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Things Fall Apart.

Round 17 2024
Carlton 20-11-131 def Richmond 10-10 70- a sixty one point win.
Our leading goalkicker is Fantasia with 4 and we have 11 different players kicking goals
DeKoning isn’t playing..we don’t really miss him.
Cripps has 40 disposals, Acres is second best with  33
(Yes it was the wooden spooner, but we'd been travelling along pretty well)
We’re second on the ladder a game and a half ahead of third with a percentage of 118%
We have a settled admin board…at last
We have the best CEO in the business
We’re happy with our coach…for a change.
And most supporters are thinking this could be our year….even the media are starting to think of us in terms of flag favouritism

Round 4 2025  (our third game of the season)
Western Bulldogs 12-11-83 def Carlon11-9-74
Our leading goalkicker is Kemp with 5, but we only have 4 different Goalkickers
DeKoning plays-Thank heavens, it could have got really ugly
Cripps has 21 disposals, Acres has 15
We’re 16th on the ladder only ahead of 18th on percentage.
The President is gone.
The CEO is all but gone
Folks are increasingly unhappy with the coach…as is usually the case  in these situations.
And most supporters are wondering where the next win is coming from.

13 games from ’ rooster’ to ‘feather duster’.
What happened?
Injuries yes!
That destroyed our structures and we probably still haven't recovered.
But was it more?
Were we kidding ourselves?…It appears we may have been.
Footy clubs are a bit like the Titanic.
They look impregnable until they hit the iceberg.

Re: Things Fall Apart.

Reply #1 –
Just 100% guesswork on my part, but I suspect the ghosts of the tough years starting about a decade ago are still lingering in some fashion, as though our senior players, having endured wooden spoons, rebuilds, coach sackings etc are not quite sure how to take the next step and become a consistent winning team. Clearly they have gone part of the way.

List management and match day selection are well outside my wheelhouse, so I don't typically comment on those, and I couldn't tell you where our recruiting and match day selections sit compared to other teams.

The raw numbers tell you that winning a flag is pretty hard, and plenty has to go right. The process is never linear, and nor is it predictable.

Re: Things Fall Apart.

Reply #2 –
What happened:
- Changed HP guy - training is clearly different, is it better or worse? Too early to tell but right now, we aren't running out games, last year we finished games like trains. Is this fatigue in the second half affecting ball use and decision making?

- Lost 30-40 goals - Between Owies, Martin (when not injured) and Kennedy, we have lost some fire power up forward.

- We need Curnow and McKay in the same side preferably both firing or at least causing headaches for defenders.

They are the main items for me.
2021-Pi$$ or get off the pot
2022- Real Deal or more of the same? 0.6%
2023- "Raise the Standard" - M. Voss Another year wasted Bar Set
2024-Back to the drawing boardNo excuses, its time
2025-Carlton can win the 2025 AFL Premiership

Re: Things Fall Apart.

Reply #3 –
I still blame the mid season rule interpretation tweak last season re holding the ball.  Our players were previously good at gathering it riding the bump and then dishing it off, but flicking the ball around quickly replaced that after holding the ball which has really hurt players like Walsh who were good at fighting through the tackle.

That rule tweak alone nullified our one wood and gives the impetus to the running rebound game.

Which we are seeing is hurting us most on game day.
"everything you know is wrong"

Paul Hewson

Re: Things Fall Apart.

Reply #4 –
We've been rubbish since the Norf game were they bashed our blokes around.  Never recovered post that.
DrE is no more... you ok with that harmonica man?

Re: Things Fall Apart.

Reply #5 –
Think we are being kind to the list management crew and absolving them from blame when in IMHO they are clearly under the microscope and changes need to be made. Its a list of a few Chiefs who all need to be happy and firing every week, not just taking it in turns and then a long line of Indians who tail away badly after the first few.
You throw that in with Voss not being the best match day tactical coach and that gives him less levers to pull and we are scarily on the edge of another total rebuild.
No point sacking the coach, recruiters or saying everything is fixed with a win vs the Pies either and its going to be a long tedious season until we can review the season properly when its over but there has to be a point where the club have to tell the supporters we have failed in rebuilding this club and will need to go again.

Re: Things Fall Apart.

Reply #6 –
Quote from: ElwoodBlues1 – on
Think we are being kind to the list management crew and absolving them from blame when in IMHO they are clearly under the microscope and changes need to be made. Its a list of a few Chiefs who all need to be happy and firing every week, not just taking it in turns and then a long line of Indians who tail away badly after the first few.
You throw that in with Voss not being the best match day tactical coach and that gives him less levers to pull and we are scarily on the edge of another total rebuild.
No point sacking the coach, recruiters or saying everything is fixed with a win vs the Pies either and its going to be a long tedious season until we can review the season properly when its over but there has to be a point where the club have to tell the supporters we have failed in rebuilding this club and will need to go again.

Unfortunately EB I think there is a lot of truth in what you are saying. I’m unconvinced that a flag is within cooee for our current playing group. Hope I’m wrong.
Reality always wins in the end.

Re: Things Fall Apart.

Reply #7 –
Yep
We were decimated with injury towards the end of last season.
The start of this season has probably shown that our 'depth' is average at best.
That's indicated by the fact that despite a number of underperformers this year we are struggling to find replacements in the VFL.

Re: Things Fall Apart.

Reply #8 –
Quote from: Gointocarlton – on
What happened:
- Changed HP guy - training is clearly different, is it better or worse? Too early to tell but right now, we aren't running out games, last year we finished games like trains. Is this fatigue in the second half affecting ball use and decision making?

- Lost 30-40 goals - Between Owies, Martin (when not injured) and Kennedy, we have lost some fire power up forward.

- We need Curnow and McKay in the same side preferably both firing or at least causing headaches for defenders.

They are the main items for me.
How about the recruiting?....sold the farm for Smith, and recruited numpties like Evans and Haynes and gave away two competent players in Owies and Kennedy. And now we have to watch some of these younger teams move ahead of us like Hawthorn have done.

Re: Things Fall Apart.

Reply #9 –
I think the form of our top 10 players is also a valid reason. If you look at the John Nicholls votes under Voss, all those players are still on our list except Kennedy and Fisher. And most, except De Koning and Weitering, look off the pace - some slightly, some significantly.

Re: Things Fall Apart.

Reply #10 –
We probably need to add a word of caution here.
We're looking at things through a window of three disappointing results.
Things went South rather quickly.
A turn in fortunes, though it seems unlikely at this stage, is not impossible.

As EB suggested.... a knee jerk response is not what's needed.
Ride it out, and thoroughly review it at seasons end.
I think we've been here often enough to know that a coach change may bring about a sugar hit, but it's one that doesn't last.
.

Re: Things Fall Apart.

Reply #11 –
Quote from: ElwoodBlues1 – on
Quote from: Gointocarlton – on
What happened:
- Changed HP guy - training is clearly different, is it better or worse? Too early to tell but right now, we aren't running out games, last year we finished games like trains. Is this fatigue in the second half affecting ball use and decision making?

- Lost 30-40 goals - Between Owies, Martin (when not injured) and Kennedy, we have lost some fire power up forward.

- We need Curnow and McKay in the same side preferably both firing or at least causing headaches for defenders.

They are the main items for me.
How about the recruiting?....sold the farm for Smith, and recruited numpties like Evans and Haynes and gave away two competent players in Owies and Kennedy. And now we have to watch some of these younger teams move ahead of us like Hawthorn have done.
Recruiting appears to be a problem now since Austin started if you review his body of work. I was responded to "what's happened" since rnd 17 last year (I remember that win against Rich well as it I watched in Rome with the Colosseum in the background).
2021-Pi$$ or get off the pot
2022- Real Deal or more of the same? 0.6%
2023- "Raise the Standard" - M. Voss Another year wasted Bar Set
2024-Back to the drawing boardNo excuses, its time
2025-Carlton can win the 2025 AFL Premiership

Re: Things Fall Apart.

Reply #12 –
What happened?

We failed to rest injured players when we could have.
Instead of using our ladder position to advantage we got greedy.....or were plain silly and instead of getting fitter, we got more injured.
We got injured to the point we could barely name a side. Obviously winning at that point is a luxury you are not afforded.

So, off-season comes and we are sick of injuries so we sack anyone who gets injured. Trade away players we think we won't need in the future and essentially cut our list too deep.
We bring in only a couple blokes AFL ready blokes from elsewhere. 1 who is over the hill and 1 other who has been cut twice already. Hardly world beaters and not a patch on the talent we let go.

Now injuries have hit again, and without the same amount of depth as we had last year, we go into panic stations with less injuries than would cause dramas last year. That is, last we could cope with injuries better than we can this year because of our depth.

Now, we've played 1 bad game (well, 2 quarters) in R1 and 2 top 8 sides since and come up short fitness wise.

So in the Carlton way, rather than look at all of the above logically, we go full on emotional breakdown and want to sack the coach, and half the list (or more).

Problem is, we have some harder games and/or away games coming up which is terrible timing which will do nothing but compound the problem.

There was an article that pointed out that we have 2 games against....
Bombers, Kangas and West Coast.
Realistically, that should be 6 wins.
We've played 3.
Together thats 9 - 23 games this year means there is 14 other games

Things haven't "fallen apart".
Things are not going to plan currently.

Look at the time frame that things have 'fallen apart' and look at how many games we have left this season. Its the same amount....and some. If it flipped back the other way, we could finish on top and win the flag this year and do so with a leg in the air.
How likely that is can be debated forever and its not worth going into here.....but its a long season that has barely begun. so hang in there. Things can turn quickly if we get a bit of luck.

Re: Things Fall Apart.

Reply #13 –
I remain upbeat about this season - we have played crap footy so far, should have won 2 of the 3, and even against the Hawks we were stiffed.

Sometimes you learn more from your crap efforts than you do from your good ones.  There is a lot of good footy left in this team.

Just waiting for the rudder to steer us into calmer waters.....
This is now the longest premiership drought in the history of the Carlton Football Club - more evidence of climate change?

Re: Things Fall Apart.

Reply #14 –
Love the name of this thread. Reminds me of the Clark & Dawes sketch The front fell off