Pros:

- Fisher's return
- Murphy good again
- Gibbs adding some quantity to his quality (but some of his disposal was uncharacteristically sloppy, and several stats were junky loose-in-defence stuff)
- Pfeiffer showed some great attack on the footy
- Cloke is a real goer; played well again
- Hadley's first quarter
- Betts showed some better signs; would've liked to have seen him have a brief stint on the ball
- having to clutch at straws for positives

Cons:

- Simpson in defence. Please bring in something of a specialist small defender for next week, or at the very least get someone else back there. Simmo is one of the few who gut-runs, but this strength was wasted tonight. Would hate to see him regularly used as Plan B in this role

- Failure to sustain work-rate, running and efficiency of disposal once the intensity lifted

- forward structure, or lack thereof, when confronted with a congested forward 50 like we had tonight; St Kilda got numbers back very, very well

- far too few four-quarter contributors

- inabillty to tackle - again

- I don't like to single out blokes, but Stevens and Carrazzo are a worry at present

What amazed me tonight was that twice we passed to him inside 50 for a shot on goal

_________________
"The ability to speak doesn't make you intelligent." Qui-Gon Jinn 15-05-2005

"there’s more chance of me becoming the full forward for the [Western Bulldogs] than there is of any change in the Labor Party." Julia Gillard 18-05-2010

Ive read through every post on this thread and I cant believe no one has mentioned Kade Simpson.. in my opinion he is one of the very few that has the courage to back into a pack, put his head over the footy and run run run.... the way he goes about it for me is what its all about.
I really love his endeavour and courage... not enough is said about Simpsons efforts.

_________________
Matty Kruzer you star!

simpson is all what u say. tonight was just a bad one but he'll bounce back

i hate to agree, as im a fan of JR< when he gets the ball he uses it really well, but he just doesnt get it enough, donest put pressure on the oponenet when he doesnt have the ball and doesnt present himself nor run hard enough.

i really want him to succeed as he has the skills to be a gun midfielder, he just needs to get the ticker.

_________________
Got to love the stare Down by Setanta on Llyod

the only player on our list who i thought should have been captain besides Judd.

just does everything right.

_________________
Got to love the stare Down by Setanta on Llyod

you're right. He shows leadership unlike most

a fan of what?? he has played a handful of games and has showed absolute nothing. So what's there to be a fan of. Heck Banno has showed more than him and im not a fan of banno

He represents what we lack by the truckload...someone who is willing to give their all for 4 qtrs. You would struggle to find more than a couple in our existing squad who have this quality...Simmo is one and the other is sitting on the sidelines with a dud shoulder....and with the exception of Judd the rest are mere passengers.

_________________
"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

Agree with Melvey. Russell is a dud. A total flower up. Anyone who holds a belief contrary to this is delusional.

_________________
"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

Pros.

Waite - must play defence. Maybe do a Kenny Hunter on him every now and again but it's such a tribute to his dad - he's an absolute natural and i've not seen any defender in the modern game spoil high flying marks as effectively as he did against Reiwoldt tonight.

Officially my fave. for the rest of his career. Deserves captaincy hands down depending on how Judd goes

Pfeiffer - looked great. Fantastic to see him getting a run in the AFL. Thoroughly deserved all acolades afforded him this evening.

Hammo - great to see him back and he'll improve.

Cloake - solid input all night long. Gotta be happy.

Simmo - tries so hard and keeps trying every minute he's on the ground. Total leader there.

Betts - goal of the year in round 2 - off the left and a calculated kick. The stuff of legends!

Cons:

Fevola - his lack of respect within the team was apparent tonight. Needs to have a blinder soon or i'd give him a couple of weeks in the 2s so he gets it that he's not "it" anymore..

Playing more than 1/3 of a game.. What's the go? How can we drop off so dramatically?

Bower - the bar's been lifted and he ain't there. Someone else needs a go now.

In our rare recent victories, Lappin, Whitnall and Kouta have been prominent. All are now gone. Also Kennedy is gone. Waite is now a defender.

Basically we don't have a forward line. We need Kruezer to be an instant forward line success!

I also wonder whether it would have been worth our while chasing Scotty Welsh in the psd? (I reckon we may have still got Pfeiffer in the rookie draft).

_________________
Get comfortable being uncomfortable

Played alright tonight i thought, i must be delusional.

What he said.

_________________
Click here to follow TalkingCarlton on twitter
TalkingCarlton Posting Rules

Sentanta was smashed tonight.

Go right ahead

_________________
WADA medical director Dr Alan Vernec describes Essendon* FC drug case as biggest scandal in team sport the world of sport has seen. #WC2WB

#GUILTY

I can confirm that you are.

_________________
"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

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BZ_rFtb0XYE

That's about it.

There were worse performances.