07-17-2019, 02:05 AM
(07-16-2019, 11:23 PM)Blue Moon link Wrote:Just got back from Sydney and a tour of country NSW. Surprised to find the post game celebrations had fallen off the rotation. Obviously we are more interested in talking about what is wrong than what is right.
First time in Sydney since 1986 when Cats was playing and Doull matched up on Capper. Better result this time.
Almost 35000 people there, mostly Sydney, Carlton was able to take the crowd out of the game which meant there was very little atmosphere. The game was totally contested which Carlton dominated and we probably should have won by more but the players were very determined to keep the game in tight.
Sydney is very discipline, stick to their structures and have better skills, whereas Carlton has the potential to be anything, we just need to improve our skills, particularly our field kicking.
Sydney's lack of big men meant that losing Goddard was not such a big blow. He actually looked pretty comfortable out there and since Casboult and Jones are in their 30's, he could be pretty handy into the future.
Silvagni and Casboult are the two biggest improvers this year. Sometimes we concentrate too much on what people can't do and miss what they can.
It was a good solid win, and on reflection, a win we should have been expecting but our history over the past 15 years has lowered our confidence.
For the rest of the season, there are two games we should win, Gold Coast and St.Kilda, we must be a big show against Adelaide, and we need to be competitive against West Coast, Richmond and Geelong. It would be great to finish with eight wins for the season.
Sad but true Blue Moon. I think we're all a little shell shocked from the majority of the last 20 years. It really sucks starting the season so poorly and not having a hope of playing finals from somewhere around round 5. Again. I'm loving this resurgence but am very cautious about getting too excited as yet. Another 3 or 4 wins and I'll be very happy with the second half of the season. I dunno the stats but we have hardly won a game in the back half of the season for the last 4 years. Something like 5 - 10 at a guess. That's shizen, and gives us no impetus going into the next season. It's super important we change that this season, and so far so good. Every game matters for the rest of the year. We should probably celebrate the wins a little more. But we're scared little kittens now. Go Blues !