With the new season thankfully drawing closer, and the NAB Cup closer still, I'm wondering how much importance the club will place on the results of a preseason comp.
I understand that new players especially, need to be given the opportunity to hopefully impress under increased pressure, the experimentation aspect, the marketing, and the prize money are all important, but just how important is it to do well or even win the thing ?
Prize money to one side, it seems to me that in recent years we've gone into this comp all guns blazing.
Opposition sides were given the opportunity to sit back , study our limited playing resources, and our limited game plan, and brain us with that info once the real stuff started.
They are after all glorified practice matches, and maybe we should treat them as such, and go into the season with other sides still in the dark as to what our game plans (Plural) will be.

You should place a poll on this murray because based on our previous years, its not worth much except raising expectations on a team that couldn't deliver in the season proper.

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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.

..who cup..?..

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

Great to blood kids, bonus prize money, another trophy in the cabinet and positive boost to membership.

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Mjonc signing off at 8888

Hmmmm.......

i'd be happy with two wins and an "honorable" loss.............!


kindest regards tommi

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that'siti'mnotchangingthistagain......!

I love it purely because the footys back!!!

i would like to see us experiement more rather that playing as we would during the home and away.

try and blooda few kids with the extended bench, and empower some our young guys.

if we win and progress then fantastic, more higher (slightly) level exposure to the players and fans, also play on better grounds, but we dont have to go out to win in like in previous years.

still i've gotta admit the wiz cup in 04 was one of the most enjoyable months of my life!

Yep, absolutely valid comment, but I think we should work towards the big trophy and not worry too much about anything else.

what cup?

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"You're not gonna believe this. The guy killed 16 czechoslovakians. He was an interior decorator."

"His house looked like shit!"

itd be great if we did well in it without playing our best side...
but i probably couldnt see that happening

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R A D I C A L B R O T H E R S

Inspired by the One-Minute Sculptures of Erwin Wurm

"All in all is all we are..."

Not long ago the club was on the bones of its arse from a membership standpoint. Taking the preseason seriously was a good way of raising excitement and getting latent members to renew their memberships. Pratt and Judd will see that the membership will soar this year without using the NAB cup as a promotional tool. So the club has to decide whether it bloods the kids in the preseason or does what we've done in previous years by blooding them from round 16 onwards.

We've brought some mature bodies onboard this year with Pfeiffer, Dangles and Hadley, all of whom will be fighting for a spot. It would be completely reasonable to field a side without Judd, Stevens, Fev and Thornton and still be reasonably competitive.

Someone on one of the other threads suggested that whilst Den Den wanted the thing, Ratts doesn't

I'm with thegezman in that "Yay - the Footy's Back!" and if we get a couple of extra praccie matches in at good grounds with good crowds it can only benefit the youngsters

not that we'll get to see any of it at a decent time on FTA in Sydney

bloody unprecedented coverage

IMO it's great too see the footy on again, but the importance of the Nothing Cup has to be weighed between momentum and fitness - starting your best squad gunning at winning the Nothing Cup can lead to the wheels falling off fitness-wise when we near the end of the season proper, which I believe is the reason why teams that realistically are aiming to play a big part in the finals (don't kid yourself, Richmond ) tend to rest their best players, rotate their core to get a good mix of rest and match practice - and experiment with players in different positions, and varied gameplans...

Paul Roos springs to mind when it comes to this, and I wouldn't mind at all if we do the same. There are plenty of upsides to not winning the Nothing Cup - not too much pressure and physical exertion on our players before the real seasons begun; avoiding the risk of real expectations for the real season if we were to win the Nothing Cup (read : the last two years); and getting to see some lesser known players, or young developing players that we might not see during the season getting a run.

I'll be watching the Nothing Cup without worrying about the scores, save for the opportunity to watch the team play the following week on TV - instead of them travelling around on the Nothing Regional Circuit.

For me though, the real thing starts with a shellacking of Richmond the day before Good Friday, 2008.

I think the nab cup is good for the game and good for carlton

not meaning we should go out and get a final win in the game

i just think its good to get the young blokes a chance to get used to big crowds then where they previously played so they settle there nerves down for when the premiership season starts

cheers
OZ

Better to win it than not win it, I would say.

Does playing to win it affect the premiership season? Minimally, if at all, I would think.

But of course it would be better scrapped completely, allowing for 4 more games in the season proper, and subsequently making the latter a fairer competition.

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THEY LIKE TO SEND UP!!!!!!!!

Until each team plays each other the same number of times, the AFL, as a fair dinkum competition, cannot be taken seriously.

He (Mr Swann) said the honour and pride associated with the club's traditional navy blue jumper was priceless.

i want to win purely for selfish reasons - more tv coverage - more games i get to see

its like a massive cock tease seeing round 1 then losing and having to wait another month for more blues action

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*(grow - fun - gah)

Yeah but whatabout your whataboutism.

No reports & no injuries will do me.

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#DonTheStash

Alrhough hindsight shows it was false, the "we're f@#$ing back" feeling that had was unbelievable.

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Richard Pratt - A Carlton legend.

each time

and the downward slide in '05 was unbelievable as well

at least in '07 we got to continue the good feeling through to R3 (not counting R2)

Me too

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In the Truth there is no news, and in the News there is no truth.

Um, fellas, wasn't it 2005 when we won over the eagles in the cup?

Shows how much we care about it if we can't get the year correct

hang your heads.

On the topic though, it is a vital preparation for the season in terms of match simulation.




(I hope it was 2005)

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Between our dreams and actions lies this world