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

[Mat0369]

I don't think they rest Jamo since he has not played much football in the pre-season. If they rest him it will be later in the season. The game against GWS is perfect for him to get a bit of form and fitness. I think if they rest Simpson he gets the rest later in the year as well. I also want to see his streak continue so that might be why I think they will do it later.

[Mat0369]

With Judd being rested that would mean Simpson will captain the team in his 150th straight game.

[Mat0369]

Monday night game this week. Saints at Etihad. I have a bad feeling about this one. Carlton really stuggle at Etihad.

[truBLUE]

they be good, if they want to be serious about top 4 nows the time

[Mat0369]

I was kind of expecting the loss last night but I did not expect it to be that bad. The Blues play like crap at Etihad. I was disappointed with the effort and the coaching moves more than anything.  St Kilda was able to manufacture a loose in the backline the entire game. The loose man was killing them when they went forward but Ratten refused to get someone to man him up. What was worse is the fact that when they would come out of the back half of the ground they were able to find loose men everywhere. They have become to susceptible to the switch as they try and cluster numbers into one quarter of the ground and then refuse to run when the ball is kicked out the other side to opposition numbers. Every time the ball went into the forward line to Waite he was outnumbered 2 on 1 with Blake trying to sheppard him out of the marking contest so the loose man could take an easy mark. Players fumbled balls all over the place, some were backing out of contests where they should have gone in hard. It was very frustrating to watch.

[Mat0369]

Same crap different week. Adelaide basically did to Carlton what St Kilda did but instead of manufacturing a switch they parted the blues up the middle like the red sea. The zone has not worked at all the last few weeks. Teams have found ways to pick it apart. The Saints used the switch. This week Carlton decided to not give up the switch and in doing so gave up the entire middle of the ground. Laidler has been a huge loss. He and Scotland are the two to make sure everyone is in place when building the zone from the back half. The mids are still not putting on enough pressure when the ball is cleared and continue to run one way. It happened against Richmond in round 1, it is still happening now. Carlton have come up against Melbourne at the perfect time. No Waite and Murphy is making it even tougher. The Waite loss was unexpected and I don't think anyone outside of the club really knew until selections last week. Hopefully he can play next week, they need his contested marking around the ground.

[PowerBug]

Are you guys scared this weekend?? :P I wouldn't be if i were Carlton. :D

[Mat0369]

Their interstate record is better then their record at Etihad. However Carlton were not spectacular against Melbourne. Hopefully they get some players back from injury this week.

[jezzablue]

scared of what exactly?

the top 15 in the comp can beat each other on their given day....lets see how it pans out on the night.
i think it will make for a good game, obviously im hoping it goes the blues way.
port are confident...it feels like we're (blues) going through the motions. if we can come out hard and effective with disposals we'll be sweet...we need to lift in those areas of the game...pretty simple when u think about it.

was great to have warnock back...his ruck work was missed.
mclean, bootsma and mclean added something with their work rate.
hopefully henderson and yarran can walk back in..

[Shaggy]

Carlton are still a class side, but the loss of Carrazzo and Murphy exposes them a fair bit. Judd will forever get the tag now, so it's up to the likes of Simpson, McLean if he is in, Gibbs and Scotland to keep the pace up and the ball moving.

When Carlton slow down they are just not the same team. For the Blues to be successful they need to keep up a frantic pace on the ball, attack and then counter-attacking consistently.


Last couple weeks, they haven't done that.

[Mat0369]

Carlton are still a class side, but the loss of Carrazzo and Murphy exposes them a fair bit. Judd will forever get the tag now, so it's up to the likes of Simpson, McLean if he is in, Gibbs and Scotland to keep the pace up and the ball moving.

When Carlton slow down they are just not the same team. For the Blues to be successful they need to keep up a frantic pace on the ball, attack and then counter-attacking consistently.


Last couple weeks, they haven't done that.

This is actually a really good point. Carlton look a super dangerous team when they play kamikaze football. It is well known that as a team they have struggled at Etihad stadium. The Hawthorn game last year was the perfect example. They played slow football the first half and kicked 1.8 to Hawthorns 7.10. In the second half they came out and played on at all costs, moved the ball super quick and just ran relentlessly. They kicked 7.10 to 2.8 in the second half and looked like they had the ability to dominate anyone they played. The problem with this gamestyle is that it takes its toll on you physically, with the amount of outs they have they will struggle to keep it up for 4 quarters. They as a team are also killed far to easily by opposition spread out of the midfield. The majority of the Carlton midfield do not run both ways and refuse to pick up their direct opponents. Until they play some defensive minded football in the middle, teams will continue to cut them up.

[PowerBug]

hehe.

[Mat0369]

I think it is season over for Carlton. The next month is going to be tough to overcome and the players have been dropping like flies. Murphy, Carrazzo, Waite, Henderson, Scotland, Kreuzer, Laidler, Duigan and Thornton are all out injured. Yarran has also been carrying this toe injury and does not look right at all.  That is 10 of the best 22  that are out injured. Add the depth players in Simon White (potential replacement for Laidler and Henderson) and Davies (would come in to a half back flank) they are going to stuggle badly. Laidler and Scotland are the generals in setting up that zone. They are not exactly in a position to drop players since they are running out of fit players so they are going to have to throw the team around. Yarran has to move forward and stay forward. He is struggling to run and if he is going to stay in the team he needs to move to an end of the ground where he does not have an opponent. Yarrans two best attributes are his pace and silky kicking. The toe injury is having an effect on that. Andrew Walker is going to have to move either back or onto the wing. He has been out of touch badly the last few weeks. I know he did not want to play back anymore and requested a move to the forward line but right now they are desperate for someone to play half back and run the ball out. He needs to take over the Heath Scotland role. Mitch Robinson should not be lining up at full forward. He has to go into the middle and win the hard ball. Carlton were getting smashed in the clearances and Ratten put Robinson who is a contested ball machine at full forward. Bower is to never play in the forward line again. He plays from behind too often and does not present up to the ball. Jordan Russell and Kane Lucas have to come into the team. In terms of tactics, Carlton need to stop playing a loose. It has worked against them and they have been burnt by it. They can not let a loose free in their back half because teams will continue to counter attack.

[Mat0369]

For the next month Carlton are going to need a core of 6 or 7 to try and carry this team. Judd, Simpson, Gibbs, Jamison, Betts, Walker and Hampson are all going to have to step up, show some leadership and set the tone for their younger team mates to follow. Ratten is already under pressure, they set the expectations at the start of the year to be a top 4 finish. Over the next month we will find out how good a coach he really is. I am going to go somewhere that not many Carlton supporters do in this rant. This next month is going to show how good a captain Chris Judd is. Judd was a premiership captain, but he was also surrounded by a strong leadership group. He needs to set the tone for this team. As a collective midfield group they have been forward running and do not put on enough defensive pressure. Judd as the teams captain has to come out early and set the standard. He has to tackle and tackle hard. He is a master at winning the contested ball but he needs to make sure that his defensive game is up to par and set an example for his team mates. If Carlton are going to have a chance to survive this horror month they need to win the contested ball and put defensive pressure on. It is going to be about attitude. If you put enough pressure on, even the best teams will crumble.

[Mat0369]

Since my last rant the teams have been released. There is good and bad news. Kreuzer who was looking at having surgery to fix the swelling in his knee has been named. This is a miracle. Carlton need him in the team especially with Waite expected out for 6 weeks (Ratten said he will have to come through the VFL since he has not been running). Henderson and Duigan have also come into the team with Bower and Curnow dropped from the team and Scotland injured. Russell was also in the mid week injury report with a hamstring. He would have been handy this week since he normally does the job on Stevie J and does it pretty well. Somehow Andrew Collins has kept his spot in the side. I don't understand how he keeps his spot in the team when Kane Lucas has been named an emergency. I really do not like Collins and I am still bitter over the Grigg trade. He does not look like he has the ability to play at AFL level and should not be with the team next year. With the doubt over Kreuzer and Henderson during the week I expect one of them to miss since Lucas and Curnow have been named emergencies. I am hoping that they can both play against Geelong as Carlton are going to desperately need them.