I remember this all too well, being a faithful Yarran supporter I kept a close eye. One of the instances involved Carrazzo, he had a bit of a run down the midfield and his eyes were glued, probably thinking, "c'mon Fev make a lead, you're one out. When are you going to lead?". Yarran wasn't actually leading anywhere, but he had a huge amount of space on his side and could have easily taken a mark. Joseph was in a similar situation when he made a dash inside 50, Yarran was open for a medium kick, short kick and right up until a hand pass, none of which eventuated.

Yarran is a natural in the forward line and can find space, but he was feeding on scraps for much of the match, which is why half his possessions were contested. Yarran was merely an afterthought. Gibbs did find him late in the game and a goal eventuated from that.

I agree that we need some strong marking players, but that doesn't mean we can't use some of our other players as regular targets inside 50, as I mentioned in the previous post we have failed terribly in this area. And again, midfielders kicking goals isn't the cure for a lack of options up forward, it's like the parents doing the neglected kids' homework and praising the talented kid who is given everything to succeed.

We haven't recruited a big forward to replace JK in the last 2 drafts, unless you count Kreuzer as a forward. Tiller and Stanton are closest, which says it all. You can't build Rome in a day, but if big forwards take time to develop, it would make sense to take them first.

And I agree that the game now encourages more mobile, nimble forwards, but the best tall forwards will always be a factor, as long as they can run.

I agree that you just dont select someone just because they are tall, but I would have expected us in the last couple of years to take some tall forwards as projects in the hope that one can make it.

They have made no attempt at this, maybe except for tiller and stanton.

I meant why take Bentley, what a waste of a pick. Should have taken a project tall instead.

We may have some talls, but not many are quality.

Josh Kennedy's development at Carlton was slow partly because the ball went to Fevola so much. Ratts can you solve this problem?

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Bawditawaba

I think Carlton Forward line is developing into a major asset.

Imagine this

Betts and Fev starting in the square

Sentanta (or Kreuzer) at CHF with Yarran lurking

Carrazzo and Garlett running in from either side of the square (just off the traditional wing position running in at an angle to put either defensive pressure on the opponents midfield or to get the ball as a sweeper if it spills)

Regarding Fev I think his number mantra should be positive talk at all times. That includes not speaking to the umpires as I have never seen a player say anything positive to the umpires in the heat of the moment or got them to change their mind for that matter. Heck all that happens is the conversation continues 50 metres down field.

We don't want to crowd out our forward line like with Adelaide game. In some respects it would be better to set a wall outside the arc and get the ball on the way out. That and watching the hips of any ball carriers to anticipate movement for tackling. Actually the most annoying thing about Adelaide was the handball under pressure. It would be much better to have held onto the ball and risk giving away a free kick which at least gives us more time to run back into defence.

In my opinion we are developing some very good small forwards which have some enormous ability and are showing good use of some it. Small forwards are quite important if you think of the forward line pressure and establishing a good spread of goal kicking. The question remain if the big irishman can continue to contest effectively.

I glad to see that some are keeping the idea going. I'm too s*** scared to write a lot these days because I tend to rub people the wrong way. I'm an opinionated sod but so benign in the overall scheme of things that any friction is really quite surreal.


Enough philosophising and self pity. I know we perhaps have the nucleus to still have a successful forward line but my angle is that if we get the opportunity...why risk it when we have a lot of tough drafts coming up and an aging Fev? Injuries perhaps hurt us more than most top eight sides, too.

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Just because I'm offended, doesn't mean I'm wrong.

What did he have... 3 kicks ... 2 of those in junk time???

i did see him sometimes..... usually almost out of screen trying to keep up...

but if you think im wrong... on the back of a handfull of games... i think im right... on the back of tonight...

like i said ... bring this up in a few years....

i know one thing... he wont be getting any faster...

and the other thing im right about... adelaides midfield slaughtered essendons and gave their forwards opportunities galore.. and the slaughtered Essendon* midfield couldnt get the ball into their forward line with any coherent ease...


just remember one thing... the games are won and lost through the middle.. not by the odd contested mark in todays game...

tippet was good... but would he have had opportunities if adelaides forward line hadnt dominated?

and besides the bulk of the goals were not kicked by adelaides talls...

run run run run run.. and win the ball.. work as a team to control the game ... especially between the arcs..



but if youre still looking at 1970s style.. positional contested one on one marking footy.. you would think im wrong.. re what we need...!!

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I agree with all that Synbad. Handy to have a bunch of blokes who can convert up forward though. Gun kicks all over the forward line for the crows.

Its all about the machine.

You run through the middle like a hot knife through butter ... not go out wide.. stop start stop start...splutter.. cough... go wide.. go back... side into trouble.... and youll kick heaps of goals...

the machine needs to be like a swiss watch...

every piece is as one....

thats what adelaide are doing and thats why they have options...and convert...

thry all know their roles.. and they attack and defend as ONE...

beautifully organised football side...

pretty young too except about 4 or 5...and not too many early picks in that side..

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I think the defending as one is the key. Its the defensive mechanisms ( hate footy terms like that) that make teams choose to commit players to flood the ball in an attempt to carry the ball through their zone in numbers that then allows the crows to have the rest of the field to themselves. The centre is left wide open once the crows get thier hand on it.

Absolutely.. its all about structures and set ups...

In a way StKilda and Adelaide are kind of using a sucker tactic. where they vacum the opposition into a spot put them under pressure and move the ball away...
The saints arent doing it as efficiently at the moment...

... and adelaide is....


Its not about a front 6 or a back 6 ... the game isnt won by contested marks anymore.... its won on the ground... and opportunities are created in the air sometimes...

working as one whole not as a bunch of fragments is what makes a side succesful right now..

you can still use fev and judd efficiently if you are working as one....

... actually its alot easier for them if you have that kind of gameplan....

Craig (who is my favourite coach at the moment ) spoke about "ball movement"...

'ball movement' needs to be swift and with intent... how often did adelaide players look puzzled with what to do with the ball???

beautifully coached team in the modern game sense...

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According to Laidley in todays Age, Carlton is ranked first in the AFL for percentage of score times inside 50, so it is extremely efficient.
We don't rely on goals from marks from Fev. Betts & Garlett at ground level are extremely important

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Cheats never prosper (except in the AFL)

One myth was busted today...Fev + Finals = Bag of goals. We need to take some significant steps away from Fevola and simply make him A target and not THE target. Pretty much when Fevola leaves the game our forward line transition needs to be as seamless as possible.

Fev doesn't kick a bag and/or the midfield doesn't kick a bag and we have no chance of winning. Our attacking strategy is flawed.

Stevens in the forward line was a decent move, but that really does show how bad we need some reliable options.

Kreuzer looked good in attack, I have a feeling he'd be attending Key Forward school during the summer.

Yarran and a full pre-season, he should definitely be a regular seeing how predictable our forward structure can be.

This all comes down to the coaches and whether their willing or able to effectively link the midfield and the forward line and make use of all players involved. Best of luck to them.

Sad as it is to say so (as I don't wish any ill on Fevola), probably the best thing that could happen to improve our forward line next season is for Fev to miss the first half of the season with some injury, I feel this is the only way our midfielders can kick the habit of always kicking to Fevola, no matter what.

Sometimes cold-turkey is the only effective treatment.

So the solution to our fwd 50 woes is to leave out the one component that is effective because we don't have the balls to employ people who can give us a decent fwd entry strategy...

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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

I got the feeling many of our key play makres were probably too defensively minded (a reaction to the dowhill skiier tag), and it didn't even work for them. Gibbs and Murphy and Simpson just didn't get into open space enough to hurt, and Walker and Russell were quiet too (JR developing nicely though). Is it Ratten's fault the players were not attacking enough? He and the players need to find the right balance. Just thought our key playermakers didn't get enough of the ball where it really hurts.

Gibbs in particular very poor, just 18 touches, Stevens also faded with just 18 touches, and Walks just 12. Yes I know he was tagging, but the point still stands, when the Lions inevitable run on came late in the game we just didn't have enough playmakers getting the ball where it counts, in space.

In other words, where was the run? Looks at cats and Dog, they ran and ran and ran.

We refused to run when it counted the most. What on earth is Ratten teaching this mob?

Cloke missed when the pressure was on.

Betts quiet again. What's happened to him?

Nobody cutting off the kicks to Bradshaw. Ratten, did you think to do something about this? Those plays killed us all night.

Grigg should not have played. Out of form and down on confidence, just terrible.

Wasted the year in so far as we could have brought in Warnock and started blooding Kruezer as a forward. Good game by the Shag, but unlike Brisbane who had two options we were so predictable again going to Fev all the time. Why bring in Cloke if you rarely go to him? At least Setanta could have been a 3rd option down back.

Dissappointing night and I am not convinced over our coach and our MC who I think have mucked up numerous times during the year.

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

Where does Waite sit in all this?

(Assuming we draft Talia, and use Bower and Austin more at CHB)

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#GUILTY

IMO Waite must play forward next year (or Austin) regardless of who we draft this year.

We've shown that we can cope reasonably well without both him and Jamison (7 of the last 9 or whatever we won) and Bower, Thornton, Russell and Walker can hold their own against most opposition. Add Jamo to that backline next year along with Austin sitting in the wings and that's more than enough big bodies and talls down there.

Waite should be played forward where he will be a much more dangerous option and he still gives us flexibility to change things around in case things go awry in the backline like last night.

I'd use Waite more as mid. This is where we have major concerns...

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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

Don't be scared Dino, just keep on posting. I think if the truth be known most have no idea what you are saying (including me) so it is hard for you to rub them/me/us up the wrong way.

Regards Cazzesman

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Ricky Gervais - “Everyone has the right to hold whatever beliefs they want. And everyone else has the right to find those beliefs f***ing ridiculous.”