Still can’t believe we won that game last night.

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We are on our way back...

Seems we are alot better when blokes play in their best position. We are defending much better too.

Still had that little lapse, this time the 2nd half of the 3rd qtr after we got 23pts in front. Fortunately it was a 3.5 run, not 5 goals plus. Other than that we played a good, strong game. Great the way we -regrouped again in the last qtr when challenged.

You know you’re a lowly rated game when Effie (?) and the blonde Troy McClure lookalike are assigned as umpires. They are not that good.

Dow 2 good games in a row & Kennedy 3. Massive positive & we need more & more of that from our developing mids.

JSOS BOG I thought, fkn love this bloke. I was in line with that set shot in the 4th & it nearly went through, bugger.

Weiters was just enormous & we would've been in big trouble without him. That said the whole back six had their share of good moments last night - Newman, Saad, Stocker, Jones, Plow. All good games admittedly against a pretty average fwd line.

How many wins in a row is that against Freo? They must hate us

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#DonTheStash

You can look at the stats after that game, and even blokes with low numbers, you can point to a moment where they contributed something positive.
That's the difference, in a way. When we play poorly you look at the stats and the blokes with low numbers were completely anonymous.

F'me it was cold A-F. Wore my COVID mask so far up my face and beanie so far down my forehead - burqua style - straight up thought my eyeballs would freeze. Waited the entire half time break for a double espresso at the members bar behind bay N, plus missed the first 5 minutes of the 3rd.

Anyway. Walsh, Weiters we all know. Plus Harry and obviously Eddie. Few others worth mentioning.

1) Owies. I know Papley is a gun, but Owies will continue to improve - remember he's a latecomer to the game - and I'd be very interested to see the stats on the two of them. I'd guess they aren't far off.
2) Stocker. I was concerned about the wisdom of the Stocker trade but this seems to have paid off. I wouldn't rush to move him into the midfield yet. Needs to continue to settle into the back 6 along with Newman and Saad. Need someone to play Doc's role and I reckon that's him. I'd push Doc further up the ground onto a wing and see how he goes there - he has been a liability down back.
3) Saad. He's a very good player but I think some of the criticism from the * were probably about right. He does defend on occasion but he can also be leaky. Hopefully this can be coached out of him or compensated for with better chemistry in D50.

Struture-wise, we still look very confused out there at times and while some players footy IQ is good enough to find a way through it and create play, boy do we lack a cohesive fabric at times and it really shows. Better coached teams will continue to dismantle us until we sure that up. Still get pounded out of the middle in large chunks which needs to be addressed.

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Orandum est ut sit mens sana in corpore sano. Fortem posce animum mortis terrore carentem, qui spatium vitae extremum inter munera ponat naturae, qui ferre queat quoscumque labores.

another game were our pathetic game plan almost cost us the game. Especially from defense we dont link up with handball and run it out we just u12 stuff bomb it to wing outnumbered and ball comes straight back (need to change this style for 2022) About last night i was pleased for Dow and finally a fwd leading straight to ball carrier Jsos.

I thought williamson played a good game at half back. I think hes got good potential for a young bloke. He has some good dash and delivers some quality ball into our 50. He offers some good physical presence too.. I would prefer to persist with him on hbf than docherty. Have williams replace sps maybee.sure williamson has had some average moments and only has one leg, but i reckon he seems to be improving with experience. The whole backline seemed to function really well against freo saturday. I feel docherty not being there stuffing up had a lot to do with it. Anyway my point is i think williamson has potential and maybee should be given more time

I aint gonna bag Doc but i agree Re Williamson.Provided run,carry and dash.Good game.............but as Blue champion say's,its the spreading of the load that made the difference.A more even effort.Many hands make light work..........if your bottom six pull there weight you are always in with a chance no matter who the opposition is...........continue with that and we are a sneaky chance against the Cats.......................these also ran type of players putting there hands up are renewing my enthusiasm ( not that it ever wains ) .Gives you a lift don't it Frankie.Nothin' like good young kids coming in to give you a lift.

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All my dangerous friends

I'm glad you didn't add to the Doc bagging.

Williamson ahead of Doc? FMD. I know Doc has dropped a few and cost us goals, but look at the figures comparing Willo and Doc. They shouldn't even be compared. There's good reason Willo was dropped twice for costing fot than a goal or two herew and ther. Willo was costing 3-4 goals in a few of the close games we lost.

Lets get real. Williamson survived vs Freo.

I kept a good eye on Tom, and hoped he'd play within himself and wouldn't try the outlandish stuff that led to his demise. I gave him a pass.

Yes he did have average moments as Bluetears suggests, and he is limited to one peg. As for giving him games for experience, I think that's what we did in the first half of the year, and clearly he'd gone backwards this year, not forwards. His game in the VFL didn't warrant selection, so lets not give him credits he hasn't earned.

I didn't see any good ball delivery, with direction intent on hitting a target. I saw him bombing it into the forwardline, or the wing, because he stretched his run a bit far again at times. Willo is depth, and I'm glad he survived.

SPS is elusive and does some amazing things. Listen to the Weitering interview post game what he says about SPS' game. The supposed missed tackle in the last wasn't a missed tackle. The opponent with the ball ran around 2 players and SPS was the 2nd, and too wide for SPS to get a hold. I'm neither here or there with SPS, and accept he might be traded, but I have no doubt SPS showed more AFL standard play than Willo did vs Freo.

Having said that, it was good to see Willo play a role fitting of a reserve HBF, but he lacks class. He is a hard worker. He's depth for now imo.

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Everyone looks good in Navy Blue

Votes
Player (Club)
7 Sean Darcy (FRE)
7 Jacob Weitering (CARL)
5 Patrick Cripps (CARL)
5 Samuel Walsh (CARL)
4 Andrew Brayshaw (FRE)
1 Paddy Dow (CARL)
1 Jack Silvagni (CARL)

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"You are being watched. The government has a secret system. A machine that spies on you every hour of every day. I know because I built it." - Finch

Definately agree with you that we need to get more from our bottom 6.. unfortunately some senior players are in that category. I also feel that owies is really coming along in the recent games and has earned to keep his place this week. He always wants to be in the action which is good. Plowman seems to be going a bit better of recent weeks too so hoping he can be consistant at that level and maybee even improve further

Dont get me wrong. I think docherty has afl worthy talent, but just not on the half back line. He kicks to the opposition too much from hb and the opposition gets possesion in the centre and kick it back over his head usually resulting in a score (when we had complete control of the ball). I really think he/carlton would get more positive results further up the ground, delivering to the forward line where any slightly errant kicks dont hurt the team so much. Hes got the skill to win possession which would be great around the wings and half forward area.
I dont really rate sps above willo as far as benefit to the team during a match. soley based on his effort. Sps is so lazy sometimes, the amount of times he is close enough to get involved and just stands there waiting to get fed or something is unacceptable, and nulls the good things he does.
Edit* i did actually notice his overdone passes after running aa bit far before kicking. I didnt think the kicks where bombed in so much. The ones i recal where reasonably low trajectory for a 30m kick and the ball got to destination quickly (albeit past the target). If he can improve his timing and accuracy with that type of play. he could be very damaging to opposition.
I reckon in the games he had earlier in the year was in a totally disfunctional team on a halfbackline with no plan or direction. Its a pretty big ask for a kid to play well with that going on around him. He should be getting tutored by the senior players and yet they could hardly set a good example to show him..
Anyway, its down to personal opinion i guess. Regardless of either side of the arguement, only fate and the selectors can decide if he gets more games.

I have no issue with pointing out players that arent getting it done.. if they want to accept the accolades in good times they need to accept they might recieve (fair) criticism for poor performance

The thing I agree with BT is that with experience comes improvement, but everyone has a ceiling.

Docs kicking out of defense before cancer was pretty spot on. Something has happened to him since the cancer treatment over summer IMO. His 1-2 clangers in many games this year, since round 1, have not been the norm. The fact he's being paid $600K and is our captain he should be held to account. The fact Willo is not on that sort of money doesn't excuse his shortcomings. Everyone is accountable for their actions.

Oh yeah, and Willo did bomb a few to the forward line without a target in site, so if his issue is decsison making, he better fix it, because without that, he's never going to use his left peg effectively.

I've always loved the idea of Doc in the midfield group. He is a smart player and knows how to win the ball.

I really am Ok with Williamson trying to win a wing position in the team: he played Ok in that position. I really have no faith in his decision making on the last line. When he's pushed back close to the goals, he becomes a liability because he has no right foot. He got pinned on the last line, tried to get out on his right and the ball landed in the oppositions hand and you know the rest of the story. It happened over and over again. I don't blame that on the senior players. Its a part of his craft he obviously neglected. He got picked in the mid 60's for a reason.

When you look at our injured list, you can see that SPS and Willo are both peripheral. I'm just saying SPS has miles more class than Willo, and hey, if he doesn't chase and tackle when its his turn, then back to the VFL he goes or to Freo. The fear of getting traded can improve the deficiency you point out pretty quick. If not, See yu.

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Everyone looks good in Navy Blue

Pretty strange voting, am i missing something?.
So it went something like: Coach A - Cripps 5, Darcy 4, Weiters 3, Brayshaw 2 and Dow 1. Coach B - Walsh 5, Weiters 4, Darcy 3, Brayshaw 2, JSOS 1.

Anyone think Cripps(while was solid) was BOG?

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Ronald Reagan

Was thinking the same thing... I dont think I gave him votes in my run down!

God bless Levi for checking Cerra (see Dow's highlight package) with a beautiful shirtfront ala Earl Spalding.

Excited about Walsh teaming up with Dow whose speed is a great complement to our superstar. Mundy was left holding air and flailing about after Dow exploded out of the pack. Rare beast with Dangerfield, Martin, etc, capable of holding their feet and breaking out of a pack with speed.

Haha. Unlike you bondi, i keep forgetting we have charlie and setterfield to come back, and once they do both williamson and sps will be forced to earn their spots based on form or relying on more injuries. I have high expectations for next season post review, a set coach, one captain, with all our best players fit and baggage discarded

I also had the same thought, I didn’t think Cripps was anywhere near getting votes, we should have subbed him off as we wouldn’t have been any worse off with cotteral.

Watched the replay yesterday and thought the same thing. They really missed some sitters.