Post Game Analysis: AFL 2020 Rd 2: Carlton vs Melbourne

[laj]

Interesting points made by Pauly and Blue Moon.  I agree that "above the shoulders" plays a very important part in a team's culture. 

However, surely that is affected directly by the ability  - or lack of -of the players.  How many times in recent years have we seen forward thrusts fail because of the inability of players to kick properly, or failing to kick  to the forwards advantage or to
make the right choice, only to have the ball turned over and our backline hammered once again.

During the Covid break I watched all of the 1995 Carlton games, and the contrast with today's team stood out like the proverbial.  No wonder our players stood tall.  They had a belief in themselves to win because they had  the mental attitude brought about by their skills.

The players were able to control a game because they could retain possession of the ball and use it to best advantage.

I suppose it's the chicken or the egg question, but I believe without skills so many opportunities are squandered, games are lost with monotonous regularity, and it's not possible to develop that essential positive mental attitude.

One leads to the other. I find skills are often due to player focus too. A properly switched on side hits alot more targets. You could say we often like at skills, like every other sides, when it comes to drafting, unless there's something else above that that attracts. They seem to become bad kicks when they get to Carlton.