We did until Fevola crashed him.

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Bawditawaba

It's just a rite of passage in Carlton's F50. Fish had his cheekbone broken (twice IIRC) for having the temerity to try to mark a ball that Fev wanted. I guess Santy got off lightly.

I wish Fev put as much effort into teaching the opposition not to contest the ball as he does with respect to his own team mates. Maybe then we'll be able to have a multi-faceted forward line.

How did Rats assess himself?

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Due to recent budget cuts and the rising cost of electricity, gas, and oil....... the Light at the End of the Tunnel has been turned off. We apologize for the inconvenience.

Don't think he mentioned anything about tactics/gameplan.

He mentioned in the post match press conference that when we move the ball slowly in defence the opposition have manned up all our free men!

So he is basically conceeding that if we don't move the ball quickly from defence we're [REDACTED]!

You'd think there would be some sort of plan in place to move the ball when the opposition have zoned up from our kickouts or from a general kick in defence.

However the tactic is to bomb it long to Kreuzer of Hampson and hope they mark it. Real one dimensional and lacking in imagination.

I see teams who have been held up in defence still able to move it inside 50 and give themselves scoring opportunities.

Surely you would plan to create space to combat the zone. Or even take a risk. Instead its safe stuff bomb down the line and hope.

The scum at every opportunity will kick the ball into the defensive region of the centre square. It's a risky kick but their skill level is good enough to do it.

Is Ratten conceeding our skill level isn't good enough or that he doesn't have a plan?

If he doesn't like our skill level, why would we draft someone with such obvious kicking deficiencies as Armfield.

There was a clear example of this late in the second quarter. I think it was Scotland who had the ball in the back pocket. He had nothing to kick to so bombed it down the line, even though Houlihan was outnumbered - he had Dempsey and I think Hooker with him. Hooker blocked while Dempsey took an uncontested mark and they pumped it back inside 50 which resulted in a goal.

Why so often do we have nothing to kick to?

And yet when the opposition bring it out of defence so often they have loose men everywhere. Where is our zone? Why aren't we forcing them to take more risks or forcing them to bomb it down the line?

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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

That was when Bower held the ball up just before half time. I think most Carlton fans knew what was coming next.

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You want the flame? Give us the marbles!!

chasing tails and his own stuff ups mostly

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I will miss you Kouta - thanks for the memories. ps. Kouta > * for ∞

0 clangers according to AFL stats

Yeah he was ordinary but who wasn't?

Give him a credit or 2 for having a crack, maybe?

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There's so much I could say...

When Setanta was easily our beat "mismatch" forward last night, Fev (who admittedly had 2 players covering him most of the game) should have been disciplined enough to lead in the opposite direction taking those defenders with him and allowing Setanta to try and dominate his opponent. But instead, on a number of occasions, he took his opponents to the contest and crashed the pack (and the mad Irishman) resulting in the ball being whisked away. Unbelievably selfish play from a senior player.

Fev then has the temerity to sook when he is not hit lace out on the odd occasion that he manages to find himself in front on a lead. I can't stand Harry Highpants but you never see that kind of reaction when the ball is not delivered pinpoint from his Bummer teammates.

On another note, I am stuffed why we refuse to play the corridor when entering our inside 50. I lost count of how many set shots we had (particularly in the first half) that were from within 10 metres of the boundary line. No wonder we continually kick more behinds than goals and end up losing momentum for all the hard work we do upfield

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The Empire Strikes Back

Spot on. Armfield was only one of 22 reasons we lost last night.

Armfield is one of our few blokes who will have a crack at getting through traffic. Gets caught sometimes, gets through others.

Never try to break a line, you'll never get caught doing so.

He's in Wallsy's bottom 6, but I reckon there's some pretty harsh calls on the lad here.

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Congratulations CK95

Well he must have a mate in the stats crew then. Right in front of me last night he rushed a snap over his shoulder (on the wing, mind), which fell short, got marked by an Essendon* player and went back the other way straight back over his head.

He can run. Terrific. So can Kane Tenace.

Armfield is a project player, he will have his ups and downs for at least the next few years but he certainly has a bit to work with and his kicking isn't as bad as some say. At least he runs, handballs and runs again, something we all agree we need much more of.

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You want the flame? Give us the marbles!!

I really wish Ratten had a time machine. Then we would've won. We would've smashed them! Russell would've played too. And Wiggo. It would've been so sweet a victory, providing he kept the time machine bit secret. Don't want ammunition for people to call us cheats.

Last night was just one of those things that happens occasionally when a team is not mentally switched on for the battle. I'm sure we all remember what happened to Geelong under the MCG lights on one Friday night last season. Belted by 83 points against the Filth. All it takes in today's football is for the intensity to drop off by 10 or 20% and it's all over. One of our strengths in recent times is the fact we have been fighting games out despite the scoreboard pressure applied on us but that was non-evident last night. When Essendon* went 4 goals up early in the 3rd the body language on our blokes was there to see. They dropped their heads, stopped chasing,tackling and running into space. Game over thus the blowout as well. A horror night but it could be a blessing in disguise because we know we are better than that. Our boys will be hurting right now and I'm sure their intensity will get back to that consistent level we have seen all season bar a couple of games. An ordinary team doesn't go up and win at the Gabba and then is on the verge of knocking off the top team with a minute to go the following week and that without Waite, Thornton and Walker.
I was very angry and gutted last night but I have watched enough football over the years to understand that things in this caper turn around very quickly. Essendon* have the wood over us for the time being but let's not forget we have beaten Collingwood and the Western Bulldogs the last three times we've played them. Do you think they care about that?

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WE ARE CARLTON, WE ARE ARROGANT AND WE LOVE IT!

There is no one in our coaching box who has been part of a successful afl coaching department (Brett montgomery?) & yet we have let Worsfold, Lyon and Silvagni pass through royal pde.

Armfield may have his faults but right now is clearly in our best 22. When you lack run he has to play and you can not criticise he's endeavour. Aftern watching Russel for 70 games I would certainly want to give him until mid next season before I made a call because if he can develop his kicking and defensive skills a little more he could be a good player

Of course not cos all thos teams are above us..... and were falling further and further behind...

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Due to recent budget cuts and the rising cost of electricity, gas, and oil....... the Light at the End of the Tunnel has been turned off. We apologize for the inconvenience.

It's not just that he didn't have time machine, Verbs - it's the fact that from what I can see - he's done nothing to build one!

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Now stalking Carlton on Twitter and Facebook!

What a bastard!

Comedy Gold

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STURDYISM!!

Agre - Browne has the class, needs to improve his kicking decision-making when under pressure and his work rate.