Rd 16: Post Game Pessimism: Carlton vs Adelaide

[Vivian]

On the upside I only watched the first half. Took the young fella to his first league game today, so three generations of blues fans sat in a row. After a hotdog and a few cheers and boos it was a good time to go at half time.

Vast skill difference today. We worked hard at times to get the pill but poor execution means our disposals take a second longer to hit a target, if they make it. So we are constantly under pressure.  I agree with other posts about our back six doing ok. Rowe is still a worry with the ball, but they are doing ok with some good rebound at times. But it stops with a weak midfield, so our attempts going forward are sloppy, more so with a static forward line. Kerridge and wright are stop gaps until they are displaced by better players. That's the hope anyway, but with the lack of depth there is not much pressure for spots right now.

Walker is just about done, as is everitt, whose contribution is so limited we are half a man down from the first bounce. Seems thomas got a calf injury too, so he is likely out for a while.  Well done armfield, who found himself in the right places. It's a lesson in keeping mobile as a forward for then opportunities will come.

[sandsmere]

The gap between us and the good sides is still huge, we need a massive draft/trade period at the end of the season.
Docherty would be further in front than Black Caviar in the B&F, he was outstanding again today.
Actually our back 6 is almost as good as any going around, but our midfield is thin and slow and our forward line non existent.

Exactly.

But we all knew that right from the start.

We are half a season into a 3-4 year rebuild. Nobody thought we would win 6 games this season when the season started.

It won't get a whole lot better for a while either. We need to move another 12 or so players on and that can't be done in one hit.
SOS has got a hell of a load on his shoulders right now. So have the MC.
I hope they are all up to it.

I'm not too bothered by todays result. The way the Crows are going it could easily have been a lot worse.

[ElwoodBlues1]

Game went to script...Army gave us some highlights early and Jack got his first goal and then they took over...even though they only looked in second gear.
Good learning game though and the Crows forwards work hard to get into space better than any other team....good video to show our blokes how its done.

The Casboult as the only marking target plan has probably seen its last day and I'd expect Jones or Jaksch to be included next week.....Everitt and Walker are also done.

Always fun to watch Daniel Talia do well......first thought always go to Kane Lucas....I thought I had let it go but dont think I ever will...

No need to dwell on this game as its all part of the up and down journey and its onto the trade/draft period for us....

[Brettie]

Turnovers, turnovers, turnovers......relentless turnovers.

Cannot believe we went into this game with the same forward line from last week. Cannot believe Bolton doesn't think another permanent tall forward is required......Liam Jones must be mighty pissed right about now.....

[LordLucifer]

I'm not upset or bitter & twisted by todays result, I expected us to lose, they are a class above us all round.

I thought the 'measured' difference between the two teams was around 7-8 goals so for them to win by 10 says to me that they played a better game than expected. They did have a huge carrot to play for though, a huge jump up the ladder into 3rd place, they saw us as good cannon fodder and took the opportunity when it was presented.

For us, well it wasn't a pretty day at the office but as I've said all along, the win/loss ratio really means jack-shit this season, it's the onfield effort and development of the young players is all that matters.

Silvagni showed he has a future as long as he trains hard and maintains his work ethic. Weitering had a 'down' day but he has shown more than many a first-year player so he is excused from scorn tonight, he may be tiring from a long season though.

There were a few seasoned senior players who let us down today with poor foot skills and/or decision-making, others were just not sighted for the majority of the match. These players will be dispensed with as soon as suitable replacements are sought or retirement catches up with them, which ever comes first. I don't need to name names, I've listed them so many times previously that you should all be able to recite them from memory.

Entering season 2016, no-one expected us to win a game due to being wooden spooners last year plus going through such a large turnover of players. It came as a major shock to many that we snaffled six wins but facing up to serious finals contenders late in the season makes finding another win very difficult.

Games like today will happen occasionally for us in this development phase, it's how we learn from them which is the key. We just have to keep persisting and learning our craft, there may not be a lot of joy between now and the end of the season but realistically, we have exceeded all expectations already.

Bring on the off-season so we can offload 12-14 more players and bring in some classy big-bodied grunt mids and a couple more genuine key position players because that has to be the recruiting focus.

[spf]

Interesting quote by Bolton:

"The Crows on turnover really hurt us, particularly in the second half," Blues coach Brendon Bolton said. "Overall they would have kicked 10 or 11 goals from turnover."

We lost by 10 goals, so it really hammers home where it was won and lost. Basically poor teams turnover the ball and good teams maintain possession - we don't have the class across the park yet.

[Brettie]

The game may well have gone to script, but we look so far off the pace.....it has to be more than raising eyebrows. These past few weeks have shown me that Marc Murphy is clearly the most important player in this team & is in fact, more of a captain than a lot of us have ever given him credit for. We have been bordering on inept ever since he got injured.

.....and if I have to watch Kreuzer get absolutely schooled in the ruck YET AGAIN......it's gotten beyond a concern now, as his direct opponent YET AGAIN vies for B.O.G. honours, who YET AGAIN gives his team an armchair ride @ the centre clearances & who YET AGAIN also hurts us on the scoreboard. Is there a worse, more ineffective AFL ruckman right now? I don't think so.

[Brettie]

Interesting quote by Bolton:

"The Crows on turnover really hurt us, particularly in the second half," Blues coach Brendon Bolton said. "Overall they would have kicked 10 or 11 goals from turnover."

We lost by 10 goals, so it really hammers home where it was won and lost. Basically poor teams turnover the ball and good teams maintain possession - we don't have the class across the park yet.

And a lot of them were abysmal turnovers too......especially late in the 2nd quarter. Just rubbish football......

[spf]

Is it time we tried Kruezer as part time rucking onballer?

[Professer E]

in the seconds