2018 Rd 6: Post Game Passion: Carlton vs Western Bulldogs

[deags]

Special note : that gather and deliberate slip under the tackle by Wright on the left boundary, to set up CC's goal, is all class. I don't care how old he is. Give him an extension now.

Agree, very cool to watch.

[Jack Burton]

Wright does some nice things, but he's part of the problem at the moment which is we are way too slow inside forward 50, we just don't apply pressure to keep the ball in our forward half. Yes our skills let us down at times last night, but the biggest difference between the teams was pressure and tackles inside forward 50. We have an abundance of talls down there who don't tackle, and they are surrounded by Silvagni, Wright etc who try hard but don'e have the speed and agility to apply high level pressure

[PaulP]

Wright does some nice things, but he's part of the problem at the moment which is we are way too slow inside forward 50, we just don't apply pressure to keep the ball in our forward half. Yes our skills let us down at times last night, but the biggest difference between the teams was pressure and tackles inside forward 50. We have an abundance of talls down there who don't tackle, and they are surrounded by Silvagni, Wright etc who try hard but don'e have the speed and agility to apply high level pressure

Yes, Wright is slow, but does he have other tricks to offset the lack of pace ? IMO, the answer is a definite yes.

[Jack Burton]

I really like him, tries hard, is smart and does what he can. If he had a partner or two down there with him that had elite speed and desire to apply pressure all would be well, but without that support for him it is an area of weakness for us

[PaulP]

I really like him, tries hard, is smart and does what he can. If he had a partner or two down there with him that had elite speed and desire to apply pressure all would be well, but without that support for him it is an area of weakness for us

Agree 100%. But team balance is not his fault. If he had pace, he would be elite, because IMO, he has pretty much everything else a small forward needs : smarts, mongrel, toughness, very good set shot etc.

EDIT : and can also lay a tackle, provided he's not out run

[Baggers]

A real quandary for the MC could be next week if Kreuz is fit to play... because you cannot drop Phillips as his form is very, very good. And we're already too tall as many have pointed out.

We need smaller, quicker blokes down back and up forward. But who can provide that? Hopefully Lang comes in soon and Murphy returns, then, eventually, Pickett. Cuningham is not a defender and as a midfielder or forward he's far too inconsistent and timid (though highly skilled). Polson just doesn't look like a senior player at this moment and Graham is out of favour. Matty Wright is our only reliable small forward.

SOJ is a real worry, gives his all but contributes little. Dow and O'Brien will be rippers but will take time.

I suspect, seeing how ordinary our midfield/on-ball brigade is (Cripps carrying everything and still not sure about Kennedy), that we'll need to hit the draft hard for mids this year, or open the wallet and bring in bona-fide midfield talent to support Cripps, Dow, Fisher etc.

[Jack Burton]

Why not give LeBois a chance? From what I read his form at VFL level has been OK. Give him a few games as a small forward, his KPIs are pressure acts and tackles inside 50, see what he can do? I feel we really have nothing to lose at this stage, or at least nothing that isn't already lost (pride, credibility, relevance, ok I'll stop now)

[laj]

A real quandary for the MC could be next week if Kreuz is fit to play... because you cannot drop Phillips as his form is very, very good. And we're already too tall as many have pointed out.

We need smaller, quicker blokes down back and up forward. But who can provide that? Hopefully Lang comes in soon and Murphy returns, then, eventually, Pickett. Cuningham is not a defender and as a midfielder or forward he's far too inconsistent and timid (though highly skilled). Polson just doesn't look like a senior player at this moment and Graham is out of favour. Matty Wright is our only reliable small forward.

SOJ is a real worry, gives his all but contributes little. Dow and O'Brien will be rippers but will take time.

I suspect, seeing how ordinary our midfield/on-ball brigade is (Cripps carrying everything and still not sure about Kennedy), that we'll need to hit the draft hard for mids this year, or open the wallet and bring in bona-fide midfield talent to support Cripps, Dow, Fisher etc.

We need to be smaller and quicker. We have some good, young talent but have no idea at all how to play the modern game or worse, even select a side in line with the modern game. The backline has to shrink to start with....alot.  Don't need to play SOS now McKay's in there. Like to get Le Bois in up forward. As for Phillips, he'll be plain unlucky. He's like the reserve wicketkeeper or spinner on tour.

[cookie2]

Why not give LeBois a chance? From what I read his form at VFL level has been OK. Give him a few games as a small forward, his KPIs are pressure acts and tackles inside 50, see what he can do? I feel we really have nothing to lose at this stage, or at least nothing that isn't already lost (pride, credibility, relevance, ok I'll stop now)

Agree. This year is still at least partly about sorting the sheep from the goats. We need to have established our core group this year and to hit the trade and draft for a carefully targeted few to more or less complete it - not for the mass turnover we've seen in recent times.

[IvanAwfulbigone]

I really hope we get a win soon. It will do wonders for our belief in the process.

Go Blues

I don’t. I hope we never win again and that the Club as a going concern is wound up sooner rather than later. Then I can get on with my life and find something useful to do which might benefit my sanity and society.