Shattered

[fnm_just a man]

Wow. 2.30am and the delayed telecast has just finished here. Before the game I said to my wife I would be happy to lose by less than 5 goals. After being 5 down after 10 minutes I thought we were in for a hammering. To get that close, to win 2 of the 4 qtrs, to have 1 more scoring shot and just lose, GREAT EFFORT. With 2 weeks to get over it and learn from it, I think we should finally get the win we deserve over the bombers, and perhaps the first of 3 in a row. Well done baggers.

That's what I said too.

I don't ever blame umpires, and I'm not about to now (if you do, think back to a rather favourable run last week)...it's obviously a tough gig so i have low expectations.

We had our chances tonight and didn't make the most of them. Was an impressive effort though, and i just hope we can play with a similar intensity in the coming weeks.

 

[Budgie63]

This was my take on the comments in this post re: last night's game.

Your players out were far significant than ours. Would their inclusion have changed the match? Maybe, but you can only field who you have available. Pointless argument really, bit like the If my aunty had balls....

Shattered? Perhaps disappointed that you didn't win but gee, I thought your young guys were sensational! Having said that I would have felt a bit robbed if we'd lost as I thought we were the better team on the night.

I thought Roo's free kicks in the first qtr were deserved as Bower was blantanly holding or chopping the arms. After the first qtr Bower seemed to remove that from his game and changed his defence on Roo to "tangling" with him which was more successful. But aside from that Bower provided tremendous drive out of the backline repeatedly and filled the hole left by Thornton pretty well I thought.

(Rd 14) Geelong will smash the Saints? C'mon guys, they've won just about everything the past few years. Perhaps they will win and perhaps it will even be "the loss we have to have". I'm hoping we can put on a competitive showing or better still beat them and learn from it. It'd be nice for the "little guys" to win for a change. Looking forward to seing how we stack up.

Jamison was good on Kosi. But that's the thing with Kosi, he's a confidence player and needs to get into it quickly.

I thought Grigg, Simpson, Bower and Joseph were very good for the Blues. I also wondered why I didn't trade Houlihan out of my dream team as I think he may be going back to the Bullants again pretty soon! Bring back Robinson, at least he has a red hot go.

 

[TheNumber4]

Kruzerings thoughts

- Wish the umpires loved fev as much as roo...that first free that wasn't payed to fev was rediculous, I would love to ask what went through the umpires head when he saw dawsons fist go through fevs.

- Very happy with Rattan's work from the box, great match ups (with what he had). It was fantasic to see him not throw numbers back after we went behind early, we are most effective playing fast paced/ play on footy.

- Younger players were fantastic, Bower, Austin, Grigg and Joesph all really belong and didn't look out of place against good opposition.

-Kosi is a piece of sh!t and the most inconsistant player in the AFL, this guy would fustrate me more than JR, "out of my dreamteam forever!"

-Judd....do you just stay awake at night and think up ways to impress me, your courage was amazing! Is it possible to be paid over 1mil a year to play football and be underpaid?? Facts are, Judd doesn't have to go off...we win.

-Geelong will smash St.Kilda

Good post Kruzering. Is that really you? Good read and Judd comment made me

 

[m0zza]

Working and haven't seen the first quarter.

Thought your lot were terrific to get back into the game and even almost pinch it. Especially good effort with the best player in the competition off so much.

Thornton and Waite are clearly huge outs and worth a couple of goals...

BUT, the defensive side of your midfield clearly needs work.
Dal Santo and Montagna were able to run freely for clutch goals late.

We all know that Stevens doesn't have a defensive side, Murphy too.

And Judd v Goddard showed the difference in quality between the 2001 and 2002 drafts, maybe not such a bad one to miss out on!

 

[40yearBLUE]

This was my take on the comments in this post re: last night's game.

Your players out were far significant than ours. Would their inclusion have changed the match? Maybe, but you can only field who you have available. Pointless argument really, bit like the If my aunty had balls....

Shattered? Perhaps disappointed that you didn't win but gee, I thought your young guys were sensational! Having said that I would have felt a bit robbed if we'd lost as I thought we were the better team on the night.

I thought Roo's free kicks in the first qtr were deserved as Bower was blantanly holding or chopping the arms. After the first qtr Bower seemed to remove that from his game and changed his defence on Roo to "tangling" with him which was more successful. But aside from that Bower provided tremendous drive out of the backline repeatedly and filled the hole left by Thornton pretty well I thought.

(Rd 14) Geelong will smash the Saints? C'mon guys, they've won just about everything the past few years. Perhaps they will win and perhaps it will even be "the loss we have to have". I'm hoping we can put on a competitive showing or better still beat them and learn from it. It'd be nice for the "little guys" to win for a change. Looking forward to seing how we stack up.

Jamison was good on Kosi. But that's the thing with Kosi, he's a confidence player and needs to get into it quickly.

I thought Grigg, Simpson, Bower and Joseph were very good for the Blues. I also wondered why I didn't trade Houlihan out of my dream team as I think he may be going back to the Bullants again pretty soon! Bring back Robinson, at least he has a red hot go.

I dont go in for blaming the umps because sometimes it runs with you (last week) others against. But all the talk recently has been about protecting the head, seems that was all it was, talk. First minute of the game Fev copped a punch to the head....nothing, seconds later Roo gets a free for having his arm brushed in a contest or tugged on just before the ball arrived. Before we know it you have 5 goals. Some from frees so soft that under 10's dont see them much these days. Fev gets paid the free in the first minute and we have the first goal and the game may have been a bit different. Suddenly we might have kicked the second, then third and your confidence might have been questioned as it was numerous times during the game as we came back from 4 or 5 goals down twice.

So dont start with us here about being the better team. You won a game with a 5 goal start....good job. Quality stuff.

 

[Just Kreuzing]

i was speaking about this to the missus. i find it annoying that we can come out and play these sort of games against quality opposition and still be proud of the boys regardless of the result, and then dish up what we did against freo. i really hope this opens the teams eyes and the realise that the are genuinely top 4 material and start playing with that sort of confidence every week.

Exactly!!! They better not bullshit us again and come out like they did against Freo, Adelaide or Essendon and just cruise because I for one will be expecting that type of effort and intensity every week from now on. I dont give a shit what the result is if they play as hard and determined as they did last night as the results will take care of themselves!

 

[Budgie63]

I dont go in for blaming the umps because sometimes it runs with you (last week) others against. But all the talk recently has been about protecting the head, seems that was all it was, talk. First minute of the game Fev copped a punch to the head....nothing, seconds later Roo gets a free for having his arm brushed in a contest or tugged on just before the ball arrived. Before we know it you have 5 goals. Some from frees so soft that under 10's dont see them much these days. Fev gets paid the free in the first minute and we have the first goal and the game may have been a bit different. Suddenly we might have kicked the second, then third and your confidence might have been questioned as it was numerous times during the game as we came back from 4 or 5 goals down twice.

So dont start with us here about being the better team. You won a game with a 5 goal start....good job. Quality stuff.

Yeh I saw that and agree with you. Minutes before/later also thought Fev was a bit stiff with the free against for in the back with a tackle. But on the whole at the end of the night I didn't find myself thinking "gee, we got lucky with a few of those decisions" or "FFS, was the ump blind we got ripped all night". I thought ultimately that the umpiring didn't overly influence the outcome.

Also, it'd be great for us if Luke Ball learnt the interchange rule!

 

[BlueBelle]

Far far far from shattered....

Best game from the navy blues i've seen in some time, the first game this season where everyone played their part, no passengers tonight bar 1, we played with tremendous heart and courage. No doubt if Judd was fit, we win the game, simple.

1 deficiency was clear though. Midfield clearences. We have a lot to improve in this area. We rely to much on Judd to be the extractor,we're probably 1 elite midfielder away. Also, we dont do enough shepperds,blocking and protecting the ball carrier, the positioning of defenders and midfielders is also something which needs work (due to inexperienced players).

Sorely missing a fully fit walker,waite,thornton and warnock (allowing Kreuzer to play as a permanent forward.) We don't have the depth to fully cover them at the moment.

1 player who clearly got found out was RYAN HOULIHAN. I'm sorry, a player who picks and chooses when he wants to play shouldn't be in the team. Not setting a good example for the young guys, hopefully in another draft's time we can weed out these sorts of players.

That said, we have an exciting young list, our young guys are coming, still 2 years away I reckon but I'll be enjoying the ride

Stevens silenced a few critics tonight...

I thought Hoops' job on Fisher was pretty good. Made him accountable and Fisher didn't really have an impact on the game at all. Would have been lovely had Hopps slotted that goal in the dying minutes....

 

[pumped]

Not shattered at all. We were really gonna struggle with the loss of Waite and Thornton. Add to this Judd was out for 28 minutes with the blood rule. I think that's the best game we have played this year. Our young guys really gave their all and the run impressed me. I can't fault any of our players tonight. As you said it just wasn't our night.

Thoroughly agree. I saw their performance as equal to or even better than the Hawthorn game. Along with the first Brisbane game I believe that these 2 games have showcased what we can do when in our zone. If we played every week the way we have in these 3 games I believe we would be sitting safely 3rd on the ladder.

 

[Faz 2000]

Proud of the effort and particularly pleased it was mostly the youngsters who really stood up. Definitely disappointed we couldn't get up - don't you just wonder how things might have been different if Juddy wasn't getting his nose re-attached for most of the second half?

A bit miffed we weren't tighter on Dal and Montagna. They are the two you have to stop carrying the ball - they just move it and use it so well.

AJ is great, good to see Grigg get into it, and Bower battled really hard, all night. He's gonna be great with a bit more muscle and experience.

This was a loss you'd take... but for those close ones we've let slip this year.

Give this squad ~2 years though, we're gonna be seriously good.

 

[AndSmithMustScore]

We didn't deserve to win.

At times our play was dire as were our skills.

I still don't know how we finished so close without seeming to have much of a forward structure at all.

On refelction i'm kinda glad we didn't win because it may have been counter productive in making us think we are better than we are.

Still it was very positive to see that even when our skill levels are down and we are a bit short handed we can respond on a bit of heart alone.

 

[Warsaw]

The morning after....
And whilst I'm still proud of our efforts and thought we played the best we have all season, the stinking reality is that we're 6-6. Probably finish the round 7th or 8th.

 

[Valve Bounce]

fantasitic effort by the boys probly should have won but sometimes it just isn't your day. very proud of the way we played but i could'nt be more dissapointed, essentially a jarred waite away from beating them oh well sorry bout this drivel but i had to vent it some where.

I can't say that Carlton deserved to win, BUT I have to admit that they didn't deserve to lose. It was a great effort, especially after they were spanked in those terrible first 12 minutes, and then came back with a great deal of heart.

 

[BrunoV]

I don't say this to gloat as a Dons supporter, I was even going for the Blues. I went to the game last night and I couldn't believe some of the decisions that were made.

Bower on Riewoldt, WTF? Bower was lucky that some of the delivery was terrible and that Riewoldt didn't kick a little straighter. Bower is not a long term option as a player to take he big key forwards and shouldn't be with some of the other names on your list. His possession count was overrated (and takes the focus off the fact that Riewoldt almost put the game beyond Carlton in the first quarter and he probabl did in the end) and IMO this decision was part of the reason Carlton lost.

The refusal to leave Hampson on the ground is a joke. It is stunting Hampson's development and there is a very real risk of burning Kreuzer out. Kreuzer's ass is hanging out for most of the game and Hampson barely breaks a sweat. Kreuzer as a forward is so much more important at this stage and on a night when Kreuzer was only OK in the midfield he just needs to go forward and leave Hampson to do the bulk of the ruckwork.

Setanta as a forward and not as the guy on Riewoldt. Under Ratten Setanta is just a wasted spot on the list. He can't kick the ball well enough into the 50 or at goal and is not a natural footballer which makes HF beyond him. Yes he did take some nice marks and kicked a goal but I don't think Blues supporters see him as a CHF/HF in your next premiership. I would not believe a Blues supporter that tells me that Setanta could not be the shut down FB/CHB in your next premiership.

The non selection of Fisher combined with the use of Setant as a half forward with Kreuzer being used only in the ruck. Someone making these decisions is just not thinking.

I would be furious if I was a Carlton supporter. The team selection is so conservative.

 

[fnm_just a man]

^ I was happy with the team selection and the omission of Fish.

Bower is a gun so no issue there and he was actually very good last night and creative. He makes things happen so i dont think his possession's are overrated.

Agree on Hampson and playing Kreuz forward more.

Have my doubts with setanta but really hoping he takes a lot out of last night in what was probably his best game for us...def as a forward anyway.

 

[AndSmithMustScore]

I don't say this to gloat as a Dons supporter, I was even going for the Blues. I went to the game last night and I couldn't believe some of the decisions that were made.

Bower on Riewoldt, WTF? Bower was lucky that some of the delivery was terrible and that Riewoldt didn't kick a little straighter. Bower is not a long term option as a player to take he big key forwards and shouldn't be with some of the other names on your list. His possession count was overrated (and takes the focus off the fact that Riewoldt almost put the game beyond Carlton in the first quarter and he probabl did in the end) and IMO this decision was part of the reason Carlton lost.

The refusal to leave Hampson on the ground is a joke. It is stunting Hampson's development and there is a very real risk of burning Kreuzer out. Kreuzer's ass is hanging out for most of the game and Hampson barely breaks a sweat. Kreuzer as a forward is so much more important at this stage and on a night when Kreuzer was only OK in the midfield he just needs to go forward and leave Hampson to do the bulk of the ruckwork.

Setanta as a forward and not as the guy on Riewoldt. Under Ratten Setanta is just a wasted spot on the list. He can't kick the ball well enough into the 50 or at goal and is not a natural footballer which makes HF beyond him. Yes he did take some nice marks and kicked a goal but I don't think Blues supporters see him as a CHF/HF in your next premiership. I would not believe a Blues supporter that tells me that Setanta could not be the shut down FB/CHB in your next premiership.

The non selection of Fisher combined with the use of Setant as a half forward with Kreuzer being used only in the ruck. Someone making these decisions is just not thinking.

I would be furious if I was a Carlton supporter. The team selection is so conservative.

I have to agree with most of that.

Though I think in so far as Reiwoldt we were forced to leave Bower on him due to Thornton not being available and O'HAilpin being used up forward.

I also thought dropping Fisher for Bannister meant we went in with even less structure in our forward line than usual.

Cloke should have come in instead of Bannister just to give us a bit more flexibility with our talls.

 

[Cruiser23]

Joseph on Milne baffled me, couldn't believe Ratten had that match-up, made no real sense to me. Armfield or Browne are both tough/quick guys who could have got under that little Rats skin. Montagna and Dal Santo has been devastating this year, no idea why he basically let them run free. We had a chance to limit forward thurst with Joseph but it didn't happen and we paid the price. Joseph would have limited eithers influence on the game. Both had over 35 touches and their delivery forward really hurt. Very much a mistake for mine.

I think Ratten made a few errors with his match-ups and structure early on but what he did during the game was very very good. Was able to iron out those mistakes which saw us have a chance of winning. While I think Joseph could have been utilised better elsewhere, he did much more good than bad last night did Ratten.

 

[jonoman89]

I am not "happy" because we had another close loss.

However, i was pleased we didn't get spanked. We rallied and gave it a real go.

 

[Marchesani]

This was my take on the comments in this post re: last night's game.

Your players out were far significant than ours. Would their inclusion have changed the match? Maybe, but you can only field who you have available. Pointless argument really, bit like the If my aunty had balls....

Shattered? Perhaps disappointed that you didn't win but gee, I thought your young guys were sensational! Having said that I would have felt a bit robbed if we'd lost as I thought we were the better team on the night.

I thought Roo's free kicks in the first qtr were deserved as Bower was blantanly holding or chopping the arms. After the first qtr Bower seemed to remove that from his game and changed his defence on Roo to "tangling" with him which was more successful. But aside from that Bower provided tremendous drive out of the backline repeatedly and filled the hole left by Thornton pretty well I thought.

(Rd 14) Geelong will smash the Saints? C'mon guys, they've won just about everything the past few years. Perhaps they will win and perhaps it will even be "the loss we have to have". I'm hoping we can put on a competitive showing or better still beat them and learn from it. It'd be nice for the "little guys" to win for a change. Looking forward to seing how we stack up.

Jamison was good on Kosi. But that's the thing with Kosi, he's a confidence player and needs to get into it quickly.

I thought Grigg, Simpson, Bower and Joseph were very good for the Blues. I also wondered why I didn't trade Houlihan out of my dream team as I think he may be going back to the Bullants again pretty soon! Bring back Robinson, at least he has a red hot go.

Part of our problem is we have a 'core' of players that have played most of their careers losing to St.Kilda, and they don't know any better. Houlihan is a perfect example, Thornton was out, but I'd also throw in Fev. Houlihan proved he doesn't know any better, but guys like Joseph, Garlett, Bower, Grigga, Armfield and especially Brown and Austin - guys that weren't draft darlings - really showed it to your pampered lot.

If you guys lost Rewoldt or Kosi to injury it would be a catastrophe to your chances of winning the flag, absolutely no doubt. The Saints just don't have the depth to really go all the way. I think you coach should bring Maguire in and start developing more tall options in your forward line becuase all your crumbers like Milne, Shneider, Gram, Del Santo will get found out by the grit of teams like the Doggies and Collingwood come September.

 

[jj1978]

I'm happy but not.... really shattered.

• It's awesome to know that "when we come to play" we are really inspiring to watch... and then we play like we do against Freo, Sydney, Essendon and it makes you sick on how Dr Jeckyl and Mr Hyde we can be.
• Browne, Joseph are now permanents in my best 22.
• Garlett, Austin another pre-season and some meat will be in our best 22.
• Betts, Simpson, are taking that step from B grade players and edging oh so close to A grade status.
• WTF is Carazzo doing?
• Houlihan is a pure and simple princess. He's got this great physique and skills but in the end is a scared little chicken shyte player. There was a moment where I was pleading with him to go hard at the ball dive down and sort of nudge it over the line so we could be in a 50/50 situation at a throw in. But he being too frightened allowed a Saint's player to get the hard ball and clear it for them costing a goal. Plus for a player of his skill to change his kicking technique having a shot from 50 metres out.... No longer in my best 22.
• Judd is amazing... the guy had blood pouring out of his mouth constricting his breathing and just dealt with it. When he was off in the third StKilda got that breathing space by kicking a couple of goals that most likely may have not eventuated if Judd was on.
• I think our coaching and fitness panels are priming us to play our best for the second half of the year. I still feel we are yet to go into "full mode" and I expect us to win 8 out of our last 10 games.
• Armfield has heart but needs major skill work... Murphy might be an option to take him under his wing and show him how he improved his skills so drastically over pre-season.
• For once good to see Fev shattered losing to St Kilda.
• Riewoldt gets treating well by umpires to protect TV Audiences from grimacing when they see a grow man cry.

GO BLUES..
still shattered!

 

[Kickett Punches Read]

one thing i have noticed with carlton is that they lack a quality tagger, montagna, dal santo and hayes all got over 30 touches, i know you have armfield/bannister etc, i really think you need someone like a kane cornes/ling type, i know they are hard to find, but if carlton stop one of those stkilda midfielders last night, i reckon you win

 

[Cruiser23]

one thing i have noticed with carlton is that they lack a quality tagger, montagna, dal santo and hayes all got over 30 touches, i know you have armfield/bannister etc, i really think you need someone like a kane cornes/ling type, i know they are hard to find, but if carlton stop one of those stkilda midfielders last night, i reckon you win

As i said in post above, i think Ratten missed a trick by not playing Joseph on either. He has the capability to shut someone down, either Montagna or Dal Santo would have been more beneficial to our course than shutting Milne down IMO.

 

[ESKIE]

Wouldn't say near Full Strenth. Missing King and Maguire. Gilbert, Milne back after missing 2 games. As well as a few others, can't think of them off the top of my head.


Premier rebounding Defenders?



Honestly, if a guy if hanging off your arms and chopping them at every opportunity, you wouldn't think it would be deserving of a free kick?

And don't say 'but Fevola was being held!'

Because if you watch closely, Fev does the holding most of the time, trying to suck the umpires in ad making them think his opponent is holding him when in fact Fevola is pinning his arms.

Whilst I really like Nick, he is the golden boy and get's a lot frees that other forwards don;t get ie: J Brown, Buddy and Fev. Nontheless he is a superstar, and always humble, he had great things to say about Carlton post match.

You guys were rattled, we were running all over you a few times, a few things fell your way early and we also had chances, you found a way to win...we were outstanding, no denying it. 9 points, today I am a proud Carlton supporter. We'll get you next time.

 

[ESKIE]

I'm happy but not.... really shattered.

• It's awesome to know that "when we come to play" we are really inspiring to watch... and then we play like we do against Freo, Sydney, Essendon and it makes you sick on how Dr Jeckyl and Mr Hyde we can be.
• Browne, Joseph are now permanents in my best 22.
• Garlett, Austin another pre-season and some meat will be in our best 22.
• Betts, Simpson, are taking that step from B grade players and edging oh so close to A grade status.
• WTF is Carazzo doing?
• Houlihan is a pure and simple princess. He's got this great physique and skills but in the end is a scared little chicken shyte player. There was a moment where I was pleading with him to go hard at the ball dive down and sort of nudge it over the line so we could be in a 50/50 situation at a throw in. But he being too frightened allowed a Saint's player to get the hard ball and clear it for them costing a goal. Plus for a player of his skill to change his kicking technique having a shot from 50 metres out.... No longer in my best 22.
• Judd is amazing... the guy had blood pouring out of his mouth constricting his breathing and just dealt with it. When he was off in the third StKilda got that breathing space by kicking a couple of goals that most likely may have not eventuated if Judd was on.
• I think our coaching and fitness panels are priming us to play our best for the second half of the year. I still feel we are yet to go into "full mode" and I expect us to win 8 out of our last 10 games.
• Armfield has heart but needs major skill work... Murphy might be an option to take him under his wing and show him how he improved his skills so drastically over pre-season.
• For once good to see Fev shattered losing to St Kilda.
• Riewoldt gets treating well by umpires to protect TV Audiences from grimacing when they see a grow man cry.

GO BLUES..
still shattered!

Agree JJ

 

[CarltonFan]

Here was my reaction to St Kilda kicking lucky goals from outside 50 on the boundary line and never missing: