Never let it be said I don't bring the important subjects.

Getting ready to watch the footy from home today I got a hankering for a pie, footy food given it's near impossible to get a decent VFL style hamburger at the AFL.

But while preparing to heat a few party types, round and rectangle, I couldn't help but ponder if people have a preference for the shape.
( Assuming rectangular includes square. )

So lets put it to a vote and see if there is any bias! ;D

With Witts coming off injured, the chance of us winning increased significantly. he usually plays very well against us. Bu, as we haven't played yet, and that we have already lost Jack Martin and Zac Fisher, we are already behind the eight ball.

We entered this season with a lot of hope, as our team on paper looked good. We lost 3 close games that we should have won and had one absolute howler. That was enough in a very close season.
To be honest, in 2020 we looked to be playing at our best when the season finished: I think we could well have been premiers. Our game style was good, and our good players were playing well.
So, what happened that we missed out this time?

[1] Player fitness and availability:
This was a big issue. We didn’t have our players fit and available when we needed them. Chloe Dalton missed the entire season, trying to get to Olympics that may not occur yet (depending on how Japan handles Covid-19). I understand why she took the chance: playing for your country doesn’t occur that often and she could well win a Gold Medal yet. But we missed her run and carry, her pace, her tackling and her goal kicking.
Brooke Walker was another significant miss with a foot injury. She played 2 games at the end of the season, but never hit her best. Very hard to do after her sort of injury. But that also hurt our attacking structure, as Walker and Dalton have express pace and use it with our Pagan’s Paddock style.
Gabby Pound missed the opening rounds, and that cost us goals. We probably would have won with her presence in defence.
Lucy McEvoy missed much of the season and didn’t hit her straps. Again, her injury did not allow her to get match fit.
Considering how important these players are, this was a significant hole in our side. And then Mimi Hill did her knee. Personally, I think she was a monte for the Rising Star Award, but she didn’t even get a mention. Her run and skill were missed. And I didn’t even mention Katie Loynes.

[2] Form and Fitness of Tayla Harris:
Tay had a big year in 2020. Her boxing career really took off, and her Young Australian of the Year was amazing. Her 2020 form was good enough to win games. So, what happened in 2021? Tay’s form was very much down, and she kicked few goals. She didn’t look 100% fit at any stage. She has had knee issues that that seemed to slow her down considerably in 2021. Certainly, she didn’t take the number of big pack marks that she did in 2019 and 2020. Her spectacular marking in those seasons really set off our forward line, which otherwise is quite short. She did lead quite a way up the ground and got a lot of kicks a long way from goal.
As Tay is our primary marking option in the forward line, her form really left a huge hole in our forward structure. Darcy Vescio and Nik Stevens had to become marking targets, and while their form rose, we still missed that nig mark in the forward line.
I don’t know Tay’s heart was in this season as it has been in previous ones. That may sound harsh, but she simply didn’t throw herself at the ball like she had earlier. Her speed wasn’t there, which suggests her knees may have been issues. But she did play.
One of the things that really disappointed me was that Tayla couldn’t buy a free kick. The number of times she was interfered with, that her arms were chopped and that she was tackled and not rewards with free kicks was amazing. There was discussion that she might be playing for frees, but it didn’t look that way to me. She could well have got frees within goal kicking distance late in game in 2 of our losses, but they were not paid. Is she a victim of her own high profile?
I am not sure, but unless we have more marking power in our forward half, we are going to struggle to kick winning scores.

[3] Our ruck Situation:
We are blessed to have a great ruck in Bree Moody. The woman is athletic, strong and can do almost anything. When she wins in the ruck, we generally win.
However, when she does not win in the ruck, as was especially the case against North Melbourne, we get caned.
In previous seasons we had Alison Downie as our other ruck. In 2019 we almost won because of Downie’s great form. She managed to get her hand on the ball no matter how awkward it may have looked, and we usually got the clearance as a result. Her form around the ground was also good, if not as spectacular as Moody’s. Again, in 2020 Downie did well, meaning that we never lost the ruck.
This season Downie struggled in the ruck and couldn’t make much of an impact. When moved into defence late, Downie played much better, but Father Time caught up with one of our most important players.
But it was in the ruck that she was missed. Moody played a lot more on the ball and often ran out of gas late in games. Moody ran herself into the ground, but she was considerably less effective in last quarters than she was in 1st quarters.
As a result, our last quarters were simply not as effective as they could be, and we were often run over at the end.
Serena Gibbs came in and looked promising, but her ruck work was not up to scratch. She looked more comfortable as a forward, and that is where I would play her. Gibbs needs to hold more of her marks, but she showed that she has a future.
If we are going to succeed in 2022, we need another decent ruck to complement Moody, as she simply cannot do it all on her own.

Parts 4 to 7 coming soon.

Voting is as usual: you have 15 votes to award pretty much as you will, with the following provisos:
[1] 15 votes in total, no more, no less.
[2] No more than 10 votes for any one player (even Cripps)
[3] Three players at least must get a mention.
[4] A grade for the game, A+ (what I want to see) to F-.

How did we play?

I hate missing games, but it looks like I'll be going to a family do in the Patch for Easter. My wife and her family are quite religious.
At least I'll be able to see the game on Kayo, as it isn't on TV.

And I won't be on the Gold Coast next week, but we just might be on TV!

As for today, I just hope we can win.
Enjoy!

https://www.carltonfc.com.au/news/896420...lliamstown

At the very bottom of that report is the following. Make of it what you will :

"Caleb Marchbank did not feature in Saturday's VFL practice match. He will look to get through training next week in order to play VFL next weekend."

Well, perhaps we've just had a big indicator to the answer questioning who will be the Storms next long term leader.

The kid is no longer a kid, and he's just sensational!

For the 50 yo+ amongst us who were ‘radio heads’ in the 60s, 70s and 80s, there’s a podcast that may be of interest. ‘Pilots of the Airwaves’ chats to the old jocks of the day about their ‘days in the sun’ and some of their unique experiences. Lee Simon, Ric Melbourne, Greg Evans, Peter Meehan, Liz Sullivan, Denis Scanlan etc etc.(Declared vested interest...through all podcast outlets!!)

This topic has been moved to Blah-Blah Bar - [iurl]https://www.carltonsc.com/index.php?topic=5424.0[/iurl]