The rolling round by round preview and discussion thread *Round 11*

[remon tea]

Loving the impact of Armfield, although his ball usage is iffy sometimes. When you see Armfield running down the midfield, you know that Carlton's going to have a forward 50 entry, and with the potency that we have, it's a certain scoring opportunity.

The only change I can honestly see happening in the next 2 - 3 weeks is Bower out, Walker in.

Carn the blue boys!

[Mat0369]

I could see Bower getting dropped this week for Thornton. It will allow Jamison to play as a permanent back this week and Thornton would be the swingman. Terrible for my SC team but better for team balance.

[Mat0369]

I was at the game and it was a huge disappointment. When Carrazzo went down with his injury I did not think they would win. I had a feeling Essendon would run over them in the last due to Carlton tiring out. This was more a factor of losing two players so early in the game, being down to two rotations and the heat. It was very warm sitting in the stands, running around and playing it would just take the energy out of the team. Curnow also going down in the first basically screwed the rotations further. Fatigue can come into the result of a game, but the game was lost in the second quarter when fatigue should not have been a factor. Stanton had 3 or 4 early patches of play in the second quarter to set up Bombers goals. Carlton could not recover from that. They could not convert in the 3rd when they had the chance to bring the game back within reach. The loss of Carrazzo hurt as he could have either run with Stanton or gone to Jobe Watson to limit his influence at the stoppages. I don't think Ratten coached very well either. When Laidler is out there to only make up numbers, why play him in defense when you keep getting burnt in transition? Davey, Jetta, Crameri all burnt their opponents heading back towards goal with leg pace. Having Laidler back there is a liability. He finally moved him forward towards the end of the 3rd quarter but it was too late then.

I posted this after the Richmond game

here was one major problem I noticed last night and it cost Carlton quite a few goals. When Richmond won a clearance they were able to run and spread way to easily. The midfielders and backs were not chasing their men hard enough leading to open Richmond players all over the place forward of the ball. The defensive midfield pressure needs to increase otherwise when they play a team like Hawthorn they will get slaughtered. Missed tackles and angles of pursuit (on the man and ball) is something else which cost Carlton quite a few easy goals. Hopefully it is still rust and the pressure and tackling improves.


Disappointments:

Defensive running- Defenders and midfielders let there men get away from them way to easily. Richmond players peeled off their men far to easily and has to improve

Tackles- Richmond players were able to break far to many tackles or were sucking up 2 Carlton players and then giving the cheap handpass over the top to the open man. This has to do with angles of pursuit

Unable to kill contests- The ball is coming in and players either ran over the ball or just missed it completely. Happened a couple of times which resulted in easy goals.

I think these were still the major problems in the game along with the kicking at goal. When they had to convert they just couldn't. I lost count of how many times Stanton was out on the wing on his own or how many goals Essendon kicked from the goal square. They played well and took advantage of a team who did not look as hungry at the contest. Not to take a shot at a young guy but Kane Lucas is a perfect example. The ball is coming inside 50 and instead of hitting the ball in the air he lets his opponent take a mark with a pathetic spoiling attempt. The game against Collingwood I don't think that would have happened. The good thing is it is only round 4 and there is a long way to go until the end of the season. The bad is the injuries.

I can see McLean being dropped with Carazzo, Laidler, Yarran (possible) and Curnow all missing through injury. Ellard, Thornton, Russell, Warnock and one of Armfield (if fit) or Joseph to come in and do a defensive role. 

It will be good to see how they bounce back this week. It shows the character of the team and if they are ready to make a top 4 push after that sort of loss.

[jezzablue]

i watched on tv and i saw it exactly as you did...well said!
we played like crap and yet we only got beaten by 4 goals...they deserved to win by ten.
it was a weird...ugly game to watch.

weird to think but they beat us at our own game....style

with all respect to sandilands, gee i hope he doesnt play friday night.
if we're not switched on we will need all the help we can get...dockers look good on their day, although i rate us ahead of them..

[Mat0369]

I think Subiaco suits Carlton very well. The open space suits their gamestyle (unlike Etihad). Warnock will come in this week to play in the ruck against Sandilands. He had 53 effective hitouts in the VFL, that was a record amount. I don't like the idea of carrying 3 rucks but this would be the week to do it.

[truBLUE]

I think Subiaco suits Carlton very well. The open space suits their gamestyle (unlike Etihad). Warnock will come in this week to play in the ruck against Sandilands. He had 53 effective hitouts in the VFL, that was a record amount. I don't like the idea of carrying 3 rucks but this would be the week to do it.

+1 agreed , carlton play well up there and hopefully they will be pumped for redemption ,would love to see watson come back into defence at some point  :)

[Mat0369]

I would like to see the Blues use a lot of 3rd man up around the ground against Sandilands. Start Warnock at the centre bounce and then have Kreuz push up from the forward line to the stoppages to create a 2 on 1 in the ruck.

[jezzablue]

agreed....
our midfield rates way better than theirs...common knowledge that that position is the key...surely we wont be flat two weeks running!?

[truBLUE]

agreed....
our midfield rates way better than theirs...common knowledge that that position is the key...surely we wont be flat two weeks running!?

i hope not, should be ready to redeem after the last effort  :-\

[Mat0369]

Laidler had surgery on his knee. He is going to be out for 6-8 weeks. Walker is expected to play against Freo this week. Yaz and Curnow are rated as 50/50

[Justin Bieber]

Does that mean Thornton will get a game now?

[Mat0369]

I think it will depend on if Warnock and Walker play this week. If Walker plays they won't want to carry Warnock, Kreuzer, Hampson and Thornton all in the same team. They will want to use their pace at Subi and having 3 ruckman and Thornton is not the best structure.

Russell Henderson Tuohy
Duigan Jamison Bower
Scotland Gibbs Simpson
Walker Kreuzer Garlett
Betts Hampson Waite
Warnock Judd Murphy
Ellard Armfield Robinson Lucas (sub)

So the ins are Russell, Walker, Warnock, Ellard, Armfield
Outs: Laidler (knee), Yarran (toe), Carrazzo (shoulder), Curnow (ankle), McLean (dropped)

If they were not coming up against Sandilands in the ruck I think Warnock spends another week at VFL level and Thornton comes in. If the news of the Walker inclusion is just a smokescreen then Thornton comes in.

[jezzablue]

thank f a r k we have some depth...
didnt like hearing laidler had surgery yesterday, just hope walker and russell are raring to go.
i heard ellard was b.o.g. last weekend for northern blues. he'll be handy, always liked his attitude on the ground...
armfields looking as good as he ever has as well. his pace is top notch...breaks the lines some times...

[Mat0369]

Herald Sun says that Joseph is likely to come in for Carrazzo. It is going to be good to see the team sheets with so many possible changes.

[truBLUE]

Watson wonder why hes not consider ,He's a good young player and has a massive kick aswell would of thought they give him more senior time this season  ??? .