I have been watching a few games from this year and I will say, Carrots is very good for getting out of being caught with the ball.

He can really move his body/hips as needed to get out of trouble.

A definite keeper for 2009 and beyond.

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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.

We'll know we are almost there when Carrots cannot get a regular game. No disrespect, the guy tries his heart out, but the modern game screams for excellent disposal by foot and that is his achilles heel.

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"our electorate seeks less to be informed and more to be validated." Sad times.

how good is carrazzo's skill levels? 200 plus games you say! we will not win a flag with carrazzo in our team, dont like to be mean but his skills by hand and foot are say no more. is there a reason why the cats gave him away? carrazzo will never be on the the draft table because the mc love him for some reason. friends of mine tell me all the time that carrazzo is not in our best 22. its my opinion only and i dont want to upset anyone so if i have sorry.

What you have to consider is that Carrazzo was playing as an 18-19yo in the Geelong reserves in 2000/01.

He was good enough to be considered.
He was good enough to win their B & F
Geelong had a very good list of midsized players (plus a few FS picks) before he hit his prime
Thompson let him go as a 20yo as he was considered as excess to an already good list at Geelong by 2002.
Carrots has surprised the footy world with his improvement (ask Geelong coaches incl Thompson).
Carrots is a much better/ accomplished plyer than the one Geelong recommended to Pagan in 2002.
Carrots is a B&F player at senior level. That says enough about his improvement.

I don't know whether Carrots is the reason for us winning or losing a GF; nobody does. What I do know is that he's got the mental and physical toughness to belong in the first 22 in a GF side.

He gets the nut, is a great defensive player and he's improved his decision making with his kicking in the last 2 years; that's all we can ask from a plyer who had problems with his long passes.

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Everyone looks good in Navy Blue

dont care if he gets the nut its what he does with it that counts! maybe a little tough on him, but your right he has come along way. i see blokes like robinson, armfield, browne maybe anderson and o'keefe taking over his spot. moi

All players mentioned have so far to go before they can even tie his shoelaces.

I think Carrazzo is a much better player than Stokes, Byrnes and Rooke just to name a few from Geelong's premiership side and looking at Hawthorn's team from last year he is a better player than Guerra, Ladson, Osborne and at least on par with Brad Sewell. All these players are premiership players and make a mockery of comments such as "we won't win a premiership with Carrazzo in the side". People need to realise that the salray cap just won't allow for a full team of superstars and you need all types of players to make a premiership side. Carrazzo is one of the heartbeats of the team and an important leader around the club and contrary to popular opinion is very reliable in all aspects of the game. I just think a lot of people made up their minds with him in his first few years and refuse to acknowledge his improvement and importance to the side for fear of finding out they're wrong which IMO is a big shame because he's an entertaining player to watch.

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You want the flame? Give us the marbles!!

its just ''MY'' opinion!!
i believe stokes and rooke have better skills than carrazzo but your right with byrnes. on par with brad sewell dont think he is. carrazzo has come along way like i said. just dont know where he fits into ''MY'' 22. i have no doubt that carrazzo WILL play every game this year and beyond.
but getting back to the topic i dont think its time to deliver for carrazzo as much as hartlett, edwards and hadley.

Yup I'd agree on that although I think Hadley is a gun and just needs to be injury free.

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You want the flame? Give us the marbles!!

a guy averages 25 disposals in the season and hes thrown in the same boat as hartlett and edwards... wow. this is getting ridiculous...

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R A D I C A L B R O T H E R S

Inspired by the One-Minute Sculptures of Erwin Wurm

"All in all is all we are..."

agree with you hellas blue, hadley is a gun and if he can stay injury free he will be a massive inclusion in our team. fantastic in and under player for our mids. i heard on another website that hartlett had done his knee. i really hope this is not true. i read it on bigfooty.

Hellas agree to some extent but no way known is Carrots on a par with Brad Sewell...

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Congratulations CK95

But he doesn't get the opportunity to play Sewell's role as we're devoid of a small defender. He's the best option we have even though he's being played out of position. Naturally a ball-magnet midfielder and forced to play in defence but still manages a 4th in our B&F. I honestly think he'd run amok if given the opportunity in our strong midfield.

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You want the flame? Give us the marbles!!

The only thing anyone can fault Carrots on is his sometimes shonky disposal..... anyone who finds the ball as much as he does deserves a spot in the team. Lets also not forget he done some good stopping jobs down back on smaller forwards and still found his fair share of the footy.
The bloke puts in and currently he is in our best 22 easily... time will tell whether others improve enough to remove him from the side.

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Matty Kruzer you star!

I agree he does find the ball but from what I have seen the opposition don't mind if the ball is in his hands. For the amount of ball he does get he needs too consistently hurt the opposition and until he does that they will continue to let him get plenty of the ball.

See now there's another cop out Carrazzo criticism. The opposition do not just let him get the ball, when he has it he's chased and tackled just as much as any other player. The majority of times he's free because he's made an art form of running off his opponent when we win the ball and hurting him going the other way. He knows exactly when and where to run and if he's free, it's more than often due to his direct opponent not manning him up. It has absolutely nothing to do with opposition coaches letting him get the ball.

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You want the flame? Give us the marbles!!

That's pretty much what woof said. Coaches don't tag Carrazzo thus allowing him to win plenty of ball because of the perceived lack of "hurt factor" with his disposal. Not that they don't chase him.

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Working alone. At the coalface. Scott's gone for lunch! Said he would be back in 30 mins.

How many defenders in the game are tagged nowadays??

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You want the flame? Give us the marbles!!

Not many. Guys like Goddard, Gilbee, McLeod and even Heath Shaw aren't given too much of a free reign and opposition coaches will try and drag them deep into defensive or out of the play. Happened to Hoops a bit a couple of season back then we was having a purple patch across half back.

The flip side is Joel Bowden's 42 touches across half back in a 13 goal loss to Port in 2004. They just didn't care if he had the ball. A Goddard would kill you with 42 touches.

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Working alone. At the coalface. Scott's gone for lunch! Said he would be back in 30 mins.

Only the ones that can zone off (safely get on their own) AND really hurt you with their ball use. You only need to look at last years Grand Final to see what a poor job the Cats did on Hodge.
This is not a new thing, I remember seeing Andy McKays opponents standing on the boundary line trying to drag him out of the play.

Anyway, considering that this is the time to deliver thread, Carrazzo most definitely doesn't belong in here as he's delivered on consistent basis for the last two years.

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You want the flame? Give us the marbles!!