Long live SLH

[windows]

I've had a strange life as a Blues fan, going from years and years of success to having it all torn away at the beginning of the last decade. During that time I grew to looking for small blessings, looking for some way of getting joy out of the team I'd loved since a kid.

I found that in the Fev. His freakish natural ability and the way he played with a smile just made footy....

FUN.

And then he left. Been enough said about that but for me it smashed the joy in footy for me. I thought "I respect Judd but I can't love him like I did the Fev. Not the same thing. He is clinical, not passionate. From where will I ever get that joy again?"

Then I went to the Cats game, expecting to get smashed, but it was a nice day and I was happy enough to just look for some piece of joy out of it......

And then I saw that thing that had made me love the game so much for so many years. Funny how things turn out. Plenty of the same freak. The same "how the hell did that happen" moments.....with a SMILE and plenty of FUN. Except, it wasn't the Fevolution doing it...it was Setanta's Little Helpers.

These kids bounce the ball while someone is chasing them FFS. Double hands up for goals. Big flashy smiles. Plenty of brotherly love.

Footy is fun again - at least for this old man. So I say this: thanks for coming kids....you've given me some joy in footy again.

Long live Setanta's Little Helpers..

 

[PumpyChowdown]

Great OP!

If big Irish and Yazz, Garlett and EB all stay on the park and fit and firing it's going to mean some sensational footy to watch.

 

[Alpha1]

I think a lot of us were heart broken to see the Blues getting smashed each and every week in that dark decade, especially us who have seen extreme success over the decades prior to that. But things are looking brighter and to see the mature, young guns running out there and showing that we are not far away from where we belong is very heartening.

Everyone of us on this board loves the Blues and always will, we get angry, frustrated when we get rolled some weeks but that is natural when you love a team and want them to give their best every week. But our team is young and its going to be a roller coaster for at least another 2 season, but lets enjoy the ride the high and the lows, we aren't far away and yes THEY KNOW WE ARE COMING.

 

[parrot]

I've had a strange life as a Blues fan, going from years and years of success to having it all torn away at the beginning of the last decade. During that time I grew to looking for small blessings, looking for some way of getting joy out of the team I'd loved since a kid.

I found that in the Fev. His freakish natural ability and the way he played with a smile just made footy....

FUN.

And then he left. Been enough said about that but for me it smashed the joy in footy for me. I thought "I respect Judd but I can't love him like I did the Fev. Not the same thing. He is clinical, not passionate. From where will I ever get that joy again?"

Then I went to the Cats game, expecting to get smashed, but it was a nice day and I was happy enough to just look for some piece of joy out of it......

And then I saw that thing that had made me love the game so much for so many years. Funny how things turn out. Plenty of the same freak. The same "how the hell did that happen" moments.....with a SMILE and plenty of FUN. Except, it wasn't the Fevolution doing it...it was Setanta's Little Helpers.

These kids bounce the ball while someone is chasing them FFS. Double hands up for goals. Big flashy smiles. Plenty of brotherly love.

Footy is fun again - at least for this old man. So I say this: thanks for coming kids....you've given me some joy in footy again.

Long live Setanta's Little Helpers..

That's a great post. Footy is ultimately all about having fun and winning flags in the process. Fev gave us that extra excitement factor that made us standout from the dull crowd. After Fev left I was also concerned we'd morph into a dull-to-watch side like the Crows, Pies or Saints. I find it hard to watch more than a 1/4 of those teams - just so boring.

Well Eddie, Yarran and Garlett have been even more entertaining than Fev. Looks like they're having a heap of fun out there, tormenting defenders, and showing off their party tricks. The crowds love it. I also enjoy Setanta's unorthodox ways.

Apart from the entertainment factor, when players are playing a fun style of footy they'll excel because they're enjoying themselves. A point Neil Craig and Malthouse have never understood.

Reckon people get too serious about footy i.e. obsessing with stats (yawn), dreamteam statistic points (double yawn). Take out the fun factor and there's nothing left. I'm just delighted the Blues are continuing their long tradition of playing an exciting brand of footy.

 

[40yearBLUE]

Also agree with the OP. Dont want to start a sh!tfight but I dont miss Fev at all. I dont think we could have seen this kind of excitement with him in the team. He demanded too much of the space that the new set up seeks to create.

And dont forget Setanta's contribution to the excitement factor, his ability to beat multiple opponents as witnessed by the 2 StKilda players he out-muscled to the ball to handpass to Garlett running into goal as just one example of the assists he is involved in, he also deliberately punched the ball instead of attempting to mark, out to Garlett or Yarran for another goal a bit further out, so he has a hand in a lot of the goals kicked and really feeds these boys. He is a genuine key forward.

Well done fellas, and well done coaches, they obviously worked hard on this over the pre-season and it is paying off in spades. It starts with fast ball movement and ends with fast ball movement. Some wondered what our gameplan was, and some wondered who would replace the goals lost, well I think we have our answer, and it is a beautiful thing.

 

[thylacine60]

Sticky that OP!

 

[Stubba1]

I've had a strange life as a Blues fan, going from years and years of success to having it all torn away at the beginning of the last decade. During that time I grew to looking for small blessings, looking for some way of getting joy out of the team I'd loved since a kid.

I found that in the Fev. His freakish natural ability and the way he played with a smile just made footy....

FUN.

And then he left. Been enough said about that but for me it smashed the joy in footy for me. I thought "I respect Judd but I can't love him like I did the Fev. Not the same thing. He is clinical, not passionate. From where will I ever get that joy again?"

Then I went to the Cats game, expecting to get smashed, but it was a nice day and I was happy enough to just look for some piece of joy out of it......

And then I saw that thing that had made me love the game so much for so many years. Funny how things turn out. Plenty of the same freak. The same "how the hell did that happen" moments.....with a SMILE and plenty of FUN. Except, it wasn't the Fevolution doing it...it was Setanta's Little Helpers.

These kids bounce the ball while someone is chasing them FFS. Double hands up for goals. Big flashy smiles. Plenty of brotherly love.

Footy is fun again - at least for this old man. So I say this: thanks for coming kids....you've given me some joy in footy again.

Long live Setanta's Little Helpers..

And fun, just like a smile, is infectious

 

[GordonBlue]

Play 1: 1st Quarter - A kick into half forward towards Setanta... He hits the pack ball spills to Gartlett... collects at about 60m, runs to 53m and straight through

Play 2: 1st Quarter - Gibbs from half back kicks to the middle of the ground... Betts and Garlett against 3 bigger saints... Betts gets it to Garlett... Garlett turns and slick handball back to Betts... Betts hits Waite on the chest

Play 3: 1st Quarter - Centre Break but Judd to half forward... ball spills... Garlett Collects at about 45m on the run and splits the middle

Play 4: 2nd Quarter - Ball goes deep into Saints forward line... Kosi flies and almost takes the mark... the ball goes to ground... Judd barges through and handballs to Russell... Russell gets it to Lucas... Lucas holds it for a bit to release Scotland... Scotland kicks it deep to the run of Yarran... Yarran on the wing taps the ball infront whilst Gilbert is run on his back... collecting the ball the gab has not shortened... Yarran than runs on and kicks it deep into carlton goal square... Garlett spills it... collects of the ground, snaps and goals...

Play 5: kick comes towards Carrazzo near the boundary at half back... about to go out... Carrazzo deft touch back to Yarran... Yarran runs from Half back to just forward of the wing and kicks it to the half forward line to Garlett's advantage... Garlett little toe poke to the run of Setanta... Setanta keeps going after the ball agaisnt 3 saints... gets the right bounce, goes back inside to Garlett who continued to run and from the goal square goal

Play 6: 4th Quarter - Saints kick across half back to Clarke... Waite runs and spoils the ball... kicks the ball around the body to the advantage of Yarran at half forward... Yarran Marks and plays on quickly to Betts all by himself... Betts goes back and goals

Play 7: 4th Quarter - After a quick rebound the ball comes in deep into the forward line... Yarran goes up against his opponents and couldn't mark... the ball keeps going to Betts and Garlett against 3 saints... Garlett tries to gather... Betts does instead and from the goal square goal

Play 8: 4th Quarter - Saints players kicking to each other in the back line... Garlett stands the mark... the when they thought they had a little bit of time... Garlett applies enough pressure to misque the ball.... Yarran collects and kicks it to Betts who is all by himself in the goal square... plays on and goals

That is 8 different plays in the solitary game that had mu jaw dropped to the ground... these are the kind of plays that only resulted in goals... there were others that were just around the ground by SLH.... like Betts running down of King and Goddard... Yarran's run after Hayes from the play on kick in... etc...

My dad was at the game with me... and he is never off his seat... and rarely cracks a smile at anything... and he couldn't believe what he was seeing...

 

[Fervy]

Awesome post, windows.

My mother was a teacher. For over thirty years she taught in Victoria all the while loving the Blues like few others.

One day she took an American who had decided to become a teacher at the school at which my mother taught at to the game. She soon remarked that she was loving the football because "All of the guys slap each other on the fanny (in American English the fanny is an ass, rather than the female sexual organ) and celebrate with one another" and another Carlton fan was born.

Mother is long since dead, in fact she could boast to this day that she never saw Carlton win a wooden spoon, something she happily said whenever a low life fan from another club attacked her for being a Carlton fan. However, I occasionally see this former teaching colleague of hers as I did yesterday while I was doing my grocery shopping.

She remarked "I'm loving watching the football so much more than I have in years." I asked her why, was it the win? "No, those little Aboriginal forwards are so brilliant to watch. They are so fun, they take the game on in a way that we rarely ever see, and then they celebrate in a way that few else do. They are special and are a gift."

It made me realize something. She is absolutely right. The AFL has become so professional, so much is at stake, that while we see people happy that they've kicked a goal or won a match that the genuine down to earth enthusiasm and love for the game isn't seen nearly as much as it was in the old days. I miss those times. (added example: It was so abnormal to see Judd pump his fist when we won that the commentators spoke about it!)

Setanta, Eddie, Jeff and Yaz may be relatively new kids on the block but together they've brought back so much of the old. They love the game of football, they love playing together and they're not afraid to show it.

Thank you boys - you guys are brilliant. Keep it up.

On a different note, with what Eddie said in his post-game interview on Channel 7 while he was still out on the ground, was there a challenge/threat made following the Collingwood loss to drop Garlett from the team? It sure seemed that way to me. A few here called for Garlett to be dropped. I for one hope that none of the four get dropped this season.

 

[HARKER]

Footy is fun again - at least for this old man. So I say this: thanks for coming kids....you've given me some joy in footy again.

Long live Setanta's Little Helpers..

Good story windows.

I was going to start a thread on part of what you've partly raised in your OP.

It has been a long time since that footy has been this much fun.
The expectations of magic on a weekly basis is what gets bums on seats, and fans excited at the prospect of being in awe of what they had just witnessed.
What I was going to raise in my proposed thread was the question: How long has it been since we've had so many X-factor players?
I include O'hAipin in this lot along with Yarran, Betts, Garlett, Walker, Hampson and at least for me, Judd.
This is our current crop of players that are much more than just of the bangers and mash variety
These are the players you'd gladly have paid double your entry fee, when they're on song.

We must remember that we have not got it all yet, but if things develop along the lines of what we are seeing, we'll have opposition supporters frequenting Carlton games.
Now wouldn't that be fun?

 

[Fervy]

Harkers - spot on in your post. I also agree with Judd. He's so good, we know he's good (you know the least of what you'll get) yet he has the ability to make the impossible possible in very much an X-factor style of way.

Had a Scum friend of mine already ask if I had plans for the Hawthorn game already. He said that was the most fun he had watching a non-Essendon blow out win in a long time. He wont stop talking about Betts, Garlett and Yarran.

My only problem with this.....

We're Carlton god dang it! We're meant to be HATED! (It's hard to be loathed when we're so fun to watch)

 

[HARKER]

Also agree with the OP. Dont want to start a sh!tfight but I dont miss Fev at all. I dont think we could have seen this kind of excitement with him in the team. He demanded too much of the space that the new set up seeks to create.

Same here and the reason is this:

I did marvel at some of Fevs goals and I do love 99% of players that don the Nave Blue jumper, but Fev always made me feel that my enjoyment was for Fev and Fev only, and not the team as a whole.
Yes, he did the high fives and give the odd ball to Eddie running by but you just felt it was still always about Fev.

What we are seeing now is the unadulterated joy that emanates only from a group that truly play as one and enjoy the others' success as much as they do their own.

And that is the big difference

 

[Claypigeon]

For a long time after SoS, I couldn't find a player to follow as I did the Centurion FB. .. Whitnall started to shine for me but he didn't last and I found myself enjoying the football of players at other clubs more. ..


Setanta showed that rawness and endeavour to capture my attention in defense. .. then Eddie's defensive pressure since he stepped into the team has been slowly drawing me in. .. Garlett joined him as an instant twin to Betts' game. .. Setanta has moved forward and I'm still enjoying his game. .. and now Yazz is starting to shine. .. I was thinking recently thinking that these four could tide me over for years to come. ..

Then I thought of Houla, he has been much maligned on the field and easily influenced off the field over the years and I've developed a soft spot for him. .. He has the skill and poise to finish off his career with a bang. .. along side the four above I think he can begin to shine brightest as a solid go to footballer. .. We are entering an exciting era. .. thanks boys

 

[Fervy]

good post, Clay.

Hoops really does fit in very well with that forward setup. It'd be really nice if he and Waite were able to be the final touches on those four. They both have the skillset to flourish in that set up.

Hoops has long been one of my favorite Carlton players. I've always felt that he had more substance to his "silky smooth" skills than he ever got credit for. He really displayed a lot of class last year in the defensive role that he was asked to play.

Good to see him get one hoodoo off of his back that I'm sure dragged him down over the past decade - being the only player on the current list to win a game against St Kilda as a Carlton player.

 

[Stamos]

The thing about Houlihan that not many people realise is, until last year he was playing in chronic pain. He got operations on both hips, and has been really good in 09 and 10. Makes a huge difference. I have always thought he was best suited to the forward flank, and it is there that he has been at his best (although on Monday night he followed Fisher all over the ground).

 

[Dramoth]

Sticky that OP!

+1

I was expecting us to struggle for the first half of the season while the forward line settled down and started getting used to each other and at the end of the year, I expected us to be just outside the 8 on percentage... mainly because I knew we would miss Fev for some of the year.

However... thats all changed. Setanta and his little helpers are x-factor to the max... they play the team game and do everything they can to help each other. They sacrifice parts of their games when required to help the team.

It is something that sooky Fev forgot... it's a team sport and you play as a team and if you have to, you dont play at your best because you are supporting someone else who is playing at 110%.

I am seriously loving the style of football we are playing when we dictate the terms of engagement. Against the bummers and the filth, we got sucked into playing their game and we lost. Against the two best teams from last year, we dictated the game and we smashed them and our forward line sparkles like a diamond on a sunny day.

To quote Big Kev... "I'm excited"... especially about the next 2 years for the growth we will see from the club... I am even more excited about the next 5-8 years after that when we will be the best team in the league.

 

[Sublime]

Good story windows.

I was going to start a thread on part of what you've partly raised in your OP.

It has been a long time since that footy has been this much fun.
The expectations of magic on a weekly basis is what gets bums on seats, and fans excited at the prospect of being in awe of what they had just witnessed.
What I was going to raise in my proposed thread was the question: How long has it been since we've had so many X-factor players?
I include O'hAipin in this lot along with Yarran, Betts, Garlett, Walker, Hampson and at least for me, Judd.
This is our current crop of players that are much more than just of the bangers and mash variety
These are the players you'd gladly have paid double your entry fee, when they're on song.

We must remember that we have not got it all yet, but if things develop along the lines of what we are seeing, we'll have opposition supporters frequenting Carlton games.
Now wouldn't that be fun?

Setanta has more than an X Factor, i'm just not sure what you would call it. Z Factor maybe? I don't know. He is the only player who can make you laugh, cry, cheer, cringe, angry, happy all in the same quarter.

Talk about a mother frickin rainbow of emotions!

One minute he'll go for a grab, the ball will bounce off his face, then 2 seconds later he'll be soccering it through for a goal. (closely followed be a commentator blabbering something about an irish jig which i bloody HATE but that's for another time...)

LOVE IT!

 

[Faz 2000]

"Setanta's Little Helpers" may be one of the greatest nicknames in all of sports.

 

[Dramoth]

"Setanta's Little Helpers" may be one of the greatest nicknames in all of sports.

apart from maybe Setanta and his 3 little helpers...

 

[40yearBLUE]

Setanta has more than an X Factor, i'm just not sure what you would call it. Z Factor maybe? I don't know. He is the only player who can make you laugh, cry, cheer, cringe, angry, happy all in the same quarter.

Talk about a mother frickin rainbow of emotions!

One minute he'll go for a grab, the ball will bounce off his face, then 2 seconds later he'll be soccering it through for a goal. (closely followed be a commentator blabbering something about an irish jig which i bloody HATE but that's for another time...)

LOVE IT!

Because he can look a little awkward and ungainly at times we forget the sublime skills and athleticism he does possess. The play that involved Garlett soccering it twice toward goal before Carlos monstered 2 players that were litterally hanging off him as he gathered in the pill between them in front of the points, turned and handpassed beautifully to a full steam Garlett running into the open goal was as good an extraction as any in and under smaller guy could execute. The guy has X factor all right. And very very hard to match up on, he has bulk, height, leap, speed and skill. And is now learning the nuances of forward play in his positioning and leads.

And I love the SLH tag, I too hope it sticks.

Quite the Poker player is Ratts, threw out a Joker because he knew he held the King.

 

[Dramoth]

Because he can look a little awkward and ungainly at times we forget the sublime skills and athleticism he does possess. The play that involved Garlett soccering it twice toward goal before Carlos monstered 2 players that were litterally hanging off him as he gathered in the pill between them in front of the points, turned and handpassed beautifully to a full steam Garlett running into the open goal was as good an extraction as any in and under smaller guy could execute. The guy has X factor all right. And very very hard to match up on, he has bulk, height, leap, speed and skill. And is now learning the nuances of forward play in his positioning and leads.

And I love the SLH tag, I too hope it sticks.

Quite the Poker player is Ratts, threw out a Joker because he knew he held the King.

I dont think that it was the king that Ratts was holding... I think that he knew he was holding an ace and, as you said, threw the joker knowing that he was going to pick up the rest of a royal flush.


You cant complain with that sort of hand...

 

[Franc de Borges]

Certainly the most exciting Carlton team for years, fantastic to watch.

I love the fact that we have five forwards (SLH, Carlos and Waite) that can all do the mercurial on a regular basis. Brilliant to see that unbridled enthusiasm as well, Setanta as much as any of them!

Keep this team together and we're going to be in for a decade that's as good as the last one was bad. They all seem like great mates, so I think that will happen.

Go Blueys!

 

[40yearBLUE]

Carlos and Waite are both 26/27 so I would say we would only see them around for half that, but they could do a lot of damage in 5 years. But if Hendo and another of the younger rookies come on then they will carry it on. But lets just see how we go in this and the next couple first. It is exciting though.

 

[BlueGibbs2011]

+1 to the OP

As the OP has said, the Carlton football club is out of the mire, and as a result, watching the blue boys has become very enjoyable again!

My 8 year old son loves them to death, and checks the ladder every 5 minutes! The Geelong/Cats wins for him were euphoric! That alone gives me great joy!

 

[blueblood25]

Brilliant OP

Inspired my new avatar