2017 Rd 2 Pre Game Panic Carlton vs Melbourne

[laj]

In - McKay, Cuningham, Polson
Out - Armfield, Thomas, Casboult  O0 O:-)

Casboult will play as we have no other 2nd ruck. Bringing McKay in does allow him to be a permanent 2nd ruck, which might work well given his ability to take a mark around the round.

[Thryleon]

Levi was poor first half good second half. Some were poor all game.

Thats how I saw it too.

He couldnt get near the footy in the first half.

[laj]

Thats how I saw it too.

He couldnt get near the footy in the first half.

Yes, first half diabolical, 2nd half pretty good. Ruck work in the pre-season and last week the best i've seen from him. Think that's his position now.

[deags]

I need to go back and watch the game again. I thought he was well beaten at most of his ruck contests, and slow in getting to some of them as well.

[LP]

I need to go back and watch the game again. I thought he was well beaten at most of his ruck contests, and slow in getting to some of them as well.

I thought similar watching it live at the ground, he was often caught in the wrong place at the wrong time. It's something I don't understand about him because he basically spent his whole junior career as a ruck, alas an unfit one, but he should at least know where to be and when. His best VFL season was rucking and pushing forward.

But my biggest concern was his 2nd and 3rd efforts, they are still effectively non-existent. You can get away with poor tap-work if you make up for it at ground level, getting in the way of opponents, making space for your team-mates, tackling and harassing. He does very little of this stuff, and it's such a contrast to Kreuzer.

Also for someone with his marking ability he doesn't push anywhere near hard enough to get forward, and his defensive work is poor. He's still too easily maneuvered and bustled out of the way by smaller players. Opposition forwards should fear him when he is in the vicinity, instead he is rarely in the contest on the defensive side of the center, which probably says something about work rate.

At his size and shape he should have a Mumford type presence, Mumford should be his role model. Casboult is actually more mobile than Mumford, a better mark and fitter. But he just doesn't have the mindset to impose himself on the game. As a result when the he gets a run in the ruck it's like the opposition are getting a breather, they are not forced to work hard enough in his presence.

He has improved this year, but he's got a long way to go, as a ruck option he is now as effective as Rowe but still some significant way behind Kreuzer or Phillips.

I haven't watched a replay, but it's hard to tell from replays as you only get to see them when they are in shot and therefore close to the ball.

[ElwoodBlues1]

Yes, first half diabolical, 2nd half pretty good. Ruck work in the pre-season and last week the best i've seen from him. Think that's his position now.

I thought he was reasonable in the ruck in the 2nd half and was better than Griffiths who was the Tigers 2nnd String.....but at the same time I wasnt impressed with his lack of physicality towards Dustin Martin
when we needed him to step in and show whose boss. Levi needs some license to throw that big frame about, did it once and cleaned up Vlastuin but I want more of that brutality and intensity....

[DJC]

I thought he was reasonable in the ruck in the 2nd half and was better than Griffiths who was the Tigers 2nnd String.....but at the same time I wasnt impressed with his lack of physicality towards Dustin Martin
when we needed him to step in and show whose boss. Levi needs some license to throw that big frame about, did it once and cleaned up Vlastuin but I want more of that brutality and intensity....

I'd love to know what their instructions are when it comes getting physical with opponents  :-\

It got pretty willing at times in the NB's practice match and the bigger blokes - Jaksch, Jones, Korcheck and McKay - were quick to get involved, as was Silvagni.  However, it was generally in response to a Richmond transgression and I didn't really notice much in the way of rough stuff that we initiated.

I haven't really noticed much "unsociable" footy in the senior side.  Perhaps that's not a Hawthorn trait that Bolton wants us to emulate.

[LP]

I haven't really noticed much "unsociable" footy in the senior side.  Perhaps that's not a Hawthorn trait that Bolton wants us to emulate.

We just don't have the cattle, it's not something you can force on players, they just switch off if you try.

[Gointocarlton]

Carlton's extended squad for Round 2:

Backs   33. Jarrod Pickett         22. Caleb Marchbank 20. Lachie Plowman
Half-backs 26. Harrison Macreadie 17. Sam Rowe         15. Sam Docherty
Centreline 46. Matthew Wright         4. Bryce Gibbs           6. Kade Simpson
Half-forwards 1. Jack Silvagni         41. Levi Casboult   30. Charlie Curnow
Forwards 43. Simon White         23. Jacob Weitering   5. Sam Petrevski-Seton
Followers 8. Matthew Kreuzer 9. Patrick Cripps 3. Marc Murphy ©

Interchange (from): 27. Dennis Armfield 35. Ed Curnow 32. Nick Graham 11. Sam Kerridge 10. Harry McKay 16. Billie Smedts 39. Dale Thomas
In: Sam Kerridge, Nick Graham, Harry McKay

Out: Nil

New: Harry McKay (Gippsland Power)

[kruddler]

I don't understand the love/hate opinion people have of Casboult.
I was at the game and yeah he could've done more but so could've 21 other blokes :
He was still marking strongly and he nailed two lovely set shot goals he would've missed last year.
His confidence is up, 2 from 2 so lets drop him :o
He doesn't get more shots because he is not being played as a stay at home Forward. He plays up the ground with the rest of our bl**dy players leaving open Bolton's Backyard!
He has become a marking link player, marking on the wing and kicking into the Forward 50, whereas he should be the receiver in the 5.
He definitely plays in the Battle of the Beards with Gawn!

Not sure if you've got Foxtel, but David King has been doing this 'list analysis' with his pre/post match coverage.
The long and the short of it is this. Levi Casboult is giving us -53% when compared to every other player in the AFL who is the same age and position as him.

I think from our whole list, we only have about 7 players who actually give us more than average when compared to player of same age and position. This is going back a few weeks, but i think it included Weitering, Simpson, Docherty, Gibbs (just), Silvagni, Cripps (+43%!) and maybe Murphy. Casboult was by far the worst % on the list. A player of his age in that position, should be in the peak of his career and fighting it out for the coleman. Not battling to kick a goal a game.