Rd 18: Post Game In depth Analysis and Soul Searching: Carlton vs Sydney

[hanwell]

Plenty of "little green shoots" today, could have been a shalacking today (like last week also could have been), but they fought it out, very happy

[DJC]

Agree...Levi was out of touch and dropped a few easy marks and is lacking confidence.....
Josh Kennedy seems to save his best for us too.....broke too many tackles and was the reason they won IMO.
Thought we tried hard but when Charile Curnow went down we were lacking forward marking targets and couldnt keep the pressure
on the Swans who didnt impress me other than their usual star players...

Their defense looks rubbery pity we we didnt have enough equipment down forward to expose them....
Gibbs was great especially in the 1st half, Cripps consistent and I thought both Kruezer and Philips held sway in the ruck early but after half time
the ruck duels evened up and we lost some edge in that area...

The Swans missed McVeigh!

Great game from Kreuzer today.  Naismith and Sinclair were well ahead in hitouts won in the first half but Kreuzer closed the gap in the second.  We all know about his second efforts and clearances but he takes it to another level when he holds his marks and hits the scoreboard.  Phillips wasn't as good as he has been but he's a long term prospect.  The Swans' mids picked up their workrate and dominated the clearances in the third despite their rucks only breaking even.  Our mids worked their way back in front late in the third and were level pegging in the last. 

[blue4life]

Very happy with the boys - they really leave it all out there. Apart from Murphy (edit : and maybe Jones), that's probably our best 22.

Thomas easily gets a game, he's probably in our best 10 or 12.
Throw in Byrne and we look a lot better but we won't have him for a while, Everitt in form would play and so would Walker, but we sadly lack a consistent forward target.

[Professer E]

Gees I wouldn't mind being able to snag the likes of Heeney or Mills for a late first round pick.

[bratblue]

Or SOJ in the 50's 

[laj]

Needed a second key forward to split up the defence. Levi won't beat them as the only one. Two would allow him to get up the ground more, take a few grabs, which suits him and helps him no end, as well as taking a defender with him. 6 from 7 with two keys forwards, and hit the scoreboard, zero from 10 with one where we struggle to hit it. Opens up the forward line so much more and provides more opportunity for everyone inside the 50.

[bignic]

Have criticised Gibbs a lot in the past, but thought his tackling and effort especially in the first half was excellent. See, you can do it Bryce if you put your mind to it.
Levi is completely out of form and a liability. But he does know how to fall over with style.
Agree with an earlier post, Dylan Buckley has got a 4 cylinder motor that runs out of steam very quickly.
Excellent effort from the boys.

Hope to see Harry Mac before too long and hope that Charlies injury isn't too bad. We have got some really good stuff at the club.

But there will definitely be another 8-10 player clean out at the end of the year.
A 14-16 finish will mean a decent draft pick.

Early prediction for next year.
WE WILL MAKE THE 8 ;D ;D ;D ;D

[PaulP]

Thomas easily gets a game, he's probably in our best 10 or 12.
Throw in Byrne and we look a lot better but we won't have him for a while, Everitt in form would play and so would Walker, but we sadly lack a consistent forward target.

IMO :
Thomas at this point in his career is a honest trier, who very rarely shows flashes of class. Yes, I guess he is in our best 22 by default, but what I saw today, I don't think we missed him all that much.
Byrne, yes I suppose he is.
Everitt needs too much in favour to be useful week in week out.
Walker was horrible last year and not much better this year.

[LordLucifer]

@sheik...

When was the last game you actually got to see us play?

I work most weekends now so I am not getting anywhere near as much as I used to. 

I have to rely on the AFL app for the scores and/or radio broadcast, radio in the car on the way home or  depending on the scheduled time of the match, I get the second half or last quarter on the FTA box. There's also the standard number of phone calls I get throughout the match to give me updates.

[blue4life]

IMO :
Thomas at this point in his career is a honest trier, who very rarely shows flashes of class. Yes, I guess he is in our best 22 by default, but what I saw today, I don't think we missed him all that much.
Byrne, yes I suppose he is.
Everitt needs too much in favour to be useful week in week out.
Walker was horrible last year and not much better this year.

I agree with pretty much all of that except that I think you're selling Thomas a bit short, his game against Adelaide was only average but he's been in very good form this season.
Walker is only just turned 30 but he seems to be past his best for some reason, maybe football isn't as important to him as it once was.