molsey wrote:
To be honest the biggest 'Con' of the week is this thread. So many Carlton-bleeding fans giving in to short-term pain and a second half turnaround to not see what is really happening out there. I have this theory that many years on the bottom, of being despondent, change the common fan to a whining, sooking mess - like your typical Richmond fan - and I've feared this is what we are becoming.
Stand your ground Carlton fans. We had many, many positives out there.
PROS
- Controlled the first 45 minutes. Richmond were only in the game from some basic defensive errors and a few lucky umpiring decisions. We were precise, patient and moved the ball well.
- Edwards. Those yarping about him being dropped need to consider 8 beautiful leading marks from a debutant. He kicked 1 goals 2. Convert better and that is a perfect introduction.
- Judd, Hadley, Stevens - elements of these 3 were amazing to watch.
- Return to football of Judd, Hadley, Stevens, Cloke and Setanta. You all read training reports dont' you? Don't you? Dont you know that these guys are all coming back from something serious?
One of my pet theories in footy is that injuries intra-game cost you a lot more than injuries pre-game. Yet because of our list, all 5 of these guys had to play. No choice. And yet between them (ex-Setanta) they played what 20 useful games last year?
- Our I50's weren't just bombs but they were attempts at being precise. In the latter 2nd and early 3rd we turned it over not from your Pagan 3-1 Fevola match-up but a failed pass. Our mids couldnt hold on to the ball at times, but we needed to hold it up.
CONS?
- We lost patience. Our forward entries became panicked as the game wore on.
- We lost intensity. Our leadership became straggled (minimal fitness) as the game wore on. When we were 4 goals up, you could see it, you could see the drop in pack-contests and you could see us relent.
- Once we lost these, we were losing the game. Richmond were gallant, hard running, but nothing more. We are a step above but they played better as a team.
I was very happy with most of what I saw. Carrazzo's 4 or 5 failed entries into I50 were a symptom of something else- I think we forgot to wait. Extra match fitness, extra time playing together, and some returning players will see us much better-led and much more efficient.
Couldn't agree more Molsey
I know with a Pro's & Con's the Con's are not going to be positive but bloody hell you would think the world was coming to an end reading some of this rubbish
OK we dropped off the game in the 2nd half, but really ... by how much and for how long?
We kicked 2.7 (to 9.3) in the 2nd half and many of the points were makable shots. They only had 3 more scores in the whole 2nd half and only 1 more score for the whole game.
We were only 7 points down with 12 minutes to go and as bad as it appeared we were going (particularly the end result) we were still in with a real chance at that stage.
I was actually happy with a lot of what I saw and some of the passages of play were particularly exciting to see what the future beckons.
All I want this year is to see improvement in our ability to compete and to see individuals learn the game and get some experience under their belts.
I'm sure we will get better every week that these guys
play together. Remember this is only the first time this team has played together as there were so many players either injured, rested, rotated in the pre-season games.
I for one am really excited by what I saw in the first half. I'm looking forward to seeing that type of intensity and teamwork develop throughout the year to the point where we are playing good footy for a full game rather than just in patches.
.... and for those who can't help yourselves you may want to visit .....
TalkingDoomsday
TalkingTheSkyIsFallingIn
TalkingTheEndOfTheWorldIsNigh