AFL 2023 Preliminary Final Carlton vs Brisbane Post Game Prognostications

[LP]

Williams has been in the system 11 seasons and played 136 games. If people aren't convinced about him given that extensive body of work, then even an additional 100 games won't make a jot of difference. He has played some great footy, has a nice bag of tricks and would be ahead of Marchbank and Cincotta at a minimum.

An in form and fit Williams can have at least the same level of impact as Martin.

For me the high pace of modern footy means you have to accept blokes not being available 24x7, we'd like 24x7 like it was back in the 70s and 80s, but it's never going to happen. It's too easy for someone like Maclure to wind up fans about players not being fit or durable, but the modern players would run Maclure at his best into the ground inside a 1/4 of footy and then he'd break down or end up suspended. Even modern rucks now move far more than the KPPS of the 70s and 80s, a player like TDK would leave the old time players in the dust, even some of the mids!

[Gointocarlton]

I heard comments on one of the TV footy shows about how the Carlton players supposedly looked satisfied and not showing that they took the loss bad after the PF whereas the GWS were all upset and crying. I had some intel from the inner sanctum passed onto me earlier this morning, the players were absolutely shattered in the rooms after the game. They were all absolutely gassed after the game, to a man they gave everything they had and absolutely zero left in the tank. As for the fast start, apparently Vossy got them super amped and fired up pre game. He actually thought after the game he may have got them too pumped too early.

[LP]

We don't listen to the media too much, 90% of what they say is garbage invented to fill a void.

Many were predicting our 2024 demise about 3 minutes after the final siren, apparently we can't come back from this, what they are really saying is that they are barracking for some off-season chaos to give them something to talk about!

[Thryleon]

I heard comments on one of the TV footy shows about how the Carlton players supposedly looked satisfied and not showing that they took the loss bad after the PF whereas the GWS were all upset and crying. I had some intel from the inner sanctum passed onto me earlier this morning, the players were absolutely shattered in the rooms after the game. They were all absolutely gassed after the game, to a man they gave everything they had and absolutely zero left in the tank. As for the fast start, apparently Vossy got them super amped and fired up pre game. He actually thought after the game he may have got them too pumped too early.

My only criticism on the prelim was that the boys should have come over and applauded the 14k of us who made the trek up and cheered the boys off the field even though we lost.

I felt worse the next day reflecting on how we had a built a good lead and let it go in a quarter.

[pinot]

Anyone that has played semi professional sports in a knock out situation whether in a cup game or final after a loss it's devastating I would have though the media with their back ground would understand that. No professional sports team celebrates losses.... they may have been relieved they made it this far to prove a point to themselves but they are in no way shape or form happy with losing no professional sports team is.

[DJC]

I heard comments on one of the TV footy shows about how the Carlton players supposedly looked satisfied and not showing that they took the loss bad after the PF whereas the GWS were all upset and crying. I had some intel from the inner sanctum passed onto me earlier this morning, the players were absolutely shattered in the rooms after the game. They were all absolutely gassed after the game, to a man they gave everything they had and absolutely zero left in the tank. As for the fast start, apparently Vossy got them super amped and fired up pre game. He actually thought after the game he may have got them too pumped too early.

My concern at the time was that our arousal level was too high and not sustainable.  If we had jagged another goal and kept Brisbane goalless in the first quarter, the result may have been different.  Once they got their first goal, and the first of the second quarter, the writing was on the wall.  It is a credit to our blokes that they fought it out and always had a sniff.

As for looking satisfied, what planet are those commentators from?

[townsendcalling]

How naive are those media people! The emotional reaction being beaten by a point compared to a team who was playing catch up by about 4 goals through the final quarter is totally different! I'm sure Adam Saad's message was fairly simple.... leave the ground with your head held high, remember where we've come from this year , don't forget today...and acknowledge the fans in the crowd.

[LP]

How naive are those media people! The emotional reaction being beaten by a point compared to a team who was playing catch up by about 4 goals through the final quarter is totally different! I'm sure Adam Saad's message was fairly simple.... leave the ground with your head held high, remember where we've come from this year , don't forget today...and acknowledge the fans in the crowd.

You respect your effort, you hold your head high, shoulders back and you respect the winners by shaking their hand and congratulating them on the win, you do not point fingers at anyone, and you learn from your opponent for the next season. This puts you in a right frame of mind to move forward.

The media demanding self-deprecation just exposing themselves as mental midgets and morons.

[LoveNavy]

How naive are those media people! The emotional reaction being beaten by a point compared to a team who was playing catch up by about 4 goals through the final quarter is totally different! I'm sure Adam Saad's message was fairly simple.... leave the ground with your head held high, remember where we've come from this year , don't forget today...and acknowledge the fans in the crowd.

And don't drop to the ground, lie down, and wallow per Dees.

As for media - planet Orbit ?

[kruddler]

Bit late to the party, but been on an extended road trip/holiday since last Thursday evening to see this match.

Haven't read through all of this, so apologies if this has been said by others or if others feel the opposite.

1. I thought we lost it at the selection table.
a) Marchbank over Kemp was the wrong call. Play them both if you have too, but Marchbank can not emulate Kemps marking ability...and i think we missed a lot of that down back.
Kemps ability to make a ball, be it an intercept, a contested mark or even just a switch across the ground, is reliable and its ability to kill a contest cannot be underestimated. Marchbank, who i am a fan of, didn't play terribly, but he wasn't able to kill a contest in the same way. Sure a good spoil or two, but that doesn't kill the contest, it just prolongs the contest to a ground ball. A definitive mark kills the contest.
b) Too many talls. 2 rucks and 2 key forwards meant we didn't have the same amount of run that got us up and going and started the streak. All 4 of those guys had their moments, but largely they were all middle of the road players on the day who we needed more from.

2. Following on from the above, when the ball hit the deck, they were just better. They were able to get to the ball, make the extra handball, get to the outside and clear the ball away or snap at goal. We were usually a step behind. Having more smalls with pace (Owies, Cuningham) is what made the difference mid year, and what hurt us when we didn't have them in the prelim.
Team balance.

3. You don't win too many games by scoring just 1 goal in almost 90 minutes of football. From late in the 1st to almost halfway through the last, we managed just 1 goal. The fact we got as close as we did was largely down to the start of the game, which was brilliant, but was never going to be enough.

All that aside....
Very proud of the year from our boys.....and our club as a whole. Certainly not perfect, plenty to improve upon, but we got more right this year, than any other year this century.

Also very proud of our supporter base. The 2 finals in Melbourne and even the final in Brisbane, we were loud and the equal of the opposition (at worst) despite being the away side in 2 of them. The Gabba MC kept pumping up the crowd with Brisbanes '19th man' (a ripoff from overseas, most notably the NFLs Seattle Seahawks 12th man) and while it got the crowd going, we equalled the noise which is something that actually shocked the locals - i doubt they'd ever heard that before.

All in all a good experience for myself, the club and the playing group.