couldn't agree more. but don't hold your breath.

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one you knock back is one you never have

I wouldn't say ineffective as such... more wayward...

There were a lot of good leads and marks in the CHF that we didn't convert.

PRO

Look what StKilda did to Hawks and compare our effort to Hawks; we're close in 2008.
Look at the position Swans are on the ladder and compare ours and where we're coming from; we're almost there in 2008
We pushed this finals side to the end, and we only have ourselves to blame for bad execution; we will improve in this area in 2009.
We did it without a ruckman, and without Judd & Stevens.
We still have Hadley, Bower, Armfield, Hampson, Houlihan, Bannister, Browne, Anderson, Setanta, Brogan, Judd, Carrazzo, Thornton and Stevens to return.

Gibbs has arrived, regardless of age; he's Jezza in disguise. BOG!!
Fev was great
Eddie was great
Murphs did really well
Jamo is our FB
Simmo is fantastic to watch
Scotland runs the lines like a champion; really good timer of the ball
I thought Waite was also fantastic. I don't think he was O'Keefes opponent for most of the game; he's a freak
Kreuzer just gets on with it; never gave 'em an inch
Great to see the return of Walker albeit a bit rusty
Glad to see Hartlett in the forward line; like the way he created space.
Austin could be good and too young to expect any better for a 194cm player.
Grigg's goal.
Should end the year with 4th or 5th selection overall in the draft, followed by, 21st or 22nd pick and then pick 38/39.
Ratten knows that we need a strong 200cm ruckman to help out Kreuzer/ Hampson; Ratts didn't select Cloke in the PSD.
We will play finals in 2009, so lets get Bogan for the next 2 years (even 3 if we have to).

PS: For all the French lovers, good news is that Brogan's worst will be better than French's best.

CONS

Our disposal by hand and foot killed us as much as playing Cloke. If one or the other were better we would've won.

We can't continue to play 195cm ruckmen; Brogan is 202cm (that'll be a nice change)
We missed a super tall in the backline when Jolly and Spider we're down there; Setanta should be on the bench till we develop a new taller player...or just back Hammer/ Kreuzer to run back with them
That was the worst game I've seen Bentick ever play (and I'm a fan); bit of a spectator today. Keep him.
Carrazzo was a tight playing BP; what has happened to his defensive game?; better up the ground as a tagging midfielder
Judd was tagged out of the game; he had no support from bigger bodied midfielders
Also a fan of Stevens; but agree with dannyboy...rest him now not next year..had a shocker!!
Fisher's kicking...well we all agree is not AFL standard; drop him.
Someone said our HF line with Russell Fisher and Wiggins is the weakest in the comp; probably
Agree that some of the passes to Russell were not Russell's fault.
Wiggins started off so positively.
Thornton is out of touch; timing is out; and he got folled on more than one occasion.
We should've won.
Lost our opportunity to play finals.
We missed Hadley, Bower, Armfield, Hampson, Houlihan, Bannister, Browne, Anderson, Setanta, Brogan, Judd, Carrazzo, Thornton and Stevens

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Everyone looks good in Navy Blue

Agree with most above.

My biggest Pro of the day was tall defenders, Thornton, Jamo & Austin were good. Austins skills are very good. and will get better. Only times they got caught out was when midfield was exposed. Small defenders need to be found to assist. Scotland was okay when he went back. Grigg, Browne, Anderson & Armfield need to be given rest of the year to settle back there.

Biggest Con. The Coaching.

Watching Roos at close hand being on the bench everytime we made a move Roos countered it.

Carrazzo in defence doesn't work, neither does Stevens nor does Waite.

Fev dragged in second qtr and given a mouthful by Riley. Noose is definitley tightening.

PROS - Gibbs, his development has been stellar, about the same age as many of last years draftees. Looks pure class, the Big Footy nuff nuffs will may have to reconsider assuming every pick we take is a dud.
Big K battled hard in last qtr
Simmo - incredible gut running and desperate smothers, hope Stevo was watching
Jamo - superb on Micky O
Austin - did some nice things, good size, possibility as a mobile forward??
Grigg - has looked good from day one and is resting the Jetta debates, wasn't great but shows guts and class
Fev worked hard, if he does that all the time every week he will be the player we want him to be

CONS
Utterly flogged in the ruck as always.
Waite gets the ball but he plays so loose he should get it. Ratten is utterly pigheaded. Move Waite forward! Other sides have woken up to him and exploit his looseness, take him out of the play etc.
One man forwardline
Fish can't kick and falls over every time he flies. he is not a CHF, we need another option (Waite)

We are coming, make no mistake about it.

We just need to tweak a few things here and there and then we will be on the march to September glory.

Our time is coming.....................

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“It is a state of mind, a system of belief, a way of seeing the world, a deep faith that, because you are Carlton, you belong to something great.” - Mike Fitzpatrick articulating what Out of the Blue means.

What the hell are we doing with brogan on our list

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Go BLues

We almost got over the line against a top 4 side with older and stronger bodies, far more experience and games. Boys vs men out there and our boys kept fighting to the end.

Our two guns in the midfield were shut out of the game and had no influence. But yet we managed to take it up to them which is a positive.

No doubt and i've harped on about this that the likes of Wiggo and Fisher are buying time until the Likes of Browne, Armfield, Grigg and Russel really mature into league footballers.

We so desperately need Armfield and Browne to fill out and become men. There use of the backline has to be better than Carazzo and Waites right now.

Waite must play forward. Carazzo should only handball and you'll see the mighty blue baggers move up the ladder

I agree wholeheartedly. What I have seen over the last few weeks is our lack of depth.

Our top level 7-8 players are very good with heaps of potential.

Our mid level players are fair.

Our third level players are where we fall away badly.

These areas need to be continually addressed for us to get to the top level.

Perhaps it is the jetlag after being on the red eye this morning from Singapore or Im just a silly old buggar but I thought our team played bloody well today given Sydney are in the top 4 and if the game had gone another few precious seconds we would have won - Dont like losing but wasnt it one of our better performances of the year - if we had at all played like that against the Bummers or against Tigers the first time and against the Saints at least in the first round we would have won- the Swans are still a good side and their record this year proves it
Murphs long bomb in the last quarter that hit the post after bouncing was the difference between winning and losing - a loss by 2 points against a good side on the rebound when 4th spot is up for grabs is still a good effort
Wins against Melbourne Fremantle and West Coast were not as good as the performance today

Everyone must be heartened today by the performance of Gibbs Murphy Jamison- I thought our tackling was exceptional today and appetite for hard contested ball gave the swans some of their own medicine
Also the return of Andrew Walker was nothing short of sensational given he hasnt played top line footy for at lease 15 weeks -hope he is ok he gives grunt aggression and carrying the lines to our team

Yes there were some cons which have been amplified here but really overall a good team performance

I think our depth isn't too bad considering we have Bannister, Hadley, Bower, Browne, Armfield, Hampson, Houlihan all out at present.

Come the last month of football I would expect to start seeing some names dropped, or improved form knowing we have players ready to fight tooth an nail for a spot in the firsts.

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Mjonc signing off at 8888

God hope so.

I'd love to see Browne, Armfield, Bower, Hammo and Hadley running around today than seeing Cloke, Wiggo, Fisher and hurts me to say hsi name.... Carazzo.

Apart from the couple of goals not-so Goodes kicked, did Gibbs lose a contest? If he didn't win a clear possession, he got it on to advantage. What a Gun.

Bentick has been down the past couple of weeks, which is a worry. We are missing his grunt work. That said, I'm not sure of his stats today.

Hartlett may have failed to have an impact but we need to see more of him. What's the point of tossing him back to the Ants now? Seemed to provide a contest.

What did the live viewers think of T-Bird today? I was pretty disappointed with his game ... but that was watching from the squawk box, so more than happy to be corrected.

Russell did a couple of things in the first half but disappointing second half - especially dropped mark in the forward line, last 1/4 I think.

Cloke on very thin ice. Love to see Sauce get a run. Think the MC has been waiting for Hammer to dominate with the Ants before being put back up, but Cloke may expedite that.

Rapt with Jamo. And Eddie, Simmo, Murph.

Aussie did his job. Look forward to seeing him next week.

Fev switched on (funny that ) but as I posted elsewhere, how long are we going to tolerate his continuous and ridiculous cannoning into players everytime they dispose of the ball

Great to Tex running around having a ball ... until the shoulder. Here's hoping.

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I just want my old club back ... (edit) maybe I have!

I appreciate your honesty cj 69, and thanks for sharing some of the information many of us aren't privy to.

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Everyone looks good in Navy Blue

My observations:

Gibbs will be the next CFC Brownlow medalist

We need 1AW'S agression and athleticism

Could someone please list Hartletts posessions in the 7 games he's played.
I think he's the most pumped up player on our list. Why?

What's happened to Action Jackson?

Thankyou

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I see you watching me watching you.

It's called desperation Mark and we are crying out for CHF and another option to Fev that, Harts becomes bigger and better than what he is.

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“It is a state of mind, a system of belief, a way of seeing the world, a deep faith that, because you are Carlton, you belong to something great.” - Mike Fitzpatrick articulating what Out of the Blue means.

Cheers BB, there is actually some more interesting things that happened especially after the game but I just don't see the point.

spill? (even if its by PM)

Without getting into personalities and after observing several other clubs and sporting organisations the biggest eye opener for me was the lack of communication & understanding between players & coaches. On face value and without extensive knowledge I get the impression that there is some friction in the football department.

The main thing that stood out for me was Lappin on the bench being the only link to the players yet they would not listen to him and on several occassions spoke to Ratten or Riley on a seperate phone.

To me the biggest difference today was Roos on the bench. He had everything we tried covered. He seemed to make all the running after qtr time.

Remember apart from the first 20 minutes of the game the Swans outscored us from then on.

Pros

Gibbs. Jamieson Walker Betts


Cons


another game against a crap side getting away...

Forget about top 4 teams... or where clubs finished last year...

There are a shitload of crap sides in the comp this year.... and if you shwed anything youd make the eight...

Weakest top 8 EVER!!!!

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