Very early days, but lets see who is in your best 22.

Pick 22 from the above.

We'll see if everyone is on the same page.

As Zac Williams has done his ACL, he is out for the season, and out of the votes so don't include him in your votes.

Have at it.

https://www.carltonfc.com.au/news/126765...gKqVQCsIs8

Quote:While last year's 'next-man-up' mentality became more of a necessity in the back half of 2022, Silvagni admitted that it gave players the opportunity to get out of their comfort zone and build some resilience.

Acknowledging the leaders within the playing group, Silvagni stated there is a real drive amongst the team to take their game to the next level.

“I think it took a group of core players to take us and drive that, to straighten us up and say ‘this is where we’re heading’,” he said.

The Lidia Thorpe resignation has me thinking that there will be a number of issues that will crop up in the discussion of the up coming referendum.
Rather than getting mixed up with other topics in the "General Discussion" thread it probably deserves a thread of it's own

I'd suspect the majority of indigenous people support the proposal but there is some dissent.
Some like Thorpe want to see a Treaty first, others would prefer that issues of disadvantage should take precedence....to me, these all seem interconnected.

The problem with referendums though is that they are often lost in the fog.
If they are too vague they don't succeed.
Often it's the opponents who create that fog, but the job of the proposers is to keep it simple.

One of the more intriguing aspects of our onfield plans is how the match committee & coaching dept. intend on using the three regular ruckman on our list.

At present, we have Marc Pittonet who is, in principle, match ready and as good as he is going to get. Then we have Tom De Koning who is still learning his craft but can be used up forward even though he has been used in stints up forward even though he does then to spoil Curnow & McKay in the marking contests. Lastly, there is young Markov who whilst still quite raw, apparently coming on in leaps & bounds.

The 'elephant in the room' is the fact that De Koning is out of contract at the end of this season and there is bound to be a handful of clubs interested in winning his services even though he isn't a fully finished product (or is he ??).

Should Markov be given some senior experience this year ??

Can De Koning be played as a permanent forward with some pinch-hitting in the ruck ??

Would Pittonet benefit from having Markov as his back-up instead of De Koning ??

Would the club ever consider moving Pittonet on and putting all their faith into the two younger guys ?? 

Should the club bite the bullet and trade De Koning this year & what effect would that trade have on the rest of the playing list ??

If TDK was to be traded, what sort of trade price should we be asking for given he may be offered crazy money to jump ship ??

Looking through the player profiles on the club website, they have been categorised into their supposed onfield roles. There are 14 names assigned as mids so if we were to break then down into an approx. quality level, it looks something like this : 

A Grade - Cripps, Walsh
B Grade - Cerra, Hewett
C Grade - Kennedy, Cottrell, E. Curnow, Hollands, Acres, O'Brien
D Grade - Dow, Binns, Philp, Cuningham

Some people will suggest others like Fisher, Martin & Fogarty may be played in the mids but realistically, that would only be in a 'Break Glass In Emergency' situation.

Hewett, Walsh, Cottrell & Kennedy are on the injury list, Zac Williams never ever looked like a mid when he came over plus the D-Graders have not fired a shot.

Heaven forbid what might happen if Cripps ever got injured long-term.

To that end, do we have enough genuine midfield depth to be competitive for a whole season with the group we currently have at the club ??   

Brodie Kemp was picked up in the 2019 draft but was unable to play a game in 2020 due to his recovery from a serious leg injury, since then, he has eked out a mere 6 senior games.

Classed as a key defender on the club's website, I'm not sure that is his 'real' position given he is only 193cm tall.  Some people are suggesting he will be added to the midfield brigade in 2023 but I'm not that sure about his tank and overall ability to play there.

From his limited senior appearances, he definitely showed some innate skills that could & should see him become a regular player for the club. However, the big question is where is his best position ??

We have way to many hbf's already and as mentioned before, is the midfield really his go ??

Kemp is one of a handful of the new brigade that I have very very high hopes for but I'm concerned that given his size, he may be used like Jack Silvagni has been in the past, the old fashioned 'utility' who plugs a gap anywhere on the field when there is the need.

For mine, if that does happen, then that may be the best way to ruin his career as he would never be settled into a permanent position and become a regular piece of the defensive unit or midfield etc.

I'm not aware of whether he can go forward or not but that is an option for the club to consider.

So, what are your expectations for Brodie Kemp this year and where do you see him being used (i.e. what is his best position) ??

Not long to go now. With our first semi real hitout only 3 weeks away against Rottingwood at PP.

So, let's dust off the cloth covering the crystal ball and share some predictions.

1. What will be the finishing position for the CFC at the end of season 2023?
2. Top 5 in the CFC John Nicholls Medal.
3. Most improved/surprise packet.
4. Most valuable small forward.
5. Future 200 gamer who's played less than 30 games at season commencement.
&
On a negative note:
6. Slider. Bloke who's played more than 50 games but doesn't secure a regular senior berth, based on performance only - not injury.

Moi:
1. 6
2. Cripps, Docherty, C Curnow, Cerra & Walsh
3. Carrol
4. Motlop
5. Cowan
6. Dow.

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(01-23-2023, 06:15 AM)spf link Wrote:Have we advertised this site? I had a casual chat to a couple of Carlton supporters at the Carlton vs Port Adelaide game (MCG) last year, and none of them knew of this site at all. Nobody had heard of it. Most of those people I would place in the 30 - 45 years bracket.

Trump opened the door for con men to make their mark in US politics. He kept fact checkers busy with a firehose of lies in the run up to taking the Presidency, during it and even afterwards. He has also been a con man who has various prosecutors on his trail. But at least there was some truth in his stories. He may or may not be a billionaire, but he’s pretty wealthy. His wealth may be mostly inherited rather than him being a self-made business genius, but at least he did run a business. He may not have been a star pupil at Wharton Business School but at least there’s no doubt he went there. But George Santos won a seat in the US House of Representatives with a string of lies that had no basis in fact whatsoever. It makes you wonder how his opponent failed to prove this during the election campaign.

Here’s a probably partial list of his lies:  Things George Santos Is Accused Of Lying About (That We Know Of So Far), HuffPost.

When a guy lies about his own name, you know something’s off.

Of course the Republicans won’t chuck him out of Congress as their majority in The House of Representatives is too thin. McCarthy even put him on 2 Committees, 1 to do with science and the other with business. Certain scientists welcomed his appointment, saying they finally have a celebrated Astronaut and Nobel Prize winner on the Science & Space Committee  ;D