your 2003 selection preferences

[James]

List your "prefered" Carlton team sheet in the positions you would like to see them for 2003


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here`s mine,


(BP) Wiggins (FB) Martyn (BP) Prendergast

(HBF) Mackay (CHB) Koutafides (HBF) Beaumont

(W) Camporeale (C) Ratten (W) Sporn

(HFF) Murphy (CHF) Whitnall (HFF) Lappin

(FP) Davies (FF) McKernan (FP) French


(RUCK) Allen (R/ROV) Hickmott (ROVER) Hulme


(INTERCHANGE) Thornton, Livingston, Campbell, Whaite



(EMERGENCIES) Houlahan, Fevola, Eccles

 

[The Old Dark Navy's]

Basing mine on reality a little bit, taking into account recovering injured players and early training/scratch match form. I have allowed for Martyn to be back sooner rather than later as his presence will be important.

Backs:Wiggins Martyn Livingston
H-Back: Beaumont Thornton McKay
Centre:Camporeale Ratten Sporn
H-For:Houlihan Whitnall Hickmott
Forward:Koutoufides McKernan Lappin
Rucks:French Murphy Hulme

Int: Campbell Fevola Allan Davies
Emer: Waite Beasy Prendergast Freeborn Fletcher Franchina

 

[James]

ODN, I noticed you left out Hickmott. Was that an oversight or does he have a serious injury that i`m unaware of?

 

[The Old Dark Navy's]

Originally posted by James
ODN, I noticed you left out Hickmott. Was that an oversight or does he have a serious injury that i`m unaware of?

Oops, fixed it pronto! Thanks.

 

[Jedd]

ODN,

Ive used your magnetic board before, and I came up with the same team, except i had Campbell on the wing and Sporn on the bench.

 

[The Old Dark Navy's]

I'm thrilled that so many people are using the board Jedd. Makes the frustration in building it worthwhile.

 

[SkARkS_69]

B:Beaumont Martyn Livingston
HB:McKay Koutafides Wiggins
C:Franchina Murphy Camporeale
HF:Houlihan McKernan Hickmott
F:Lappin Whitnall Fevola
R:French Ratten Hulme
I:Allan Sporn Thornton Plunkett
E:Fletcher Simpson Merrington

 

[acuguy]

after looking at your best possible teams , i have reached the conclusion that it is going to be a long long year for you guys, oh and i would invest in a wooden spoon as well, i hear they are alot cheaper this time of year.

 

[The Old Dark Navy's]

Originally posted by acuguy
after looking at your best possible teams , i have reached the conclusion that it is going to be a long long year for you guys, oh and i would invest in a wooden spoon as well, i hear they are alot cheaper this time of year.

Well you made the statement but as you have not provided any criticisms we can debate, I'll assume you know nothing about our side except what others tell you. Surely you can do better?

 

[LordLucifer]

Originally posted by acuguy
after looking at your best possible teams , i have reached the conclusion that it is going to be a long long year for you guys, oh and i would invest in a wooden spoon as well, i hear they are alot cheaper this time of year.

Lacking in genuine humour, grammar, punctuation & thoroughly juvenile.

Better luck next time sport !!!

 

[acuguy]

(BP) Wiggins (FB) Martyn (BP) Prendergast

(HBF) Mackay (CHB) Koutafides (HBF) Beaumont

(W) Camporeale (C) Ratten (W) Sporn

(HFF) Murphy (CHF) Whitnall (HFF) Lappin

(FP) Davies (FF) McKernan (FP) French


(RUCK) Allen (R/ROV) Hickmott (ROVER) Hulme


(INTERCHANGE) Thornton, Livingston, Campbell, Whaite


Where do i start, Wiggins relatively unproven youngster, lacks physical presence, has shown some potential.
Martyn- feared fullback, will struggle to play week in week out, with the ball flowing through the opposition midfield will see the ball come down a lot quicker than usually experienced.

Prendergast-great pace, very good athlete, kicks like a mule, will struggle body on body and has a very limited football brain.

McKay, Koutifidies and Beaumont, classy backline, though question marks do sit over McKay and Koutifidies, two champions though. Beaumont plays well above his height and weight.

Camporeale, classy midfielder, lacks the hardball gets this carlton side needs, is put off his game by tagging midfielders too easily, needs to get back to being damaging with his disposals

Ratten- class player, may be on the decline, quick football mind, excellent disposal by hand and foot, is getting slower as the game is getting quicker, needs some assistance in the hardball get area.

Sporn- another unproven youngster with potential, will struggle physically but will also show glimpses of speacial touch. Still two years off being a real threat to the opposition.

Murphy-highly skilled individual player, does not dig deep enough when the chips are down, is a good time player, inconsistent.

Whitnall- carries the load, works hard , damaging, but won't get enough quality ball from his midfield.

Lappin- another good time player, also does not dig deep enough, a matchwinner whent he game is to be won, but needs the rest of his team to put him that position.

Davies- another youngster that willl not threaten opposition teams for a couple of years, has potential, may not be ready though.

McKernan- class player needed to ruck, type of player that will keep carlton in the game.

French- Fringe ruckman that hasn't got to many tricks up his sleave, will be serviceable but will struggle against the class players.

Allan- missed a year of footy, salary cap problems, don't expect big things, his best days are over, will be serviceable, can't see carlton being able to have three big men in their team.

Hickmott, hard physical player, cannot play on the ball, has not got the aerobic capacity or pace, great hard nut, needs to find a flank.

Hulme-back from a year without football, another hard nut that will not give up, but does not have the polish with disposal to continually hurt teams.

Interchange- young blokes that will take years to develop, expect a couple of handy performances, livingston and thornton may be able to give more than the others.

There you are, my summary of the carlton team, they have some good players but too much will be left to too few, with injury and comeback clouds over players it is easy to see the wheels falling off if a couple of setbacks are experienced. Look to a Cameron Croad as someone that may make some impact later in the season. I wish you well, but as i said in my previous post be ready to buy some woodenspoons before the season starts.

 

[The Old Dark Navy's]

Fair few differences between my side and the side you chose to dissect. Ryan Houlihan and Brendan Fevola have undoubted talent and have started off the season in the right fashion. If anybody can help them find consistency it is Pagan. Both are fitter and bigger than they have ever been.

Will be surprised if Prendergast plays in the starting side.

You may have done French a disservice. Saying he has no tricks up his sleeve is nothing but rhetoric. He will provide a strong body that will not be moved easily and in conjunction with Allan will see that our midfield and therefore defence will not be under as much pressure. He is a genuine tap ruckman and we sadly lacked that in 2002.

Hickmott is one of the fittest players and fastest players over short distances in the club and this years training and time trials have shown that. Ever seen him hunt an opposition player? His closing speed is fantastic.

Camporeale will be freed up by the likes of Ratten, Hulme, Davies and Kouta going after the hard ball. Last year they were all out and he had to get it himself. We simply had too many runners and not enough in and under types for much of the year. Injury free we are in good shape on this score.

It seems that people always look at last year's wooden spooners and expect that exactly the same thing that happened the previous year will repeat itself. Do you have any idea how many injuries we would need to get to repeat last year's effort? I haven't seen a season like it from any club before.

There simply has to be some improvement there.

 

[Thrawn]

B: Wiggins, Martyn, Livingston
HB: McKay, Thronton, Beaumont
C: Murphy, Ratten, Camporealoe
HF: Hickmott, Whitnall, Sporn
F: Lappin, McKernan, Houlihan
R: French, Koutoufides, Hulme

Inter: Allan, Campbell, Davies, Waite

Full/Half Back:

This backline provides a mix of youth and experience. Wiggins is a tough player, and he will be a star given the right role. He tackles well and always provides a contest. Shows poise well beyond his years. McKay adds even more strength; his experience, skill and "never say die" attitude will be a valuable asset in defense. Beaumont will act as a role of flanker... has excellent foot speed and defensive skills. Thornton is also a new face to the back line, but has shown last year that he will be a capable defender. He looks to be a very soild player, let me tell you that. Martyn may be another new face, but it just may be the tonic that the backline needs. Martyn's experience and toughness will releive the pressure of Thornton and Livingston... which will give them more confidence by tackling the 2nd or 3rd best forward. It may not be the perfect backline, but hopefully it will do its job. Will probably be the weakest link of the whole line-up.

Center:

Would look almost good if Murphy and Campo could full their finger out of their ass and start playing the footy that they are usually known for. Murhpy's long kicks well help, and with the Pagan factor, he may improve. Ratten is all class - perhaps the best in-and-under player going around. His leadership will be a valuable asset, and he will surely inspire players with his ball winning ability, grunt and excellent play. Campo needs more protection, and he's proved that when on fire, he can really damage the opposition with his deadly accurate kicks and his fast running. Hopefully he'll hit his straps this year.

Full/Half Forward:

I like the look of this forward line. Whitnall and McKernan as the two marking and goal-kicking options. Those two are vital to the forward structure, because if any of the two get injuried, we're doomed. The midfield need to deliever a constant supply to the two talls, but we do have to support them. Hickmott will be there for grunt, and will make sure the ball stays in the forward 50. Sporn could be very useful on a half-forward flank - he can be part of the midfield action too, and can deliever the ball cleanly at least to either Whitnall or McKernan, and may be used as a crummer. Lappin is the small forward of our line-up - he can do some good things with the sherrin, and can crumb the ball and kick for goal if there are no marks taken. Hopefully he can rebound from last year. Now Houlihan is an interesting one; we have all seen how skillful he can be around goals, but he doesn't apply enough pressure to any opposition players. He doesn't chase hard, lay many tackles or provide any hip-and-shoulders to help his team-mates. In other words, he's soft as butter - but the question is can Pagan improve him? I am willing to give Goldilocks one more chance to prove his worth.

Ruck:

The ruck division will be strong if French will be at his best form. However, he may not be used to being the #1 ruckman (due him playing second fiddle with Primus), so we'll see how he goes. French is a good solid performer, and reminds me of a one Mark Porter, only with more skill. Aggression is the key, and he may provide it hopefully. Hulme is tough as they come; what he lacks in height makes up with determination and courage. We have really missed his grunt and hardness at the ball last year... the team is harder with him. Needs to improve his kicking distance though, but he provides support whenever he can. At the start of the season, Kouta can start at CHB. Once he gains confidence, he'll easily play in the midfield where he does the most damage. His body may be mended, but his knees are still suspect. But I think the largest barrier Kouta has to overcome is the mental barrier. Get some confidence landing on that knee, as well as turning on it... hopefully we may see his best yet again. I believe that Kouta will have enough confidence come finals time (if we get there), so midfield for him.

Interchange:

Yes, we finally have insurance from French, so the injury suspectiable Allan can sit on the bench until he proves his worth. He can also plug holes in defense and up forward if need be. Then we have our two youngsters; Campbell and Davies. Both seem to have decent ball handling skills, and are fast runners. Will further help develop them in time for Ratten's departure. Waite can slot in a key position, and by time will eventually get a place on the field. A strong, tall and promising youngster... a hope for the future.

 

[LordLucifer]

Hey 'acuguy', you have redeemed yourself with that indepth reply !!

Fair comments & quite a reasonable knowledge of an opposition team too !!

 

[acuguy]

well sheik for a long time i have pretended to have other interests in life, mainly just for social reasons so as i could mix with all people, but now as i am getting older i realise that the only two things worth talking about or thinking about really are football and cricket. There should be a uni degree devoted to these two great things.