Now i haven't had a lot to say about last night game on this board thus far bcoz i wasnt as upset as some others. But i was listening to SEN on the way home from the game and some half wit Carlton supporters calling in criticizing Thornton. I've noticed it happens quite often and cant understand why?? He was clearly our best defender along with Bower last night is hard and always cool under pressure... People actaully calling in having a go at him calling for him to be dropped....

And i ask.. FOR WHO?????

Get off his back he is the least of our worry's at the moment and people forget last years Premiers would still love to have him so lets be grateful he has stuck fat and been loyal as god knows he hasn't had much success at the blues.

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WE ARE CARLTON @#$%&! THE REST

You hit the nail on the head, half wit supporters! Thornton was our best player last night.

Yes i think he was too.

Having a great year.

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The problem will be made. for the solution to be sold, to your face before your eyes, tolerance is now the new danger

Had a gutful of it...

He is constantly a scape goat after we lose and i sat there last night i watched him and thought.. How brittle our back six have been last with out him there...

Doesn't deserve it.

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WE ARE CARLTON @#$%&! THE REST

thanks for beating me to ming this thread. . .i read in the 'vent your spleen' thread someone labelling him a 'questionable' player with hoops and russell etc.

For me, all 3 are good players, but t-bird especially is a class above.

With bower, he was the only half decent player last night IMO.

Should be exempt from ANY talk

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Cuck Follingwood

T-Bird and Bower would probably be the only two players who could walk off that ground with their heads up.

He was very good in yet another difficult game for the backline with the opposition moving through the midfield at will.

in fcat at one point I wanted them to try him at CHF. He can mark and kick!

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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!

I am amazed at how badly we need Setanta in this team.

Not having a crack at him, I'm just surprised at how players can rise and fall in importance in this game.

I agree. Santy held that hf line and can kick the ball. God I can't wait until we have a half decent forward setup.

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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!

i watched that kid grow up over teh road from me. forever kicking a footy bouncing the ball up and down the street , kicking into poles and fences and taking the rebound. he'd do this every night after school. a quiet fella,always polite and would say g'day and knock on my door if he needed to retrive ball from my yard and i never knew he was drafted to carlton. he was still the kid over the street. one day i watchen carlton v fremantle and i see him on tv and say to the mrs come here. is that the young fella over the street. she says yeh and say holy shit. the next day i get my kids footy , come out and kick to him, he kicks back , i said no sign it for me kid and he was like what me sign it and i said yes we're blues fans and he signed it and then told me anytime i wanna come into rooms to let him know. so anyway 2 seasons later he got us in rooms , itw as in fact walkers 1st game and we beat the eagles

onya Bret

T-Bird often gets unfairly criticized because he wears his heart on his sleeve and is not all that stoic when he gets beaten on the lead (not his greatest strength) but he is the lynch pin of the defence, was clearly our best player last night and, when most of his mates were struggling to hit the broad side of a barn, T-Bird had a 96% efficiency rating.

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Hey Rocky; there are too many rabbits ... in China.

i'm also a big Thornton fan. as others have said, he holds our backline together. i would however, like him to move the ball on faster when he has it. that would add greatly to his value in the side. gun player.

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i don't wanna spend my life explaining myself. Either you get it, or you don't- Frank Zappa

I think the only downside to T-Bird's game is he kicks short too often, other than that he has to be close to one of the best readers of the play in the backhalf in the game, and you can't question his courage.

In saying that though, if we recieved a very good offer I would think about trading him.

Absolutely, I think he is our most expendable trade asset. Great player, but imagine where he'll be at the end of next season.

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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.

I've been critical of him but have watched him closely in recent weeks and I've realised his importance to the team - at this stage our only player who has the ability to consistently mark kicks coming in from the opposition. Reads it very well and we can then rebound if he marks it.

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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

Thorno has had a very good season.

Important player to us IMO

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They will know that they've been playing against the famous old dark blues

Thornton is having a great season imo.

Thornton gets the ball, looks up the ground for a long kick...there's no one presenting, a wall of opposition players in front of him, he turns and runs back to make more space rather than bombing it to a contest. He looks out at the side and there's a Carlton jumper presenting. Thornton efficiently passes it to his team mate. We still have possession of the ball.

Thornton is a very good mark and reads the game very well. He's no dumb footballer. He's an assett, and has neld this backline together as best as he could over the last 5 years.

I do not want to trade him....but is the Hawks were offering Hodge for Thornton...yeah I'd enter the discussion. If we're offered draft picks...they'd have to be first round or nothing. There's no guarantees with draft picks, whereas with Thornton on our list, we have a bona fide footballer with footy smarts.

Well done again Bret.

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Everyone looks good in Navy Blue

Is good at reading the play and getting to contests.

Is indecisive and slow at rebounding quickly out of defence.

Another player who's good is very good but who's bad contributes greatly to losses.

Needs to be better ..or we need better..

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There's so much I could say...

I like Thornton but i can understand criticism against him because he isn't very good at 1 or 1 contests with Key Forwards and quite often he seems to slow the run out of defence. He has been playing his role as a drift back/ free defender very well though

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#23: Lachlan Henderson

I think it's obvious that as soon as he is in possession of the ball one of our playmakers should be running past him for the dish off handball and quickly sending the pill upfield.

Week after week ..indecision and the sideways chip allowing the opposition to flood back....

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There's so much I could say...