Review Mid-season review

[mediumsizered]

As many posters would know, I was firmly in the Ratts camp last year. I was quite upset with the way the club treated him in the end & the way the players let him down against the Suns.

There have been times so far this season where I have wondered whether we have been any better off with MM as coach & after Hawthorn kicked the first 3 goals on Friday night, I said to my wife, "here we go again, Hawthorn are just toying with us & we are going to get smashed." We then proceeded to kick 6 of the next 7 goals & controlled the game for much of the next 2 1/2 quarters. Then Hawthorn went up a gear & opened up a 3 kick margin. We were gone....but hang on a second, we kick a goal & it is a 2 kick game with enough time left on the clock to snatch an unlikely win. Betts swoops on the ball in the pocket & has a left foot snap for goal, but misses. If he kicks that, or handballs to Walker in the goalsquare, it is a 1 kick game with 2 minutes left on the clock & we have the momentum again.

The moral of the story? We didn't rollover & let Hawthorn humiliate us, as they have done so many times in recent years. In fact with a bit of luck going our way (& perhaps some consistent umpiring) & no injuries to Murphy & Robbo, we most likely win the game. Anyone who is doubting there has been any improvement this season, needs look no further than this game.

 

[serenityNow]

BACKLINE- B -Our Biggest improvement
MIDFIELD- B -Progress made
FORWARD- D -Terrible no improvement, at times going backwards.
RUCK- C -Still a lottery.


Overall - B Think we'll be better in the second half of season and when Barker is thrown out years end.

 

[Dramoth]

Defence: A-
Midfield: B-
Forwards: C+
Rucks: B

Development: B+

Things are looking up at the club. We are one forward coach away from getting our Forwards up to a B- at this point in time.

The club is really starting to step things up in the push towards #17 and I reckon that next year will seriously see us in the mix. Malthouse started at the filth with an average 10 year and took 10 years to get a premiership. He started with us with a good team that needed polish. The polish is being applied now.

 

[HBF]

That's a great write-up MS.
I don't think any of us really though that given Mick was going to overhaul our gameplan that we really were going to push for top 4 this season. Mick is turning us into a defend first team, rather than the ultra-offensive side that we were under Ratts. This was always going to take time, and with another preseason under our belts under Mick, I think in 2014 we have a more legitimate claim to play finals.

 

[redkettle]

Haven't been belted once this year..that's an improv on last year surely

 

[PeeKay]

With twelve games completed, and the bye incoming, it's time to review the season so far.

I'm really concerned that we're just simply around the mark, but we're not good enough to take the next step.

Top four is now out of the question, and we're going to need to play really well and finish games off with wins if we're to make the eight with Richmond, West Coast, Adelaide, Gold Coast and possibly Essendon all battling for a spot around 6th-9th.

I'll give them a B.

Good summary.
However I think the idea of this being a development year, whilst right, I'm afraid we have let our chance slip away.
The likes of Essendon, Fremantle & Richmond are getting in front of us.
With the obvious improvement in the Suns this year with their fantastic "list" developing quickly I would see us finding very difficult to win a flag in the next year or two. Then we are on the way down with Waite, judd, Simpson, Scotland etc all at or near retirement age.
We don't seem to have any "special" players on the horizon other than maybe Menzel.
I still think we should have "stayed the journey" with Ratten, but that's another story and in the end "the king is dead, long live the king"
I just think by the time MM gets his team together it will be too late.

 

[Barry Zuckercorn]

I give them an F. An F for *!!!

Sorry I heard that line in a porno once and have always wanted to use it. This thread seemed my best chance.

 

[passmark]

On the one hand, I could hardly be happier with what I see as a new resilience but on the other these "good performances" are tearing at my guts.
But my objective self says we are a better team now and the rewards will come as long as we keep working.

 

[HBF]

Haven't been belted once this year..that's an improv on last year surely

Well said, and this does get lost in our 6-6 record.
Another great test for us next Friday against arguably the best team in it at the moment.

 

[Big Sim]

Well said, and this does get lost in our 6-6 record.
Another great test for us next Friday against arguably the best team in it at the moment.

I am not sure how Sydney are the best team at the moment after Hawthorn beat them so comprehensively. Make no mistake, we played the benchmark side last Friday night and performed well. Nonetheless our best was not good enough, and nor was it good enough to beat the other five sides we lost to.

We have fallen short when it mattered over and over again, which I think says more than how close we got. Gets down to the cattle IMO. We are a couple of classy players off the pace. Dale Thomas and Buddy Franklin come on down.

Or Jack Darling and Daniel Talia (ducks for cover)....

 

[Stamos]

It's a Fail so far (obviously this can turn around in the second half of the season).

A Pass would have meant beating Richmond, the Scum and St Kilda.

 

[blueboy25]

I am still not over the Essendon loss, so I don't think it is fair to give the team a mid year rating when I am in this mind frame.

 

[Aphrodite]

The HUN's "Mid Season Report Card" .........

LINK

BEST WIN: Round 4 v West Coast (PS)
Who could forget Chris Yarran’s heroics on a night Carlton so desperately needed to win. The Blues had lost their first three under new coach Mick Malthouse, their backs to the wall, pounced on an under-manned Eagles side piling on five goals in the second quarter to set up a handy buffer at the change. Yarran booted four including two trademark run and carry goals.

WORST LOSS: Round 11 v Essendon (MCG)
Carlton kicked eight of the first 11 goals. Jarrad Waite booted seven on his own. And yet they lost a game many thought was over at half time. Carlton stopped in the second half allowing Essendon to claw its way back into the contest. When Jake Carlisle set up the first goal of the last quarter, and kicked the second, the writing was on the wall. It was a disappointing loss that brought the Blues back to the pack.

ROAD AHEAD: A tough start facing Sydney and Collingwood before three winnable games against St Kilda, North Melbourne and Gold Coast. The draw is in the Blues favour to keep their spot in the eight, but there is little margin for error.

LINK

 

[Poseidon]

I give us a B overall. Getting smashed has turned into close losses, next close losses will turn into wins. Pretty comfortable with the direction the club is heading in, though we should really have won at least 2 of the games that we didn't.

 

[JustaBattler]

F for a marking goal kicking forward is what the Club needs. F for frustration is what the supporters will experience for as long as our forward entries are restricted to a simple arc no longer than 30 meters from goal - because anything longer no one can kick a set shot. F is for fear which all Clubs will feel when Carlton finds a goal kicker who can mark a ball and kick a set shot from 50 meters out.

Malthosue has revitalized the Club - we will only get better from here.

 

[The_Wookie]

F for a marking goal kicking forward is what the Club needs. F for frustration is what the supporters will experience for as long as our forward entries are restricted to a simple arc no longer than 30 meters from goal - because anything longer no one can kick a set shot. F is for fear which all Clubs will feel when Carlton finds a goal kicker who can mark a ball and kick a set shot from 50 meters out.

Malthosue has revitalized the Club - we will only get better from here.

F is for fires which keep you from podcasts

 

[King of Ruin]

F is for fires which keep you from podcasts

F is for funny.

 

[The_Wookie]

F is for funny.

how did the surgery go,janice

 

[HBF]

I am not sure how Sydney are the best team at the moment after Hawthorn beat them so comprehensively. Make no mistake, we played the benchmark side last Friday night and performed well. Nonetheless our best was not good enough, and nor was it good enough to beat the other five sides we lost to.

We have fallen short when it mattered over and over again, which I think says more than how close we got. Gets down to the cattle IMO. We are a couple of classy players off the pace. Dale Thomas and Buddy Franklin come on down.

Or Jack Darling and Daniel Talia (ducks for cover)....

Hawthorn were always going to come out hard against Sydney all those weeks ago. They had something to prove, and they did that. No doubt Hawthorn are a very very good team, but if both teams are playing at their best, I have Sydney with their noses in front.

 

[Stig O'Hara]

Would give us a B-

Won the games we were meant to, bar the Saints game, and pulled a surprise v West Coast.

Haven't been hugely impacted on the injury front.

Are a bit more competitive against the big kids, but still can't beat them.

Swans coming is a huge test, and plenty of winnables after that.

 

[gbatman]

worst loss was St Kilda, they are the worst team we have lost to. West Coast was the best win, but that's not a tremendous scalp. No bad losses, lots of honourable defeats, too many losses to teams around our own quality like Essendon, Richmond and Collingwood. 0 wins against teams above us not helping.

 

[happydude]

Umpires: Grade f.
They are a tonne of grade f meat.

 

[MightyBlue]

Umpires: Grade f.
They are a tonne of grade f meat.
View attachment 21500

More testicles means more iron

 

[DJMacca]

B- for me. The loss to the scum was a disaster and the Saints loss was rubbish, very disappointing.
We also could/should have beaten Collingwood and almost got Richmond (although we didn't deserve to win it but probably should of won it in the end).
The positives are we haven't been smashed (yet) and have been competitive in every game. Our fade outs have been a worry though we need to be more consistent throughout the whole game.
To get a better mark in the next month or so will need to beat the filth, North and the Saints.