Carlton keeping a lid on it

[gandaal]

Despite what the article title might imply.

Carlton aiming for finals: Whitnall
http://carltonfc.com.au/Season2007/News/NewsArticle/tabid/4311/Default.aspx?newsId=39734

Not long after beating the Lions 2.12.7 (97) to 0.10.12 (72), the players vowed not to go over-the-top on winning a second pre-season competition title in three years.

They imposed an early curfew on Saturday night and instead of celebrating on Sunday at a pub - like they did in 2005, after winning that year's pre-season title - they held a low-key recovery session.

There was no sight of any fans at MC Labour Park on Sunday, which also made for a stark contrast from 2006, when Geelong celebrated their pre-season title with 10,000 fans at Skilled Stadium.

Young forward Brad Fisher, one of the Blues' best in the NAB Cup decider, admitted he and his teammates had lost sight of their main focus two years ago and were determined to avoid a repeat.

"In `04 we won 10 games and won the last three and then came out and won the Wizard Cup in `05, so maybe we thought it would just happen for us and it didn't," he said.

 

[Thrawn]

Well realistically every team is and will be aiming for finals. I don't see how we're any different. Even though we're most likely not to reach that far.

But very good if they're keeping it low key and treating it as if it was a practice match, unlike Geelong last year.

 

[HBF]

Well realistically every team is and will be aiming for finals. I don't see how we're any different. Even though we're most likely not to reach that far.

But very good if they're keeping it low key and treating it as if it was a practice match, unlike Geelong last year.

Exactly right Thrawn.
The way the Cats carried on when they won the preseason cup last year, you'd think they won the whole damn thing.

 

[CattyBossDog]

The way the Cats carried on when they won the preseason cup last year, you'd think they won the whole damn thing.

Well they hadn't won anything for a very long time. You'd kinda expect that from a team with mature supporters who have never seen their team win anything during their life span.

Our culture is different, therefore we act differently.


Having said that, I love it every time we win; pre season game, practice match, a handball comp on world of sport, or the real deal.


Winning may not be everything, but losing isn't anything.

 

[stokesy]

Why can't we make the finals?

We have the best full forward in the league.

Our midfield is better, Murphy is almost ready to dominate games, Stevens will and the rest of our midfield can chip in.

Our backline seems quite good now, Setanta will give it 110% week in week out, Waite will develop, Thornton is a star.

Confidence is a wonderful thing, if we can beat Richmond and then Geelong. GET EXCITED.

 

[wally funk]

i dont think its terribly realistic to expect finals action after consecutive spoons. give it three more years and we'll be back in the finals. murphy, gibbs and the other young chaps will have matured and grown with experience and we'll have a team just about capable of challenging the premiership.

 

[Thrawn]

Why can't we make the finals?

Because we're not good enough at this stage. And it remains to be seen whether our newly formed backline can stand up to the pressure of the H&A week in, week out.

I'm sure we'll be much more competitive but given the quality of our list, it will most likely be a year or two before we can truly compete for a finals position.

 

[gadj1976]

Because we're not good enough at this stage. And it remains to be seen whether our newly formed backline can stand up to the pressure of the H&A week in, week out.

I'm sure we'll be much more competitive but given the quality of our list, it will most likely be a year or two before we can truly compete for a finals position.

Agreed Thrawn. Also, depth will test us. I think our first 20 is stronger this year than in previous years, but a couple of key injuries and we could be back amongst the bottom 4 before we know it. If we have a REALLY good run, 9-12th is a possibility depending on what happens to other sides.

 

[Andyt30]

Well realistically every team is and will be aiming for finals. I don't see how we're any different. Even though we're most likely not to reach that far.

But very good if they're keeping it low key and treating it as if it was a practice match, unlike Geelong last year.

of cause were no differnt it be pretty dumb if you wern't
trying we like any other club a fair chance to make the finals in 2007 looking forward to see us climbing up the ladder go blues our year 07
we'll be trying extra year we got something to play for
come September were the only club who got a chance to win the Million dollar Bonus

 

[audas]

Agreed Thrawn. Also, depth will test us. I think our first 20 is stronger this year than in previous years, but a couple of key injuries and we could be back amongst the bottom 4 before we know it. If we have a REALLY good run, 9-12th is a possibility depending on what happens to other sides.

Putting out conservative estimates is easy:

let not get ahead of ourselves, blah blah. making the big call and going out on a limb is the tough stuff.

playing finals dosen't mean the grand final, or even the semi, it just means making the 8 come seasons end. And yes, the blues have every chance in the world to do that.

we have great depth, lets of blokes coming through who may do a lot more than merely make up depth.

And

wally funk i dont think its terribly realistic to expect finals action after consecutive spoons. give it three more years and we'll be back in the finals. murphy, gibbs and the other young chaps will have matured and grown with experience and we'll have a team just about capable of challenging the premiership.

learn your history, teams actually have a tendency to go from the bottom to the top very quickly, the middle ground is made up of teams slipping into teh rebuilding phase. This is a result of the draft system.

Carlton has been an exception to this rule in the amount of time we have spent down in the cellar but we were under exceptional circumstances as no team has ever had to recover from what we have, yet again the blues prove to be the greatest team of all time in adversity.....

 

[HBF]

Still think 2008 will be the year when we challenge for a finals spot, but damn, this year could be very very exciting.

 

[audas]

Still think 2008 will be the year when we challenge for a finals spot, but damn, this year could be very very exciting.

is 14 wins enough to make the 8 ?

 

[Smyth94]

Going by last year's ladder, 14 wins would almost be enough for a Top 4 birth let alone finals

 

[audas]

Oh well, that settles it then,.....we're in !

 

[Monkey King]

Having said that, I love it every time we win; pre season game, practice match, a handball comp on world of sport, or the real deal.

I loved it in 1994 when Deisel won just about everything. Newspaper best player comps, footy show best player comps, Channel 9 handball comp, the Brownlow. He was a genius. One thing that stands out in my memory though was losing the semi to Geelong at Waverely. Deisel had a dog of a game, apparently refused to be moved off the ball by Parkin and got reported for giving an ump the bird. I prefered 95 when he won nothing and we brought the flag home to PP.