Carlton, Essendon, North - the triumvirate of mediocrity
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Someone need to grab a can of Mortein and set it offMore blow flies…your post must bealso I’m afraid.
Like the laws of gravity… it never fails.
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The North best 23 next to the geriatric Pies looks half decent so I can understand why Pies nuffs would be feeling bullish on them. But in reality both look absolutely terrible for 2026. Blues will be middling but should be comfortably better than either.
Checks calendar...
Yep, still November.
But I can see why Carlton supporters are confident about how they stack up against Collingwood and North... having won 25% of their games against the two teams in 2025, which is a better strike rate than they have had against most teams for a long, long time.
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Does November have some sort of significance as to why you're still on here spouting shite as always?
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Got a feeling this one will be bumped a few times over the next year or so
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After Jack Buller leads the Pies to a few VFL wins?Got a feeling this one will be bumped a few times over the next year or so
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We'll see
But this thread's about bottom dwellers, I can't see North staying down there much longer
Blues and Bombers however are bottom 2 candidates in 2026
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Essendon will definitely be around the bottom, Carlton are no chance of finishing bottom 2 in 2026.
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Pretty unlikely I'd say.. would have them in the 8-10 range at present.
A lot would need to go right for Carlton to finish in the bottom part of the top 10.
Not much would need to go wrong for them to finish in the bottom 4.
In all seriousness, it's a bit of a watershed season for North 2026. They simply have to break out of the bottom 4 with their list
I agree.
Clarkson's 3rd year (or is it 4th?), they have been slowly improving their list and developing their gameplan.
Their list is miles ahead of the other two as we sit here now.
They'd be disappointed in missing out on double up games against Carlton, but I'd back them in for 6 wins from 8 games in their double ups against Port, Eagles, Essendon and Richmond.
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Maybe we should include collingwood in the conversation. The form ladder since July doesnt look to good for them
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Also got a mint draw, Blues are jealous
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4 wins from their last 10 games. Not that flash to be honest is it ?
List hasn't improved either.
17 from their last 25.
A better record than many teams have had for a long, long time.
But stop diverting, this thread isn't about Collingwood.
Carlton's list has gone backwards after a 9 win season despite having the easiest draw in the comp.
After more than 2 decades of building and rebuilding. That is relevant to the thread.
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Oh cool, I thought it was a bit soon, but looks like Carlton and Essendon squad pictures have arrived.
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I just can't see a team with Caleb Daniel, Darling, Simpkin, Stephens, McDonald etc going anywhere next year at this stage.
Certainly have the core talents on the list now with Sheezel, Wardlaw, LDU, Larkey and Curtis but imo they'll be reliant on their bottom end improving out of sight to make any significant leap up the ladder. Not saying it can't happen, but they still have a lot of gaps that need filling.
Only if both Essendon and Melbourne cartwheel into oblivion, decent chance, can we get to 5th last.
Without a major overhaul to dfefence, not just defenders but midfielders who can switch to actually play defensively, there is no significant climbing the ladder for North's squad. The holes are so great this group may already be very near their peak.
There are perhaps 8-10 quite good players in the squad, with maybe 3 a-grade, and despite the ages not much improvement left in most. Others in the first 23 would not be VFL 23 at even Carlton.
Even with the joke that is the final ten, playing finals at any point in the 2020s is probably a less than 50-50 proposition.
Ironic coming from a supporter of the poo and wee's
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