Nothing beats the exuberance of youth. The boys did well against a team that had a only a few out.

Joseph's tackle with Ando on that knob Ablett was great. Austin's pass to Cloke in the last. Yarran's goal in the third was magnificent.

Dare I say our misses in front of goal cost us the game.

The boys should be proud of their efforts tonight - I'm rapted that we did as well as we did.

But the flower the umpires.

When is a flowering mark, a mark? You flowering twits have no idea.

McLaren is beyond incompetent.

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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.

There were plenty of bullshit decisions that went against us as well.

Especially the umpire's forgetting the "prior opportunity" clause.

I don't think the umpire's favoured either side tonight; they were equally abysmal towards both sides.

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I AM DISENFRANCHISED

Love Thornton's agro, I though he was a good on field leader tonight. And the look on Ablett's face was priceless after that Joseph tackle! They must have nearly had twice as many possession as us but still only managed to win by a few goals.

You mentioned that earlier, prior opportunity with incorrect disposal and I guess its a tough one. If you get pinged for incorrect disposal when tackled....are the rules doing the right thing by encouraging someone to hold on to the ball rather than attempt to dispose?

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"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

Because he is an arrogant so and so who thinks he is untouchable by an opponent - flower i was pleased when he got smashed into the ground.

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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.

if you can watch the game and not walk away with a smile on your face with the way the lads played.

you must be dead.

yeah, we should made it closer missing a cuple of sitters, yeah, they kicked two super goals, one a result of a very shit free kick.

but im just rapted with that performance.

they never gave in, constantly harrased, im loving the look of Yarren, Garlett and Betts in our forward line.

defence was great, midfield, depsite being depleted did very well against arguably the best in the side.

very good game for the boys today, very happy with their efforts. well done to all of them.

im abit perplxed to be honest. im not sure who i want promotoed.

garlett, jacobs or joseph.

all three deserve a go IMO

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Got to love the stare Down by Setanta on Llyod

Great effort by the kids tonight

Garlett - classy mover and good tackling - needs to tighten up the kicking
Hill - a bit of Andrew Walker? great pace, good size and aggression, likes to carry the ball and handy in close too
Austin - classy user of the ball, courageous, plenty to work with
Jacobs - another promising effort
Bentley - got a lot of the ball - no opponent as he's a walking turnover machine. Handy in close though
Yarran - classy mover and nice goal but lacking confidence and urgency
Joseph - great effort on Ablett - not the most polished player yet but certainly capable of playing seniors as a negating small back or mid - super pace
Armfield - a bit sloppy today, ragged ball control and disposal
Hadley - got better as the game went on, did plenty of hard work, not a certainty for senior selection but if he sharpens up could be important
Browne - didn't do much but what he did was excellent
Anderson - did a couple of nice things at the end but lacks polish and awareness
Hampson - played more as a forward and was dangerous but largely ineffective. If he can learn to do the basics (positioning in marking contests, marking technique) he could be a handful as a resting forward. A long way to go though.
Kreuzer - Not his best game - ruckwork improved as the game progressed

Agree - the umpiring was frustrating but we got plenty of dicey ones too

Highlighted Red: Do not see it the same as you aramari

Not saying I'm right and you're wrong, but it's amazing how we can all watch the same game and see things so differently...and we're all Carlton. It's a beautiful thing.

IMO

Hampson knows the game well, well at least Ratten's game plan. He held a few tonight, chased and roved. If he held on to the really difficult ones, he'd be a star (confidence will come with experience)

Armfield was fast, efficient, poised and showed good disposal.

Kreuzer only got that good tap in the last and tha was it as far as domination was concerned.

Hadley was class; finds time and space instinctively

Browne really stepped up a peg or 2 in my estimations of him

Someone described Anderson as a panther last week. Couldn't see it in the replays, but tonight he was deadly calm, cool and tough

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Everyone looks good in Navy Blue

It doesn't matter either way.

If you didn't have "prior opportunity" to dispose of the ball correctly, you can't be pinged for "holding the ball", or "incorrect disposal of the ball".

At least that's what the "Laws of Australian Football" say.

What the umpire's dream up is another matter all together.

Edit: or maybe I didn't quite get your point.

Yes, it is in your advantage to hold the ball, and get a ball up; rather than try to dispose of the ball, having it spill free, and the opposition taking it away.

That does however rely on the umpires actually applying the Laws correctly.

I reckon you've got at best a 50/50 chance of that happening.

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I AM DISENFRANCHISED

Rapted beyond belief. That was my most enjoyable game of the last few years

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"In better news for Blues fans, Jarrad Waite was not named on the club's injury list."

Looks like I trailed off badly

I may have gotten Army a bit wrong - just noticed a few times he wasn't as polished as previous weeks

I was very positive about Brownie - didn't see much of him hence the caveat

If Hadley stays fit he's probably the hard mid we need but that's a big if. Could bring nice balance to our midfield

Hampson did show more tonight than previously - don't worry I'm excited but his game has too many holes at the moment. If he can fill them up brick by brick we have a special weapon

Fantastic effort from all concerned at CFC: the players, the MC- just buoyed by the result! Is it me or I think that Geelong have lost a bit of that potency or the edge to kill sides off. When I say that, I mean that whilst Carlton were superbly resilient tonight, I couldn't help but notice the Pussys underestimated us tonight, thinking it was going to be a stroll. It may be early in the season but I don't think Geelong have quite got it yet! (For 2009, I mean)

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Be positive to all those @ TC- the wait is almost over!

Ratten cant coach!

great game for the club - managed to find some players that should contribute throughout the year

some thoughts on a few players
hampson - continues to improve. Massive agility+pace, might make a decent FF prospect in the medium term once warnock/kreuzer become established?
joseph - very promising. Didnt get much of it but great negating role
hill - not much game time but did some good things when on
wiggins - looked very good, shame about the shanked shots on goal though as he is normally a very good set shot
russell - continues to improve, show signs
gartlett/yarran - both showed good signs at times
fisher - did lots of good link work, marking was good
grigg - very good
johnson - very good
kreuzer - quiet but continues to show follow up work
betts - very good when on
jacobs - slightly disappointing game for me (though based mainly on the #hitouts compared to previous NAB games). Still plenty to work with
austin - looked ok at times, though not strong enough yet, perhaps another year before he pushes for a senior berth
cloke - still not convinced by him. Does some good work at times but not enough. Rather have hampson up forward as greater potential
bentley - got the ball but poor disposal, probably one of our 'weakest' rookies.

Plenty of 'rapted' posters

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"I had to eat"

Hey...........

what about JUDD.............?

didn't get A KICK.................................drop him......!


kindest regards tommi

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that'siti'mnotchangingthistagain......!

sounded great ... pity the score said we don't get to play next week but we won in other ways. Those kids killed them - personally I missed young Mitch but what we lacked with him not there the others more than made up for.

My series MVP is Nick Stevens, with Chris Judd and Mitch Robinson tied as runner-up

Series scoring went ...
25 Brendan Fevola 2 . 8 . 2 68
28 Cameron Cloke 0 . 6 . 3 39
19 Edie Betts 0 . 4 . 3 27
3 Marc Murphy 1 . 2 . 0 21
6 Kade Simpson 0 . 3 . 3 21
38 Jeff Garlett 0 . 2 . 4 16
34 Simon Wiggins 0 . 2 . 3 15
5 Chris Judd 0 . 2 . 0 12
22 Shaun Hampson 0 . 2 . 0 12
33 Ryan Houlihan 0 . 1 . 2 8

If we can play like that with our so-called second-string team, we definitely will be a force to reckon with! Bring on 26Mar09!!

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[Sam Jacobs] looks like a 7' Lance Whitnall, and [Mitch Robinson] looks like a 4' Lance Whitnall
(The SEN team during the Carlton v Cats 2009 pre-season match)

Very happy with the toughness of these boys - in 2005/2006 this would have been an 80+ blowout.

We are going to give a few of these back this year.

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"Hence you will not say that Greeks fight like heroes but that heroes fight like Greeks"?

Winston Churchill

Very proud of the boys tonight

Excellent result for the club...put in a good showing, gave the rookies a run & really took it up to the cats. And we don't have to go through the hype of a Coll/Carl final which would have been an unwelcome distraction IMO. Well done, used the NAB Cup in the way it should be tonight.

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#DonTheStash

And then you see what Hadley does with the ball and you understand.

Having said that he has a vastly superior sidestep.

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29 different attributes,
And only 7 that you like;
20 ways to see the world,
Or 20 ways to start a fight.