Here are my views regarding some players from the match:
If Houlihan can back up his performance tonight, I'll take back any negative comments I have made regarding him. He gets a lot of slack, including from myself, which could be considered unfair. Tonight he had a real dig at it and if he keeps it up he can only be a benefit to the team.
Thornton really disappointed me, Kingsley constantly got in front of him. He has to work on getting in front of his man. I would have much rathered Livingston tonight. He might not have the perceived flashiness of Thornton, but he gets the job done. Although he cops a lot of crap from Carlton supporters, imo he does a pretty good job at keeping his opponent out of the game. He reminds me a lot of Prestigiacomo.
Setanta looked awesome! I was sitting behind the goals and his presence out there was huge. In a few years I am sure he'll be considered one of our best players. His disposal was pretty ordinary as expected, but he is still learning and in a few years time I can't wait to see the progress he, as well as aisake, have made.
I liked the look of Marc Murphy. He was constantly putting his body on the line and leading into the right spots. His kicking doesn't have a great amount of penetration but he has pretty good accuracy. I don't think we have to much to worry about regarding him.
Fevola was ok, nothing too spectacular, but still servicable. It was funny watching Pagan pull a Grant Thomas and bench him straight after kicking a goal.
Hartlett, Betts, Carazzo, Fisher, Simpson and Walker all looked in pretty good nick. I think these players will become some of our most prolific in years to come. I think Fisher might have already reached that status.
Whitnall looked pretty good. I honestly think Pagan shouldn't give him the responsibilty of manning up and simply let him float and zone off the entire match. He is much more effective this way rather than constantly getting lead out of the contest and beaten by an opponent much faster than him.
Deluca is simply not good enough. He is at a stage now where there is no excuse for butter fingers. His kicking is not bad, but for a player his height who can't tap ruck for his life, if you can't catch a ball then you shouldn't be playing AFL. Pretty simple I would have thought.
I don't think we played too badly tonight. We were extremely wasteful in front of goal as well as our atrocious kicking into the 50. One thing I was happy about was that, even though we were destined for a loss in the last quarter, the boys heads didn't drop and they kept going on with it. This is the right attitude and hopefully we can keep it up. I don't think we should be aiming too high this year, however, a finish around 10th - 12th is not Unforeseeable.
Go Blue Boys!
