2018 Rd 4: Post Game Pain: Carlton vs North Melbourne

[crashlander]

Here is a big part of our problem:

Sam Docherty Season
Jarrod Pickett 10 weeks
Ciaran Byrne 3-4 weeks
Tom Williamson 3-4 weeks
Darcy Lang Test
Cillian McDaid 4-5 weeks
Caleb Marchbank 4 weeks
Matthew Lobbe 4 weeks
Alex Silvagni 2-3 weeks
Murphy                      Who knows?
Kennedy                    Who knows?
Kreuzer                    Who knows?

That's nearly half of our best team is unavailable and won't be available for at least a month.

Strap yourselves in for a rough ride and see how we look at the end of May.

There is a LOT to be said about this. Of the players listed only McDaid and Lobbe were NOT in our plans for 2018 in a big way.

Lang and Kennedy were to replace Gibbs and add to our midfield depth and staying power. Where have we been beaten this season? In the midfield.

Alex Silvagni (and Rowe) were there to offer strength and stability to our defence. Without them Jones has been struggling.

Docherty has been a HUGE hole in our defence, as he added so much confidence to our younger defenders.

Ciaran Byrne and Tom Williamson were those to add athleticism, pace and run for our defence. They were supposed to get to contests and run down forwards.

Jarrod Pickett was to add pace and defensive pressure to our forward line.

Marchbank has been OK, but we have missed him and will continue to, even if his form has been average.

Murphy was an open wound last night. There have been those who knock his leadership, and they do have a point. But without him last night we were very ordinary and lacked his ability in the midfield. He was the leader and he was gone: that is how we played.

Kreuzer: in the pre-season he looked like he was going to have another year like last year. Instead he has struggled with injury and needs a few weeks to recover. We can't afford him to off at the moment, but that is another tale. But the result of his injuries he has been beaten by guys he beat last year. With a weakened midfield, that is an advantage we cannot afford to give away.

Lobbe would be useful: he was recruited to fill in when our rucks were down. But he hasn't been able to get on the field to a realistic level as yet. He may not add much around the ground, but he does get taps and he does direct them.

You look at that and there is a HUGE hole in our team that is not easy to cover. No team can cover that many important players while we haven't the depth to realistically succeed at it.