Where do you think Carlton will finish in 2017?

[Lods]

Just wondering how many folk's opinions have been changed by the poor performance in the three JLT matches.

I never put a lot of weight on them.... they are just practice games, but they do shed a bit of light on individuals and we've only had a few standout performers which may have been a disappointment for some expecting a higher ladder position.

[Jack Burton]

I agree it is possible to put too much emphasis on what you see in a few meaningless practice matches. I'm going more based on what I saw in the second half of last year (after the new coach honeymoon period finished), plus the list changes we have made compared with list changes and apparent development of the lists of teams that finished around our ladder position last year

[Barbs]

Bottom 3, and possibly last, because the focus this year has to be getting games and experience into the next generation as part of their development rather than playing the experienced campaigners each week who might scrape together a few wins to elevate us to around 14-15th.

I'm not advocating just playing the young guys, they need some experience around them and some mature bodies to take the load. But each week we'll have to go in with a line up that has 5 (or more) players under 22 and with less than 30 games experience. That's not a recipe for success in 2017, but its part of the rebuild we need to do as we build for 2020.

[Jean-Claude]

I fear somewhere down the bottom. I just hope that we make the most of it and blood a lot of young kids with the right amount experience and support around them. Really hope some of these kids go past guys like Kerridge who are not the future and just keep hacking it up.

[kruddler]

Just wondering how many folk's opinions have been changed by the poor performance in the three JLT matches.

I never put a lot of weight on them.... they are just practice games, but they do shed a bit of light on individuals and we've only had a few standout performers which may have been a disappointment for some expecting a higher ladder position.

Mine hasn't.

I reckon a few might have given the amount of backlash i was getting for even suggesting it was possible.

I think the really good thing about this thread is that a lot of folk are going to be pleasantly surprised at the end of the season ;D

Ever the optimist Lods. Even if it means ignoring other possibilities.
Who will be pleasantly surprised if we finish bottom 3 exactly?  :-\

[LoveNavy]

I wasn't too bothered about PS performance as it seems Bolt's uses it for, well practice...
I still think we've some ways to go in building a list of quality players. As such, it's bottom 4 for mine.

I think our good games that score a W will (hopefully) sustain our passions for the mighty Blues. We're not going to get over the line most of the time. We simply don't have the right mix yet of talent, experience, and cohesion. But we're on the right track - no doubt.

I'll be making the most of our wins and watching closely for all the little wins. Those indicators we've drafted and recruited well.

Go young Blues

[Lods]

Ever the optimist Lods. Even if it means ignoring other possibilities.
Who will be pleasantly surprised if we finish bottom 3 exactly?  :-\

I won't!
I'll be devastated.
As I guess will  anyone who has picked them to finish higher than that.

No-one will be pleasantly surprised at finishing bottom 3 (even yourself Kruds. You've been consistent with your expectations).
Only those that want to be able to say "I told you so" would regard it as pleasant experience and I hope that means no-one!!

I'm not ignoring other possibilities.
It's quite possible we will finish bottom 3, even last, if everything that could go wrong does go wrong.
My point all along is that we can't afford that kind of season because it will destroy the confidence and unity surrounding the rebuild and people will start to have doubts.

It's a rather topsy turvy world where people who are being optimistic about the season are seen as not facing reality.
Villains in fact!

Another thing I'm wondering is how the players are feeling regarding the talk of them finishing in a lowly position.
Some of those senior players may be thinking... "at this rate I'm not going to be around when the club finally achieves success again."
It would be hard to go all out knowing that's the line of thinking.
It would have much the same effect as when the club first announced the intention to rebuild.
Hopefully the senior group are  thinking "bugger them, you watch what we can do" and getting that kind of siege mentality working with the youngsters as well.
That's what I'd expect leaders to do!

[PaulP]

Lods, Kade Simpson reckons he's hanging around for success :

"But Simpson is backing the club's youth movement to bear fruit sooner rather than later.

"I'm not hanging around here to be dwindling [away] down the bottom," he said.

"I know myself, the leadership group and the coaches are doing everything we can to get this group to where we need to be."

http://www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-news/no...uapsp.html

[DJC]

Lods, Kade Simpson reckons he's hanging around for success :

"But Simpson is backing the club's youth movement to bear fruit sooner rather than later.

"I'm not hanging around here to be dwindling [away] down the bottom," he said.

"I know myself, the leadership group and the coaches are doing everything we can to get this group to where we need to be."

http://www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-news/no...uapsp.html

Honestly Paul, what would Simpson know?  He's obviously not bothered to read this thread and a couple of others 

[cookie2]

@Paul

Good stuff from Simmo!