AFL Rd 18 2024 Post Game Prognostications Carlton vs Western Bulldogs

[crashlander]

Rnd 5; Lost Saad early, cost us dearly.
Rnd 7; Kicked 15-15 to lose to Handbaggers 18-10.
Rnd 8; Leading late, Walsh let Daicos run through a stoppage unchecked to score the winner.
Rnd 10; Smashed by Sydney with Grundy among the best.
Rnd 18; Lost to Bulldogs, English probably BoG.

The idea we could go with one ruck and compete against a rampant English with Darcy as a backup is somewhat bizarre, so fans think less ruck capacity is a win? Pitto held his own at stoppages but didn't take a single mark which is costly, but he and TDK got 4 of our 13 centre clearances, Bulldogs had 13 centre clearances also, but English got none. If we blame the rucks we are masking the problem.

Blaming Pitto is neither fair nor reasonable. He more than held his own. The Dogs were aware of what we were doing in the ruck and planned our advantages away until Cripps stormed back into the game. Darcy, for example, twice did to Tom de Koning what Tom usually does to others. It wasn't his fault: the Dogs did their homework and nullified our centre clearances.
Midfielders:
[1] Sam Walsh: 27 possessions but 3 clearances. Sam got the ball, but did nothing with it. Usually, he outworks his opponents, but he struggled to break away today.
[2] Adam Cerra: 19 possessions, but his opponents ... His kicking was good, but he didn't have much impact.
[3] Matthew Kennedy: had no impact at all, which is unusual. He was almost invisible.
[4] Lachie Fogarty: had a shocker. His missed goal really hurt us.

Tom got the ball a bit, but did nothing in the centre square.
The Dogs just ran out time and time again, and killed us on the ground.

Charlie: he is clearly not 100%, but 3 goals SEVEN! He kicks 7 goals 3 and the game is different.
H: dominated early and disappeared totally. Was it our fault? Good defending, or just that we couldn't get decent centre clearances?
Matt Owies: a dominant quarter and then nothing. Nada!
Matt Cottrell: should have come via the VFL. He was terrible today. Must be dropped until he gains some form.
Zac Williams: he didn't do a lot when he was on, but his superior disposal was missed when he went off.

Marchbank was ordinary today. Ollie H started well enough, but he dropped out of the game like he was shot.

We just weren't on. We dropped crucial marks, which cost us. We couldn't buy a free kick for all the tackling we did. Holding the man? Gone. Our kicking for goal: that was dreadful, and not just Charlie.

A lot of thought necessary or we'll be embarrassed next Sunday.