Pre Game Perambulations: AFL 2020 R11 Carlton vs West Coast

[laj]

Got an extra week given the bye to review the hell out of that debacle and provide some honest 360 feedback, players, coaches, water boys, you name it. Freshen up for a few days then train the house down, and bring mouthguards fellas. As far as changes? Not really sure who can come in and make a difference but Moore has to go. McKay couldn't have been right, he was just as bad as Moore last night. Teague and the MC's challenge is to find a combination that plays consistently every week. At the minute, this team is junk in that regard and I'm sick of the excuses around this. I suspect that the combination doesn't exist amongst the current crop. They deliver brilliance one minute, then a 62 point turnaround the next.

Welcome to the world of a developing side. 2 steps forwards, one horrible, frustrating step back. Our ability to be brilliant and bad in the same game is something we have to get rid of.

[Gointocarlton]

Welcome to the world of a developing side. 2 steps forwards, one horrible, frustrating step back. Our ability to be brilliant and bad in the same game is something we have to get rid of.

Developing, always developing. Feels like they have been developing for 15 years.

[laj]

Developing, always developing. Feels like they have been developing for 15 years.

We are developing. You'll get these results sometimes at our stage, and it's worse now because more is expected. It's not happening overnight. That away the frustrations and you'll see overall it's alot better. We've combined brilliance with crap this year, as up and coming sides do. What side loses to Melbourne the wins at Geelong, the toughest of all grounds, the next. One week efficiency and ball use off the charts, as Bevo described it, and in the wet, other weeks not AFL standard. That's unfortunately what happens when developing. You dont have that consistency. Often we do it in the same game, costing us about 6 places on the ladder.

Live ladder looked good during the 2nd qtr showing us 6th. Looks crap now it's showing 12th.

[kruddler]

Got an extra week given the bye to review the hell out of that debacle and provide some honest 360 feedback, players, coaches, water boys, you name it. Freshen up for a few days then train the house down, and bring mouthguards fellas. As far as changes? Not really sure who can come in and make a difference but Moore has to go. McKay couldn't have been right, he was just as bad as Moore last night. Teague and the MC's challenge is to find a combination that plays consistently every week. At the minute, this team is junk in that regard and I'm sick of the excuses around this. I suspect that the combination doesn't exist amongst the current crop. They deliver brilliance one minute, then a 62 point turnaround the next.

Extra week?

We have 9 days until our next match. We play next Sunday.

Give the boys an extra couple of days, sure, but don't flog them. We need to be fresh for the eagles on their home deck.

[LP]

Cripps is broken, he needs a break or he won't be at our club much longer, and at the moment his trade worth is plummeting anyway. It doesn't look to me like Captaincy suits him.

I love him, but I think it's best for him to have him release the captaincy, get it onto Weiters or someone a few years younger as a long term project, a successor to Docherty. Set Cripps free!

Further if we think there is a chance he is going we might as well get him mentally and physically fresh and then get whatever we can out of him before he leaves. He has pride, he won't waste our time like Hendo or Tuohy.

We're highly unlikely to beat Wet Toast over there anyway, so why flog a dead horse next week! Further, Wet Toast have outside run that makes the Dawks look slow!

[PaulP]

Cripps is broken, he needs a break or he won't be at our club much longer, and at the moment his trade worth is plummeting. So if we think he is going we might as well get him mentally fresh and whatever we can out of him before he leaves.

We highly uinlikely to beat Wet Toast over there anyway, so why flog a dead horse!

Would he be willing to forsake another chance to play in front of family, maybe even try for a little redemption ?

[LP]

Would he be willing to forsake another chance to play in front of family, maybe even try for a little redemption ?

Looking at him, watching him, he probably thinks he is embarrassing his family at the moment, he looks depressed to me. He is panicked, and he punches the ground harder than he punches the ball or an opponent.

If not physical issues certainly mental, he needs a freshen up, something is not right.

If we think he is staying, go the long term, put him away for the season and let him break quarantine and go home to mum and dad's. It may hurt his pride in the short term, but he isn't a nuffa, he'll come around to the long term benefit. We shouldn't be running Cripps into the ground to squeeze the last drops of hope out of Simmo's or sMurph's career, which is a bit how it feels to me!

The feckers that remain, they are playing the remainder of the season for their careers, for some it's already over!

[PaulP]

Looking at him, watching him, he probably thinks he is embarrassing his family at the moment, he looks depressed to me. He is panicked, and he punches the ground harder than he punches the ball or an opponent.

If not physical issues certainly mental, he needs a freshen up, something is not right.

Yes, I can see where you're coming from. mbb said he now looks like a B-grader, and he's probably right. One has to wonder what the problem is. Arguably the highest paid bloke at the club, co captain, most marketable player, seems to get his way on important issues (i.e Martin in, Bolton out). I'd like to make my next comment without starting yet another furore, but I've wondered for a while whether he is really captain / leader material. There's a part of me that really worries about whether he is more like Kouta/Whitnall etc. and less like Hodge. Just sayin'. 

[LP]

Yes, I can see where you're coming from. mbb said he now looks like a B-grader, and he's probably right. One has to wonder what the problem is. Arguably the highest paid bloke at the club, co captain, most marketable player, seems to get his way on important issues (i.e Martin in, Bolton out). I'd like to make my next comment without starting yet another furore, but I've wondered for a while whether he is really captain / leader material. There's a part of me that really worries about whether he is more like Kouta/Whitnall etc. and less like Hodge. Just sayin'. 

It's a fair question, of course some will take offence at it, some will think you are baiting them. But watching, watching without bias or prejudice, what other conclusion can we come to?

Dismissing the question is just looking at life through Navy Blue glasses and doesn't really help anyone!

I love Cripps, I want him as a blue long term, but he is not coping at the moment, it's not just about form.

[cookie2]

Cripps' biggest problem imho is that he has only ever experienced senior football with us and we have not exactly been an ideal player development environment over the years. Some solid hard edged captaincy/onfield leadership experience from outside would have been very handy. He will be stress tested yet again in this game.