Potentially horrible start, although we should be at least 2-1.
Dream draw rounds 10 to 16.
Stinker for round 22.
Have to be happy with who we play twice.

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"I had to eat"

I'm eagerly awaiting the first three rounds, time to see what the young bucks are made of sans Judd and Fevola.

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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

haha!

There's a good chance we could be 0-5

Richmond will go close to beating us!
Brisbane will thrash us.
Essendon* have the wool over us.
Adelaide ditto.
Geelong are coming off a Grand Final.


Tough year next year boys.

I'm preparing myself NOT to be playing finals and to be honest, i was doubting wether or not we deserved to be playing finals this year after some of the shocking performences we put in.

Next year, i really just hope we "Get It Right".

- Find a gameplan that suits.
- Give time to Henderson, Setanta and Kreuzer to develop as forwards
- more time in the seniors for players such as Browne & Yarran
- Create a forward structure!!!!
- Work on our Kick-Outs

Will we make the finals? Doubt it! But honestly, i don't care. I think it's far more important that we work on building a young and fresh side around a gameplan that will not only make the finals in the future, but WILL WIN PREMIERSHIPS.

Cause as it stands, we're just making up the numbers at best.


-

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"We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit"
- Aristotle

http://www.afl.com.au/fixture/tabid/10586/default.aspx

Here's the link to the fixture

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Long live the Mighty Blues.

Ryan I think we are a better than 50/50 chance to sneak into 8th position.

Teams above us next year:

Saints
Hawks
Cats
West Bulldogs
Collingwood
Adelaide
Brisbane

I think 8th spot will come down to us and Essendon* - we are better than them IMO and they have a very tough draw.

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There is no footy god

Look, there is everychance that we will make the finals, however we will simply be making up the numbers.

Hence why i say, next year we should focus on "Getting It Right" and making it work for us.

Our time is coming, i think we're just being a bit premature about it.

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"We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit"
- Aristotle

Just had a look at the dates of those first nine rounds, and if there is a silver lining it is that we only have two 6 day turnarounds in that time. After the first one we play Collingwood and after the second one we play Port Adelaide. Those are two good ones for a six day break if we have to have any.

So the side should be pretty fresh for the games against Geelong, Hawthorn, Essendon*, St Kilda, and Adelaide because they all come after at least a seven day break.

The other thing with that draw... we actually need to get at least a couple of wins in the NAB Cup. We badly need some momentum coming into the season. So hopefully we can knock off the Swans and St Kilda / Collingwood to take a bit of positive energy into the season proper.

That's true Molly.

Plus, if we keep winning in the Who Cares Cup, then the Semi on our side of the draw is scheduled for Blacktown.

Might make up for another year when we don't see the boys up here playing for real.

The Club has little idea about markets, really. Shits me to tears.

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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.

It says Blacktown or Etihad, I take it it'd only be Blacktown if the Swans are playing, which means if we made the Semi it'd be at Etihad

19 games on FTA

R1 March 25 Thu Night - Tiggers [10] - Away
R2 April 1 Thu Night - Lions [7] - Away
R3 April 10 Sat Night - Scum [10] - Home
R4 April 17 Sat A/Noon - Crows [10] - Away
R5 April 28 Mon A/Noon - Cats [10] - Home
R6 May 2 Sun A/Noon - Filth [7] - Home
R7 May 10 Mon Night - Saints [7] - Away
R8 May 16 Sun A/Noon - Port [7] - Away
R9 May 23 Sun A/Noon - Dawks [7] - Home
R10 May 30 Sun A/Noon - Eagles [7] - Home
R11 June 5 Sat /A/Noon - Dees [10] - Home
R12 June 11 Fri Night - Roos [7] - Away
R13 June 19 Sat Night - Freo [10] - Home
R14 July 1 Thu Night - Lions [10] - Home
R15 July 11 Sun T/Light - Bulldogs [Fox] - Home
R16 July 18 Sun Early - Swans [Fox] - Home
R17 July 24 Sat A/Noon - Eagles [10] - Away
R18 July 31 Sat A/Noon - Filth [10] - Away
R19 August 6 Fri Night - Scum [7] - Away
R20 August 14 Sat A/Noon - Tiggers [10] - Home
R21 August 20 Fri Night - Cats [7] - Away
R22 TBC - Freo [TBC] - Away

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“It is a state of mind, a system of belief, a way of seeing the world, a deep faith that, because you are Carlton, you belong to something great.” - Mike Fitzpatrick articulating what Out of the Blue means.

We got any dates attached to the fixture? EDIT: just realised DUC did have dates.

Hmmm....is it just me or does the term "fixture" make it sound more suss, given it's a lopsided draw?

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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.

Happy with the teams we play twice
happy that our draw looks easier on paper than the scum
happy that our turnarounds seem ok

NOT happy that we have NO Friday night home games
NOT happy that we have so few Saturday games
NOT happy with the Monday Thursday games
NOT happy that so many home games are Sundays


All in all not too bad - how do you think it will fare for the club financially??


If we win 2 from the first five I will be satisfied. I think finals still have to be our expectation, barring injury to any key forward personnel

Which member of the scum put this draw together?!$@$#$%@$ They travel only 3 times - once to AAMI, once to SCG and once to Subiaco

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Year of the Yarran

Carlton's 17th flag is inevitable.
The sooner the better...for everybody

Let me translate that for anyone outside Melbourne Metro:

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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.

19 Games on FTA TV - I'm cancelling my Foxtel - woohoo

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Ecclesiastes 1:4, "One generation passes away, and another generation comes: but The Blues abide forever."

It looks like we got the equavilent draw that the Crows got last year .................. We have a SHOCKING start to the season with x6 games against last years top 8 teams (and another against the Hawks who SHOULD have been a top 8 side last year) then 4 games we should win easily, then another game against a possible top 4 side, a game in which WE are the bogie side against the Dogs, then hopefully another 5 wins on the trot, a tough game against the Cats and then Freo leading into the finals


But what I don't get is all the doom and gloom surrounding some of our match up's. People say the Tigers will beat up ............. But WHY ??? We KILLED them twice last year, and in the 1st game Fev kicked what, 1 or 2 goals ............... The Tigers are once again in a rebuilding phase after dumping a HEAP (10ish iirc) of players. They will seriously struggle next year, so we should have them well and truely covered.

The Bombers beat us last year thanks in large to MASSIVE efforts from Lloyd and and Lovett (who are both now gone). They have just lost their x2 key forwards in Lloyd and Lucas and their young KPP can barely make it onto the track. Add to this the possible loss of Welsh and McPhee and the Bombers will, just as we are, be in a restructuring phase.

The Lions, Cats, Pies and Saints are going to be EXTREMELY tough games, and I won't be surprised if we lost ALL of those games. That said, the Lions will be into only their 2nd game with Fev and Brown in the same forward line. God only knows how well these two players (and ego's) will mesh, so it isn't the worst possible time to play against them (barring the Judd suspension, but hey, shit happens). The Lions have also had a MASSIVE influx of players into the side over the preseason, so the team's structure will need to be rejigged.

We also match up well against the Pies. We will prob get flogged but hey, we could surprise them .........

The Crows in Adelaide are a HUGE nemesis, much like the Cats and Saint's. It will be interesting to see how the new game plan stands up against well drilled, professional units.


I think it will be an interesting year next year. We start off with a HUGE challenge against top 4 prospects and bogie sides, have some relief in 2 blocks of games during the middle of the year then a 2 tough games at the end (Cats and a road trip to Perth). The first 9 games will be a HUGE test of the teams new game plan and structure, but if we survive it (or even improve on it during this period) then we could have a nice amount of momentum leading into September.

I think next year will be one of the toughest years in recent history. The Lions have gone all out to get the players then think they need to win them a premiership (mainly Fev) but it has meant they have lost some other quality players along the way (Bradshaw and Macdonald) and have jepodised their depth. The Saints are peaking, Cats may have just past their peak, and Hawks should be a power house again. Add to this the Dogs, Crows and Pies and you have 7 teams who will be in a league of their own. Carlton will be in the next tier of teams with Essendon* and possibly the Eagles and Swans, while the rest are rebuilding. I think we will make the 8, but I am again looking for improvement in players and as a team more than huge wins and having a crack at the top 4/6.

It will then be 2011/2012, when the top tier teams are loosing veterans (Crows, Dogs, Cats, Lions) and rebuilding that Carlton's window will open up


P.S Sorry about the huge rant

Essendon* go interstate just 3 times in 2010!

Yeah Kouta,

I;d already seen DUC's post and cringed. The chances of anyone outside of Melbourne seeing almost any Carlton games next season are extremely limited. It might be almost time to pack up the wife and head back to Hobart to live... best footy coverage in Australia down there by a mile

Collingwood - first 7 games in Vic, last 7 at the MCG.

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"I had to eat"

Staggering, although:



http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/afl/a ... 5792724425

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"I had to eat"