I've waited for someone to say something about other players:

Thomas had 5 shots at goal by half time.
Guess who was on him?


Any Murphy admirers want to say something about Murph's game this week?
He did some things then seemed to die off and avoid the contest, but I might be a bit harsh.

not sure of the exact stats this season... but it feels like we've been smashed in 3rd & 4th qtrs all year long. typically you look at coaching. being out manoeuvred in the box and not responding to the adjustments the other coach is making after HT. it's a theme.

our team is so plodding. plowman, casboult, pitto, harry, tdk, weiters, jones ... the mix there is too top heavy.

i've always loved casboult ... but he needs to make way for tdk, who is going to be a star. he'll have a better career and do more for us than all the promise and potential kruez offered.

plowman needs to not play a grade for us again. he's a little too pea-hearted, a little too slow, a little not a good kick, a little reads the play poorly and can't man up.


poulson was pretty good, showed some composure, some pace and some efficiency. he needs to play down back in that pocket in the aaron joseph role. eddie is still a gun. tdk will be a star. cripps looks cooked ... and that docherty error really boiled my piss. when your leader shits the bed and gifts them their first goal in that manner.

what hope is there?

I thought many of our senior players were terrible yesterday, even in the first half many of them fumbled and made mistakes. Plowman, Murphy, Martin, Cripps, Gibbons & Casboult probably played their worst game of the year.

I know I bang on about the lack of depth in our midfield but it really showed up yesterday, Curnow, Setterfield and Walsh were good but then it dropped away. Would have liked to see Fisher and Gibbons get some more time in the midfield. To think they had 2 gun midfield running types in Sidebottom and Trelor out.

We started the third qtr well however our entry to the forwards was putrid, I felt that Casboult was playing for free kicks (no doubt clubs are paying him more attention of the ball, just enough to throw him off the contest - back to being our second ruck and drop Pittonet) and Gibbons was trying to do to much. Towards the end of the third qtr the writing was on the wall.

You could sense that they were going to run us off our feet. Daicos has been a massive improver for them, just a smart footballer.

I want to see how some of these senior types respond this week - I'm sure they know they put in a bad one.

That’s crap

No. Watch the replay.

I have just joined this forum having gone looking for a place to express my utter disgust and disappointment over what happened in the last half yesterday.

So I am sorry this first post is so lengthy.

I am from a strong Carlton family: my Dad has been to EVERY single Grand Final since 1947; he took me to my first in '72 and I then went to the next 30. I have a sister and brother who still haven't missed one since '72.
In '95 at the Radisson President Hotel, we had the Premiership Cup sitting on the table next to us and drank champagne from it all night long.
I stupidly said that night after we lost only 2 games for the year and did the double 'sweet sixteen' thing (wins in row to flag, total flags): "I could die happy now"
Oh, how I wish I could take those words back now! 25 years of misery ever since and counting.

THIS year it was all meant to change.
Better coach, more high draft picks, Eddie back etc.

Here's where we are Really at:
****There have only been 7 WORSE 2nd half efforts by an existing club in the last 50 Years.****

(Ironically, the last one was Collingwood in Rd 2 This year - 3 pts v Richmond but they still managed a draw).

There have only been 23 worse 2nd half scores in total in the last Hundred Years
Our previous worse (3 pts) was way back in 1965.

Here is the IRONY of this season:
Until this round Carlton had Won 29 quarters this year - only 2 less than Brisbane, Geelong, Port who have played one more game than us. We could have passed them all yesterday, remember - we had won the previous 7 quarters straight!
Carlton had Lost the LEAST quarters this year - only 18
We were even equal leader in 4th quarters won!

So what is going wrong to spite that seemingly enviable record?
Utterly dropping the ball in the 'Premiership Quarter - barely averaging one goal.
What is going on at half time?!
Whatever it is, it Has to Stop.

SO WHAT IS GOING WRONG?

It is really quite simple and the coaching staff should be made aware of it.

1. Players stop running to position for each other
- they literally just stand on the spot or do a mild jog to nowhere, easily followed by their direct opponents
The result is constant kicks to contested positions and yesterday several embarrassing one-on-twos
The key weaknesses are in
a) kicking from half back, you look ahead and wonder who the hell are they going to kick it to as no-one is presenting
and
b) further downfield the complete lack of movement by 'targets' in the forward 50.
Watch Geelong for a decade or Richmond in recent years: they Never STOP presenting a target, constantly giving each kicker multiple options at all times.

2. Ineffective and Dangerous handballs of 1-2 metres to teammates under Immediate tackle danger.
Who doesn't remember the sheer joy of watching Greg 'Diesel' Williams?
His pack-clearing handballs to teammates in space set up a countless stream of Carlton scoring opportunities.
As an example, yesterday Weitering's pissy 1 metre handball to Docherty in the Collingwood forward line early in the last, had him immediately under the pump and the resulting goal started to turn the game for the worse
(Plowman was in the clear 5m away at the time)
The Worst offender in the current team is Cripps. (more on him below)

3. Goalkicking
In a season where % will determine who gets into the 8 and who doesn't Carlton has squandered percentage boosting opportunities against Essendon** (7.10), North (9.10), Fremantle (5.10), GC (7.18) and a win (and valuable 4 points) v. Melbourne (7.11)
My sister's own pertinent observation is that our forwards would benefit from practising their goal kicking at training with someone STANDING ON THE MARK to simulate real game conditions, just watch the replays to see how often we mishandle this in real time.

4. Forward Entries
covered above in point 1. but additionally another basic tactic that is a hallmark of Geelong & Richmond is Goal-side kicking: if the forwards haven't run into space as they Should, kick it over their heads to open up ground level scoring opportunities as the ball heads towards where it belongs - the Carlton goal-mouth!
Yesterday in the 4th-5th minutes of the 3rd quarter when generating an unassailable lead was critical Gibbons, Setterfield & Curnow all tried to "pop it up" into crowded ccontests about 25m out that were never going to be successful instead of going over the top toward goal and giving us a fighting chance to score.
Result? Another Collingwood rebound.

5. Cripps
when he's not handballing a miserable 1-2 metres to teammates in immediate tackle danger, he's missing them all together both by hand and foot.
yesterday's "disposal efficiency" was a far too common 63% - 33 other players on the ground delivered the ball with more accuracy than our so called 'lead by example captain'.
Remember what a "Captain's Goal" was all about?
When the Nichols and Fitzpatricks and Kernahans knew Exactly what was needed when it counted in front of goal?
Not this bloke.
For all of the above he needs to be dropped for a week or two to teach him that great lesson of humility that particularly those prematurely anointed as 'champions' but more importantly also having a leadership role need to work much harder on the basics of the game and fix their repetitive errors.
Chris Judd was no different when he got to Carlton in all of the same skill errors that Cripps displays - he was possibly even more guilty of the short useless handballs and ineffective kicking.
Their disposal efficiency is on a par with each other - in the 60s
Getting lots of possessions and stacking up the stats might look good but it's what you DO WITH THE BALL that matters MORE!

We DO have the personnel.
We DO have the skills.
We DO occasionally get some of the above things right enough to win those 29 quarters.
However, I am very concerned that it only happens due to some individual inspiration on occasion
rather than as part of a consistent 'coached' strategy.

Remember Brett Ratten shown addressing his troops the week before they played us?
His mantra was simple but critical: "run Run RUN!!!!"
And they did and they won. (and for the most part they've done it well this year).

As we all know, it's a 4-quarter game; but Carlton seems to ignore or forget all of the above when the siren starts the Premiership Quarter.

Nah sorry, but it's your opinion of him that is crap. Martin would be easily top 5 in our B&F.

What a disappointment that was. Once again, our forward line let us down. Playing Pittonet down there was a disaster. He just ran his opponent into Levi's space and allowed him to come over the back and spoil. Look at our marks for the day. Pittonet 0, Harry equal second lowest with 2.
People can bag Levi all they want but he leads up at the ball hard and presents options. The problem is we kicked it on his head every time instead of putting it out in front of him. Harry meanwhile runs into the pocket for the easy ball instead of working his opponent over with workrate. He's 204cm and ask yourself, when did you last see him take a mark in a pack? And to put the cherry on top he runs into Docherty space when Doc spoiled the ball inside 50 instead of shepherding and giving him room. The most selfish footballer I've seen in a Blues jumper for a long time.

43 inside 50's for 13 scoring shots. Even if the ball is kicked along the ground to no ones advantage, you should expect your forwards to win 50% of the contests. We've had a shot from less than 33% of our entries. Shit structure and no teamwork.

Dow was quietish but I'd love to know his role. Did Cripps say block for me or was he afforded the opportunity to go for the ball. Whatever the case, he had the highest amount of centre clearances for us with 2. One time he was facing goal and he handballed back to Cripps. WTF was that? It's the same as Cripps calling for the ball when Martin is having a shot from 40 metres. It's not about feathering the stats column Crippa, it's about winning the @#$%&! game! Give me Martin kicking for goal every time over Cripps. He should have told Martin to steady and to take the shot.

The backline? Plowman had a down day but the delivery to their forwards was chalk and cheese to ours. Out in front, not waiting for it to perch on their heads. 10 goals from 40 entries is fair. Our backs had a donnish day but as a unit, they certainly weren't disgraced. We had significant periods of domination and failed to capitalise. That's the ball game.

We cant play Pittonet and TDK rotating forward. TDK can play there. (His block was Eddie was perfect forward play. Ask yourself when you last say Harry do that) but Pitto has to rest on the bench.

Nah sorry, but it's your opinion of him that is crap. Martin would be easily top 5 in our B&F.

What a disappointment that was. Once again, our forward line let us down. Playing Pittonet down there was a disaster. He just ran his opponent into Levi's space and allowed him to come over the back and spoil. Look at our marks for the day. Pittonet 0, Harry equal second lowest with 2.
People can bag Levi all they want but he leads up at the ball hard and presents options. The problem is we kicked it on his head every time instead of putting it out in front of him. Harry meanwhile runs into the pocket for the easy ball instead of working his opponent over with workrate. He's 204cm and ask yourself, when did you last see him take a mark in a pack? And to put the cherry on top he runs into Docherty space when Doc spoiled the ball inside 50 instead of shepherding and giving him room. The most selfish footballer I've seen in a Blues jumper for a long time.

43 inside 50's for 13 scoring shots. Even if the ball is kicked along the ground to no ones advantage, you should expect your forwards to win 50% of the contests. We've had a shot from less than 33% of our entries. Shit structure and no teamwork.

Dow was quietish but I'd love to know his role. Did Cripps say block for me or was he afforded the opportunity to go for the ball. Whatever the case, he had the highest amount of centre clearances for us with 2. One time he was facing goal and he handballed back to Cripps. WTF was that? It's the same as Cripps calling for the ball when Martin is having a shot from 40 metres. It's not about feathering the stats column Crippa, it's about winning the @#$%&! game! Give me Martin kicking for goal every time over Cripps. He should have told Martin to steady and to take the shot.

The backline? Plowman had a down day but the delivery to their forwards was chalk and cheese to ours. Out in front, not waiting for it to perch on their heads. 10 goals from 40 entries is fair. Our backs had a donnish day but as a unit, they certainly weren't disgraced. We had significant periods of domination and failed to capitalise. That's the ball game.

We cant play Pittonet and TDK rotating forward. TDK can play there. (His block was Eddie was perfect forward play. Ask yourself when you last say Harry do that) but Pitto has to rest on the bench.

I have just joined this forum having gone looking for a place to express my utter disgust and disappointment over what happened in the last half yesterday.

So I am sorry this first post is so lengthy.

I am from a strong Carlton family: my Dad has been to EVERY single Grand Final since 1947; he took me to my first in '72 and I then went to the next 30. I have a sister and brother who still haven't missed one since '72.
In '95 at the Radisson President Hotel, we had the Premiership Cup sitting on the table next to us and drank champagne from it all night long.
I stupidly said that night after we lost only 2 games for the year and did the double 'sweet sixteen' thing (wins in row to flag, total flags): "I could die happy now"
Oh, how I wish I could take those words back now! 25 years of misery ever since and counting.

THIS year it was all meant to change.
Better coach, more high draft picks, Eddie back etc.

Here's where we are Really at:
****There have only been 7 WORSE 2nd half efforts by an existing club in the last 50 Years.****

(Ironically, the last one was Collingwood in Rd 2 This year - 3 pts v Richmond but they still managed a draw).

There have only been 23 worse 2nd half scores in total in the last Hundred Years
Our previous worse (3 pts) was way back in 1965.

Here is the IRONY of this season:
Until this round Carlton had Won 29 quarters this year - only 2 less than Brisbane, Geelong, Port who have played one more game than us. We could have passed them all yesterday, remember - we had won the previous 7 quarters straight!
Carlton had Lost the LEAST quarters this year - only 18
We were even equal leader in 4th quarters won!

So what is going wrong to spite that seemingly enviable record?
Utterly dropping the ball in the 'Premiership Quarter - barely averaging one goal.
What is going on at half time?!
Whatever it is, it Has to Stop.

SO WHAT IS GOING WRONG?

It is really quite simple and the coaching staff should be made aware of it.

1. Players stop running to position for each other
- they literally just stand on the spot or do a mild jog to nowhere, easily followed by their direct opponents
The result is constant kicks to contested positions and yesterday several embarrassing one-on-twos
The key weaknesses are in
a) kicking from half back, you look ahead and wonder who the hell are they going to kick it to as no-one is presenting
and
b) further downfield the complete lack of movement by 'targets' in the forward 50.
Watch Geelong for a decade or Richmond in recent years: they Never STOP presenting a target, constantly giving each kicker multiple options at all times.

2. Ineffective and Dangerous handballs of 1-2 metres to teammates under Immediate tackle danger.
Who doesn't remember the sheer joy of watching Greg 'Diesel' Williams?
His pack-clearing handballs to teammates in space set up a countless stream of Carlton scoring opportunities.
As an example, yesterday Weitering's pissy 1 metre handball to Docherty in the Collingwood forward line early in the last, had him immediately under the pump and the resulting goal started to turn the game for the worse
(Plowman was in the clear 5m away at the time)
The Worst offender in the current team is Cripps. (more on him below)

3. Goalkicking
In a season where % will determine who gets into the 8 and who doesn't Carlton has squandered percentage boosting opportunities against Essendon** (7.10), North (9.10), Fremantle (5.10), GC (7.18) and a win (and valuable 4 points) v. Melbourne (7.11)
My sister's own pertinent observation is that our forwards would benefit from practising their goal kicking at training with someone STANDING ON THE MARK to simulate real game conditions, just watch the replays to see how often we mishandle this in real time.

4. Forward Entries
covered above in point 1. but additionally another basic tactic that is a hallmark of Geelong & Richmond is Goal-side kicking: if the forwards haven't run into space as they Should, kick it over their heads to open up ground level scoring opportunities as the ball heads towards where it belongs - the Carlton goal-mouth!
Yesterday in the 4th-5th minutes of the 3rd quarter when generating an unassailable lead was critical Gibbons, Setterfield & Curnow all tried to "pop it up" into crowded ccontests about 25m out that were never going to be successful instead of going over the top toward goal and giving us a fighting chance to score.
Result? Another Collingwood rebound.

5. Cripps
when he's not handballing a miserable 1-2 metres to teammates in immediate tackle danger, he's missing them all together both by hand and foot.
yesterday's "disposal efficiency" was a far too common 63% - 33 other players on the ground delivered the ball with more accuracy than our so called 'lead by example captain'.
Remember what a "Captain's Goal" was all about?
When the Nichols and Fitzpatricks and Kernahans knew Exactly what was needed when it counted in front of goal?
Not this bloke.
For all of the above he needs to be dropped for a week or two to teach him that great lesson of humility that particularly those prematurely anointed as 'champions' but more importantly also having a leadership role need to work much harder on the basics of the game and fix their repetitive errors.
Chris Judd was no different when he got to Carlton in all of the same skill errors that Cripps displays - he was possibly even more guilty of the short useless handballs and ineffective kicking.
Their disposal efficiency is on a par with each other - in the 60s
Getting lots of possessions and stacking up the stats might look good but it's what you DO WITH THE BALL that matters MORE!

We DO have the personnel.
We DO have the skills.
We DO occasionally get some of the above things right enough to win those 29 quarters.
However, I am very concerned that it only happens due to some individual inspiration on occasion
rather than as part of a consistent 'coached' strategy.

Remember Brett Ratten shown addressing his troops the week before they played us?
His mantra was simple but critical: "run Run RUN!!!!"
And they did and they won. (and for the most part they've done it well this year).

As we all know, it's a 4-quarter game; but Carlton seems to ignore or forget all of the above when the siren starts the Premiership Quarter.

Nah sorry, but it's your opinion of him that is crap. Martin would be easily top 5 in our B&F.

What a disappointment that was. Once again, our forward line let us down. Playing Pittonet down there was a disaster. He just ran his opponent into Levi's space and allowed him to come over the back and spoil. Look at our marks for the day. Pittonet 0, Harry equal second lowest with 2.
People can bag Levi all they want but he leads up at the ball hard and presents options. The problem is we kicked it on his head every time instead of putting it out in front of him. Harry meanwhile runs into the pocket for the easy ball instead of working his opponent over with workrate. He's 204cm and ask yourself, when did you last see him take a mark in a pack? And to put the cherry on top he runs into Docherty space when Doc spoiled the ball inside 50 instead of shepherding and giving him room. The most selfish footballer I've seen in a Blues jumper for a long time.

43 inside 50's for 13 scoring shots. Even if the ball is kicked along the ground to no ones advantage, you should expect your forwards to win 50% of the contests. We've had a shot from less than 33% of our entries. Shit structure and no teamwork.

Dow was quietish but I'd love to know his role. Did Cripps say block for me or was he afforded the opportunity to go for the ball. Whatever the case, he had the highest amount of centre clearances for us with 2. One time he was facing goal and he handballed back to Cripps. WTF was that? It's the same as Cripps calling for the ball when Martin is having a shot from 40 metres. It's not about feathering the stats column Crippa, it's about winning the @#$%&! game! Give me Martin kicking for goal every time over Cripps. He should have told Martin to steady and to take the shot.

The backline? Plowman had a down day but the delivery to their forwards was chalk and cheese to ours. Out in front, not waiting for it to perch on their heads. 10 goals from 40 entries is fair. Our backs had a donnish day but as a unit, they certainly weren't disgraced. We had significant periods of domination and failed to capitalise. That's the ball game.

We cant play Pittonet and TDK rotating forward. TDK can play there. (His block was Eddie was perfect forward play. Ask yourself when you last say Harry do that) but Pitto has to rest on the bench.

We had an extra tall player. H, Caz, Pitt and TDK is too many and over the course of the day left us short of run / energy pressure wise.

If we all looked back over the posts we have written over the years we would be embarrassed by some of them
Myself included
But there were many of you buoyed by the Saints win last year.

A bit premature
At the end of the year where are we on the ladder is where we are at in terms of the other 17 teams
No matter what people’s opinions are on whatever the ladder position doesn’t lie.
Particularly this year with home ground advantage often a zero factor and no playing 5 teams twice.

Yesterday’s loss didn’t surprise me at all
Imo
We overate players
We hand over generous contracts to some
Many players are 2 one dimensional ( Docherty is a great example)
We were pathetic in the last 30 minutes because we are simply not good enough
Recruiting and List Management
That’s my opinion

This time last year we'd won two games.

This year we've won six.

So last year we were bottom end at this point and this year we're mid table.

What exactly is your point?

Did you think we'd go from 18th to first in a year?