you cant play all the kids at once but play a couple of kids per game.

if my boss said to me, son i need you to take the step i would jump like there is no tommorrow. my boss would not give me time and time and time again to make mistakes. im sure you would be sacked if you did not perform, let alone time and time again!!!!

And all of this onslaught after just one game!......

Hardly. I could've written this thread (with a few changes here and there) two months ago. I was shocked when Bannister got selected for Round 1 because I figured this issue was already settled.

Besides I don't blame the loss on Bannister, he was far from our worst player against the Tiges. I just think in the long term its absolutely pointless for us to play him.

I wasn't referring to your posts, mate....

setanta is 25, yeah still a kid!!!murphy, gibbs and kreuzer all number one picks for a reason and should be playing.
how long has bentick, wiggins, bannister, saddington and ackland been at the club? so your right lets play them and leave the kids in the twos. we may find ourselfs with another number draft pick! how often do you here a commentator say, how come bentick, wiggins, saddington or ackland can not get a game.
to re build a club what do you do? if a player has been on the list for a few years and shows nothing like all clubs do, say thanks for your services.
saddington, bannister and ackland were traded for a reason.
i would prefer to finish last having played browne, armfield, anderson, austin and pfeiffer than finishing second or third last having played wiggins, bannister, ackland and bentick.
look what happened when jamo, grigg, bower, ewards and hampson all got a game. so why not give others a go?
why cant armfield or anderson play on guys like bannister does?
why cant we move waite to chf and play austin at chb?
why cant browne play forward?
are they to young, inexperienced? give them a chance to have a go is all iam asking.

I agree. Ditto Saddington and Ackland.

my problem is i HATE losing and i always look at the easy way out [laying the blame].
going overboard maybe. it just gets under my skin when i consistently receive text messages from the boys stating just how bad we still are. i tell them we are young and still developing then a message comes back with 'soon you will have 22 number one draft picks just learn to win and stop tanking'.
but i would like to apologize if i upset anyone. all i want is to WIN like us all.

my problem is i HATE losing and i always look at the easy way out [laying the blame].
going overboard maybe. it just gets under my skin when i consistently receive text messages from the boys stating just how bad we still are. i tell them we are young and still developing then a message comes back with 'soon you will have 22 number one draft picks just learn to win and stop tanking'.
but i would like to apologize if i upset anyone. all i want is to WIN like us all.

If it wasn't clear to everyone before it should be clear to everyone now that we aren't going to be shooting up the ladder this year to challange for a final eight position, despite the high upside that our team possesses as the season wears on with Judd, Stevens, Cloke, Setanta and Hadley gradually regaining their matchfitness which was clearly lacking against the Tigers on Thursday.

Now I'm not calling for tanking or any of that stupid nonsense that abounded on these boards last year. What I'm calling for is for the club to make a decision that every player who's clearly not going to be part of our long term future, within reason, should be left in the twos and be never given another opportunity again. These players aren't just the obvious older fringe players like Wiggins, Saddington and Bannister but players who increasingly look like they won't make it at AFL level (such as Blackwell who sadly is too small and slow with poor disposal).

Despite what that idiot Libba thinks playing the kids, knowing that they'll be the ones who carry us into a brighter future, isn't tanking and is the most sensible thing for a club to do when they're in the situation we are in. Carlton isn't going to win the premership, or play finals, so lets work towards the future by giving opportunities to players like Pfeffier, Armfield, Browne, Aisake, and co. The question has to be asked, would Pfeffier have been any worse an option that Bannister against the Tigers, would Deledio have kicked more goals, and does Bannister have more of a future at the club than Darren? My answer to all three is no and sometimes I wonder why the club doesn't think the same way.

Of course that's all easy to say after we lost. Maybe Ratten believed that Pfeffier was slightly underdone, or that Bannister would do a much better job and that a guarenteed victory would be more beneficial to the other players than Pfeffier getting a game. Whatever his reasons, I'm sure he knows more about footy than myself, now that we've lost our opening match and are looking at a bleak month ahead prehaps we should finally start paying more than lipservice to the youth policy were meant to have and actually play the kids instead of letting them rot in the VFL. It's harsh on players like Wiggins and Bannister who are, by all reports, great clubman but we need to look to the future and they just aren't it.