Carlton vs Sydney (including spoilers)

[Mike_B]

Originally posted by NMWBloods
Wow that was crap...
...At least it's a win, but that's all it is.

Better than a loss, but agree not much more to take out of it...

[mpr104]

Originally posted by NMWBloods


McVeigh is never going to be a decent AFL footballer.

Neither is Ablett.

I thought Ablett was one of the better players and McVeigh got more involved than usual... kicked a crucial goal in the third 1/4.

[NMWBloods]

Originally posted by mpr104
I thought Ablett was one of the better players and McVeigh got more involved than usual... kicked a crucial goal in the third 1/4.

I think Ablett is just very very ordinary. Slow to make a decision, often the wrong one, and his disposal is not good.

I think McVeigh gives us very little. He seems to have very good skills but is just too slow to make decisions and lacks awareness.

[mpr104]

Originally posted by NMWBloods
is just too slow to make decisions and lacks awareness.

This was the whole team tonight and has been this season so far.

[BeeEmmAre]

People are a bit hard to please.
Sure it got very nerve wracking as we failed time and again to put them away, but I honestly thought for the most part we were pretty good tonight.
The skill level of some players was still down with some horrible mistakes being made by LRT, Bucky and others, but the teamwork so sorely missing in the first two rounds was there and it was a much better sign.
Leo Barry and Adam Schneider were terrific; I was impressed with Teddy Richards; Michael O'Loughlin and Brett Kirk were much better; Barry Hall only kicked one but did well up the ground despite Lance Whitnall also being one of his team's best players.
Chambers, well we're still looking to see if he can kick - surely the AFL Canberra followers will get a chance to find out next week.
Carlton also played some terrific football once they got into the game (after we failed to put them away), with Whitnall, Nick Stevens, Dylan McLaren, Eddie Betts, Kade Simpson, Anthony Koutoufides and others being quite good - especially with Jarrad Waite a late withdrawal and Matty Lappin cleaned up early.
They threw everything at us and we were able to answer the challenge and get the all important four points.
Not sure of the final free kick count, but I thought we got a fair go from the umpires at long last - I don't ask for preferential treatment, I just want the fair go I believe we got tonight.

P.S. Jason Saddington was rusty, as you'd expect from a player who hasn't played much footy in the last three years, but apart from a few mistakes (rust), I thought he was quite good and if he can stay on the park will be a very good pick up for the Blues - he did plenty of good things I thought.

PPS Brendan Fevola should NOT get suspended for the hit on Kirky. He was going flat chat and remained front on at all times, minimising contact as much as possible.
Commentators compared it to Byron Pickett, but Pickett turns side on and smashes blokes into the next suburb.
IMO a free kick and nothing more.

GO SWANS - the defence is underway!

[Q...]

By Christ, you are a hard lot to please!

I'm pretty sure that Perfection is a hard thing to achieve every week of every day or your life...

Go the Swans!!!

After the first five minutes, I didn't have any doubt...

[giant]

Ugly footy - can't win a premiership playing like that.

[ugg]

Schneider was really good in an unfamiliar role.
Richards started well but had to go back to plug a gap in our defence.
Ablett was ordinary, he's got to learn how to use the ball better.
Some real keystone cops stuff in the backline!

Still waiting for our first quick kick-in (could be a looooong wait).

[NMWBloods]

Originally posted by BeeEmmAre
People are a bit hard to please.
Sure it got very nerve wracking as we failed time and again to put them away, but I honestly thought for the most part we were pretty good tonight.

Originally posted by Q...
By Christ, you are a hard lot to please!

I'm pretty sure that Perfection is a hard thing to achieve every week of every day or your life...

Go the Swans!!!

After the first five minutes, I didn't have any doubt...

Sometimes I think I go to different games...

[mpr104]

Originally posted by BeeEmmAre
People are a bit hard to please.
Sure it got very nerve wracking as we failed time and again to put them away, but I honestly thought for the most part we were pretty good tonight.
The skill level of some players was still down with some horrible mistakes being made by LRT, Bucky and others, but the teamwork so sorely missing in the first two rounds was there and it was a much better sign.
Leo Barry and Adam Schneider were terrific; I was impressed with Teddy Richards; Michael O'Loughlin and Brett Kirk were much better; Barry Hall only kicked one but did well up the ground despite Lance Whitnall also being one of his team's best players.
Chambers, well we're still looking to see if he can kick - surely the AFL Canberra followers will get a chance to find out next week.
Carlton also played some terrific football once they got into the game (after we failed to put them away), with Whitnall, Nick Stevens, Dylan McLaren, Eddie Betts, Kade Simpson, Anthony Koutoufides and others being quite good - especially with Jarrad Waite a late withdrawal and Matty Lappin cleaned up early.
They threw everything at us and we were able to answer the challenge and get the all important four points.
Not sure of the final free kick count, but I thought we got a fair go from the umpires at long last - I don't ask for preferential treatment, I just want the fair go I believe we got tonight.

P.S. Jason Saddington was rusty, as you'd expect from a player who hasn't played much footy in the last three years, but apart from a few mistakes (rust), I thought he was quite good and if he can stay on the park will be a very good pick up for the Blues - he did plenty of good things I thought.

PPS Brendan Fevola should NOT get suspended for the hit on Kirky. He was going flat chat and remained front on at all times, minimising contact as much as possible.
Commentators compared it to Byron Pickett, but Pickett turns side on and smashes blokes into the next suburb.
IMO a free kick and nothing more.

GO SWANS - the defence is underway!

I wish I shared your optimism. The only difference between last week and this week was the skill level of the team we played.

[NMWBloods]

Originally posted by ugg
Still waiting for our first quick kick-in (could be a looooong wait).

This is a joke. At one stage Goodes picked up the ball, had 2 players free, but he dropped it and Schneider ran back to be the designated kicker and some of the options closed up.

[Carolyn]

Originally posted by mpr104
I wish I shared your optimism. The only difference between last week and this week was the skill level of the team we played.

Either way, we still won tonight's game

[Schneiderman]

Originally posted by NMWBloods
This is a joke. At one stage Goodes picked up the ball, had 2 players free, but he dropped it and Schneider ran back to be the designated kicker and some of the options closed up.

Yeah that was stoopid. The Blues even had Stevens kick out at times. Its almost like we continue to ignore the quick kick in rule is there. Why wouldn't Goodes kick it out? Its not like he is needed as a target anymore... because the speed will ensure any player in space can take the mark uncontested.

We also need to stop second-guessing our decisions. McVeigh did it and coughed it up. And the hard ball get we won on the sideline in the middle, only to have the next four consecutive passes deliberately take the ball all the way back into OUR 50 was sheer stupidity. It resulted in a goal when we finally turned it over, and I cant understand why we have started this year re-learning all of the lessons we took all of 2005 learning. Why not play like we did for the last 12 rounds? Rather than the first 10 of 2005?

Got me stumped.

[liz]

Gee that was painful. Why does this team seem to lose confidence so easily? They were in control early and thought themselves out of it.

I didn't think any player had a good game by his own standard, though hard to fault Jude's endeavour and it was nice to see him chipping in with a couple of goals.

Malceski certainly did enough to keep his spot for next week. Was very glad to see him start on the ground and then get decent ground time. He played like a member of the team, rather than a bit part player stuck on the end.

Mathews should have quietened his critics for another week or so. He was certainly one of the most consistent out there tonight.

Kirk was far from his best but a huge improvement on the last two weeks. That was key, I thought.

Goodes not great but I thought his composure was pretty telling when other defenders were losing their heads.

Bit disappointed with the Hyphen because he looked to go back into his unconfident shell. That sheparding free against him was definitely there, and it was dumb when he should just have gone for the mark. He was very lucky not to give another one away in the final quarter, when he clearly sheparded Fevola out and allowed Barry to take an easy mark.

Monty and Schneiderman both did some good stuff but both also had terrible fumbles at times.

Richards just so-so but that was an exquisite handball he dished out to Kirk in the first quarter.

Baz really is an excellent player. Even though he had a poor game, he still had an influence when it counted. To me that is the sign of a top notch forward. And he still managed to somehow rack up 26 points for Grant against me in FF.

Chambers - the less said the better. I sure hope Big Earl is out putting in the KMs to get himself match fit. Could be a debut coming up quite soon.

[Mike_B]

Originally posted by liz
Chambers - the less said the better.

Not much to say about his disposals, in fact, nothing at all, coz he didn't get 1 possession. Every other Swan had 10 or more, and he had 0.