2018 Rd 1 Post Game Party: Carlton vs Richmond

[LP]

When we went two players down we had opportunities for KPPs to hurt opponents in contests and marking contests, teams like the Swans or Dawks wouldn't hesitate to take that opportunity. Think of Sandilands marking anywhere, those big knees take a genuine toll on opponents, Ryder is another! Think of Gibson and Hodge, Franklin, Kennedy, Roughead and Lynch. It's the intimidation factor not just the ability.

Jones, Casboult, Weitering, Machbank, Cripps, Charlie need to use their bulk. Cripps does but after the loss of Kennedy he rarely got to the drop zone. Charlie was under some heat after the first quarter so it's tough when someone is hanging off you 80% of the time, yet he'll get better.

I'm not confident Casboult or Jones will change, they have been that way for a long long time.

Weitering and Marchbank will need to either get hot or find a new role, as good as Marchbank was, can we really afford a 193cm x 90kg player in a Simmo running type role!

If McKay, Kerr, De Koning, Lobbe, Phillips, O'Shea get an opportunity I'm looking for some aggression from them.

Out of our whole club I think it's only Kreuzer, ACoS and Rowe I see truly making use of their bulk.

Of the kids, I've liked glimpses from Macreadie and Williamson, they play a hard brand of football some of the older guys should follow. I think Kerr has it in him, and McKay has shown moments but he needs to put together a lot more of them.

I'm a bit worried some of big blokes want to become the next Tom Lamb, all flair and run but no grunt, but Lamb didn't make the cut and our lot might not as well!

[shawny]

I'm a little unsure how to access our game to be honest.

We played a better looking brand of footy but still lost and if they kicked straight possibly would have been a smashing YET we were 2 important men down and played last years premiers.
They had a massive number of inside 50s which is not a great sign defensively YET 2 of our forwards kicked 5 goals which hasn't happened in god knows how long.

Next 4 weeks will be a very accurate guide as to how we are progressing - would want to comfortably take the points next week and expect to win MIN of 2 out of the next 3 to convince me all the hype about our development is warranted.

Any less then 3 wins from the first 5 rounds and brace yourself for another long year. 

[Inboltswetrust]

Everyone is going to bang on about how well we done against last years permiers etc etc.
Well I call bullcrap. We were outscored by 9 goals after the first 10 minutes of the game and if not for our accuracy and Richmond's profligacy we would  in fact lost by over 10 goals.
Weitering is useless, how does a number 1 draft pick defender not know how to actually defend. Kudos to Jones and Marchbank, because they got NO help from Weiters.
In the middle, it looked like Cripps dominated, but getting the ball and quick handballs along the ground that just result in pressure and turnovers.. he is better off just halving the first contest. It reminds me of when we had Carrots getting 40 touches a week. Seriously if Kennedy wasn't injured I would consider not playing him.
We have Charlie and Matty Wright doing the stuff up front, but Jack needs to realise he is not his father's bootlace and he needs to be dropped as well.
Bolton gets points for idiot of the week for putting Kreuzer back on as a statue in a game were we were already worried about their pace and spread at times and he looked horrible in that last quarter, if Bolton cannot get that and get him straight off the ground, then what exactly is he being paid for? To come to the press conference and smile a big grin and tell us how excited he is by the efforts of  Charlie or Marchy.. Yeah we all are Bolts, but how about stop being a cheerleader and start actually fixing the crap on game day that isn't working. Honestly the guy is still absolutely unproven other than he doesn't know how to win games that we have a chance in.
I am a fan of Murphy he has been a stalwart, but his immpact on such a huge game was negligible, if you are on the ground and the game is there to be won Murphy, maybe you need to start looking at how other captains play in these situations. Bystander.
Last of all to our newest 'gun' Paddy WOW...
I think Paddy will be pretty good to be fair, but I am in no mood for finding the positive right now, so I will point out the obvious. He plays like a 17 year old kid. He doesn't get the pace of the game yet, isn't clean enough yet and doesn't have any physicality at all.

Others can be as happy as they want with honourable losses, but screw that. We had less than 50 tackles, less than 50 inside 50s and were flattered on the scoreboard and carried by Charlie, Wright, Simmo. Marchy and a couple of others.

It makes me want to throw up and crap myself at the thought that we should be "happy" with that performance

This surely has to be the WORST comment I have ever read in a post in my 10 years on the site.  I cannot believe someone could post this.  Drop Crippa?  He had 36 possessions, 25 contested?.  Um, seriously some people.

[Inboltswetrust]

Everyone is going to bang on about how well we done against last years permiers etc etc.
Well I call bullcrap. We were outscored by 9 goals after the first 10 minutes of the game and if not for our accuracy and Richmond's profligacy we would  in fact lost by over 10 goals.
Weitering is useless, how does a number 1 draft pick defender not know how to actually defend. Kudos to Jones and Marchbank, because they got NO help from Weiters.
In the middle, it looked like Cripps dominated, but getting the ball and quick handballs along the ground that just result in pressure and turnovers.. he is better off just halving the first contest. It reminds me of when we had Carrots getting 40 touches a week. Seriously if Kennedy wasn't injured I would consider not playing him.
We have Charlie and Matty Wright doing the stuff up front, but Jack needs to realise he is not his father's bootlace and he needs to be dropped as well.
Bolton gets points for idiot of the week for putting Kreuzer back on as a statue in a game were we were already worried about their pace and spread at times and he looked horrible in that last quarter, if Bolton cannot get that and get him straight off the ground, then what exactly is he being paid for? To come to the press conference and smile a big grin and tell us how excited he is by the efforts of  Charlie or Marchy.. Yeah we all are Bolts, but how about stop being a cheerleader and start actually fixing the crap on game day that isn't working. Honestly the guy is still absolutely unproven other than he doesn't know how to win games that we have a chance in.
I am a fan of Murphy he has been a stalwart, but his immpact on such a huge game was negligible, if you are on the ground and the game is there to be won Murphy, maybe you need to start looking at how other captains play in these situations. Bystander.
Last of all to our newest 'gun' Paddy WOW...
I think Paddy will be pretty good to be fair, but I am in no mood for finding the positive right now, so I will point out the obvious. He plays like a 17 year old kid. He doesn't get the pace of the game yet, isn't clean enough yet and doesn't have any physicality at all.

Others can be as happy as they want with honourable losses, but screw that. We had less than 50 tackles, less than 50 inside 50s and were flattered on the scoreboard and carried by Charlie, Wright, Simmo. Marchy and a couple of others.

It makes me want to throw up and crap myself at the thought that we should be "happy" with that performance

After digestion of this post, if you delete the 'stupid Crippa to be dropped comment', I actually agree with many of your comments.

[cookie2]

This surely has to be the WORST comment I have ever read in a post in my 10 years on the site.  I cannot believe someone could post this.  Drop Crippa?  He had 36 possessions, 25 contested?.  Um, seriously some people.

TBH I thought he was having a lend of us?  ???

[Inboltswetrust]

Oh I forgot to add... Levi Casboult.
Yeap you played a good game in a who gives a crap preseason hitout, but tonight you reminded us we are at the only football club stupid enough to give you a game every week. Are we running and AFL version of a soup kitchen where instead of food we hand out games of football to the bloody poor, useless and needy? If we want to actually win games instead of just being happy to not be thrashed then why is he playing?

Hate is a strong word.  You should only use it on very 'select' occasions when you absolutely feel like punching someone directly in the nose.  I HATE the way Levi plays the game.  I would absolutely love if he was dropped for ever, then use a stanley knife to scratch off his stupid 41 from the locker so he can not be remembered as a Carlton player.

[Bear]

Agreed. Little Zac has shown a very steady rate of improvement. He always looks so focussed. Maybe that's why he's progressed so well. That and his increasing tank. It's likely we have a capable Murphy replacement.
He's becoming one of my favorites. His kicking is superior to many of our seasoned players as is his attack on the ball. Like a Jack Russell Terrier is our Fisher.

Next to Curnow, thought he was one of the big positives.

Easily his best game - looked like an AFL player, and will get better.

[Inboltswetrust]

My take on tonight's game for what its worth.

I thought we started very well.  I loved the intensity and the way we looked to play on at all cost, even though some of our ball movement was down right crazy and risky.  Still it created a 5 goal lead.  Kudos.  Then an awful thing happened.  We begin to doubt the fact that we had actually achieved this and started to 'park the bus' and go back to the tried and true way to stop sides from scoring.  We went into our shells and began to shirk contents, looking for the easy possession.    After this happened, it was all over, the only thing to consider was, by how much?  The 26 point loss in the end flattered us.  It should have been well over 70 points.  When you look at the important stats- e.g inside 50's, tackles and marks inside 50... we were flogged.  If we only have 47 inside 50's and 40 tackles next week, Gold Coast beat us.    So what are the main issues IMO?  Well firstly, I think we are very poorly coached.  I don't believe in Bolton at all.  I think he is a junior cadet trying to make it in the big league.  I'm sick of his crap actually.  The Greenshoots, the Learned Readiness, the Learned Bulldust, whatever it's called, it's rubbish.  Truth is, he has a HORRIBLE win/loss record for a coach who has just coached his 50th game.  Yes we are young, but doesn't matter.  You lead by 30 points to 1, you should win most games, despite the opposition.  It is simply to big a head start- or should have been.
The captain is a major issue.  He is soft and poorly skilled.  I cannot believe how many times he turned the ball over with an errant handball or mis-kick which went directly to the opposition.  In terms of leadership, he does not inspire.  Why did we not give the captaincy to Crippa, Simpson, etc.  Unfortunately we really lack leadership- someone who is going to demand standards out there, lead by example, and crack the odd skull if need be.  Then there is the issue of some players just simply not being good enough to play AFL.  Some names that come to mind are Levi, Lamb, Ed Curnow, Byrne, Silvangni and Dow (at the moment).  Why wasn't Harry Mackay, Cunningham, O'shay etc. tried last night?  I think Harry and Cunningham are being 'punished' for some reason.  Well it just doesn't make sense.  If they are bad trainers, then fix the problem with a solution rather than excluding them from the group.  Make them work hard, give them more drills etc.  Surely can't be too hard.  Truth be known, I really didn't like that performance last night.  Richmond were going half pace for a lot of the game, missed shots and had some important outs.  I don't think we've improved much, other than a few shining stars (Charlie) getting better and in patches, we showed for we could move the ball quicker- if we chose to, which wasn't often enough.  We need to play Harry next game, drop the obvious hackers from last night, bite the bullet on Silvangni and send him to the 2's.  Don't play Levi again and don't give him another contract.  Tell them next week against Gold Coast to take the game on for at least a half and see what happens.  Not 15 minutes.  I fear it is going to be a long year with the administration we have at the helm, but let's hope for better next week against a side we should beat at home by 40 points.  I'll reflect on this in my next post next week.

[Hubba]

Next to Curnow, thought he was one of the big positives.

Easily his best game - looked like an AFL player, and will get better.

Loved when he got polaxed by Nankervis jumped straight back up and showed no signs of emotion.

[cookie2]

Agreed. Little Zac has shown a very steady rate of improvement. He always looks so focussed. Maybe that's why he's progressed so well. That and his increasing tank. It's likely we have a capable Murphy replacement.
He's becoming one of my favorites. His kicking is superior to many of our seasoned players as is his attack on the ball. Like a Jack Russell Terrier is our Fisher.

Absolutely. Zac will be an excellent player for us.