Rd 23: Post Game Party: Carlton vs Sydney

[sydneybluesfan]

Another disappointing night for us poor Sydney based supporters - I think that's 10 losses in a row in Sydney now.

We were belted in the 1st quarter, but when we took the game on in the second quarter with run and handball we started to ask questions of the Swans. We were very unlucky not to be ahead at half time.

In the 3rd we went back into our shells as the swans mids started to assert themselves. When we move the ball slowly across half back on a small ground we are very easy to defend against. We played the spare man [Simmo] in the backline which left the Swans with a +1 [it was often Lloyd] at the stoppages. Giving the strongest midfield in the comp an extra player on a small ground didn't really work out all the well for us!!

Murph tried hard and does a power of running, but he doesn't hurt teams with his possessions. I just think he is more of support act rather than the main man - I wouldn't be against him passing the mantle onto Cripps or Doc next year.

Kruz was immense and was probably the only clear winner we had on the day. All of our mid tier players really struggled to have any influence when compared to their opponents.

Went into the rooms after the game. The talk was Bryne had done an ankle, and he was in a moon boot on crutches. The mood was very somber - like a morgue really. Trigg spoke to the group and did some thank yous etc to support staff and they made a presentation to Neil Craig. They were in a rush to get to the airport to fly home, and were ushered off into another room for a meeting. It was as flat as a pancake. Spoke to the President for a few minutes - he was the only one in a positive mood.

Overall a disappointing end to another year bouncing along the bottom of the ladder. Let's not forget we have won 24 games in the last 4 years [88 games], and all the raw stats tell you we haven't improved a lot compared to last year, but I'm sure there will be another thread on that topic. We are only ahead of Brisbane [19] and slightly behind GC [26] for wins over the last 4 years, and you could probably mount an argument that all those 3 teams need a priority pick to be any chance to break out of the bottom 4 next year.   

[PaulP]

sbf, given your issues with our scoring impotence (which I completely agree with btw), you should have crash tackled Bolts in the rooms and demanded to know what he intends to do next season to get us closer to regularly scoring about 100 points. A guaranteed mood lifter if ever there was one.

[PaulP]

And dopey jokes aside, I don't think any of the teams you mention deserve a priority pick.

[blue4life]

An interesting draft and trade period coming up, we definitely have a more promising list but consistent results will take some time.
Sydney simply outclassed us and some of our second tier players couldn't cope with the pressure they applied.
We were a couple short in the back half and they were able to isolate Franklin and Jones to a large degree, and Buddy beats anyone one on one given enough opportunity.
In contrast they were able to exploit Casboult's lack of mobility and block him so that there were a large number of contests he didn't reach, it's a major flaw in his game which any solid defence can take advantage of.
It was around the stoppages that we were most badly beaten though which highlights how important Cripps is to to our fortunes, Graham just isn't good enough and Kerridge was ineffective after a couple of pretty good games. When it's only Murphy and Gibbs versus a hard and disciplined midfield we'll struggle badly, if not for the tireless and very talented Matty Kreuzer it would have been even worse.
We have to cop this sort of loss for a little while yet, hard as they are to accept.

[sydneybluesfan]

And dopey jokes aside, I don't think any of the teams you mention deserve a priority pick.

It's an interesting argument and depends on your definition of 'deserve' - I think it's more a question of need.

We all know that the playing field is not even, and the idea that priority picks 'reward mediocrity' is furpphy to me. We have been consistently ordinary for 4 years straight, and at a minimum we are 2-3 years away from having a consistently competitive side assuming the majority of our draftees develop into good players, and we find a way to kick 3-5 more goals per week. An extra pick would provide a small benefit to help close the gap for those 3 teams who have consistently under performed.

The issue with our scoring has been something I have banged on about 2 years, and the simple fact is we haven't really improved. Our conversion improved slightly [so we scored slightly more] but our scoring shots went down. I predicted at the start of the year we would finish bottom 4 because I couldn't see how we would score enough to win more than 25% of our games. It is statistically shown that you will win about 1 in 4 games if you only have 20 scoring shots - and this is exactly what happened this year for us.

Have a look at the Bombers rise this year - there defence is marginally better than ours but they will end up scoring 600 points more than last year through the development of their drafted forwards and recruiting [Greene and Stewart] to spread the load. I will confidently predict again that we will not move up the ladder in 2018 until we find a way to have 5-6 more scoring shots each week and convert those into 3-4 more goals.

I would have loved to have button holed Bolton but the whole coaching group didn't look like they were keen to engage with anybody - especially an opinionated punter like me!! I've actually never seen a more depressing footy dressing room in my life!

[ElwoodBlues1]

It's an interesting argument and depends on your definition of 'deserve' - I think it's more a question of need.

We all know that the playing field is not even, and the idea that priority picks 'reward mediocrity' is furpphy to me. We have been consistently ordinary for 4 years straight, and at a minimum we are 2-3 years away from having a consistently competitive side assuming the majority of our draftees develop into good players, and we find a way to kick 3-5 more goals per week. An extra pick would provide a small benefit to help close the gap for those 3 teams who have consistently under performed.

The issue with our scoring has been something I have banged on about 2 years, and the simple fact is we haven't really improved. Our conversion improved slightly [so we scored slightly more] but our scoring shots went down. I predicted at the start of the year we would finish bottom 4 because I couldn't see how we would score enough to win more than 25% of our games. It is statistically shown that you will win about 1 in 4 games if you only have 20 scoring shots - and this is exactly what happened this year for us.

Have a look at the Bombers rise this year - there defence is marginally better than ours but they will end up scoring 600 points more than last year through the development of their drafted forwards and recruiting [Greene and Stewart] to spread the load. I will confidently predict again that we will not move up the ladder in 2018 until we find a way to have 5-6 more scoring shots each week and convert those into 3-4 more goals.

I would have loved to have button holed Bolton but the whole coaching group didn't look like they were keen to engage with anybody - especially an opinionated punter like me!! I've actually never seen a more depressing footy dressing room in my life!

2nd last for Inside 50's...cant kick goals from the half backline.....and when it does get down there we only have 5 forwards usually due to the defensive game plan.
Thats not a recipe for goalscoring.....

[blue4life]

Like I said earlier in the season if we lose Cripps we are stuffed and wont win many games...we have to fix that pronto...Casboult looked intimidated by Grundy and outbodied.....
Graham...goodbye...Kerridge has been reasonable but is a stop gap until we get better replacements...

Defenders don't need to outbody Levi, they only need to be able to position themselves properly because he can't change direction.
With a clear run at it he'll mark it more often than not, but take that out of his game and there's not much left.
Graham should be delisted, along with Jaksch, Buckley and Sumner, not sure about the status of Gorringe but hell never make the cut IMO.
If Casboult isn't traded I'd delist him as well, and if McKay doesn't measure up have a rethink then but persevering with Levi will take us nowhere.

[ElwoodBlues1]

It's an interesting argument and depends on your definition of 'deserve' - I think it's more a question of need.

We all know that the playing field is not even, and the idea that priority picks 'reward mediocrity' is furpphy to me. We have been consistently ordinary for 4 years straight, and at a minimum we are 2-3 years away from having a consistently competitive side assuming the majority of our draftees develop into good players, and we find a way to kick 3-5 more goals per week. An extra pick would provide a small benefit to help close the gap for those 3 teams who have consistently under performed.

The issue with our scoring has been something I have banged on about 2 years, and the simple fact is we haven't really improved. Our conversion improved slightly [so we scored slightly more] but our scoring shots went down. I predicted at the start of the year we would finish bottom 4 because I couldn't see how we would score enough to win more than 25% of our games. It is statistically shown that you will win about 1 in 4 games if you only have 20 scoring shots - and this is exactly what happened this year for us.

Have a look at the Bombers rise this year - there defence is marginally better than ours but they will end up scoring 600 points more than last year through the development of their drafted forwards and recruiting [Greene and Stewart] to spread the load. I will confidently predict again that we will not move up the ladder in 2018 until we find a way to have 5-6 more scoring shots each week and convert those into 3-4 more goals.

I would have loved to have button holed Bolton but the whole coaching group didn't look like they were keen to engage with anybody - especially an opinionated punter like me!! I've actually never seen a more depressing footy dressing room in my life!

Bombers have Joe Daniher who has gone from being a bit of a joke to a quality player...not many blokes his size have his leap and pace....watched him take several bounces from the middle and kick 60 m goals on the run and he couldnt be run down.....
Harry Mckay has to be our Daniher or Ben Brown or we will go nowhere ...you need that reliable 50 goal plus forward who the opposition have to plan for every week...

[Baggers]

It's an interesting argument and depends on your definition of 'deserve' - I think it's more a question of need.

We all know that the playing field is not even, and the idea that priority picks 'reward mediocrity' is furpphy to me. We have been consistently ordinary for 4 years straight, and at a minimum we are 2-3 years away from having a consistently competitive side assuming the majority of our draftees develop into good players, and we find a way to kick 3-5 more goals per week. An extra pick would provide a small benefit to help close the gap for those 3 teams who have consistently under performed.

The issue with our scoring has been something I have banged on about 2 years, and the simple fact is we haven't really improved. Our conversion improved slightly [so we scored slightly more] but our scoring shots went down. I predicted at the start of the year we would finish bottom 4 because I couldn't see how we would score enough to win more than 25% of our games. It is statistically shown that you will win about 1 in 4 games if you only have 20 scoring shots - and this is exactly what happened this year for us.

Have a look at the Bombers rise this year - there defence is marginally better than ours but they will end up scoring 600 points more than last year through the development of their drafted forwards and recruiting [Greene and Stewart] to spread the load. I will confidently predict again that we will not move up the ladder in 2018 until we find a way to have 5-6 more scoring shots each week and convert those into 3-4 more goals.

I would have loved to have button holed Bolton but the whole coaching group didn't look like they were keen to engage with anybody - especially an opinionated punter like me!! I've actually never seen a more depressing footy dressing room in my life!

Thank you for your insights SBF, getting your comments re mood in the rooms, on the spot witnessing of our capitulation... much appreciated. Much can be read when you're right there. Hope your little one wasn't too disheartened by what he/she witnessed. My kids grew up on games at PP, MCG and Waverley in the 80s... yep, spoilt!

Concerns me that the mood was depressed... should have been anger.

Perhaps it will ultimately be a good thing that our weak underbelly was exposed for all to see. Yes, we were missing 7 or 8 first picked blokes... but it was much the same last week and the week before. So that aint an excuse/reason. This was about mental toughness. You only need one bloke to be soft and it can and does undermine spirit... take a bow, Meat.

The CFC supporters have shown herculean tolerance and patience over a long period and particularly the last two years. If we turn at 3 and 8 (or thereabouts) midway through next year then I suspect membership will fall and patience will have run out and a steely gaze will be upon the place from CEO down.

I believe we need to be more aggressive than ever at this year's draft and bring known midfield talent / depth into the place, and get rid of the last of the non hackers (Meat included). We need more mentally strong blokes in the place.

[PaulP]

It's an interesting argument and depends on your definition of 'deserve' - I think it's more a question of need.

We all know that the playing field is not even, and the idea that priority picks 'reward mediocrity' is furpphy to me. We have been consistently ordinary for 4 years straight, and at a minimum we are 2-3 years away from having a consistently competitive side assuming the majority of our draftees develop into good players, and we find a way to kick 3-5 more goals per week. An extra pick would provide a small benefit to help close the gap for those 3 teams who have consistently under performed.

The issue with our scoring has been something I have banged on about 2 years, and the simple fact is we haven't really improved. Our conversion improved slightly [so we scored slightly more] but our scoring shots went down. I predicted at the start of the year we would finish bottom 4 because I couldn't see how we would score enough to win more than 25% of our games. It is statistically shown that you will win about 1 in 4 games if you only have 20 scoring shots - and this is exactly what happened this year for us.

Have a look at the Bombers rise this year - there defence is marginally better than ours but they will end up scoring 600 points more than last year through the development of their drafted forwards and recruiting [Greene and Stewart] to spread the load. I will confidently predict again that we will not move up the ladder in 2018 until we find a way to have 5-6 more scoring shots each week and convert those into 3-4 more goals.

I would have loved to have button holed Bolton but the whole coaching group didn't look like they were keen to engage with anybody - especially an opinionated punter like me!! I've actually never seen a more depressing footy dressing room in my life!

sbf, as always, you make some fair points. I reckon one possible reason for the coaching group looking miserable is that they got a reality check for how much work still needs to be done to be a genuine challenger, which then means more green shoot propaganda, more of a hard sell to fans etc., not to mention the actual real work of drafting, trading developing etc., and making sure it's all done right.

wrt to a PP, if I was the AFL, I would not be looking at the MM years at all. That IMO is in the past. I would tell the club :
- you have 5 RS nominations this year, one last year, one of whom is playing CHF and looks a chance to be the best player in the comp
- you have plenty of high draft picks, through draft and trades.
- you have a stated policy of playing youth, which makes it harder to win games
- you have been competitive most of the season, including being ahead in the 4th in 7 games, and including knocking over GWS and the Swans, and if you want to gild the lily, the Hawks as well.

In conclusion :

NO PP FOR YOU !!