AFL Rd 22 2024 Post Game Prognostications Carlton vs Hawthorn

[Thryleon]

When we suffer a humiliating loss, we all look for answers as to how that could have occurred.

Was it lack of run, lack of pressure, coaching inadequacies or lack of depth?
Sometimes the right answer is the most obvious one.
It’s injuries!!

Every aspect of the loss can be traced back to injuries.
When you lose a player to injury you don‘t just lose that player.
You lose a part of every other player who has to sacrifice a part of their contribution to cover that absence.

The “one soldier out, one soldier in.” is another bit of nonsense. The replacement player is nearly always a lesser player. The injured player is ahead of them and in the side, either in terms of ability or what they offer in terms of team structure.

If everyone else has to step up, especially with ‘in-game’ injuries –
You lose 'run' through fatigue.
Your ability to get to contests and to apply pressure is affected by fatigue
Coaching options are less.
Your depth is challenged.
…and all that presents mental and physical challenges for the players not directly affected by injury.

That’s with one injury.
Now multiply that by a dozen, either injured pre-match or during the game…and then add in the players playing injured for weeks on end... and you’re in strife.

We’re in deep strife, for no other reason than we are decimated.

we lost 3 players by half time and then a coleman medalist 3 minutes into the third quarter. 

We were down to one true rotation on the bench for almost 3 quarters of the game.

That's the story behind our devastating loss yesterday but the run up to that story happened earlier in the season at team selection.

Vfl players banging the door down, but coming in as a sub, getting 20 minutes to show their wares as a sub then getting dropped again (jack carroll and jaxon binns).

Players that were standing up getting dropped after one game whilst bringing back under done players and having guys that weren't performing in the team.

Robs the team of morale and aspiration.

We probably should have rotated the squad a bit more in the lesser roles rather than bring marchbank in and out.  Drop Lewis young.  Binns got a cameo against Geelong and then was banished back to the vfl.  Hsure he isn't the answer and isn't ready but maybe with 5 games under his belt we'd know for sure whether he was up to it and he wouldn't have been any worse than cotters who had a filthy second half of the season.