mrtwister

Definitely not accusing laziness (he'd be the last player I'd tag as lazy). To me it just looked like a misjudgement of Betts' speed. I'm sure he'd cringe at watching it. After the goal I think I counted Frawley looking at the scoreboard for the replay about 5 times. After seeing it he swore at himself again. You know it's things like that cause good players to come out the following week and play their guts out. Let's hope.

Appreciate your input guys but from where I sat it looked like it was put where Frawley could have ran onto it with a mark. Again, I was at Punt road end so you could be right. It just looked as if he thought he was well clear and didn't account for Betts' leg speed.

I agree that the cause is well worth while, Australian icon and all that. It was also great to see big Jim up there but I just felt as though she took a bit away from it with her 'I'm a Carlton supporter' rubbish. C'mon now, she did the whole 'it's great that the MFC has joined with me for this' and then she openly states her committment to our opposition on the night. Not bagging the cause, just questioning the logistics of it.

And of the board

He's a FF really. Shouldn't be playing anywhere else.

Demon fans, it bewildered me. Early in the 4th, ball gets kicked to Frawley to allow him to pump it into the forward line and he seemed to stand and wait for the ball to hit the ground so he could pick it up and casualy kick it forward. Betts ran him down, stole the ball and returned it to the Carlton forward line for a goal. Now, up until this point, the boys had done a great job of locking the ball in our forward line almost entirely up until that point of the quarter. It was about to be punched back in yet again and I was feeling fairly optimistic that if we could keep pressuring their defenders we could be quickly 'back in it' and could even had developed enough steam to cause doubt in Carlton's minds. Then, against the play, purely for the above mentioned reason, Carlton get one back, momentum swings drastically and it was time to start taking the kids to the toilet for the train trip home. I was down the punt road end and watched rawley run all the way back to the Carlton goals after the incident and I think he swore at himself about 6 times, minimum. But, again in the 4th, he was on Judd as he was being rested in the pocket, Frawley went to take a leaping chest mark in front of Judd with, what I thought, was an air of casualness again. Judd managed to get his hand in under Frawley's arm and raked the ball free which then resulted in another goal. Frawley is one of our most hard working, respected and solid players and I am constantly telling friends, colleagues and family members that he is one of the best defenders in the game today. But his seemingly casual play in the 4th almost scarred my scalp from me scratching it in wonder so much. I am interested in other fans opinions on these plays.

Right now, I'm not sure who I would like the club to consider. What I do know is that we need a hard coach. With a young team, we need someone who doesn't accept excuses. Someone the players would respect because if they didn't they'd get left behind.

I'm not saying these players would be in other teams. I'm saying if you drafted them, find their niche. They were drafted for a reason. Were they drafted to be hole pluggers? To play positions that yoou have noone else to play. You can't expect players to successfully play in a different position each week.

But stats can tell a very different story. When Martin got the tap, we rarely came away with the ball. Sure, that could be because of Carlton's strong midfield, but that's an excuse you wouldn't want to hide behind for a whole game. Perhaps the taps were just ineffective because he couldn't get them where he intended to. I would hate to have been doing the hit-out stats because there was rarely a clear winner. I just think he struggled with his extension last night, Hampson is a pretty long customer. But, on the plipside, Martin failed to capitalise on his greater strength at the boundary and ball-ups. Not saying you or the stats are wrong of course. It's just my perspective.

This is wrong. These guys would not be in a squad if they didn't have the desirable skills/knowledge to be there. Coaching at this level is about finding where they fit in best. What valuable contribution they can make to the game plan. These guys (Warnock excepted) have been payed in different positions almost every week. For Kryste sake Newton popped up at FB last night. DB is doing the same to Watts as well. As an 'elite' coach, look at what your players offer and either put them where they fit according to your game plan (get rid of them if you have nowhere to put them - although this is a bit of a cop out in football) OR change your game plan to adjust to the skills/personnel that you have. Don't have them playing different positions each week and expect them to learn it in 5 days at training. Personally, I believe: 1) Morton is a winger and should stay there. 2) Bate should be in the FP. He's a pretty solid unit yet quite unathletic. Just have him run at the ball and try to bust open some packs. I'd be happy to see him just run through a pack without even jumping with his arms in the air to make it look like he's trying to mark the ball. 3) Warnock holds his ground weel and has useful height. I'd be tempted to play him on the slowest attacker and play the backline throw ins. Don't think I'd have him distributing the ball from the backlines but would be better suited being a target for kicks out of the backline. 4) Newton is a pinch hitter at best. His decision making isn't great so I'd keep him out of the backline. But I wouldn't put him at FF either (Green is better there). Maybe HFF so he can be another tall that is at the fall of the ball when opposition kick out of our forward line. Let's face it, not many teams can kick to an unopposed player out of a set back line. But, I'm not Dean Bailey (thank Kryste)

Green - Plenty of ball Warnock - Game to forget Jones - typically worked hard Watts - Far off best Gysberts - Was barely noticed Bate - Did nothing wrong Bennell - Replaced Davey perfectly Frawley - Cruising when shouldn't Morton - Played okay - mostly Sylvia - Hard at ball McKenzie - Played a role Petterd - Struggles when isolated Maric - Didn't really contribute Moloney - Was he tagging? Jurrah - Starved of opportunity Rivers - best defender - period MacDonald - good 100th game Martin - was beaten convincingly Jetta - should've defended Betts Newton - Jeckyl and Hyde Nicholson - challenging first game Evans - down from debut

It's because of all the new defensive tactics of the 'modern' game. Back in the day, you had an opponent and you stuck with them. Sure you had to work hard to stay with them, but it was simple to understand. It also allowed for 1 on 1 contest and big marking etc. Nowadays it's all shifting zones, switching players on the mark and trapping the ball. As a football fan with a heavy basketball background I can tell you that these defensive tactics are great in a small area (like a basketball court) but on a huge playing field like a football field (especially the G) you have to be real quick and very very organised to avoid being caught out. It seems at times we are neither. It does make for boring, uneventful football but what can you do? The NBA made zone defence illegal for the exact same reason. It made games boring and fans hated it.

Why the demon did we host Olivia Neutron Bomb at our home game? She does a press conference with Big JS and bats her eyelids and talks about the partnership with the club blah blah blah.......and then turns aup for an interview at half time with her Carlton scarf on. If she's such a huge Carlton fan then let them host the chick. I feel so used

My 5yo and 3yo boys will wear them. They actually suit them well.

It's a pity it's come to this. I would have liked to see him match up on Garlett or Betts this week. They could all run each other around all night.

It's not that he needs to be punished. I'm sure if he had his choice, he wouldn't be playing this way. He just needs to find form. Get 20+ quality touches, make some tackles, get a feel for the game again. He can't do that at top level because top level is not used to run someone into form. So give him some time at Casey to do it. IT IS NOT A PUNISHMENT, it is for everyone's best interest.

Bartram (Simpson) Rivers (Walker) Warnock (O'Hailpin) Sylvia (Betts) Frawley (Waite) Jetta (Garlett) Jones (Gibbs) Watts (Ellard) Morton (Laidler) Gysberts Jurrah Maric Petterd Green Newton Followers: Martin Moloney Evans Interchange: McKenzie Bate Macdonald Sub: Bennell (Could use his leg speed) In: Morton, Bennell Out: Davey, Tapscott

Bartram (Simpson) Rivers (Walker) Warnock (O'Hailpin) Sylvia (Betts) Frawley (Waite) Jetta (Garlett) Jones (Gibbs) Watts (Ellard) Morton (Laidler) Gysberts Jurrah Maric Petterd Green Newton Followers: Martin Moloney Evans Interchange: McKenzie Bate Macdonald Sub: Bennell (Could use his leg speed) In: Morton, Bennell Out: Davey, Tapscott

If we weren't so thin at the moment, I wouldn't be surprised if Jurrah was given a week to rest whatever seems to be niggling him. Unfortunately, with so many out he is just going to have to play through it. Or should they just bite the bullet and give him a week off anyway?

LOL. I promise it was never on my mind. I'd prefer my pack crashers to not play for free kicks every time a defender touches them.

After watching the Fox Sports replay of the game tonight it dawned on me that we have no BIG target up forward. I mean, we have Jurrah, Green sometimes, Petterd when he's on song but that's about it. Then I tried to think of who I would like crashing packs, taking the odd overhead mark but more importantly, bringing the ball to ground whilst destroying a few defenders on the way. Someone to allow the smaller forwards to crumb and goal. Watts maybe, but not at this stage of his career. Then I thought of the Russian's return. With Martin showing his true ability in the middle through Jamar's absence, surely the coaching staff will like the idea of allowing Jamar to sneak up forward more frequently, knowing that Martin can more than hold his own at the bounces. I'd love to see Jamar as a serious target in front of goal with Jurrah, Maric, Sylvia and other quicks benefiting from his size. Can't wait for the boys to get healthy again.

I think when you see Jurrah get run down from behind running into an open goal, you should realise he's not right (physically)

Come on now. The guy played less than a quarter and still did more for us than those that played a full game. The poor bugger did it chasing one of those dreaded kicks across goal too.

6 - Davey 5 - Newton 4 - Petterd 3 - Bate 2 - Tapscott 1 - Jurrah Oops, sorry I think I've mistaken the title of this post for something else. Pleasse disregard my sarcastic votes.

Jurrah ran off limping heavily in the 2nd quarter, came back on not long after but seemed half a step slower