AFL Rd 1 2024 Post Game Prognostications Carlton vs Richmond

[RiverRat]

The team has NO confidence in Lewis Young!!

It seems that Lewis Young has little or no confidence in Lewis Young. 

However, his performances in the first two games represent improvements over his 2023 efforts.  Maybe there is hope for him yet.

[RiverRat]

Kemp was terrific all night but that 'Mark of the Year' attempt on the last line of defense was also a massive brain-fade, it looks great when it comes off but its too costly when it doesn't. Just do the team-orientated thing and give a defensive punch and follow it up on the ground.
 

Displays great athleticism and skill but makes too many errors due to indecisiveness and second-guessing himself.  Needs to create space for himself when he has the ball instead of hovering in the midst of the action.

[RiverRat]

Charlie should have had 5 goals, but ended with 2. That mark in the square was brilliant; the play on and get a rushed behind was almost comical. His defensive work late was good and he generally had the better of his duel, but he has brain fades that need work to fix.

A very instinctive player who desperately needs a dose of poise to take the next step.

[RiverRat]

Individually, we had our fair share of blokes down, well down - Fantasia, Hollands, Cuningham. A large number of 'did their job' ...just. But then there were the blokes who really carried us and had exceptional moments - TDK, Saad, McKay, Kemp, Charles, Acres, Newman, Williams (that run down tackle late in the game to earn a free was just brilliant). Then, at the pinnacle, was Cripps and McGovern.

...and some pretty handy blokes to return in the coming weeks...

Fantasia and the other small forwards need to convert the limited number of chances that they get - not doing so will likely cost Fantasia a spot in the team if/when another option is available.

Hollands seems to be less productive than last year but he is always committed to chase and tackle - an attribute that is catching on with a number of other players who were previously inclined to fade in and out of matches.  In that regard, I thought Cuningham was better than last week.

Very impressed with the number of tackles-on-the-run that players managed to stick last night.  Even Dusty was collared on multiple occasions.

[LP]

Hollands seems to be less productive than last year but he is always committed to chase and tackle - an attribute that is catching on with a number of other players who were previously inclined to fade in and out of matches.

A couple of reasons.

Firstly, 2nd year blues, everybody gets it and suffering from it has nothing to do with the player himself, it's all about opposition learning your strengths and weakness and going to work on them.

Lastly, we've tweaked our game plan, at least at the moment, maybe when Walsh and Weiters return you'll find a bit more return to normal for the running types. However, I'm all for the winning ugly stuff, we are demonstrating we can now put the brakes on opposition even if a few of our running types suffer. It will be interesting to see when Martin and Motlop are available if we retain this strong defensive capability, or if the bias tilts towards attack.

[LP]

Very impressed with the number of tackles-on-the-run that players managed to stick last night.  Even Dusty was collared on multiple occasions.

True, but of the heavy lifters I thought Tarranto and Hopper had pretty good nights for them.

Father time is catching up with Dusty he can't break those tackles as easily, will he get back to full Dusty after a few games, I doubt it, but he'll still have his moments. Even so it looks like we aren't intimidated by him anymore.

[LP]

I'm not sold on Fantasia again, two weeks in a row he's looked off the pace and timid, it may be because he's not yet familiar with the team-mates and that can make you hesitant.

But particularly 1/2-game for 1 tackle is not going to cut it from an AFL small forward, especially in a game which was so contested. He needs to get into the opponents as a bare minimum, learn to love the berserk, and get amongst it.

[laj]

I'm not sold on Fantasia again, two weeks in a row he's looked off the pace and timid, it may be because he's not yet familiar with the team-mates and that can make you hesitant.

But particularly 1/2-game for 1 tackle is not going to cut it from an AFL small forward, especially in a game which was so contested. He needs to get into the opponents as a bare minimum, learn to love the berserk, and get amongst it.

Long time off, he'll get the feel of it all again, possibly in the 2nds. As a last spot on the list well worth a punt. Eventually we'll get plenty from him, just not now or any time soon. He'll lose his spot to the other Hollands next game.

[laj]

Good to get away with that one if even we were ordinary. Last night worried me as I still respect Richmond. Plenty of stars from multiple premierships years still in that line up. They gave me the impression they be in contention for a spot in the bottom part of the 8.

[laj]

The omens are good. The only other time a side has been 2-0 after round 1 was us in 1979 when our round 3 game against Essendon was played before round 1. We were premiers that year!