People seem to have missed Houlihan's job on Sam Fisher. Houlihan didn't get a lot of the ball but he made sure the All Australian CHB had no impact.

Houlihan would have to poll well in the B&F because he did what was asked of him.

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"You are being watched. The government has a secret system. A machine that spies on you every hour of every day. I know because I built it." - Finch

Did he really thumble that much? ... bloody thumbs keeping getting in the way I guess.

Thumbelina!

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"It was like calling your ex girlfriend after a night on the booze, just a really bad decision".

I know some will say winning is everything but there were plenty of positives out there tonight.

PROS
Young players, particularly back half, stood up
AJ, Browne, Army, Austin are all very tough and they will all improve, particularly liked Brownes no fuss approach
Bower, down early but came back really well and an absolute ball magnet, will do very well in a Brownlow one day
Jamo, I thought he was ordinary ag. the Lions but was terrific tonight, didn't give Kosi a sniff
Setanta, his best game as a forward. They used him in space and he used his great athleticism and marked well. His disposal let him down a bit but generally that has been good. He is clearly following intsructions and if he continues to work hard to create space and fill space and gets decisive possessions he may be a hard working mobile CHF. Still is improving
Grigg really looks a player and is hard at it
Caz and his cohorts will be feeling a bit smug after lots of impatience from supporters. I can still remember the furore about picking Grigg - but a great pick and while Hammo had an ordinary night he is improving and is an awesome athlete. Lots of the young players appear to have the right stuff and they are still miles off their potential
Apart from Geelong we are very capable of winning our remaining games.
Should finally go in against Essendon* with real fire in our bellies and hoepfully give them a smack

CONS
Fev can't shake Hudghton but tried and didn't sulk
Judd's injury
When did Montagna become so good. He seemed to drift around the fringes for years and now he is a gun. Could JR be the next Montagna - some players develop slowly

What he said.
Footy Dept due for a few

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Bawditawaba

Pro
Carlos' efforts in the 2nd qtr were great - Cannot underestimate the role he played in that qtr. Took some strong marks - 4 and contested IIRC.

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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.

I'd keep Carlos there for the time being he does give us more than others tried there, but I think we'll get our wish of Kreuzer to CHF once Warnock returns. Counting down the hours.....

Pros:

- Joseph, what a gun, absolutely destroyed that scum Milne
- Jamo the same on Kosi, if his shoulders can hold up he will win us a lot of games
- Grigg in the middle, finally he is back to fitness and it shows
- Simpson hitting his best form
- Judd's courage, if only....they got on top of us when he had to go off the ground
- Gibbs another good game
- Browne continues to improve
- Betts back in some form
- Pushed the top team in the league and fell just short, nothing went right for us apart from the free at the end of the 3rd quarter
- Setantas goal at the end, quality
- The 2nd half of the 2nd quarter, we can beat anyone playing like that

Cons:

- Our poor start, cant give the best team in the comp a 5 goal head start
- I know Houlihan did a good job on Fisher, but he still cant exert any physical pressure anywhere
- Losing to the Saints again
- Losing another close one, 4 games under 10 points now, could cost us dearly in the end and miss out on finals
- That weak as piss girl Riewoldt cannot be touched according to the umpires.

if Houla was a kid in 1 of his first 3 seasons I'd applaud - but he is one of our most experienced and one of our best users of the ball and yet he played well if he restricts the opposition regardless of his lack of posessions and his missing of an important goal. Houla's job now is as a defensive tagger, nothing else? - sorry but I want more from Jr in that role let alone Houla. If that's the best we can get from him I'd rather a kid play that role.

Perhaps I just expect too much

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This type of slight is alien in the more cultured part of the world - Walsh. Its up there with mad dogs, Englishmen and the midday sun!

Pros
-we took risks, we ran the ball out of defense and handballed and ran through the corridor. I love how Bower always looks to play on quickly.
-thought we would be smashed. their best players gots lots of the ball and yet because we showed an intensity and willingness to take them on, tackle and chase and work for most of the 120 min we just fell short
- we had very few passangers tonight
- best game 4 qtr game I have seen from the blues
- liked most of the coaching moves tonight. Some examples a) starting the second qtr with stevens, muphy and gibbs on bench b) our defensive zone from St Kilda kick-ins changed half way through and I thought it worked very well
- the kids were awesome
Cons
None

Challenge for this team is to play this way for the rest of the season. I thought the way we were celebrating at half time after a 2nd qtr when everything that could go right for us did, would be hard to do. To the teams credit they came out and continued to work for the whole game. Very proud of the team.

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The glass is neither half full nor half empty. Rather the glass is twice as big than required.

PROS

The MC did well to turn the game. Tinkering is what Ratts called it. They have a better understanding of their players following this game and are creating good options.

Simpson was inspirational. Got his mojo back and expect him to play as such for the rest of 09

Austin: Height, timing, pace....watch this space

Browne won me over. Tough , cool, calm, no nonesense approach

Jamo and Bower were fantastic. Reiwoldts goals came from good delivery (unstoppable).

Love the way our defense ran the ball out (Bower, Army, Browne in particular)

Houla closing down Fisher (their playmaker)

Betts and Garlett's pressure in the forwardline. They bounced around like pinballs. Brilliant.

Setanta presented really well. Started holding contested marks.

Kreuzer and Hammer beat Gardiner

JUDD. Would have got us over the line if he wasn't breathing blood and on the ground

Joseph will take over as the best offensive tagger mantle from Kirk and Ling.

Gibbs and Grigg in the guts. Hard bodies and courage with skill and they're still kids.

We can beat 6 of the teams in the 8 on our day. (Sometimes we beat ourselves) Geelong are next test.

Banno did a great job on Gram and Goddard and kicked a couple goals. Great return.

Great team effort against the top team

WE would have won if Waite was a forward target with Fev

Walker and Warnock to come in for the last 6ish rounds

Very proud to be a bluebagger




CONS

Should have won.

9 @#$%&! ponts

Houlas missed opportunity to win the game

Easy goals missed Betts

Umpiring was bias against us. Really influence the game too much.

Setanta need to learn to run back off the mark and give himself options. Tell him Ratts. He needs to believe in himself.

The 5 goal start to the Saints. (WE know better now hopefully)

WE need a tall target (Waite , Kreuzer, Hammer, Austin, Thornton) in the goal area to compliment the Fev target.

No players thread to post my appreciation and recount the umteen good passages and efforts from Jamo, Bower, Aussie, Army, Browne, Judd, Simmo, Joseph, Garlett, Betts, Kreuzer, Hammer, Grigg, Gibbs, Murphy, Houla, Setanta, Stevo, Scotto, Carrots, Banno......and to read other posters viewpoints on the same players.

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Everyone looks good in Navy Blue

PRO:
AJ-What else can you say?
Judd-Ditto
Browney- Gets better with every game
Bower-Love the way he takes the risk to attack. I was a doubter but doubt no more.
Setanta

CON:
1st quarter
Kicking for goal

I would prefer that too - Houla should be played to his strengths which are his disposal into the forward 50.

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"You are being watched. The government has a secret system. A machine that spies on you every hour of every day. I know because I built it." - Finch

Yeah that would be good, someone like Riewoldt or Brown, but unfortunately they are otherwise engaged. Gun forwards are like gold, and are very rare. I think we are kidding ourselves if we think we just have to plonk Big K at CHF and he will dominate. He is a natural ruckman, has he ever played CHF? Is he quick enough (I don't mean mobility, I mean quickness)? How would he go when he has an opponent totally concentrating on him?

I love Big K and he is a wonderful ruckman. If Warnock can be a good first ruckman, and I'm not sure anyone has seen anything to suggest that is a given, then maybe we will see Big K at CHF. But I don't think he will star there where as he will in the ruck.

Not so much that he'll dominate Gerry, many of us just think he's our best available (read Waite injured) option going forward. Better than the likes of Carlos, Harts, Fish, Cloke, Austin, T-Bird etc.

Great that we have Carlos at least competing against the likes of Waite and Big K for the gig.

Let's give Setanata more time. You can't realistically expect him to be a Brown or a Riewoldt two weeks into his return from a protracted battle with injury especially given his circumstances. IMO last night was an indication of things to come from Setanta and he will develop a lot more with senior games.
Regarding Warnock, let me jog memories. Last year against Freo at TD we expected an easy ride in the ruck with Sandilands out of their team. What happened? Warnock stepped up and gave us a lesson in ruck work and it may have been instrumental in us going after him.

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Bawditawaba

Pros:

- Browne replicated his YouTube highlights package before he was drafted. Great mark at halfback he took.
- AJ showed how great a ball winner he can be. This is what had me excited last year.
- Austin is the ultimate pro. Anyone who read the ProStats formguide would see Aussie sitting pretty with 20 1% efforts prior to last night. He might not be ready for the Reiwoldts of the world yet, but he will be our CHB for many years to come.
- Grigg. How good is it to have this kid back. Big, Strong and prolific. Will only get better with the hitout, might be worth playing him for the Bullants next week as well. Grigg adds that big body around the ball we have been lacking, a very hard type to matchup on.
- Jamo was back to his awesome best, spoling everthing with authority.
- Carlos provided a great mobile target across half forward. He showed a it against the Bulldogs I think it was at CHF, well tonight he did it again. Needs to work on his decision making across half forward but great game.
- Eddie found some form and ball again.
- Fev played a great game IMO, a team game.
- Stevens really stepped up a few gears after quarter time.
- Simmo was magnificent, clearly BOG for mine. Lets hope the Australian Winter Olympic team didn't watch the game as his moves were world class.
- Houligan had a great game on Fisher.

I could go through nearly every player. can't believe we lost still, simply a bad start for a change cost us.

Cons:

- Garlett is still too small against the bigger opponents like the Saints.
- Wrong matchup on Gram early on.
- Saints won.

Good on you for reminding the Warnock doubters.

Warnock is a bonafide ruckman. Watch out!!!

I'd really like a tall CHF and a tall FP to give us 2 options on the last line; with Fev likely to be leading we can have a big Kreuzer taking control of the stratosphere....a place where short arses can't go.

Setanta will NEVER be Brown or Reiwodlt, but he's filling in the void better than we've had for a long long time...and I believe with a little encouragement and patience he will cement himself in that position because he's earned it and deserves it rather than because we have no other alternatives.

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Everyone looks good in Navy Blue

Pros

-Just didn't give up We looked like being blown away a few times but just kept on coming

-Some of the young kids coming through (including a couple not in Fridays team) have the natural aggression that some of our senior players lack. We are getting closer to getting the balance right.

-Despite being beaten by Max, Fev didn't spit it.

-Setanta for the first time to me, at AFL level showed he can take a contested mark. Looks like someone has been working on his technique. He also probably gained a bit of confidence taking that one against the Lions although it was canceled out by Simmo giving away the free kick. The Irishman still makes decision making and execution errors, but that wasn't the first daisy cutter he has hit Fev with this season. He is giving himself a chance to stay on the list after looking gone.

-There were lots of other individual pros...too numerous to mention

Cons

-We lost

-still talking about honourable losses, but we aren't far away from any loss being totally unacceptable.

-Having to still mention Fev not spitting it as a pro .

-Fev being a deadman walking coming up against Hudghton. Really needs a big one against him to get that gorilla off his back.

-Still lack that composure in front of goal.

Nathan Buckley gave Jeffrey Garlett a huge wrap on 3AW yesterday afternoon. Not sure who brought his name up in the discussion but Bucks yelled out "love him". He said even though he is pretty raw, Jeffrey is a well balanced player both defensively and offensively and is impressive.

Probably a few issues here Doc and Camelboy.

-Not sure that there is another team in the AFL that has one forward who is so dominant. Makes it easy for the better defences, especially as he is full forward. If he could play CHF as well you could change it up a bit. Tougher to block the space if he could play higher more effectively.

-Fev does love to get everyone to clear out for him. So it is a bit hard to block for him if you aren't near him.

-The opposition don't respect our other forwards, so even when our blokes do clear out their opponents are still looking to zone off to cover Fev. Aussie did a great block for Fev in the last quarter that took out Hudgton, but Fev still had to jump over Fisher to take the mark as he was blocking the space and Aussie's man Gilbert who made the switch when Max was taken out.

-Manning up the loose men in front of Fev can allow you to try and block their run at the ball, but it does clog up your forwardline.

Longer to medium term issues

-We are trying to develop other forwards. For too long are other forwards have just been there to block for Fev or get out of his way. Due to this some of our senior forwards have lost the ability to take the responsibility to shoot for goal or lead to good spots. Some of them absolutely shiite themselves when they have to take a shot. You have to be hungry to be another goal kicking option. Some of these guys are now in the Ants.

-Conversely and this complicates the issue, the new guys coming in although hungrier, aren't as good at blocking. It is a real balancing act. You need to keep the newer forwards hungry, but also not to be dumbed down as our other forwards have been over the years with the focus on Fev.

It is always going to be a toughie.