AFL Rd 24 2023 Pre Game Prognostications Carlton vs GWS

[DJC]

Pitto seems to be sore. Could do with a rest. JSOS to come in as a second ruck wouldn't be of any surprise. Or maybe JSOS may be rusty and the week's rest will do.

My mail is that Jack Silvagni is injured again.  If not, he must have had a shocker in the Magoos as he hardly touched the pill (like many of his teammates).

Hopefully, the Jack as second ruck option has run its course and he will only be called on in an emergency now. 

[pinot]

Jack is the perfect emergency. Can play anywhere even as an inside mid.

[Lods]

My mail is that Jack Silvagni is injured again.  If not, he must have had a shocker in the Magoos as he hardly touched the pill (like many of his teammates).

Hopefully, the Jack as second ruck option has run its course and he will only be called on in an emergency now. 

Pretty sure he was injured, didn't play the second half hence the low numbers.
He usually wears some padding when rucking in the seniors.
I heard he was bandaged up on the bench...don't see the need for that unless there was an injury.
Hopefully it's only minor...he could do with a game this weekend.

[DJC]

Pretty sure he was injured, didn't play the second half hence the low numbers.
He usually wears some padding when rucking in the seniors.
I heard he was bandaged up on the bench...don't see the need for that unless there was an injury.
Hopefully it's only minor...he could do with a game this weekend.

Jack didn't wear his shin guard so he wasn't meant to be rucking.

The footage I saw showed Jack wearing a compression bandage and limping towards the bench after one of the quarter time breaks - not sure whether it was quarter time or three quarter time.

I only watched the highlights of the game and didn't see him after quarter time.

[kruddler]

I can see the bulldogs knocking off Geelong.

Geelong have the sort of team, where they can put some older players on ice for this game and get them ready for next year, whilst improving their draft hand.  They wont be motivated to beat the bulldogs, but the bulldogs will go out guns blazing to make finals.

From what I can see, either everything turns on its head this week, or the status quo will largely remain.  Will all depend on the Brisbane vs Saints game.  If that follows the script everything is normal.

Could be some big retirements for Geelong this week. Might be enough motivation for them to put in for a game that doesn't matter for them otherwise.

[Professer E]

Cats should be queried about tanking, because they aren't going full steam to win

[31Tommys_barber]

If we do look at playing GWS twice I’d put someone on Toby Greene who will niggle the crap out of him in this first one. Given his track record he will loose his cool and not be playing in the second. He is their real leader and talisman. Nic Newman is the man for the job

[LP]

Cats should be queried about tanking, because they aren't going full steam to win

They are going flat out, on average they are just a bit too old and now look slow as the seasons progresses towards the finals.

They got the label Dad's Army a few years back, now it's Grandpa's Army!

Before the haters label me an ageist, the reality is the difference between looking up to speed and looking out of the contest is almost nothing. A millisecond of extra reaction time, whether it's the thought process or the motor skills, and your trailing.

Six on the bench, what's the bet Chris Scott pushes for it! It'll be sold as "We need to accelerate the development of the kids" but the unspoken real reason is "These old blokes can't keep up anymore!" I suspect there will be a debate from the coach's side of this debate that is either more on the bench or release / restore the soft cap!

Anyway, the Handbaggers aren't a consideration for the 2023 final round.

[DJC]

If we do look at playing GWS twice I’d put someone on Toby Greene who will niggle the crap out of him in this first one. Given his track record he will loose his cool and not be playing in the second. He is their real leader and talisman. Nic Newman is the man for the job

Toby seems to have pulled his head in since becoming the skipper.  Anger management?

I’d be surprised if Newy can keep him as quiet as he did last time but he should definitely get the first crack.

We had a very different defence when we played them earlier in the season with Young, Cowan and McGovern in the team.  I think that we played a midfielder (Cerra or Hewett) in defence to allow Docherty to play in the midfield.

I prefer our current defensive set up … and it’s the most miserly in the competition.  That includes Marchbank ahead of McGovern.  Gov is flashier but Marchy is more reliable.

[Thryleon]

They are going flat out, on average they are just a bit too old and now look slow as the seasons progresses towards the finals.

They got the label Dad's Army a few years back, now it's Grandpa's Army!

Before the haters label me an ageist, the reality is the difference between looking up to speed and looking out of the contest is almost nothing. A millisecond of extra reaction time, whether it's the thought process or the motor skills, and your trailing.

Six on the bench, what's the bet Chris Scott pushes for it! It'll be sold as "We need to accelerate the development of the kids" but the unspoken real reason is "These old blokes can't keep up anymore!" I suspect there will be a debate from the coach's side of this debate that is either more on the bench or release / restore the soft cap!

Anyway, the Handbaggers aren't a consideration for the 2023 final round.

Pendlebury is a prime example of this.  Watch the next Pies match.  He has survived to now because he is a classy ball user, and was getting on the footy in the open spaces, and only occasionally going into the contest.  Now he is a second slower, he is getting caught, more errant ball use, less clean looking and has gone from at the standard to sub standard pretty quickly.

Sometimes it doesn't take a remarkable difference either, but timing, a bit of luck, conditioning, and supplementing with the right mix of other players, and you go from chocolates to boiled lollies pretty quickly.

For example, the team that lost in the Semi Final against Geelong in 1994 vs the team that pantsed Geelong in 1995 had the following changes in personnell:

1994:
Barry Mitchell
Brett Sholl
Luke O Sullivan
James Cook
Matthew Allan
Troy Bond
Adrian Gleeson

in 1995, none of them featured on grand final day, and these guys were the proverbial "ins":
Matt Clape
Adrian Whitehead
Glenn Manton
Scott Camporeale
Dean Rice
Brad Pearce
Craig Bradley

Others in the team fared better because of the changes, plus another year into other players, and it makes all the difference come grand final day, and instead of 33 point loss, it was a 60 point win.  Sure a few players were not at their best in the finals series of 1994, and key ones, but sometimes its a matter of different parts means a greater whole, and getting that balance right can be as simple as one injury, or 3 or 4.