Elimination Final: Blues v Swans Match Thread MCG

[Mel_C]

I need my eyesight checked. Both of those review goals were called touched. I could not see either touched. Or Maybe the Goal review guy needs his eyesight checked.?

From the ground, the first one was definitely touched. I couldn't tell looking at the screen whether the second one was touched. The radio seemed to think that there was a gap between the ball and the fingers. The zoomed in footage just looked a blur. If only we kicked those 2 shots a little higher!

[Nico]

I have to admit we lost against a team that ain’t that good but did bring pressure better than I have seen the do for some time.

And we tagged all their midfield which I am trying to come to terms with ie is our midfield so inferior we need to have so many of our mids running with and or tagging?

It almost felt that if Gulden didn’t play we would have lost by 6 goals?

Agree with that. Gulden's last quarter was special. That mark he took in the back pocket was outstanding.

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From the ground, the first one was definitely touched. I couldn't tell looking at the screen whether the second one was touched. The radio seemed to think that there was a gap between the ball and the fingers. The zoomed in footage just looked a blur. If only we kicked those 2 shots a little higher!

One frame showed it looked touched, but the next frame from a slightly different angle showed there was a clear gap.

[waswan]

We are the last team to complain about score review but the process worked tonight, not enough evidence to overturn the soft call.

The process itself is flawed with poor tech but that is the current process

[Nico]

I have to question Amartey's value to the team. When the ball hit the ground he was useless. On the side where I was sitting, twice Weitering gathered the ball but Amartey was too slow to pick up the play, or just too slow. He put no pressure on Weitering.

[MarshallG]

Inaccurate kicking has been a recurring problem all year and has cost us multiple games

I was sitting next to a couple who had made the flight down from NSW.
She was clearly the Swans supporter, he was there out of duty.
At the end of the 3rd qtr they were 10.6, we were 7.9.
His comment to his partner, "You are beating them in points"
The highlight of my night.

A frustrating match, we let them have too many loose men and, our decisioning making was not what it could have been.
Some excellent performances by some of our players.

A normal 30 min trip home took 2 hours.
Due to the incident in the city.
Thoughts go out to all affected, puts things in perspective.

[Kafka's Ghost]

Me too! Desperately want the the Dees to knock over Carlton.

I fear, however, that Melbourne might be ripe for the picking. Injuries and a possible suspension make them vulnerable, unfortunately.

Carlton will be missing McKay and Martin. But I think you’re right. Melbourne’s injuries are to more vital players. By the way, the report of the McKay injury on the AFL site seems to be a classic example of Vicbias. Apparently McCartin hit him with the back of his head.


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[Matty10]

Agh. How frustrating. Sums up our year in some ways - both never quite in it at times, then probably should have won a close one. Our goal kicking wasn’t great, but nor was some of our decision making forward of centre. The play involving Logan and Hayward will get attention, and fair enough, but there was another play when (I can’t remember who) had players streaming ahead of their Carlton defenders, but chose to go wide to Paps on the 50 at the 45 angle. It gave them time to flood back and man up. There were a few like that.

As for the debate re Longmire, boring. He threw the magnets around, it largely worked, and we opened up the play. Parker went from an ineffective presence in the first half to curbing their best defender and having multiple score involvements. We also nullified their two best players in Curnow and Cripps.

On the plus side, have to start with a shout out to my man Hayden McLean. He was just mighty. Amartey should seriously spend the off-season on Hayden’s tail to work on his fitness and how to stay involved in games. McLean’s marking was out of this world and if we won, would have been as responsible for it as anyone.

Tom McCartin really is a gem. He kicked Curnow’s butt and was generally stellar. Melican was very good too, and as an aside, I think Ben McKay can play, but watching tonight, dedicating $700K+ of our salary cap to a key defender doesn’t seem the priority to me.

Mills, Gulden, and Blakey were excellent, and I haven’t seen Campbell play so well in a big game as that. It bodes well for his continued improvement next year.

As for the two touched calls, I personally thought they were fair enough once the soft call had been made. My problem is with the concept of the soft call. If the goal umpire is unsure, say so and refer it.

I hope we fix our ruck contingency in the off season, and let both Isaac and Mills spend more time around the ball next year. Their big bodies make a mammoth difference. I’ll also be fascinated to see how we approach the trade period, and wouldn’t be surprised if we pull a left field move, potentially including trading out a player if it helps us fix one or two of our remaining structural issues.

Great post. Summed it up perfectly.

[i'm-uninformed2]

I have to question Amartey's value to the team. When the ball hit the ground he was useless. On the side where I was sitting, twice Weitering gathered the ball but Amartey was too slow to pick up the play, or just too slow. He put no pressure on Weitering.

I wasn’t at the ground so these are good observations but also a little reflective of my main issue with Amartey. He’s really feast or famine. I said earlier he could learn a lot from Hayden in that he finds a way to stay engaged in the game. It’s been a big part of McLean’s improvement.

When Amartey is on, he’s great. He attacks the contest, clunks marks, does a lot of desperate one percenters, etc - so the blueprint is there. But there’s not much in between. It may be a fitness issue, and I get his constant injuries wouldn’t help with that. But there’s a chicken and egg thing here, and I reckon a big pre season is essential for him.

[i'm-uninformed2]

You've saved me a lot of typing. I reckon you've nailed it. Except that I'd have Melican as more than "very good". If only we could have confidence in his body.

I think it might be time to make the "Jude Bolton" move with Parker. I was thinking this a few weeks ago, but tonight has reinforced that idea. I'm not sure he'll like the idea - everyone wants to be in the midfield - but John just needs to play him back tonight's second half to convince him how effective he can be. I don't think he's been an effective centre bounce player for a while now, but up forward his pressure and his marking power could be powerful weapons. He can still be a "break in case of emergency" option to throw on ball for times, but I reckon he could kick 30 goals as a nearly-permanent forward.

I like the idea for a few reasons.

One, what he can do forward of the ball. He can clunk mark and kick goals, we know that. But he will also halve a bunch of other contests simply because he’s so direct and hard at the footy, and provide ground ball presence that we need more of up forward. You saw tonight he kept one of the best three or four key defenders in the game completely occupied. And Carlton defenders got nervous near him. There were at least two goals created where they basically browned their dacks at the sight of him. Imagine thinking you’ve got Luke Parker about to clatter into you.

Two, he adds to our flexibility. As you say, he can still go in the middle for bursts. And he’ll be fresher and more effective when he does. He’s such a hard arse but it has to take a toll. But having him down forward also frees Heeney and Paps to spend reasonable time in the middle, where they are effective in different ways. When they do, our forward line lacks a bit of spark. Parker down there will help with that.

And three, it’s part of our transition. We need Sheldrick in the midfield from round 1 next year, Mills more permanently parked in there, and dynamic blokes like Campbell as a permanent part of our centre square and midfield rotation. It’s time to begin the shift to the midfield that’ll carry us through the next five years.

[Kafka's Ghost]

Regarding the comments about Amartey, remember he’s only played about 30 games, and has had a very interrupted season. I think he’s a little more advanced for his level of experience than McLean was at the same point, so he still has a lot of potential improvement ahead of him. If he improves at the same rate as Hayden and is able to get a clear run with fitness, I think he, McLean and McDonald will be a very formidable trio.


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[Auntie.Gerald]

Carlton dictated terms. Let’s be frank. Make no bones about it.

They controlled the game which enables you to win by one goal or five due to their lead and being able to shape the game to their advantage. There was only a small moment or two where their control of the game was tested. These surges were repelled.

I thought our backline defence cobbled together in the end but Mackay going off after being so brilliant with his long leads and marks let us back in due to Curnow increasing his long leads and then not being in scoring spots much.

I feel this season we are off the pace keeping up with the talent building in the top8 teams in 2023.

Our backline transitions make us look like a pretty good team to watch…….but wouldnt it be nice to have another electric player up front who can score points and a midfield that doesn’t have to tag or run with a fellow top8 team?

Wouldn’t it be nice if our pick 3 who is now 26 years of age (Callum Mills) was tagged in the midfield. Let him loose !

Wouldn’t it be nice if our 27 year old gun old Issac Heeney did t have to tag but was let loose on the ball?

These guys are getting the clean ball rather than the crumbs?

I don’t think it is ever looked so obvious that the Carlton Mids dominated.

Cripps, Docherty, Acres vs our starting centre line of BJ, McInerney and Warner just looked chalk and cheese.

Let Warner tag if he is playing in his shell.

It felt like the mids of Geelong in the GF last year where they dictated terms and we played catch up.

Will be fascinating to see how our coaching and recruitment isolate what we really need to make us the hunter and stop doing the hunting.

[Captain]

Regarding the comments about Amartey, remember he’s only played about 30 games, and has had a very interrupted season. I think he’s a little more advanced for his level of experience than McLean was at the same point, so he still has a lot of potential improvement ahead of him. If he improves at the same rate as Hayden and is able to get a clear run with fitness, I think he, McLean and McDonald will be a very formidable trio.


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Assume you weren’t at the game? Watching him before the ball got there, where he positioned himself and his efforts once it hit the ground showed that he had a shocker. Almost to the point of being embarrassing.

[waswan]

Carlton dictated terms. Let’s be frank. Make no bones about it.

They controlled the game which enables you to win by one goal or five due to their lead and being able to shape the game to their advantage. There was only a small moment or two where their control of the game was tested. These surges were repelled.

I thought our backline defence cobbled together in the end but Mackay going off after being so brilliant with his long leads and marks let us back in due to Curnow increasing his long leads and then not being in scoring spots much.

I feel this season we are off the pace keeping up with the talent building in the top8 teams in 2023.

Our backline transitions make us look like a pretty good team to watch…….but wouldnt it be nice to have another electric player up front who can score points and a midfield that doesn’t have to tag or run with a fellow top8 team?

Wouldn’t it be nice if our pick 3 who is now 26 years of age (Callum Mills) was tagged in the midfield. Let him loose !

Wouldn’t it be nice if our 27 year old gun old Issac Heeney did t have to tag but was let loose on the ball?

These guys are getting the clean ball rather than the crumbs?

I don’t think it is ever looked so obvious that the Carlton Mids dominated.

Cripps, Docherty, Acres vs our starting centre line of BJ, McInerney and Warner just looked chalk and cheese.

Let Warner tag if he is playing in his shell.

It felt like the mids of Geelong in the GF last year where they dictated terms and we played catch up.

Will be fascinating to see how our coaching and recruitment isolate what we really need to make us the hunter and stop doing the hunting.

Agree the middle of the ground is the issue, the fwd line is an issue as a result of the middle.

We only win the ball in defence, we need to win it in the middle.

[Matty10]

Carlton dictated terms. Let’s be frank. Make no bones about it.

They controlled the game which enables you to win by one goal or five due to their lead and being able to shape the game to their advantage. There was only a small moment or two where their control of the game was tested. These surges were repelled.

I thought our backline defence cobbled together in the end but Mackay going off after being so brilliant with his long leads and marks let us back in due to Curnow increasing his long leads and then not being in scoring spots much.

I feel this season we are off the pace keeping up with the talent building in the top8 teams in 2023.

Our backline transitions make us look like a pretty good team to watch…….but wouldnt it be nice to have another electric player up front who can score points and a midfield that doesn’t have to tag or run with a fellow top8 team?

Wouldn’t it be nice if our pick 3 who is now 26 years of age (Callum Mills) was tagged in the midfield. Let him loose !

Wouldn’t it be nice if our 27 year old gun old Issac Heeney did t have to tag but was let loose on the ball?

These guys are getting the clean ball rather than the crumbs?

I don’t think it is ever looked so obvious that the Carlton Mids dominated.

Cripps, Docherty, Acres vs our starting centre line of BJ, McInerney and Warner just looked chalk and cheese.

Let Warner tag if he is playing in his shell.

It felt like the mids of Geelong in the GF last year where they dictated terms and we played catch up.

Will be fascinating to see how our coaching and recruitment isolate what we really need to make us the hunter and stop doing the hunting.

We lost the game, but in the end we should have won. Our opportunities to win were greater than theirs - and for much of the match - we just couldn’t convert.

Carlton were not in control or dictating terms. That is not a true reflection of the contest last night. 23 scores to 19 says a fair bit, as does Parker’s comment after the game that we ‘had them on the ropes’.

[grarmy]

Assume you weren’t at the game? Watching him before the ball got there, where he positioned himself and his efforts once it hit the ground showed that he had a shocker. Almost to the point of being embarrassing.

It is either a confidence issue or a lack of ‘smarts’. At times he looked bewildered. Yes, he is learning his craft but his education needs to be fast tracked…ditto for McDonald.