Ahh... yes. Oops. I had him in there on Jimmae's footy board (nice work by the way), but somehow missed him. So that would make it:

FB - Armfield Jamison Bower
HB - Scotland Waite Russell
C - Joseph Simpson Gibbs
HF - Thornton Kruezer Murphy
FF - Walker Henderson Betts
Ru - Warnock Judd McLean

Int - Hampson Carrazzo Yarran Houlihan

Emg - Grigg Robinson Austin

I know Thornton is on the half-foward line here, but I'd like to see him given a go at it. Got a great mark and seems an option to set things up on the forward line. Russell, Bower and Waite to stream out of the half back line.

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I would like to thank Collingwood for helping me keep faith in my old man. He always told me that 'People are thick'.

Big call for everyone to have Henderson in their starting 22. I know the trade fever is still fresh and everybody has a vested interest in proclaiming this bloke as a walk up superstar, but realistically he is a 19yo with 2 years in the system. To ask him to be our starting FF/CHF straight out of the blocks is a bit unfair I think. Give him some gametime yes, but to expect him to come off 15 games experience as a 19 year old and be a starting AFL CHF is a tad optimistic. Realistically Henderson will play some Bullants next year.

Waite is coming back from an ACL Reco and will take some time to gain confidence in his body again and Warnock hasnt played AFL for over a year and has endured a couple of major surgeries in that period. I would suggest that we will see Cloke/Setanta (if his blood clots can be sorted out) or maybe Austin and a part time Henderson/Kreuzer/Pick#12 lining up in some of those key forward slots with Kreuzer/Hampson/Jacobs in the ruck. We're in a development phase and it will probably be about getting game time into those Key Position players for the next 2 years.

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"Who discovered we could get milk from cows, and what did he think he was doing at the time?" Billy Connolly

Yep, Henderson has had two full seasons at Brisbane and my understanding of why he wasn't getting a game was because of Jonathan Brown. They gave Henderson opportunities down back, but I believe he is more suited to being a forward player. He needs to be in our best 22

So far, my best 22 for next year would look like

Joseph ....... Jamison ...... Armfield
Russel ........ Bower ........ Thornton
Simpson ...... Mclean ....... Gibbs
Kreuzer ....... Waite ........ Walker
Betts ....... Henderson ..... Yarran/Garlett/Robinson

Warnock, Judd, Murphy

Int out of Hampson, Carazzo, Grigg, one of Hadley/Yarran/Garlett/Robinson


I think the back 6 pretty much pick themselves now. Jamison at FB, Bower at CHB and Thornton as 3rd man are the tall options, with Waite playing up forward but able to swing back as required. Armfield is our best small defender ATM IMO (Browne needs to put some more pressure on him) and Russel had a great finish to 2009 playing down back.

I would love to see Simpson and Gibbs running down the wings, while Mclean gets down and dirty in the packs. Judd and Murphy pick themselves, while I would love to see Warnock cement his spot at #1 ruckman (but realalistically I think Hampson will be and Jacobs #2)

I think we should play Waite at CHF (knee permitting). He is a big body and a great mark. Very athletic, applies defensive pressure and knows how to kick goals.

Henderson will develop into our CHF, but would like to play him at FF for a year so he can physically develop more before he is unleashed at CHF

Kreuzer would be a great 3rd tall IMO. Great contested mark, speed, 1%ers. Would add ALOT to out forward line IMO

Walker adds some x factor. Extremely athletic, will run and chase all day. Can kick a goal.

Betts is a great crumber and applies ALOT of forward line defensive pressure

Yarran/Garlett/Robinson would all play a similar role IMO, with Garlett being a mixture of Yarran and Robinson. Yarran would offer us a class crumber but a little less defensive presence, Robinson would offer defensive pressure and attack on the ball but not alot of polish, while Garlett offers a little less polish than Yarran and a little less pressure than Robinson, but a great mixture of the 2.

Hampson (or Jacobs) should be our 2nd ruck option coming off the bench (don't want to see Kreuzer rucking outside of the forward 50 !!!!!!) with Carazzo and Grigg rotating through the midfield/pushing back and one of Hadley/Yarran/Garlett/Robinson as the 4th bench player depending on who was picked in the forward line and if anther big body in needed (ala if we are playing a physical side such as the Cats or Hawks)

..why is it a big call?, Krooz has been playing ruck with stints up fwd since his debut in rnd 3 and hasn't missed a game since then.. ..Hendo can do the same, has a good size about him, and a fair size engine.. ..good hands, solid reliable kick.. ..would have already played alot of footy in a diff team than the lions, starved of opportunity up there..

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

Cause Kreuzer is a freak!

Played what 19 games straight in his first year? Amazing.

Hendo cant be our 'main man' though and as good as Kreuzer is he is still only like 20 so he probably shouldnt be either, at least not for the whole year cause i recon they'll get banged around too much by the big defenders and get double teamed.

Older, bigger bodies such as Cloke and Setant will probably take some/most of the heat next year i recon. Big Setant was showing some good signs (you still feel nervous when he has the ball in his hands though) and i think Clokey could make quite a decent FF, deep in the square. His only real deficiency that i can see is his ability to run eg Speed. Otherwise i think his kicking and marking are up to AFL standard.

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Carlton Premiers '10

I find it amazing that almost everyone has Warnock as the no1 ruckman .

What is this based on ? . . . He hasn't played AFL football for almost a season and a half . He has only played 21 games in 4 seasons .
Couldn't get a regular game at Fremantle because Keplar Bradley was preferred . Yes , Keplar Bradley .
When he was playing in the WAFL , he was a second string ruckman . Mark Seaby was considered to be better than him .

Why wouldn't Kreuser be our no1 ruckman ? He has done a terrific job there in season 2009 , and is one of the most promising players in the competition ( as a ruckman ) .
Another year or so , he will be the AFL's top ruckman .
He wants to play in the ruck .

And we have Hammer and Jacobs developing really well also .

Warnock has done stuff all in 4 seasons of football .

Amazing , just amazing !

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Get the facts first.
Then you can distort them at your leisure.

Monster Rucks come through late and Robbie is only 22..

Sandilands only played his first game at 21.. So how about you learn what you're talking about.

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#23: Lachlan Henderson

..sure, agree that the Krooz has come on faster than anyone expected him too.... ..and as good as he is, we can't assume that he's only the big kid that could blossom so quickly with consistent groundtime and a defined role.. ..there's no reason to believe that Hendo couldn't hold down a key fwd spot.. ..no-one's expecting him to kick as many as fevastinko, but i think it's reasonable to assume he'll kick as many as cloke or setant', only waite may kick more, but i think he's more dangerous up fwd when not playing a key fwd role.. ..also, in regards to Hendo getting hammered by defenders, we didn't hold back with a skinnier Krooz getting crashed in the ruck, and Hendo got 2 yrs development into him.. ..i think we're much better putting him up fwd and helping develop him vs killing time with cloke....

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

Warnock is no Sandilands .

Peter Street was a monster ruck too , and look at how good he turned out .

How about YOU learn what you're talking about ? Muppet .

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Get the facts first.
Then you can distort them at your leisure.

Im assuming you're British?

I agree with you about Warnock. Just because you are tall doesnt make you a good ruckman.
There has been so much hype about him since he came across from Freo and i hope he matches that hype but realistically he is coming off a long injury layoff and would have thought it would take him quite a while still to get fully up and running. Besides, he hasnt even played that many games and hasnt set the footy world alight in those that he has played. I woulda thought at this stage that Hampson and possibly even Jacobs would be ahead of him based on past performances? Someone correct me if im wrong please.

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Carlton Premiers '10

two days ago, 206's Dad reckons he is going to work out beautifully ie ready for it.....appeared very genuine and a terrific fellow

Thanks for that London...and typically you, you would know all the inside stuff...typical.

It's amazing how many posters write off Warnock and Hendersen or undervalue them because of age, because they haven't done this or that, or becuase they played 3rd fiddle to mature seasones talls when they were 18-20. Have a look at what they have done...they're the signs you look at.

Warnock is an amazing story. Lets not forget this guy is a footballer, a mobile one, with lest and right side and just happens to be 206; that's the bonus. We got him cheap. No other ruckman we have on our books comes close to him for ruck work. Oh yeah,,,can take a mark and kick a goal.

Hendersen...well have a look at the threads back in 2007 when he was drafted. Check out his leads in virtually no space, and his marks and his goals. 10 year player. He's done really well as a kid amongst some monsters with hardened bodies in their forwardline. He's been given the key back role given that Brown, Bradshaw and Brennan were the KP talls on the forwardline over there (pretty big names he's up against). Leppitsch was his teacher, so was Browny. This kid is ready for the Blues in 2010.

Do not underestimate the coming of age. Talent was already there to start off with.

We are very very lucky to have both of these big athletes in our team.

We will improve on our 2009 showing. Watch this space. Put your money on it.

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Everyone looks good in Navy Blue

A well balanced and insightful post as usaul bondiblue......

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Circumstance has no value. It is how one relates to a situation that has value. All true meaning resides in the personal relationship to a phenomenon, what it means to you.

B Joseph, Jamison, Bower
HB Armfield, Thornton, Russell (9)
C Simpson, Gibbs (1), Walker (2)
FOLL Warnock/Hampson, Judd (3), McLean (5)
HF Yarran (6), Setanta, Murphy (1)
F Betts, Kruezer (1), Henderson (8)

INT Waite, Carrazzo, Scotland, Hadley, Houlihan

EMERG Austin, Browne, Cloke, Grigg, Robinson, Pick 12

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

Yeah, because I was obviously saying all tall rucks are good.. I'm just saying, rucks generally come through later in their careers. Robbie is 22. Some people.

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#23: Lachlan Henderson

Any chance our PNG recruit Peter "Lips" Labi being in our 22 for round 1 ?

Ratts loves throwing the newbies out there nice and early.

I wish the club would have some info on Peter Labi, and an interview with him.

C'mon Carlton keep us informed.

If it wasnt for this site, we would know nothing.

Quite exciting reading everyones team for next year. Thought I would have a crack .....



B Joseph Jamison Thornton

HB Russell Bower Armfield

C Simpson Gibbs Walker

HF Garlett Waite Yarran

FF Betts Henderson Setanta/Cloke

R Kreuzer Judd McLean

I Warnock, Murph, Carrazo, Scotland

Emerg Hampson, Houla, Austin, Hadley




Very excited about the potential of our team next year. (movement)

IMO this line-up has balance, pace, flexibility and plenty of potential in attack.

The thinking in the fwd line is that Henderson would play as a mobile/ leading FF with Irish/Cloke a 'stay at home' tall threat in the square where I think they both can be quite dangerous. I originally wanted to play Kreuz in a key fwd role but tend to agree that Warnock is a bit of an unknown and if Waite can come back and play CHF then Kreuz is more probably valuable around the ground for now. Plenty of spread and crumbing potential with the 3 skilful smalls. The Waite and Henderson roles could be swapped eventually.

Great pace & run from HB and thru centre. Great quality and flexibility on the bench. Great depth of quality with emergencies.

Examples of flexibility ..... Scotland can play mid or HB (release Armfield to BP to release Joseph to onball/tagger role); Kreuzer/Warnock can both play FF/FP, Kruz even CHF; Carrots can go fwd, back or mid; Waite and Irish can go back if needed.

Barring major injuries next year, we seem to have lots more flexibility and quality options.

Quite a lot hinges on how well Jarrod can come back however.

I don't want to see Scotland playing in defence anymore. He should be part of the midfield rotation, with occasional stints up forward. I want our 'loose' defender/s to be those with pace and some height, so they can provide real assistance as 3rd man up, and so we can move the ball out of defence with speed.