POSTGAME: Community Series vs Carlton

[DeeSpencer 26,080]

4 minutes ago, dazzledavey36 said:

Our depth still has question marks for me.

If Salem goes down we have no one that comes even close to at least filling in his position if need. 

Can the Oskar Baker experiment just be done. Shouldn't even be on a list let along trying to play off a half back.

May and Petty are significant losses. There's no other to put it. Tomlinson was okay tonight but when Petty and May are fit they simply play instead of Tommo and Smith.

Hunt was woeful, Bowey was barely sighted and few others went missing when needed.

Harsh on Bowey, he was a bit rusty early but finished with 22 touches and 10 intercepts. I thought the longer it went the better he went, and even though they weren't good players Carlton did replace 4 half forwards with 4 fresh players.

There's every indication Bowey will grow in to a very good player in the Salem role, he's just a second year kid.

Similarly Tommo looked much better when not against McKay, and he's missed a year. He'll be at his best when allowed to play CHB on the less dangerous talls. Which is the same as Petty. Petty v a full fit and in form Tomlinson, I lean Petty but it's a discussion not a clear choice. At least that's one position where the choices are both solid, rather than a choice between guys we have no confidence in at AFL level.

Brayshaw got better with the pace out of the game too, but if he's used at half back he has to be told to stick to a man like glue until a kick comes in. Was giving huge amounts of space. Think that's just a break glass if needed role for him.

We definitely need more 22-25 year old midfield and flanker depth though, particularly some guys with some size.

 

[BAMF 4,385]

8 minutes ago, DeeSpencer said:

I doubt it's tapering. I hope it's mostly mental, knowing we had a great hit out the first week, then a few players out opening a deficiency (last year it was no Viney, Gus or Oliver killing our midfield v Dogs).

The concern is last year we started the reason without playing great footy but with a lot of desire to grind out wins. 

This year there's pressure to play well AND to win. The players have to all focus on not putting the cart before the horse and knowing what we need to do to win games rather than to expect champagne footy.

This year we will also have to contend with the other teams having a longer preseason. It should even itself up soon enough but we will have to dig deep early. Probably a good thing we play doggies first up in a way.

Huge round 1 game.

[Sideshow Bob 2,410]

Well the good news is there won't be any more premiership bathwater being drunk by the boys.

Rnd 1 in 2 weeks against the mob with the most to play for against us and in rnd 1! Time for shizz to get real.

 

Oh and the tickertape parade on Lygon St for the February Flyers premiership will start at 9.30 in th morning 

 

[dees189227 12,398]

Got smashed in the clearances and centre clearances. Something to focus on to get right for r1. 

Look at least it happened tonight so we can iron out those kinks for 2 weeks time. We dropped some easy marks, fumbled and was a bit undisciplined. We aren't perfect. 

Get our good players back and I liked how after the siren our captain looked annoyed. 

But we get a breather, regroup and get ready for the doggies. 

 

 

[Mazer Rackham 14,971]

4 minutes ago, BAMF said:

Tomlinson looked just a bit off imo. Hopefully just getting some touch back.

If I recall, Lever after his knee took the best part of a season to get back up to his old level.

[Ungarieboy 443]

Who played wing tonight? It seemed we tried a lot of different combinations and none worked. Brayshaw back to this role will make a difference. Combined with Salem back and we will be significantly stronger. Then there's May, who organises the back half.

Were there any midfield tackles?

 

[DeeSpencer 26,080]

9 minutes ago, Chook said:

Bowey could do it no problem if he weren't surrounded by the likes of Smith and Hunt who I wouldn't trust to watch my bike while I nip into the shops for a pie for fear they'd forget what they're doing and wander off home.

I'd even suggest Bowey did do it in the second half when they replaced Baker with Turner, and then moved Lever, Hunt and particularly Bowey up the ground more.

[dazzledavey36 55,318]

1 minute ago, DeeSpencer said:

Harsh on Bowey, he was a bit rusty early but finished with 22 touches and 10 intercepts. I thought the longer it went the better he went, and even though they weren't good players Carlton did replace 4 half forwards with 4 fresh players.

There's every indication Bowey will grow in to a very good player in the Salem role, he's just a second year kid.

Similarly Tommo looked much better when not against McKay, and he's missed a year. He'll be at his best when allowed to play CHB on the less dangerous talls. Which is the same as Petty. Petty v a full fit and in form Tomlinson, I lean Petty but it's a discussion not a clear choice. At least that's one position where the choices are both solid, rather than a choice between guys we have no confidence in at AFL level.

Brayshaw got better with the pace out of the game too, but if he's used at half back he has to be told to stick to a man like glue until a kick comes in. Was giving huge amounts of space. Think that's just a break glass if needed role for him.

We definitely need more 22-25 year old midfield and flanker depth though, particularly some guys with some size.

 

I honestly just didn't notice him much. Not saying he had a bad game just didn't notice him out in space doing pin point delivery like last year.

I'll need to watch the replay.

[DeeZee 7,445]

Viney will be better for the run and didn’t really get into the game tonight.

Salem and May are super important to our whole set up.

I probably would’ve preferred  to see more of the likes of Chandler and Bedford than Hunt , Jordan or Baker and I think Chandler might be a sneaky chance for round one.

Brayshaw back on his wing will also stop alot of opposition attacks

Edited March 3, 2022 by DeeZee

[Fourhands Vaginelli 15]

Don’t know why everyone is getting caught up on the 50m penalties. Annoying but irrelevant and missing the big picture. 
we were terrible and completely outplayed. 
focussing on the umpires is just glossing over the poor performance. The 50m penalties were given while the blues had possession. The blues had possession because in the previous seconds and minutes they had completely out played us 

[Winter Dan 470]

I was miffed at all the tackles we layed without stopping them from disposing effectively. Whats with that?

Many many games last year we got done in the middle/clearances but our defence saved us - not tonight.

Our defence against opp small fwds continues to be troubling, but doesn't help with such muggy slippery conditions. That's how you beat Melb but at same time it's equally not a reliable strategy. 

I wish Hunt showed better form. 

Think Tommo gets the nod over Smith. Smith is a bit of a Frosty type. 

Will be interesting to see if our finals was us having a form spike or if the finals form is the new Melb. Last reg.  season we just found ways to win without dominating. 

[dazzledavey36 55,318]

5 minutes ago, Ungarieboy said:

Who played wing tonight? It seemed we tried a lot of different combinations and none worked. Brayshaw back to this role will make a difference. Combined with Salem back and we will be significantly stronger. Then there's May, who organises the back half.

Were there any midfield tackles?

 

Jordon.

[Nascent 9,283]

6 minutes ago, Cards13 said:

Someone did note that on game day thread 

Smart person no doubt 

[Tarax Club 3,958]

Carlton's performance while commendable was redolent of previous seasons promising much but ? mark on maintaining the rage. Though you would expect some improvement under Voss.

Game of two halves, second half reset showed more determination and spirit. Positives James Harmes unstinting efforts and Oscar McDonald's game on  Bayley Fritsch.

Backline slightly bereft without five of the premiership seven. Joel Smith and Adam Tomlinson battled manfully against the bluebottle tide. Baffled by the umpiring decisions? Conspiracy theorists blame the Scott Brothers.

Edited March 3, 2022 by Tarax Club
Short sharp splash of reality delivered ice cold!

[Jaded No More 68,973]

15 minutes ago, BAMF said:

Was Hunt that bad? 

 

He was just so loose. I don’t mind when he goes for a long run and misses a target. That’s fine and it’s what you get with him. 
But you can’t play down back and be miles off your man. He just was nowhere near anyone. Lever peels off but he has the IQ and skills to do if. Hunt just gets lost out of position. I think not having the usual generals down there and poor Lever doing everything didn’t help.

 

[fr_ap 2,529]

A couple people jumped on me in the pregame thread for suggesting we would be in trouble with a few outs. 

Really does go to show - having a consistent team, no injuries - how fortunate we were last year. 

The backline was unaccountable tonight (a halfback line of bowey, hunt and harmes/brayshaw should never be used in season, especially when Smith is there roaming and ball watching...still think he is wasted down back) and what it showed was that our mids are perhaps sometimes bailed out by our amazing defence when at full strength. Maybe they're not as accountable as we thought they were. Maybe Carlton's midfield is just very good. Hard to tell. 

What is clear is that Hibberd and rivers are 5x better defenders (let alone rebounders) than bowey or hunt. Salem - he's a whole other level. Don't underestimate what he gives us from behind the ball - truly our quarterback, lifts composure of the whole team by finding targets when no one else does. Creates time and space for the team. And he's tough and accountable to boot. In our top 5 most important players without a doubt. 

Don't forget as soon as he was out last year - we lost our first game to Adelaide. 

Its an even comp, lots of strong players in lots of teams - doesn't take much to tip the scales

As I said, this year will be harder than last

[defuture15 900]

Not a Huge fan of the AFL Umpires Show. 

Would have preferred that they bounced the ball correctly in the middle

and just did their  job. I prefer watching the players.

Carlton played well. We didn't seem to have defensive mids

We didn't run and spread. We couldn't stick tackles. We lacked system.

Maybe we lacked interest? It's hard to be up for such a long time.

I will be there round one and I will be wanting to see some desire and fire!

[Wadda We Sing 10,685]

49 minutes ago, Demonland said:

Well it was only a practice match.

 How do you microwave a digital membership without damaging your phone? 

You use a Blues supporters phone !

[BAMF 4,385]

5 minutes ago, Tarax Club said:

Carlton's performance while commendable was redolent of previous seasons promising much but ? mark on maintaining the rage. Though you would expect some improvement under Voss.

Game of two halves, second half reset showed more determination and spirit. Positives James Harmes unstinting efforts and Oscar McDonald's game on  Bayley Fritsch.

Backline slightly bereft without five of the premiership seven. Joel Smith and Adam Tomlinson battled manfully against the bluebottle tide. Baffled by the umpiring decisions? Conspiracy theorists blame the Scott Brothers.

Just feel like Carltons list is finally ready for finals.  They have got the games into the kids and are actually applying good defensive pressure which was not seen under Teague.

Hell... even Kennedy and Obrien looked the goods today

[Lord Nev 13,512]

[Roger Mellie 4,102]

30 minutes ago, dee-tox said:

So called depth players not really stepping up. Baker, Jordon, Hunt, Smith, Turner, etc.
 

To be fair, Turner was injured and went off. I thought Smith did his job, but the rest. meh

[Swooper1987 3,322]

Was remarkable that only 5 points separated the teams at the end of the game.  The Carlton mids were dominant, despite Gawn dominating the ruck.  Was a pretty decent hitout from Gawn - 9 marks (6 contested) and mid 20's in disposals in 88% game time.  Would have liked to have seen a more influential performance from Jackson.  Thought DeKoning was a much better second ruck tonight.  Umpiring had way too much influence.  We may have been undisciplined but the 50 against Petracca was a joke.  Still shaking my head at that one.  Fritsch was very good despite a sluggish start.  Lever worked his way into the game nicely.  Confident it'll be a different effort and result in round 1.  May and Salem in particular will make a massive difference.

[Roger Mellie 4,102]

35 minutes ago, Demon_spurs said:

Did you see Max, give Trac a serve after his 50m penalty.?

I thought it was a bit rich given Max did exactly the same thing earlier

[binman 43,757]

We had our serious hit out last week.

Yes, we played the wooden spooners but our intentisity was full on, something that was super apparent at the ground.

Our intensity tonight was lucky to be half that of last week. Chalk and cheese.

A mirror image of last year's preparation.

 

[BAMF 4,385]

1 minute ago, Roger Mellie said:

To be fair, Turner was injured and went off. I thought Smith did his job, but the rest. meh

Turner was injured?