Rd 21: Pre Game Speculations: Carlton vs Brisbane

[crashlander]

The game is in Brisbane and does not appear to be on free to air TV again. The game is at the 'Gabba at 1345.

Brisbane were woeful. So bad it makes me wonder how they beat Essendon a few weeks back.
On the other hand, we were close to our worst at St Kilda. We seem to have stored up our worst performances for the 'Aints this year.
That does not bode well for a skillful and entertaining game.
Maybe I am lucky if it isn't on TV.....

[cookie2]

Don't know what our problem was on Sun but I'm very hopeful of a bounce back this week and will definitely be tipping us. 

[crashlander]

Don't know what our problem was on Sun but I'm very hopeful of a bounce back this week and will definitely be tipping us. 

We failed miserably on Sunday, but I can see Bolton doing something about that. We have usually responded well to poor performances the next week.
That said, we have also played Brisbane a number of times lately when we were expected to win big. It hasn't happened. Last year we got pounded by an ordinary Brisbane side, though we were at a pretty low ebb at the time. That we responded well afterwards when the cupboard was bare (talent wise due to injury) is a positive we must cling to as best we can. It is the only flotsam in the neighbourhood.

One thing that also gives me hope is the way we responded to St Kilda this time. Granted that a lot of our players were down or made mistakes by the bucket load, but we responded VERY WELL to some of the issues from last time.
[1] Rucks: our rucks won more taps outs in general and more taps to advantage. We did MUCH better in the centre square, where we got more clearances and better clearances. We didn't do as well around the ground, and Hickey did take some marks and kick a goal, but we were not embarrassed, like we were last time.
[2] Midfield Structures: this was also very much better than last time. We stopped Jack Steven cold: I don't think he has a single centre clearance. Cripps did well in the centre, as did Gibbs. Nor were their clearances as ineffective as last time: they were the only times we actually gave our forwards a chance. That the ball came straight back over their heads with no pressure is another issue.
[3] Tactically we matched up better. That things did not work out well was due to our relative lack of intensity and our lack of skill.
This week that should not be as much of a problem as Brisbane have shown less intensity and less skill than us. Hopefully having Murphy back will help our midfield as well. he has been sorely missed.

[laj]

The game is in Brisbane and does not appear to be on free to air TV again. The game is at the 'Gabba at 1345.

Brisbane were woeful. So bad it makes me wonder how they beat Essendon a few weeks back.
On the other hand, we were close to our worst at St Kilda. We seem to have stored up our worst performances for the 'Aints this year.
That does not bode well for a skillful and entertaining game.
Maybe I am lucky if it isn't on TV.....

If it's at 1.45pm Saturday then it's on TV.

[laj]

We failed miserably on Sunday, but I can see Bolton doing something about that. We have usually responded well to poor performances the next week.
That said, we have also played Brisbane a number of times lately when we were expected to win big. It hasn't happened. Last year we got pounded by an ordinary Brisbane side, though we were at a pretty low ebb at the time. That we responded well afterwards when the cupboard was bare (talent wise due to injury) is a positive we must cling to as best we can. It is the only flotsam in the neighbourhood.

One thing that also gives me hope is the way we responded to St Kilda this time. Granted that a lot of our players were down or made mistakes by the bucket load, but we responded VERY WELL to some of the issues from last time.
[1] Rucks: our rucks won more taps outs in general and more taps to advantage. We did MUCH better in the centre square, where we got more clearances and better clearances. We didn't do as well around the ground, and Hickey did take some marks and kick a goal, but we were not embarrassed, like we were last time.
[2] Midfield Structures: this was also very much better than last time. We stopped Jack Steven cold: I don't think he has a single centre clearance. Cripps did well in the centre, as did Gibbs. Nor were their clearances as ineffective as last time: they were the only times we actually gave our forwards a chance. That the ball came straight back over their heads with no pressure is another issue.
[3] Tactically we matched up better. That things did not work out well was due to our relative lack of intensity and our lack of skill.
This week that should not be as much of a problem as Brisbane have shown less intensity and less skill than us. Hopefully having Murphy back will help our midfield as well. he has been sorely missed.

First thing Bolts can do is drop a ruck and add a key forward. If he hasn't worked out that's out best structure then i'll be scratching my head.

[crashlander]

If it's at 1.45pm Saturday then it's on TV.

God I hope so! I am so tired of us being exiled to pay TV.

[crashlander]

First thing Bolts can do is drop a ruck and add a key forward. If he hasn't worked out that's out best structure then i'll be scratching my head.

Alas we probably need both ruckmen: it was one spot where Brisbane did well against us last time and is still one of their real strengths. However, they do not have to be on the field at the same time. Having some forward options wouldn't hurt us at all. Even more of they can play.

[laj]

Alas we probably need both ruckmen: it was one spot where Brisbane did well against us last time and is still one of their real strengths. However, they do not have to be on the field at the same time. Having some forward options wouldn't hurt us at all. Even more of they can play.

We don''t need both ruckman. Never do. Play like crap when we play both. Fails us time and again when we play both. Results show that. They are both useless when off the ball. We know Kreuzer is a way better player when he's on his own and Casboult improves alot when he gets a run on the ball. That way we can play another key forward. I'd rather loss a few taps outs, which I actually couldn't care about in the slightest, if necessary to improve other aspects of our game out of sight. Still win clearances even if down in the tapout count, as had happened a trillion times. Go back to the structure that won us games. Carlton played BY FAR their best footy this year with just one ruckman.

Two ruckmen and one key forward is 0-12. 6-2 when we have two key forwards and improved alot further again with just one ruck. Still want to go that way? As crap as we were last year that was one of the few things that did work, and we were very good in the clearances. And Casbooult was the 2nd ruck for 14 of the 16 games he played and averaged 1.5 goals a game on top of that.

Might sound a broken record on this one but why can't people see that.

[pinot]

Agree two ruckmen takes a rotation away from the midfield where we can rest Cripps and Gibbs in the forward line.

[Gointocarlton]

If it's at 1.45pm Saturday then it's on TV.

On ch 7 at 3pm