And what you think Sticks has taken those players lightly? The 3 players yesterday have copped a very hard message and been pretty much told we don't need you at the club. To not even let them train with the players till round 4 is a pretty stern warning that its their last chance.

I think if anything the boat cruise has been one of the most positive things at the club. Its woken up the leadership group to be responsible for the players, its shown the younger players this behaviour is not warranted at the club and l doubt the next time there is a social event this will occur.

The club could not do anything more then it did yesterday, what else could they do? Suspend the whole team?

Pissups happen all the time at clubs, its only a issue if the media gets a hold of it. End of season trips and mad moneys happen at all clubs.

Should see the back page of The Hun. (not that I would by the stinking rag-saw it at the coffee shop)

Nothing about the Aussies getting creamed at the SGC.

You guessed it. Its all about Bad Bad Carlton.

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Cheats never prosper (except in the AFL)

Given the suspension of Betts, and inaction around the rest of the Group, the message to the playing group is "by all means drink, just don't get arrested".

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"I had to eat"

That's rubbish.

They had a room booked at the hotel to keep their outing private. When Ryan decided to act erratic and head to the foyer in his jocks, then thats when the problems arose. What was Andrew supposed to do? Run scared with his tail between his legs to the nearest taxi rank because of what problems might arise?

He had to help his mate. Plain and simple.

It is unfortunate what occurred and even moreso that the parasites at the hun got wif of the story. I just cant see why Andrew should cop so much criticism

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C'mon Blueboys!

I'm with Synbad on this point.

It's time the Club looked to the long view, not just handful of meaningless matches.

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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.

I wasn't talking about AW specifically. I was talking about everyone. That includes the mentality that going to the foyer of Crown Hotel in your jocks is a wise thing to do.

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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.

There were probably six or seven different senior senior players handcuffed to rookies at different times.
Suspend them all! For six H & A games!
Suspend the leadership group for letting it happen!

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Bawditawaba

3 players suspended.

Right or wrong, theyre suspended.

The whole 'trivial' episode was highlighted by the media in such a way that I'm sure players of every club will take note.

Lets wait and see the result of the sanctions before we consider what is right and wrong punishment.

I've learned a lot from this stupid episode. I'm sure the players have too.
It's a difficult situation when someone has to be the scapegoat and receive punishment far beyond that received byvany other player before them.

The precedent is set in stone.

Now it's time to reap the rewards of a fantastic preseason prior to the cruise, and a new leaf for the club in our Diamond Decade.

Bounce the ball.

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Everyone looks good in Navy Blue

And then hold a raffle, where the winners get to play for Carlton for the first six rounds of the season

Actually, you'd probably make a fortune doing that. As long as Ratts didn't put you in the back half in Round 2. That'd be scary.


OK, so what Judd said yesterday (reading between the lines) is that Carlton boozes up no worse than any other club he knows of. Is this true? Only the players and club administrators would know for sure.

And there CANNOT be a witch-hunt over the Levi 'incident', otherwise you're seriously going to have to sanction all our senior players. It's just not practical.

From my perspective, I think I'll just have to (grudgingly) accept that footy players will never be disciplined enough as athletes to not binge drink. It'd be great if they acted like professional athletes, rather than suburban footballers who train really hard, but that's clearly not the case.

All I can hope for is that if the players feel like they need to drink themselves stupid, the club is smart enough to make sure it happens well out of the public eye. And doesn't let them have 'unauthorised' pissups for the entire playing list.

[quote="isdonis.george"]There were probably six or seven different senior senior players handcuffed to rookies at different times.
Suspend them all! For six H & A games!
Suspend the leadership group for letting it happen![/quote]

No George,let's forget Crime and Punishment for awhile.
if what you say is true,then why not get the likes of captain Judd,and other likeminded souls there to sit down and write a Carlton Player Constitution that the majority hold to be fair,true,and something to aspire toward,and be proud of.
Those that agree to it stay and be part of an amazing new era.
Those that don't like it,or want it..get to leave.
Simple.
(ok...maybe been watching a little too much of John Adams lately )

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That’s not a political statement — it’s a harsh reality, and we must act,” she said. “He is a clear and present danger to the things that keep us strong and free. I support impeachment.”

If 1AW was completely unlucky, and didn't do anything to put himself in that situation, then the club should (and I would expect 'would') go into bat for him and explain to all and sundry what really happened.

But they didn't.

1AW should ask to be traded at the end of the year if he thinks the club have not supported him.

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

Time to just make the whole season redundant for mine. No Judd until Round 4, players suspended for the entire NAB Cup and start of the season, Fevola gone, no Stevens, it's time to play the kids. Play the kids from the start of the year, right from round 1 to round 22. Don't worry about finals, we wouldn't win the Grand Final anyway. The year 2010 should be and for mine will be a development year, we will be 1-8 after 9 rounds lets face the facts, and hey, Essendon* have already predicted a wooden spoon for us so I think it's fair to say goodbye Carlton 2010 and start preparing for 2011. If there are any players with any niggles or anything, put them in for extensive surgery now. Our club has hit and all time low, rock bottom for mine, the HUN outlined that we were in debt and barely surviving, and we are again the subject of much controversy. We are back in the pits of 2002-2007, it is all doom and gloom from here on in, but the question is this time, who's gonna save us???

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Premierships: 1869, 1871, 1873, 1874, 1875, 1877, 1887, 1906, 1907, 1908, 1914, 1915, 1938, 1945, 1947, 1968, 1970, 1972, 1979, 1981, 1982, 1987, 1995.

"GIBBS."

Not beyond the realms of possibility.

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

Drinking culture, didnt sticks say that most of the players dont even drink at the club?

You kinda expect a few players not drinking all year to not handle their drink well when they not used to it.

We are never going to have a club that will not have social functions at a club. What is a club that can't have a few drinks between a team. Its good team bonding. Just don't let it get out of control.

Last thing we want is to be so strict on a non drinking policy that we dont attact players from other teams.

If you do that, l am sure the buddy franklins of the league won't want to come to the club that enjoy a bit of a party now and then.
You put controls on but not go over board.

I was trying to be ironic - unsuccessfully I see.
Apologies to those who didn't see it!
At least we're focusing on how it's unrealistic to "crack down hard".

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Bawditawaba

Synbads full of complaints but not solutions.
All he wants is the board gone. This is just another vehicle to make the board look bad for him.

The long term future is what the club is looking at They got rid of Fev, they banished 3 players from the club, they have told the leadership group of for being neglient , the younger players of the club know this behaviour is not on and won't be accepted.
What else you want?

What a sorry saga this has become for the CFC.
I'm sure most other clubs had piss ups to celebrate the end of the season but unfortunately, the behaviour of our players allowed this to become a media event. It was always going to become an AFL issue from that point.
As for DOA's post, I admire his loyalty but his post disappoints me. Firstly, yes it is important to look after your mates but it is more important to make measured decisions based upon common sense. If Houlihan was making a flower of himself and impacting upon the expectations of the other paying customers of Crown, security had every right to intervene.
The "looking after your mates" defence could have been used by Heath Shaw with Didak and many other AFL players in unsavoury incidents. It's not a reason. It's a self justifying excuse.

Secondly, the comments about "moronic club administrators" and divulging what appears to be incorrect information about how the suspended players were informed by the club disappoints.
Lets be straight here. I'm happy to give the club a slap when it requires it but administrators and hiearchy shouldn't have the heat deflected to them. The players screwed up. They embarrassed the club and as a consequence, embarrassed the sponsors, supporters and everyone else associated with their actions.
Attempting to justify or deflect instead of accepting responsibility gives me no confidence that lessons have been learnt.

I back the clubs actions 100% in how they dealt with Fevola and now this incident. Lets hope it all moves on in a positive manner and we can look forward to a fruitful season.

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Looking forward to seeing our potential realised.

I don't think anyone expects there to be a zero-drinking policy, but most people like me expect an approach to alcohol consumption broadly in line with community standards.

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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.

Thanks for the clarification Mark.

You can count me as one member who is extremely worried about what the AFL response will be.

In addition the the written submission, I would expect that the appropriate people at the club have already been in dialogue with the AFL to address their specific concerns.

Can you please confirm that this is the case.

What is the club expecting from the AFL? Are we at risk of serious sanctions/penalties?

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We are on our way back...

I've refrained from making a comment on the whole saga up till now; however, a couple of points, if I may:
[*] The booze cruise highlighted CFC's drinking culture- correction, binge drinking culture. What I don't understand is, unlike most of us who work in p/t and f/t jobs, these players have countless opportunities to drink (yes, even in the "on-season"). Why binge-drink? Why the urgency to drink copius amounts of alcohol, just so you can't remember what funny (or stupid) thing you did to your teammate ("Oh yes, chaining Levi to the sinking boat was hilarious!!!!), all for the sake of "bonding"? Now, I'm not against alcohol consumption- I will say, what is wrong with moderate intake? Furthermore, what is wrong with a moderate alcohol intake for each player whilst they are representing a supposedly professional sporting organisation. I would assume for all who works in p/t and f/t jobs that it's not a good idea to 1) drink large amounts repetitively; and 2) at some point, your alcohol consumption will prevent these players from achieveing their optimum and reflect their best, not only on, but off the field.

[*]The club has made the correct call on Betts, Wlaker and Houlihan. As someone pointed it out earlier, cultural change at a football club takes a generation/s to change. Back at the turn of this century (or last decade, to be precise), players like Fevola and Houlihan represented the changing of the guard. Later on, Walker and Betts represented hope of what turned to be the worst period for the club (and in many ways, a unique one, in that we didn't know how to deal with it). February 2007 signalled the turning point of the great club's fortunes; it ushered the club into an expectation (and possibility) of a new, uncompromised professionalism epitomised by Geelong. But these changes are like Bob Dylan says, a slow train comin'- they have to be for them to sustain. Morever, in order to learn from the detrius of the late 1990's-entire 2000's, CFC has to do it slowly.

[*] A lot of posts I've read have urged the administration to take drastic action over this. There are a couple of issues I have with this. One is that, well, was the admin at fault for this? Was it their booze cruise to condone or sanction? It's all very well for the club to provide minders for the players but what are they saying to the players if they did this? "Listen, you can go on the cruise but all of you are absolute pissheads that you can't be trusted- hence, the minders...." One of the cliches we all hear from players when they retire/leave a club is, they are a better person then when they started- where's the players' reponsibility in all of this? As someone else has related, this episode will have a galvanising force for the playing leadership- hopefully, they will take the welfare of the players far more seriously that has been hitherto at this point- and that of the club. The CFC is not a nanny state- only an employer. It's high time the players took pride in the club and cooperated with the administration in presenting a untied, professional operation.

Here endth the lesson.........

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Be positive to all those @ TC- the wait is almost over!