Some will, but some will drop off.

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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

No we really do lack a creative mid off HB........Waite was our best at launching attack from defence.
McLeod, Drummond, Bock, H. Shaw, Goddard, Mackie, Enright, Hodge, Guerra, Gilbee, Dempsey, Birchall, P Burgoyne, J.Hunt, Wirripanda all do this job and there are countless more.

Then we compound the problem by continuously playing 4 tall defenders which reduces the run from the backline.
This week we have Austin, Bower, Jammo and T-Bird in the team, and North has gone with a small fwd line against a top heavy backline. No wonder we have trouble running the ball out of defence. Would prefer Grigg off HB for a bit of run.

The sad truth is we dont have great options for the role, but can see AJ developing in the area of running creatively out of defence.

Havent we tried Gibbs in this quarterbacking role and didnt the coaching staff getting a canning from some for playing the lad out of position?

Don't worry, I'm pretty sure all the good teams have had to improve to be better than the rest of their competition at some point too

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..L.Ball is an interesting point.. ..has his years of inuries started to really take their toll, or is it more a coaching issue and how he's being utilised..??.. ..personally i still think he can cut it, but the modern gameday tactics of rotating players might not 'work' for a player like Ball..

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

Hardly the point. Some of them will be heading down the bell curve in that time, and others will come up.

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And so while others miserably pledge themselves to the pursuit of ambition and brief power, I will be stretched out in the shade, singing.

Unfortunately you can only cover so many bases in each draft.
3 years ago we were desperate for ruckmen, forward options, key backs, inside mids, outside mids etc etc etc.

We've covered most deficiencies with kids over the past few drafts. Unfortunately they cant all explode out of the blocks in their first year. It's my understanding Rhys O'Keefe was recruited to fill the role of ball user off half back, we just need to show some patience.
If the club had shown ignorance and not addressed our deficiencies, by all means be frustrated but AFAIC, we've shown intelligence in our drafting strategies.
We just need to accept that these things take time.

I'd take the frustrating wait of developing youth every time over quick fixes with hasbeens.

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Looking forward to seeing our potential realised.

I reckon what he may be alluding to is what you can get out of the players on your list....and how you work those players effectively into your game plan and structures....not something we are experts at at Carlton.

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"Truth, for the tyrants, is the most terrible and cruel of all bindings; it is like an incandescent iron falling across their chests. And it is even more agonizing than hot iron, for that only burns the flesh, while truth burns its way into the soul"     — Lauro Aguirre

Agreed

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

I read it as more the time it takes to get to the GF or flag - the examples being 7 and 8 years - is the time it takes to both develop your talent, and cull the non-performers, oldies, and the ones who won't be part of the flag push.

We've started that process with the draft picks, Judd, etc, the development is happening (despite the protestations of some), the next step will be the removal of the deadwood, and trading for some mature fill-ins to take us to the next step.

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And so while others miserably pledge themselves to the pursuit of ambition and brief power, I will be stretched out in the shade, singing.

We do not lack one. We simply do not have a mature one out on the park. None of them feature "50+m bullet passing" ability though.


And in that order:

Class, not so much a long pass as a long kick for goal, class, role player, class, not a renowned defender, not a HB, class, role player, class, who?, role player, class, not a renowned defender, class.

So we have McLeod, Bock, Goddard, Hodge, Gilbee, Peter Burgoyne, Wirripanda. How they all came to be on the HBF is a wide collection of stories, and I would suggest only 2, maybe 3, are small defenders. One is a CHB. The rest get as favourable a defensive match-up as they can and play loose.

Understand your players, devise a system that best utilises their talents and best covers their weaknesses. Do not just copy everything the premier does, because there'll be another 14 teams trying to work out how to kick that into the crapper.


We were attempting to stretch the Kangaroos' defence, which is quite short at present. Now we're perfectly balanced, assuming Hadley is a capable contributor.

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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.

Problem is Wallsy goes on about us like we're a top 2 side totally underachieving. Think he knew and covered his butt with that last paragraph. Thing is we are a young, developing side, which typically lack consistency, coming from the bottom of the ladder. We are where we're supposed to be, in the 8, with a few holes in the side that will get covered with time, experience and drafting. The fact we were playing for a legitimate top 4 shot last week, despite the disaster, is a good sign in itself. If we did get top 4 it would be really "overachieving" as we aren't ready for that yet. Goal is to make the 8 and play a final. That's the experience our young blokes need. Nothing more. Anything else is a bonus.

Agreed BV, good post

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The problem with Socialism is, you eventually run out of other people's money.

Wallsy might have gone oveboard with the use of the word 'gun', but I think the point still stands.

We are relying waaaay too much on Judd, Gibbs, Murphy.

We saw it again last night. Gibbs and Murphy got us across the line, again.

Good to see Stevo run hard though, hopefully he can re-find his touch and form and stay fit, cause God do we need him !

But that's where it started and ended last night.

We need the JRs and Texs and Griggs to step up and suppor the Murphys, Gibbs, Judds, and Stevens' (?)

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

I reckon last night, along with matches like the Freo match, JR did stand up, and was one of the few consistent contributors through the match.

Walker was OK. VFL-rusty might be the best way to put it, as there seems to be an ever-increasing gulf between VFL and AFL levels. AW will be much better for the run, not to mention his confidence.

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And so while others miserably pledge themselves to the pursuit of ambition and brief power, I will be stretched out in the shade, singing.