Preview 2023 Preliminary Final Carlton vs Brisbane Sat 23rd Sept 5.15PM @ Gabba

[Aphrodite]

TEAM IS IN …


IN: Jordan Boyd, Jack Martin

21

Jack Martin

Age

29

Ht

186cm

Wt

82kg

Pos.

Fwd

Career

Season

Last 5

D

16.2

4star

K

10.0

4star

HB

6.3

4star

M

4.9

5star

T

3.7

5star

G

0.9

4star

D

14.9

4star

K

7.9

3star

HB

7.0

4star

M

4.3

4star

T

3.6

4star

G

1.1

5star

D

8.2

2star

K

4.6

2star

HB

3.6

3star

M

1.8

2star

T

2.0

4star

G

0.6

3star

, Harry McKay

10

Harry Mckay

Age

26

Ht

200cm

Wt

106kg

Pos.

Fwd

Career

Season

Last 5

D

9.9

3star

K

7.5

3star

HB

2.4

2star

M

5.5

5star

T

1.6

4star

G

1.4

5star

D

6.6

1star

K

4.6

2star

HB

2.0

1star

M

3.6

4star

T

1.4

2star

G

1.4

5star

D

8.8

3star

K

6.8

3star

HB

2.0

2star

M

4.4

4star

T

0.8

3star

G

2.0

5star

OUT: David Cuningham, Brodie Kemp, Matthew Kennedy, Matthew Owies

AFL team selection: Four changes for preliminary final

Carlton has named its team for the preliminary final.

www.carltonfc.com.au

Backs:	Alex Cincotta	Jacob Weitering	Adam Saad
Half-backs:	Caleb Marchbank	Mitch McGovern	Nic Newman
Centreline:	Blake Acres	Patrick Cripps	Ollie Hollands
Half-forwards:	Tom De Koning	Harry McKay	Sam Docherty
Forwards:	Lachie Fogarty	Charlie Curnow	Jesse Motlop
Followers:	Marc Pittonet	Adam Cerra	Sam Walsh
Interchange:	Jordan Boyd	Matthew Cottrell	George Hewett
	Jack Martin
Emergencies:	David Cuningham	Brodie Kemp	Matthew Kennedy
	Matthew Owies

 

[The Bighouse]

Just watched the first of many last quarter replays.

Marchy is being crucified on here. Did a number of important things when the whips were cracking.

McGovern praised despite two god awful direct turnovers in the last. Cardiac material.

Mitch is a serial offender for major …. up’s.

 

[gandaal]

Out: Hewett, Cuningham
In: Harry, Martin

 

[Korn]

Also took some key marks and worked as hard as anyone to keep presenting as an option the other way...which was mostly ignored.

I thought he was ok.

Never happened. Stop making things up.
He was terrible.

 

[Show_Me_The_Money]

I do not fear the Lions

I'm shitting myself! They have had a week off and have a full list to choose from. We are all battered and banged up. Cripps still wearing that mattress on his ribs. Both wingers are now winged. If we win you can almost guarantee it will be by a straight kick or less. And we will need a bit of luck as well. Just like last night.

 

[Beyond Blue]

Team selection is going to be a massive one this week. IMO the Melbourne games was a loss that through sheer luck and individual brilliance became a win.

I think the team we have taken into finals has lacked a bit of leg speed over the field. That closing speed and the run and carry that has been a huge part of our turn around and that winning streak we have had is gone. It's not there and IMO if it was we beat both Sydney and Melbourne with a little more comfort.

It's not hard to see why with who has come out of the team for finals. Dow, Fisher/Boyd, Hollands. Martin misses this week. Motlop was sub and missed most of week 1. Dow had been getting his 20-26 possessions and generating break away and run from clearance. Fisher/Boyd have been replaced with tallish players. Hollands has been replace with Docherty. Docherty is quickish for an onballer but not for a winger. Our run and carry and closing speed has been an issue in both games and was a real issue against Melbourne and hence, so was our ball movement and forward pressure. Ironically these were the factors the beat the Deas in our H/A game earlier.

I can’t see any scenario where we make that many changes and I highly doubt any of Dow, Boyd and Fisher would come under consideration this week unless there are injuries. To win this we need to make it another rock fight with all our big bodies and hard tacklers bashing their lighter runners at every chance. Martin and Harry come straight back to give Charlie badly needed help. Maybe at a push they might also consider SOS for Pitto if they are brave enough to trust TDK against Oscar who has owned him a couple times. No idea which 2 misses out as the likes of Kennedy, Owies, Fog and Cunners.

Our ball movement has been stagnant. Coming out of defence, unless Saad has it it's usually bomb to packs and see what happens. Usually that's ok but the ball hits the ground and the speed to close on it or the opposition ball carrier when it does isn't there. Thought it came out of our forward line too easily.

I’m not sure this “our ball movement has been stagnant” narrative is fair. When you play good teams you don’t get always get a chance to move the ball the way you want to, even more so in finals when the pressure gauge dials up. You have to adjust and adapt to what the opposition throws at you. That is precisely where this team and the coaches for that matter have improved the most this year. We now have multiple gears we are able to acknowledge now so we don’t just blindly give the ball away in positions we cannot defend.

A tough ask at the Gabba against a rested quality opponent especially after two bruising encounters but that is finals and do I hold some hope that Charlie just might put the team in his back for this one with Harry and Martin available to stop the defence collapsing on him. The big watch is how effective Cripps and Doc can be when they are both so bruised and battered.

 

[Kramer1]

Never happened. Stop making things up.
He was terrible.

Well it did, but you do you tiger...

 

[cisco82]

I'm thinking Harry in for Kennedy
And Martin in for Owies or Cunningham..

Motlop stays , you don't slot big time goals like that in finals without having big a set of huevos.

Cunningham seems tired and has lost a bit of his zip of late and Owies seems a bit rattled and has lost a bit of his touch in his two finals , hes such a passionate bloke. He could just have a case of the trying too hard thing instead of just calming down and making plays.

Tough decision..

 

[Show_Me_The_Money]

Never happened. Stop making things up.
He was terrible.

No it did happen. He took 2-3 very strong marks in defence early in the game and looked very solid and reliable. What happened in the second half was nothing short of disastrous to the point where he looked like he himself was resigned to the fact he wouldn't hold another mark for the night. We just can't risk stuff like this in a prelim.

Edit: Might I add he wasn't Han Solo out there.

 

[Arr0w]

I'm shitting myself! They have had a week off and have a full list to choose from. We are all battered and banged up. Cripps still wearing that mattress on his ribs. Both wingers are now winged. If we win you can almost guarantee it will be by a straight kick or less. And we will need a bit of luck as well. Just like last night.

Not suggesting we will definitely win, more that I believe it's a genuine 50/50 like last night

 

[HarryFlashman]

Mitch is a serial offender for major …. up’s.

Not as bad as Marchy atm. Takes some good marks but some horrible blunders (dropped chest mark 15 out, missed simple handball, fumbles etc) He’s the definition of not clean, Brisbane will punish turn over.
Kemp also making mistakes but more position based, Marchy is shaky

 

[ParaBellum]

One thing we’ve learnt, minimal changes for finals

Ins are easy, but outs are tough for the unlucky players
With a bit of luck, this is our strongest 22 that we’ve fielded for the year.
Yep, going into the last two weeks on a crescendo - well done AR!

In: H & Martin
Out: Kennedy & Cunners

Sub: Motlop, we have too many forwards

Hollands stays in for his running capacity

Keep it simple & win the Prelim

Let’s go Baggers!!!

Motlop sub is a mistake

 

[cisco82]

No it did happen. He took 2-3 very strong marks in defence early in the game and looked very solid and reliable. What happened in the second half was nothing short of disastrous to the point where he looked like he himself was resigned to the fact he wouldn't hold another mark for the night. We just can't risk stuff like this in a prelim.

Edit: Might I add he wasn't Han Solo out there.

I thought he was good. Pretty much our only defender trying to get from congestion to pockets of space all game , usually on the wing. Which was then making people cover him and that opened up slight gaps in the corridor , which we used a couple times.

His clever little runs are quite important to how we move the ball. Yeah he dropped a couple he should otherwise have held..

But he's keeper , now he's injury free I would like to see him put on a bit of size over preseason. Just to hold his ground more in those marking contests and he'll become a key part of our team moving forward.

 

[Show_Me_The_Money]

I thought he was good. Pretty much our only defender trying to get from congestion to pockets of space all game , usually on the wing. Which was then making people cover him and that opened up slight gaps in the corridor , which we used a couple times.

His clever little runs are quite important to how we move the ball. Yeah he dropped a couple he should otherwise have held..

But he's keeper , now he's injury free I would like to see him put on a bit of size over preseason. Just to hold his ground more in those marking contests and he'll become a key part of our team moving forward.

Yep I have no doubt the talent is there and if he can stay on the park could be an integral part of our team. But not with those dropped marks when the pressure was really on.

 

[CaptainCharisma]

Will be good to get Harry and Jack back in to straighten up the forward line.
Surely Charlie gets off the leash in this one, he is due.

I think the unlucky ones are going to be Kennedy and one of Owies or Cuningham.
Would have been nice to have our 2's still going to get some game time into Boyd, Silvagni etc. unfortunately they probably won't be looked at missing so much footy.

Ollie Hollands was fantastic as the sub, I think that might be a go again.

I just hope the rising toll of carrying injured/sore players doesn't catch up with us. 8 day break into next week will be a blessing.



On another note - how have I been here so long without making use of the ignore function!?
My goodness.

Imagine winning back to back finals and 11 from the last 12 but still spending every post, every preview potting players and selection mainly to try fit one bloke in the side.

 

[BobP]

Lions are a juggernaut up at the Gabbatoir but they have a soft underbelly I feel, a tendency to go into autopilot and fall back on the individual brilliance of certain key players.

We have to ruffle their feathers a bit and turn the game into a contested slug fest. If they get off the leash and convert their chances, we're done for.

 

[myblueroan]

We can do it guys. Harry and Martin are huge huge inclusions. Whatever Harry brings, he certainly takes the heat off Curnow and provides up field making options meaning on of the two can stay deep and stretch Brisbane. Martin is in careeer best form and is so dangerous. I feel lke we get our most potent forward line back.

To the Gabba !!

View attachment 1804450

Supporters running to catch their Virgin flights?

 

[myblueroan]

Saying sunny and 23 degrees atm for Brissie town. So a bit cooler if evening game.
Nice.

 

[BigFrizz36]

That’s out & out bullshit - Hewett played on everyone- just like all our mids. Someone else said he had low numbers as he was shutting down Petracca.
Hewett played a poor one (PA were low, clearances low, tackles low, disposal numbers down & looked slow) yes he did a couple good things but so does everyone. Was the weak link in our mids - we are slow on the outside & he wasn’t winning it inside.
He won’t be dropped but let’s not sugar coat it. We are lacking first touch/step & burst big time, Cunners not delivering it & that’s not Hewetts go. Walsh had 43 pressure acts 8 tackles Hewett had 11 & 3 & he’s supposed to be our defensive mid

Sorry Harry. Dows not playing. The end.

 

[gbatman]

I can’t see any scenario where we make that many changes and I highly doubt any of Dow, Boyd and Fisher would come under consideration this week unless there are injuries. To win this we need to make it another rock fight with all our big bodies and hard tacklers bashing their lighter runners at every chance. Martin and Harry come straight back to give Charlie badly needed help. Maybe at a push they might also consider SOS for Pitto if they are brave enough to trust TDK against Oscar who has owned him a couple times. No idea which 2 misses out as the likes of Kennedy, Owies, Fog and Cunners.



I’m not sure this “our ball movement has been stagnant” narrative is fair. When you play good teams you don’t get always get a chance to move the ball the way you want to, even more so in finals when the pressure gauge dials up. You have to adjust and adapt to what the opposition throws at you. That is precisely where this team and the coaches for that matter have improved the most this year. We now have multiple gears we are able to acknowledge now so we don’t just blindly give the ball away in positions we cannot defend.

A tough ask at the Gabba against a rested quality opponent especially after two bruising encounters but that is finals and do I hold some hope that Charlie just might put the team in his back for this one with Harry and Martin available to stop the defence collapsing on him. The big watch is how effective Cripps and Doc can be when they are both so bruised and battered.

I agree with a lot of that but I think we need to look back to our wins over Port, Collingwood and Melbourne. Top 4 teams. We fielded faster teams we fielded teams which were better offensively and better with ball movement.

We are ignoring the elephant in the room. We look slow. We were very lucky to have won. Our two wins have been less about us being good and more about luck. Our ball movement is stagnant. Brisbane's ball movement against Port in the first final was fast, direct and pretty damn good. Being a final and playing a good side, well they destroyed that theory that our ball movement is stagnant because these are good sides and it's a final.

These are our Home and Away sides against the top 4 teams we beat. They are quicker. There is an extra runner in defence, apart from the Collingwood game. Fisher and Saad or Saad an Boyd. Our finals teams doesn't have the extra runner and low and behold we aren't good coming out of defence and aren't moving the ball quick or direct and our forwards have struggled because of it.

I like the extra height. But I also like the extra run from half back. I think we have done it better this year with the run but we have won finals with the height.

Quicker midfield. Hollands and Acres in two of those games. Docherty and Acres in one of them. Dow appears in all three games, we all know he injects speed and carries the ball forward of the contest which the forwards love.

Our speed around the ball and behind the ball is an issue. It won't hold up against a real top team, they will be too quick for us and the contest won't be relevant if they kick straight.

I think Martin and McKay solve our forward issues.

I think we need to go back to our original backline structure and go with another genuine attacking half back flank to partner Saad. Whether that be Docherty or Fisher or Boyd. They are all good options.

I think Hollands on a wing is going to happen. That run down tackle. His ability to make space. He was there against Melbourne and Collingwood and he was good.

Speed is king and we need it. I've said it all year. The better sides have embraced it and how the new rules have opened the game up to the quicker players.

I think Dow as sub, to come on around the mid way mark and inject some run out of the middle absolutely must happen. Dow's break away speed has been a crucial factor in the below three wins.

MELBOURNE SIDE H/A win
Weitering Kemp Newman
Cincotta Fisher Saad
Hollands Cripps Acres
Cottrell Fogarty Motlop
Martin Curnow De Koning
Pittonet Docherty Hewett
Dow Marchbank Cuningham Owies
Curnow

COLLINGWOOD SIDE
Kemp Weitering Newman
McGovern Marchbank Saad
Acres Cripps Hollands
Fogarty Cuningham Cottrell
Martin Curnow Pittonet
DeKoning Hewett Docherty
Motlop Cerra Cincotta Owies
Dow
Dow comes in early for Cerra has a ripper

PORT SIDE
Weitering Kemp Saad
McGovern Boyd Newman
Acres Cripps Docherty
Fogarty Cottrell Curnow
Motlop Martin McKay
DeKoning Cerra Walsh
Silvagni Cuningham Hewett Cincotta
Dow
Dow 64% TOG plays a big part

We didn't beat Melbourne because we have fielded a team that was big and strong and crashed and bashed to victory. We won because they kicked really poorly and we had enough quality in the side to make the most of opportunities.

We should have lost this game by 3-5 goals or more, they were poor and butchered it. It's awesome to get a win but we can't pretend that we won because we played well and were too good for them. We won on luck.

Sydney would have beaten us last week if they had have kicked straight as well. Again we won on luck.

We can't ignore that we have gotten away with it two weeks in a row and the current team has problems. It's not the same structured team that got us here.

When luck runs out we will lose. So we can't go up there with a big slow team that struggles to move the the ball and apply outside pressure due to lack of speed and players who take the game one and hope that we beat Brisbane in a close ugly game and hope that they don't kick straight either.

We won because guys like Saad and Walsh took the game on and generated some run and put some speed into the game for us.

Reality is, we should have lost and had we lost we would have been scrutinised for selecting a side that is structurally different to the sides fielded during our winning streak. A side that is slower and doesn't run and carry and take the game on as well. Does not run from behind the footy as well.

We turned our season around by injecting pace and pressure into our forward line and centre square group and injecting much more pace into our defence. We turned our season around by having midfield rotations.

To me we have fallen back on the mistakes we made earlier in the season a little. We have won on luck and effort, not merit like we were in the games I listed above where we outplayed them all over the field and were too quick and too good.

We need to make some changes before the luck runs out.

I'll say it again. Melbourne kick straight. How critical would we be of the team and coaching group? We'd be hammering them over the changes to team structure and not learning from our past recent success. That would be the narrative on here.

I can see why we went that way in defence, try and hold them up and get our intercepting game going but it's robed peter a lot to pay paul and has gone away from what has brought us success and got us back into finals. We didn't have much choice with what we had to go with forward. Guys like Hollands and Dow are awfully unlucky as they drove a lot of our big wins. I think they should be in our plans next week.

Lions will be looking to do what they did to Port. Go forward from stoppages, go fast and direct up the middle. It's what has got them there. At our best this is what we have don this season but it worries me we have gone away from that a little this finals series.

I think we can still bash and crash them up but also quicken the team up a bit. Tough one, really tough one.

 

[fizzkakz]

Any idea of the likelihood of a Carlton aligned AFL silver member getting a ticket? Went to buy a corporate ticket, lost wifi at the airport and it sold out. Feeling devo

On SM-S906E using BigFooty.com mobile app

 

[Gadzorks]

apologies if already mentioned but Voss has not lost a final as player or coach at the Gabba

Lost a lot as a coach though. The place of his biggest failure (which we were all sad about, but happy for it to be continued now of course).

Entrenched habit now.

 

[The Old Dark Navy's]

I'm shitting myself! They have had a week off and have a full list to choose from. We are all battered and banged up. Cripps still wearing that mattress on his ribs. Both wingers are now winged. If we win you can almost guarantee it will be by a straight kick or less. And we will need a bit of luck as well. Just like last night.

I'm fairly relaxed now. We have surpassed all expectations. This is a free swing for us.

Lions aren't as suffocating defensively as Melbourne are. We will get the chance to move the ball as will they. We are battle hardened as far as close games and physical contests are concerned. If it becomes a fight in the trenches, we are looking good.

 

[HarryFlashman]

Sorry Harry. Dows not playing. The end.

Doesn’t mean u get to make up stories why Hewett was off.
Dow will be sub this week, we won’t beat Brisbane unless we get some burst & outside run happening. Funny how quickly we forget how we got here, Dow was instrumental to that.

 

[jezza25]

Would the blues entertain the thought of a big screen at Ikon park ?
Have they done that before ?
I reckon it would massive !

 

[Kruezing]

Would the blues entertain the thought of a big screen at Ikon park ?
Have they done that before ?
I reckon it would massive !

I’ve heard this may be happening