Autopsy 2024 Rd 22 Blues finals hopes sink like a stone

[Blue1980]

Obviously wasn't great today but in his & the teams defence players in the modern game especially mids have to get off for a rest .
49 interchange rotations for the game assuming roughly 35 at the half .
Means not too many breaks at all after half time.
Thats not sustainable they where clearly gassed after half time .

I haven't watched a minute of todays game, and I don't really intend to, I think the score and stats say enough, and when you have a game like today when 6 guys get injured, and can't rotate really for a half you aren't really beating anyone.

Combine that with the fact we weren't playing well to begin with coming into the game against a side that has been red hot for 3 months, you have your end result.

Today looks more like a culmination of all the chickens coming home to roost. Strength and conditioning a massive fail, no other way to look at it, and too many guys not up to the rigors of being able to get through a full AFL season on the list. It had us peaking round 15 and steadily getting worse and barely any fit and firing players left now.

We rolled the dice on many of the injury prone guys who were available most of the 2nd half of last year in Marchy, Martin and Cuningham, which hasn't paid off either.

I thought we were cooked after the Pies loss, the way we played was bad enough, as well as the in game injuries and Russell annoucement during the week made it clear to me that internally they know the playing group is cooked physically for the season.

 

[Monty1978]

Hey Baggers - the cracks have now appeared we needed a full list to have any hope - yes injuries are bad but now other clubs just laugh and ridicule us -
Been a member for forty years and this is as low as we have gone - whole club needs a clean out - We have 3 or 4 good players - then we drop away - apart from a few not enough heart , not enough mongrel other clubs love playing us because we fold as soon as it gets tough - we are the joke of the AFL - the coach keeps promising responses - what BS ! havent seen any yet
West Coast and Saints will probably both beat us . Oh the pain. Light years away from winning anything.

40 years and you think this is the lowest we have got …I have gone to the footy the last 40 years and the last 2 years have been some of the best … your either new or just really upset and emotional about today .. chin up mate

 

[Prem17]

The worst part about today wasn't the loss, tbh.
Our season is ****ed and has been for a few weeks because we haven't taken chances.
We'll lose both the last 2 games.
Eagles on a big ground, all the injuries from today - it ain't gonna happen.
Saints have had a shite year but we don't match up well with them.
We'll lose both and miss the finals.

Worse than that was the fact that our past premiership heroes made a guard of honour and then got served up that absolutely disgraceful performance.
Players that bled blue.
Players that smashed people to win premierships for this once mighty club.

For them to be served up that shite was an absolute ****ing disgrace!






Mod edit: Don’t evade the swear filter

 

[CaptainCharisma]

Today was a true Homer Simpson "Yeah that's one fine lookin' football team. Why doesn't mine look like that!?" moment.
The post game depression and acceptance has pretty much kicked in now and everyone has covered all the points of our game well and truly but a comment on the opposition.

Hawks look well coached, play at speed and with a hard, campaigner edge to them. It would have been enjoyable to watch if they weren't pulling our pants down.
It was what we did to Geelong, it is staggering that was only 6 or so weeks ago.

 

[blues4flag]

First things first, we’ve underachieved this season. No doubt.

But contrary to many on here, I think the club cares deeply and the players care deeply. What is being taken for indifference, laziness, gutlessness, etc in my view is a group of players who have hit the wall physically and mentally. The injuries today are evidence of that.

That we’ve reached this point is something I attribute to 15 months of attempting to play contest and high pressure footy. Melbourne is the other club who plays like us, and they are in the same boat. It is a style of football which simply isn’t sustainable.

The problem is that without pace and footskills, contest and pressure is all you’ve got. We haven’t got speed and we struggle to find targets. And that will be one of the post mortems we need to have.

For the younger types around here, the years 1992-1994 are hopefully instructive. In 1992 we lost our last few to miss the finals. In 1993 we fell at the grand final and found out more about our list. The same happened again in 1994. By 1995 we had added Pearce and Clape because we knew we lacked mid sized forwards, we added Manton because we knew we lacked flexibility in defence, and we added Camporeale and blooded Whitehead to add pace. We still lacked pace in 1995, but we had a baseline we could fall back on if we needed it. Autonomy was handed over to senior players who had the experience to know what they were doing.

The mark of this club will be in how we learn from 2022-2024. I still remember the interview with Cook in the Age during the middle of 2023 where he said he wasn’t as enamoured with the list as others. On reflection, the 2023 run home probably prevented the clean out he had envisaged. So it has set us back somewhat. But I’m confident the lessons can be learnt about 2022-2024 as a club, and that we can hit 2025 with some fixes in place.

Came here to say almost exactly this, saved me the trouble.

It's become obvious that without a lot of luck, our current gameplan is unsustainable over a full season. At the same time, we've built a list that's only suited to this style of footy.

We're never going to be the Hawks, but we do need some speed and class to complement the list and give us a fighting chance when the team isn't at its brutal best.

A pivot is not gonna happen, but we can supplement with clever drafting and trading, plus a bit of luck to key players.

 

[Santo the king]

Only 19 tackles in the first half suggests a lack of intensity.

Bodes well for Lord making his debut.

Crippa played a lone hand

 

[Loose at HB]

I think this severely misses the point and the one of the larger issues Carlton will start going through.

50 years ? Good for you. What about those under 35 years old? Bad day....? Bad 25 years less 2. What about new fans? Mate works at the zoo. They've started counting Guernsey's during school group tours. Carlton in Victoria is less represented than Adelaide on their scorecard at the moment. Nah but **** em right? Soft kids ain't got no gumption. IE - they've never experienced a successful Carlton so have no memory or basic personal connection. Where's the next layer going to come from of fans?

So why the attitude towards other fans of the same club?

You're not a better fan because you have memories of glory to hold onto. And youre not a bad fan deserving of derision if you don't and want to vent and even reconsider your commitments. Carlton nor any football or sporting club on the land should have your support unearnt or treat it as a right of theirs. Thats toxic nonsense. Usually it's earnt through history, memories, tradition and enjoyment of support - which all usually comes from periods of success or at the least underdog triumphs just often enough (ala the bulldogs).

So actually... Kudos to all the fans smart enough to take a minute and reassess their priorities.

Kudos to all the fans who choose to keep fanning or to step away. Life is too important to waste emotional energy and time on a product that does not have much if any benefit. There's zero reason for a fan under 30 to believe Carlton isn't just now another st Kilda, zero reason.

but still, the arrogance in posts like this is gross accompanied by the lack of thought for fans who've supported a club that has quite literally been the worst club in the comp over their whole lives, they read something like this and immediately think 'oh **** off'. Easy to say when you've got the memories.

Now personally I can't help it. I'll be here. I'm 30. I love the club. I'm getting married end of the year. Kids come next. I'm not ****ing guiding them to Carlton. They can discover the AFL and support whoever they want. Carlton has not earnt me indoctrinating my future kids. Nor has it earnt me the time carved out on weekends in that future either I doubt. Less of a supporter? Maybe.... Again I'm 30 and my family aren't big AFL people. Discovered this sport myself and made my own choice. No family tying me to Carlton and stuck with my choice through school and all the shit after. What for....? They're a steaming pile of.... Still.

Great post.

I love the club too. I'll still watch the game next week, I'll still go to the game the week after.
Doesn't mean I don't reserve the right to be mightily ****ing pissed off after a performance like that - 160 year celebration, legends en masse, perfect day for footy, 85k, MASSIVE game for the season and we dish up that rubbish

My dad is the reason I follow Carlton and always tells me about the glory days but the reality is all I (and a lot of Carlton supporters) have seen is shit. I was 11 months old when we last won a flag. I went to the last game at Princes Park as a 10 year old. I put my hard earned into the footy club, I go to the games.

Everyone tragic enough to post on BF clearly loves the footy club and wants us to be successful. The oldies have their 6-8 flags though - all we have is a string of sacked coaches, 5 spoons and a whole heap of false promises. Year on year we are let down while sides like Geelong and Hawthorn go through multiple eras before we've even cracked one semi-successful one

 

[bmaurizio]

Hawks are a good team which are well coached. Sam Mitchell has been amazing inculcated a tough, hard, fast & intelligent brand. It’s infectious and great to watch . Sam played his footy similarly, hawks will be a force going forward.

 

[ctwenty1]

The worst part about today wasn't the loss, tbh.
Our season is ****ed and has been for a few weeks because we haven't taken chances.
We'll lose both the last 2 games.
Eagles on a big ground, all the injuries from today - it ain't gonna happen.
Saints have had a shite year but we don't match up well with them.
We'll lose both and miss the finals.

Worse than that was the fact that our past premiership heroes made a guard of honour and then got served up that absolutely disgraceful performance.
Players that bled blue.
Players that smashed people to win premierships for this once mighty club.

For them to be served up that shite was an absolute ****ing disgrace!






Mod edit: Don’t evade the swear filter

Did not realise that

That didn’t “work” for Port either for their 2004 celebrations

Still some hope for our season then…

 

[TENACIOUS]

Expectation is the killer…

6 weeks ago we were two game clear and second on the ladder, with the supposed second easiest draw of any team to come.

We’ve gone on to win one of the last 6 games, where the only win is when we fell over the line against North…

The club have spun the same response for the last 6 weeks.. Well Vossy you didn’t get after it and our deficiencies weren’t addressed, now we’re out of the 8…

 

[Prem17]

Did not realise that

That didn’t “work” for Port either for their 2004 celebrations

Still some hope for our season then…

Even if we somehow scrape into the 8, what do you think will happen?
There's no way that Hawthorn won't beat Richmond and North.
Even if North upset the Hawks we'd still need to win both games.
For what? An interstate trip? A game at the Gabba? Maybe GWS?
The season is gone, regardless of whatever happens in the last 2 games.

 

[DangerousD]

Everytime the ball came near us today, it was like the Hawks players were in a scrap, like a proper fight like intensity.

We had a few people up for the fight but as soon as it went in the hands of players less inclined, we fell to pieces.

To many of our players are weak in their attacks on the ball and the man and that’s on the coaches. The standard being dished up is a product of the environment you have created.

Liked what I saw of Cowan today, not much else.

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

also needs a spray from the coach, stop going to ground, stop falling over, get your arse up and play football, he’s constantly on the floor.

 

[OnceWeWereKings]

During the last quarter the cameras rolled past our coaches box - I was absolutely shocked at the number of coaches we've got in there. It was a quick shot but I reckon there were at least 15 in there.

I thought it was a mirror / glass reflection thing at first.
What the **** do they all do?
They looked as confused as the players.
Might be half the problem

 

[Prem17]

Everytime the ball came near us today, it was like the Hawks players were in a scrap, like a proper fight like intensity.

We had a few people up for the fight but as soon as it went in the hands of players less inclined, we fell to pieces.

To many of our players are weak in their attacks on the ball and the man and that’s on the coaches. The standard being dished up is a product of the environment you have created.

Liked what I saw of Cowan today, not much else.

Harry McKay also needs a spray from the coach, stop going to ground, stop falling over, get your arse up and play football, he’s constantly on the floor.

Have to disagree. Harry is the least of our problems. He's our only hope of a mark on the wing atm.

 

[jj1978]

I thought it was a mirror / glass reflection thing at first.
What the **** do they all do?
They looked as confused as the players.
Might be half the problem

None of our coaches (Voss and line) are tactically astute, so we’ve provided them with the support they need. Each line has a left, midfield, and right side of the field specialist in assistance.

 

[incaciawin]

Got the mob fired up.

Get behind us.

Couple of big weeks ahead.

Be Carlton.

Stop it with this glass half full shite...we have literally half of our best 22 injured now.We are done for this year.
The best we can hope for is a stellar off seasons trading and drafting ( think Chol, Watson and Ginnivan ) to reinvigorate our list and then a normal run with injury in 2025 and see where that can take us.

 

[MightyMighties]

Worst bit now, rocking up to work feeling crap on a Monday and having to answer to this performance.

 

[DangerousD]

Have to disagree. Harry is the least of our problems. He's our only hope of a mark on the wing atm.

Calling a player out for poor behaviour isn’t a suggestion he’s at the top of our list of problems.

Just an observation at the ground, shared by many around me, that Harry always seems to go to ground easy and slip over.

If you don’t see it or notice it, all good, but I think it’s there and if it’s picked up by the coaches and communicated to him that it’s something he needs to address, then I think he will.

Unlike some of our issues, it should be a pretty easy fix

 

[jj1978]

Remember it took Hardwick what 9 seasons to win one. 2030 my friends.

 

[ctwenty1]

Even if we somehow scrape into the 8, what do you think will happen?
There's no way that Hawthorn won't beat Richmond and North.
Even if North upset the Hawks we'd still need to win both games.
For what? An interstate trip? A game at the Gabba? Maybe GWS?
The season is gone, regardless of whatever happens in the last 2 games.

At the least, finals experience for a few of the younger players is invaluable

Also just the confidence from making finals is important too

 

[Prem17]

Calling a player out for poor behaviour isn’t a suggestion he’s at the top of our list of problems.

Just an observation at the ground, shared by many around me, that Harry always seems to go to ground easy and slip over.

If you don’t see it or notice it, all good, but I think it’s there and if it’s picked up by the coaches and communicated to him that it’s something he needs to address, then I think he will.

Unlike some of our issues, it should be a pretty easy fix

Possibly a result of the extra attention he's getting with being the only forward and the fact that our delivery skills are so poor.
Was triple teamed at times.

 

[ctwenty1]

Stop it with this glass half full shite...we have literally half of our best 22 injured now.We are done for this year.
The best we can hope for is a stellar off seasons trading and drafting ( think Chol, Watson and Ginnivan ) to reinvigorate our list and then a normal run with injury in 2025 and see where that can take us.

Stig will stop with half glass full shit if you stop with your glass half empty shit

 

[incaciawin]

Stig will stop with half glass full shit if you stop with your glass half empty shit

I would describe it as living in the real world instead of living in a fantasy world.

 

[ctwenty1]

I would describe it as living in the real world instead of living in a fantasy world.

serious question, would you want the players to have your attitude going into this game, or one of belief in themselves that they can win, despite it all?

 

[ctwenty1]

Sit down for 5.

We are Carlton.

It will be done.

5 pints, 5 wines or 5 whiskeys (neat, no ice)?