less
Than I used to, my love

yeah, i understand where you are coming from, but Houlihan came 4th in best and fairest playing a rebounding half back. You need at least one player with spot on delivery. It is a fine line - there are advantages and disadvantages.



Personally - the most inspiring thing I have seen from a Carlton defender in the last few years is when Sentanta goes for a gallop - no one can tackle him - and streams off the half back line. That is confidence lifting for the team.