Stats aren't everything.

Compare the two teams who is playing the better football right now and why?

Flower i hope we play the scum in the finals.

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"I will rejoice in their anguish, delight in their failure and revel in our success"

We are Carlton, @#$%&! the rest !!!!!!

How they've gone about it to me is the more encouraging way to develop a team.

Ask why our team fades out? lack commitment at times? go off the boil?

Do we see the Bombers doing this? NO. They are being coached to know that good things will come

We are being coached differently each week.

Funny how Brett Ratten has come out and said that we're now only focussing on what we have to rather the history. Wasn't Mark McVeigh who said during the week the bombers only focus on what they need to do to win and how they wanna play.

Now our coach has come out and said the same thing. Another one of his backflips to add to many others

And so do i. I'd love to beat them when it matters

What hurts so much is that i've seen this team (the Bombers) who everyone had written off as bottom 4 and no good, poor choice of coach, an aging list to turning it around this year and proving everyone wrong.

They are playing better and a more promising brand of football to a team thats suppose to be coming.

They could be a dangerous side come a nice mildish sunny day in september at the G.

They=Essendon* fc
Us= carlton fans

it matters because its one thing to say 'houlihan is shit' or whatever, but to me, glorifying Essendon* or collingwood or richmond at the expense of glorifying carlton breaks my heart. I will NEVER recognise them as a good team, especially when i believe they're not as good as us in the first place. . .i know im being immature about it but @#$%&! them, we're carlton.

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Cuck Follingwood

Put your emotions aside for one minute. On what evidence can you say Carlton are better than Essendon* and Collingwood right now?

Explain to me what we've done/got over them that would justify your reasoning

I agree 100%

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When you're a Jet you're a Jet all the way!

except we we play against them......

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“Before you criticise someone, you should walk a mile in their shoes. That way, when you criticise them, you're a mile a way and you have their shoes."

Not keen on sticking my neck out, but Melvey has a point. They do have a much more positive and exciting brand of football, and if we weren't talking about Essendon* and Carlton, I know who I'd rather watch.

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Gaga and The Hoff party hard in London

its not necessarily on 'what youve done' that i base my ratings of a team. . for example, port adelaide beat the reigning premiers in melbourne, are they any good? No.

The hawks are struggling majorly, yet i'd have them in the best 6sides in the competition, form aside.

I think that we have more potential matchwinners in our side than Essendon*. And collingwood's side are on par with us, perhaps not bettter or worse, they're far more inconsistent when it matters. Big players go missing too often. Fraser, medhurst, didak, davis, shaw, and thomas play shockers regularly but their good games are flashy enough that its accepted. Yes fevola is in the same boat, but a coleman medallist, possible soon to be dual coleman medallist isnt exactly someone i'd label a 'front runner'.

Essendon* on the other hand are where i/alot of people rated north melbourne over the past few years. Playing above themselves to make the finals. They're not a BAD side, but like north melbourne finishing in a good position in the past few years, the bombers aren't necessarily as good as their ladder position, and recently developed reputation based on form suggests.

Yes, i understand the same could be said for carlton, but THAT is where my bias probably comes into the equation. If either side was better than us, yeh i'd cop it sweet. i hate st kilda as much as any side, but they're a superb footy team and i can admit it. As for the pies, they're on par with us, not better or worse. The bombers aren't far worse than us, but definately not better. And the tigers arent in our league.

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Cuck Follingwood

i think ratten is trying to find the medium between attacking our goals whilst trying to negate the opposition scoring so heavily against us as they have previously.
hopefully starts 2 click soon because essencum are certainly starting to under knights.
nothing i hate more than having to lower our colours to them!

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When you're a Jet you're a Jet all the way!

I understand.

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I AM DISENFRANCHISED

I hate Essendon*, but I tips me hat to them right now, because they have surprised just about all, they have come when all thought they would go.

I do think we will be OK though.

Thought about our midfield. I was worried initially it won't have enough depth, but I think it will be OK.

Russell has shown good signs, Walker to come back in, Yarran has undoubted class so should 'make it'. Continued improvement in Grigg. Robbo a smokey. Carrazzo has been terrific.

Future Side?? (interesting to see the no. of top 20 picks x10 + x4 Rookies, 3 of them in defense = very workman-like backline) ...

B Joseph R, Jamison R, Bower 20
HB Russell 2, Thornton R, Waite
C Simpson, Gibbs 1, Grigg 19
FOLL Warnock, Judd 3, Murphy 1
HF Carrazzo R, Kruezer 1, Yarran 6
F Betts, Fevola, Walker 2

INT FROM Hampson 17, Austin, Setanta, Robinson, Browne, Armfield, Jacobs, Hartlett, Johnson etc etc

No Stevens, Scotland, Houlihan but I kept Fevola bec he has 3-4 years left in him and let's face it he is the no.1 fwd in the AFL.

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It's a small world, but I wouldn't want to paint it

Well said.

We will win a flag before the Scum or the Filth.

Maybe even two...


Mark my words.

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..aside from the 10 2004 wins [we still got belted that year too], when you factor in the long, consecutive years of carlton being a vfl side playing afl, we had to try and tighten up our defense and instill a defensive mindset across the entire field, and not just the back half.. ..hell, teams better than us do it [saints/crows].. ..it's taken them a few years to get their defense/attack balance right.. ..we're still a v.young team and after the pago years i reckon we had a lot of ground to make up, and we're still catching up.. ..hell, under the pago years all we did was try to play attacking football it seemed..

..personally i don't think the bumbers are playing better, nor more exciting..

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..if you can't be good, be good at it..

Melvs. Did you know your posts have accounted for one third of this thread?!




QFMFT. What better time to snap the losing streak against them...

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People, the media included seem to equate frenetic with exciting.

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"One of my favorite philosophical tenets is that people will agree with you only if they already agree with you. You do not change people's minds." - Frank Zappa

Thanks for doing the math Sparksy.

It would explain why i haven't got much work done today. I've done sweet flower all today........... and the toilets here at Lexus Centre are all spotless, think i might go home

So they're playing the better football......but we are scoring more...so you should be optimistic??