The Blues looked quite solid up until early in the 3td quarter then a diabolically bad capitulation ensued.

First game debutants Jagga Smith and Harry Dean showed that they will be real footballers.

Walsh looked like he was moving freely and he had a good game. That is a positive.

Cripps showed poor leadership tonight.

I can't see Voss coaching Carlton in 2027.

This will be a transitionary, development year for CFC.

As for the Swans, they showed in the second half of the game just how much of a threat they can be.

Won't count for much as they will still shrink in the pressure of a Grand Final.

Edited March 5Mar 5 by No. 31

13 minutes ago, No. 31 said:

The Blues looked quite solid up until early in the 3td quarter then a diabolically bad capitulation ensued.

First game debutants Jagga Smith and Harry Dean showed that they will be real footballers.

Walsh looked like he was moving freely and he had a good game. That is a positive.

Cripps showed poor leadership tonight.

I can't see Voss coaching Carlton in 2027.

This will be a transitionary, development year for CFC.

As for the Swans, they showed in the second half of the game just how much of a threat they can be.

Won't count for much as they will still shrink in the pressure of a Grand Final.

It's only 0 game '31' but looks similar to last year with the 2nd half fade out.

More games like this & Voss won't see out the season.

As for the Swans? who would know.

Despite the media beat up I'm not convinced.

You know footy is back when you put on sen after a game & hear the blues fans blow up

Goodwin apparently has a key role in their offence strategy.

He'll be feeling pretty good about himself, given his mob put 75 points on the oppo in the third quarter.

3 minutes ago, Bring-Back-Powell said:

Goodwin apparently has a key role in their offence strategy.

He'll be feeling pretty good about himself, given his mob put 75 points on the oppo in the third quarter.

Thats funny.

Couldn’t get our midfield to hit a target or get our forwards to kick straight.

Maybe player issues after all.

1 hour ago, dees189227 said:

You know footy is back when you put on sen after a game & hear the blues fans blow up

Nobody celebrates a win more and tears the joint down more after a loss than Carlton supporters.

I've been to about 20 grand finals and nothing came close to the earthquake of a celebration after Carlton's 2023 semi final win over us.

Collingwood have the worst set of supporters but Carlton supporters are the most emotional and irrational out of the lot.

On the same logic that Steve May was banned last season for that collision against Carlton, Ollie Florent should be suspended for the knee to the head of Heeny. Should have known what was going on and taken split second evasive action to avoid the head contact.

...but bet he won't.

While I accept the decision made to axe Goody and think we've done well in appointing King, fresh face and refreshed game style etc, it was still a weird feeling watching Goody working on the bench for them.

10 hours ago, DubDee said:

Pathetic from Cripps

Captain can’t keep his head and gives away dumb frees

Cripps is a great but had a poor game and it is not the first time that he has tried to show aggression at the man after the contest, which has backfired.

There were a lot of post contest incidents and I wonder if that is part of the Coach’s play tough policy and the Carlton players taking it the wrong way.

Cripps needs to get it out of his game.

16 minutes ago, Rodney (Balls) Grinter said:

On the same logic that Steve May was banned last season for that collision against Carlton, Ollie Florent should be suspended for the knee to the head of Heeny. Should have known what was going on and taken split second evasive action to avoid the head contact.

...but bet he won't.

As one of the media guys said, “if that was his Captain on the ground, would Florent have avoided head contact?”

We know the answer and so should the MRO, it was deliberate, dirty and with the potential to cause a very serious injury, it has to be punished.

If Florent hadn’t looked down at Heeney before the incident he would have a defence, but he did and doesn’t.

I met Cripps once when he was doing promotion for a product I was doing PR on. He is a very nice and humble guy. Way too good to have wasted his career at Carlton.

Carlton is a genuine chance to finish bottom this year.

Edited March 5Mar 5 by praha

How bloody empty was the SCG??? Bring back the first game of the season to the g

Meanwhile Carlton finding itself in unfamiliar territory in the 3rd, panicked then immediately implemented full capitulation procedures.

Voss later commenting, that was close , we nearly fell for the trap of offering up false hope to our supporters !!

Recent sighting around Princess Park Drive.....

1 hour ago, Redleg said:

As one of the media guys said, “if that was his Captain on the ground, would Florent have avoided head contact?”

We know the answer and so should the MRO, it was deliberate, dirty and with the potential to cause a very serious injury, it has to be punished.

If Florent hadn’t looked down at Heeney before the incident he would have a defence, but he did and doesn’t.

I'm not even talking about making a judgement about it being deliberate or not.

In May's incident it wasn't considered as intentional, only that he didn't take reasonable steps to avoid the contact. In May's incident he was deedlmed the one in the wrong even though he had eyes for the ball, due to a split second bounce of the ball and that he arrived just second after his opponent took the ball, that he should have foreseen the contact and taken reasonable steps to avoid it. Florent will probably also argue that he was focused on getting the ball and had to see Heeney out of his peripheral vision and misjudged the situation in a split second. Just looking for the AFL to apply the same level of logic and scrutiny to be applied - big ask, I know, Maynard as exhibit A.

Edited March 5Mar 5 by Rodney (Balls) Grinter

15 minutes ago, deemoralizing67 said:

How bloody empty was the SCG???

Attendance of 40,000+ at a ground that holds ~48,000?

Closer to full than empty wouldn't you say? 😁

1 hour ago, GawnOfTheDead said:

Thats funny.

Couldn’t get our midfield to hit a target or get our forwards to kick straight.

Maybe player issues after all.

Always was player execution...however they'd be so heavily drilled to play a certain way for so many years, that when a pressure moment arised, they went back to their instinctive style.

9 hours ago, No. 31 said:

The Blues looked quite solid up until early in the 3td quarter then a diabolically bad capitulation ensued.

First game debutants Jagga Smith and Harry Dean showed that they will be real footballers.

Walsh looked like he was moving freely and he had a good game. That is a positive.

Cripps showed poor leadership tonight.

I can't see Voss coaching Carlton in 2027.

This will be a transitionary, development year for CFC.

As for the Swans, they showed in the second half of the game just how much of a threat they can be.

Won't count for much as they will still shrink in the pressure of a Grand Final.

I thought your defensive pressure was right on point in the first half No. 31 and it does look like they want to move it more aggressively this season with different angles. Walsh looks as fit as he's ever been.

I didn't catch much of the second half so I'm just going off how the scoring unfolded but do you think the overall fitness is there for the Blues? Their ability to run out games has been a bit suspect in recent times.

Reminded me a little of the opening game of 2024 when we looked sluggish in the Sydney humidity. Still, the Blues can atone because next week, they play Richmond in Round 1 ... how did they do in that last year?

22 minutes ago, GS_1905 said:

Always was player execution...however they'd be so heavily drilled to play a certain way for so many years, that when a pressure moment arised, they went back to their instinctive style.

Got to feel bad for Goodie to some level. Imagine the frustration of asking your team to do something and they keep failing it, and you look to be the issue.

23 minutes ago, Leopold Bloom said:

Reminded me a little of the opening game of 2024 when we looked sluggish in the Sydney humidity

Climate acclimation underrated factor in sport.

Also, don't understand why teams refuse to tag star players like Gulden. The momentum of the game shifted to the Swans in the 3rd quarter thanks in large to him

Carlton's method is so labour intensive and tiring that even though they led at half time it felt like only a matter of time that when Sydney clicked into gear they would put a score on....wasn't expecting that much score in a half though.

14 hours ago, Demon Disciple said:

Ground is far too small for 36 players’, allows the Swans to clog it up something shocking.

Grounds need to have a minimum length (SCG) and width (KP) rule, to allow for more open play.

The answer is to reduce the amount of players on the field (15 or 16 a side)

All other measures are a bandaid approach

The game is too crowded, too much congestion and too many stoppages

As for stoppages conversations ... zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

2 hours ago, deemoralizing67 said:

How bloody empty was the SCG??? Bring back the first game of the season to the g

But the AFL spin machine said all four games were sell outs. They'd give Fox (cough) News a run for their money.

Edited March 6Mar 6 by Rab D Nesbitt

1 hour ago, sisso said:

Carlton's method is so labour intensive and tiring that even though they led at half time it felt like only a matter of time that when Sydney clicked into gear they would put a score on....wasn't expecting that much score in a half though.

Absolutely agree about labour intensive. Carlton only ever look good when their pressure game is on point and they cannot sustain it for a whole game. They were criticised a lot last year for starting well and then falling over in the 3rd and it happened over and over again. It’s like they are a one trick pony and that trick is pressure, so once that inevitably falls off, there’s nothing else they can do.