Young Blood

ah thats better binmans was making me feel uncomfortable. Whats the knock on Harmes again? Thought he's been pretty consistent all year and happen to play more time in the middle last week which pushed his numbers up.

How's Lachie Filapovic going in the ruck? Keen to know how his ruck work is going but also his contested work around the ground. Seemed a bit fumbly and lacked confidence with ball in hand when I watched him a few times in the development team last year.

He'd be one of the best backup players in the comp next year in terms of playing a role. Apart from tagging he is probably out best wet weather player (if thats a thing?). This year his role is really clear. With his experience he positions himself really well, knows how to use his body really well in all contests and would still be in our top 5 kicks in the team. Yes he has make some kicking errors this year again but he has also been the one willing to take risks kicking into the corridor when our team tightens up in games. You definitely couldn't say unequivocally no for a return next year. He is way to valuable still. Like most on here I think reassess at the end of the year but his works this year so far would lead you to think he could carve out a similar role next year between AFL/VFL.

It's still crazy to me how Cripps is the same height as Hogan and Weideman

Joel Smith. I think he could eventually be in our best 22. He has a lot of potential and sound like he's building form in VFL. Wouldn't be in my current proven best 22.

Weitering has been building form in the VFL. We know what he can do when in form. Marchbank really underated and Murphy can still bob up and be a match winner. I hope you're right. Forgive my pessimism. Been a long time since I saw us win four in a row. Also we haven't hit our straps at the G yet.

I've watched Carlton really take it to decent teams this year. The key will be maintaining our pressure around the contest. It's where young teams like Gold Coast last week struggle to stay in the game because of turnovers and lack of composure/experience. Still Curnow brothers are now playing. Add Weitering, Murphy and Marchbank. This is a danger game. We might be top four for winning quarters but as we've seen one quarter blitz and we don't cope well. Hopefully we do this week.

Both Curnows playing with Murphy, Weitering and Marchbank returning. A lot of demonlanders wish to play a full Carlton side is pretty much granted.

Interesting to be a fly on the wall in the tribunal deliberations. Especially the second one which took longer. "OK so Charlie's excuse of not seeing the umpire and trying to get players away from the fight was a good one. We don't have another angle where we see him make eyes directly towards the umpire so its all good" "Now Ed is a bit more tricky. We should also take a bit longer to show that we're taking it seriously and considering actually giving him the week. He does see the umpire and reaches out towards him. Lets just say that he didn't mean to make contact and they were all happy shaking hands at the end of the game so that ones all good too" "Carlton and more importantly the AFL/$$$ will be pleased with our work here"

May as well let Ziebell off for possibly crushing a guys skull with his knee and full weight.

push an umpire away from a fight and you can claim you were shepherding him for safety reasons

Both were intentional. Charlie admits he is shepherding people from the fight. He claims he didn't see the umpire??? he is running towards the guy in fluro green!

Both Curnows have been cleared to play.

Surely Ed can't get off. He doesn't have the excuse Charlie has. This is already ridiculous. Making exceptions all over the place. We're heading towards soccer where you're allowed to touch the umpires chest or shoulder when pleading a case because its not threatening. Good one AFL.

I get so nervous when I hear others talking about winning games beyond this week. If we don't show up we could just as easily lose by 3-4 goals to the blues and it will all come tumbling down again for the doom and gloom supporters and media. This Carlton team are really dangerous. Regardless of whether the Curnow boys sit out, they possibly have Marchbank and Murphy back. I've watched a few games of theirs this year and they will take more scalps throughout the year. Could be ours if we don't bring the intensity against this young team.

I remember seeing Neeld at a cafe in Northcote shortly after him leaving the dees. I gave him a nod with an sympathetic grin and he just looked at me with those weird crazy twitchy eyes. I feel like he's at home just watching the news of him and Essendon with those same weird crazy twitchy eyes.

Maybe he kicked the ball from half back steve?

Cool You should go write that on every thread!

His stats are starting to move into elite territory as a tall forward. The thing that has stood out most to me this season and was evident on the weekend was his disposal. He hits targets whether its 15 or 40 metres and under pressure too. He generally makes good decisions when he has clean possession. I think the best comparison right now might be Roughead in his prime. He's got similar impact across the ground. Feels like we're starting to see the player he wants to be and he's tracking nicely for that peak prime of mid-late twenties.

He seems to be way off in Herald Sun votes and a few other rankings. It's a bit all over the place. Loved listening to KB get shut down on SEN this afternoon for suggesting that Max got monstered by Nankervis in the Anzac clash. Someone read him the stats. lol

I really don't see a huge difference between these and the Hawkins case. May has obviously pointed out that he was demonstrating to the umpire and had a reason for touching him with little force. What are both Ed and Charlie's reasoning? Neither were accidental. They were both moving the umpire out of their space. I really think both should get a week if the AFL want to be consistent with this one. They have a chance to do so.

So lets say Dom gets dropped. Who moves up to the wing role? I think Lewis and Salem are too important with their roles down back to spend more time further up the ground. Harmes seems to play predominantly wing and a bit of half forward. T-Mac, Trac and Fristch, the latter who has played further up the ground lately are still needed across half forward and deeper. I think we need another creator who plays prodomantly wing. i don't necessarily agree that Dom can't learn to play this position. I think he has lost some of his versatility he showed in his first few years with his marking and tackle. I still think he's an excellent link up player but I'm open to him having a spell for Casey to see what else might work.

Does Charlie touch the umpires hand? There's probably another angle. Either way the way he's gesturing suggests he is brushing his the umps hand away or moving him away. I think this on could be looked at as similar to Tom Hawkins. A deliberate gesture to the umpire to move him out of the space doesn't look good and you even see the umpire almost stumble backwards. Either way I can't see both of them getting off. After May got off there will be pressure to continue the precedent set with the Hawkins case the week prior. Both of these guys are real X factors for this club. I would be happy for either to miss but maybe Charlie more so as we seem to struggle with athletic mid/talls who can push up the ground and impact games across the ground. i think Charlie could be a top 10 player one day. He's got the makings of a star.

ANB must be doing things that are not showing up on the stat sheet. Maybe he's taking an opposition player and running him into the ground? I've watched him closely every game and while he does apply great pressure up forward, the things he was doing so well last year are way down this year. For him to really impact a game he doesn't need to accumulate the ball often but he does need to use it well, more inside 50's, one %'s and even thought he might be putting pressure on closing in (wish we could see those bloody pressure act stats) it would be good to see his tackle numbers increase. I do wonder if the opportunities to play his role well have been effected by Melksham who is similar and not having as much time in the midfield this year. He seems to struggle to stay as involved which may be due to less time in the middle. PS Harmes IS best 22. He has played consistently all year bar the Hawthorn game (where everyone sucked) and is our most physical player at the moment. Has a lot of attributes and keeps improving as a 22 yr old.

I think this season you're seeing teams win games off the back of average football. I thought we came reasonably close to contending with Richmond for three quarters and we played terribly. Sure the opposition this week were average but I guess its a positive we're winning games playing average football. We're just outworking teams without being polished a lot of the time. I don't really know what the benchmark is yet, we haven't seen it yet. Is it the Adelaide game last year? I don't know....