Rumour Bluemour Discussion XXXV - 'Loopy' Season has begun

[WalshistheGOAT]

I would rather keep Matt Carroll (who I know nothing about) for 1 year than anyone of Martin, Marchbank or Cuningham

Been out for the whole year with OP and been unable to even get out and train until recently

 

[BlueTongue]

I would rather keep Matt Carroll (who I know nothing about) for 1 year than anyone of Martin, Marchbank or Cuningham

Only problem is Martin has currency. Why would you throw a draft pick out the window?

 

[BlueTongue]

Suggested this a few weeks back. Id hold him. But others have said our staff have deemed him finished. So Id assume he's gone.

Not sure what a compo pick for a 1-year contract 29yo is but we might get a 3rd rounder out of it.

 

[BringFevBack2021]

Not sure what a compo pick for a 1-year contract 29yo is but we might get a 3rd rounder out of it.

If he played 22 games sure, but with history I think we let him go as DFA unfortunately

Never got to see the best of him, could’ve been anything

EDIT:
We saw the best of him in his first game for us, never played near that level again unfortunately

 

[BlueTongue]

If he played 22 games sure, but with history I think we let him go as DFA unfortunately

Never got to see the best of him, could’ve been anything

EDIT:
We saw the best of him in his first game for us, never played near that level again unfortunately

Agree, it's not like we didn't see glimpses either, he just didn't stay on the park long enough to run into form and had a James Hird glass body.

 

[Arr0w]

I would rather keep Matt Carroll (who I know nothing about) for 1 year than anyone of Martin, Marchbank or Cuningham

I think he stays on the list

 

[PrendersBigEngine]

He's 27 and been All-Australian the last two years...
He's durable (barely missed a game the last three years), can kick the ball better than anyone we have in our team (only Mitch McGovern in our entire squad has better disposal efficiency) + he's averaged over 11,200 metres gained per season the last two years (more than any of our current players).

AND, it appears his preference is to play with us (best mates with JSOS)

We struggle to move the ball out of half back and indeed with our precision inside 50 (in 2023 he had 113 x Inside 50's!).

He is the type of player that would help us greatly.

No brainer.

Completely agree. He would make our side so much better. Of course it will come at a price but it's very hard to get better for free. I'm a yes.

 

[TENACIOUS]

Houston for a future first, seems a decent deal for me… Not sure the type of coin he is on. We could always look to give him another year or two to reduce the cost… All while still going to the draft with pick 11..

He can play back and through the midfield if required…

Also might have a positive effect, creating some role changes and speed up the development of:

• Cowan into the midfield
• Boyd to the forward line
• Wilson (& maybe Ollie) I see as a Saad/Newman replacement

 

[DangerousD]

Yep. I said it months ago and got slammed

He is very stoic and won't change. Has his favourites, likes mature bodies, and will stick with them regardless

Then we don’t have any assistants happy to challenge him on this or he doesn’t listen to or trust them.

If a coach is like this, what good are better assistants?

 

[DangerousD]

Need to get rid of ALL injury prone players,doesn’t matter who they are.


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Doch?
Fog?
SOS?
Williams?
Gov?

Geez, where do we stop.

Cerra?

Ok stop now

 

[Arr0w]

Doch?
Fog?
SOS?
Williams?
Gov?

Geez, where do we stop.

Cerra?

Ok stop now

Let's start with these first, Marchbank, Cuners, S Durdin, Martin

 

[Kaladin Stormblessed]

Maybe I rate him higher than most but I absoltuely would go for Houston. I think he would be almost a transformative player for us.

He has exactly what we need, penetrating kick that can unlock our ball movement, how often do we bemoan the slow sluggish ball movement and the lack of bravery to take the inside kick. Houston will hit that kick as good as anyone in the competition.

He's also hard at the ball, good ball handling, defensively sound and a big moment player (remember that goal after the siren against Essendon from 50m+ at the MCG to keep the Port streak going).

Would be perfect for us - a big yes from me for a future first (anymore than that and I start to hesitate only due to his age). Coming out of the backline with options like Houston, Saad, Newman, McGovern and Boyd would be huge next year.

 

[Blue_Fusion]

Maybe I rate him higher than most but I absoltuely would go for Houston. I think he would be almost a transformative player for us.

He has exactly what we need, penetrating kick that can unlock our ball movement, how often do we bemoan the slow sluggish ball movement and the lack of bravery to take the inside kick. Houston will hit that kick as good as anyone in the competition.

He's also hard at the ball, good ball handling, defensively sound and a big moment player (remember that goal after the siren against Essendon from 50m+ at the MCG to keep the Port streak going).

Would be perfect for us - a big yes from me for a future first (anymore than that and I start to hesitate only due to his age). Coming out of the backline with options like Houston, Saad, Newman, McGovern and Boyd would be huge next year.

It's not just a lack of bravery to take the inside kick...

It's a lack of movement, they literally provide nothing far more often than not. They gravitate to the wing and then pretty much hold their place...

We just don't spread well enough when we have possession and that saps confidence and incentive to look inside. Some times, they do try to take the inside kick... but the target is surrounded by opposition players so it requires an absolute pin point kick... not sustainable.

Exactly what we need is not Houston, rather, a big change up to our midfield mix... we have no goal kicking mids and too much reliance on Cripps - a problem that has existed for what feels like forever...

 

[TrueQldBlue]

The most important ability a player can have is availability.

Martin has missed 7, 11, 10, 13, and 21 games since joining Carlton - he has managed to play in 54 out of a possible 115 matches for us. He's also turning 30 before the start of next season. It's unlikely to get a lot better at this point.

We simply cannot keep carrying players who aren't available; we've just had a season wrecked by injury. We're going into next year with Docherty and Silvagni both rehabbing ACL injuries - that's two core players that are heavy injury risks. I don't think we can carry ANY beyond that...

Oh and by the way...we paid him one million dollars in his first year so no-one else could match the offer and he came to us in the pre-season Draft.

Well done SOS....
NOT !!!!

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[TrueQldBlue]

I didn't like the Saad trade, part cost, but moreso the wrong timing, as we hadn't even broken into or established ourselves in the 8

I think the timing is better now for a Houston type, but cost is still an important factor

That damn Dodoro costs us too much ....

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[The Blue Weirdo]

It's not just a lack of bravery to take the inside kick...

It's a lack of movement, they literally provide nothing far more often than not. They gravitate to the wing and then pretty much hold their place...

We just don't spread well enough when we have possession and that saps confidence and incentive to look inside. Some times, they do try to take the inside kick... but the target is surrounded by opposition players so it requires an absolute pin point kick... not sustainable.

Exactly what we need is not Houston, rather, a big change up to our midfield mix... we have no goal kicking mids and too much reliance on Cripps - a problem that has existed for what feels like forever...

I agree, Houston's kicking would be less effective with our receiver's than Port's. Boyd, Gov and Saad have decent disposal, but the ball movement results through the midfield let us down.

He'd be more enticing as a unrestricted free agent, if we had the cap space.(which he would be if he didn't sign a 5 year contract last year?, then change his mind)

Off to the draft this year with 2 x 2024 early picks and 2025's 1st. and focus on a mature-ish KPD also.

 

[No1Suspect]

Houston Blues -> Lukosius Port -> Ft 1st Goldcoast.

is that unreasonable?

 

[Coona Blues]

Houston Blues -> Lukosius Port -> Ft 1st Goldcoast.

is that unreasonable?

On face value, yes. But, the new rules for matching academy and father son prospects come in. Gold Coast must match for Lombard this year and will have Uwland next year, who on exposed form is in the pick 1 discussion. The Suns will be looking forward to getting ahead of the curve. May have some merit.

 

[Schoonerman]

Let's start with these first, Marchbank, Cuners, S Durdin, Martin

I agree with earlier post Arrow, can’t help but feel Martin owes us big time…

 

[HarryFlashman]

What does Lukosius cost? He’s a bloody good kick of the footy and a good size (195cm)

Just reading an article on Smith - no way he goes anywhere but Geelong.

He already a brand ambassador for Cotton On & given his social media status & clothing range (shit as it may be) they could justify paying him hundreds of thousands more for a very long time.
Precedent is there and they could argue market value all day long - they pay nobody’s with no real skill a fortune for their social media reach - he can actually do something well & has reach.

 

[Earls Smother]

Maybe I rate him higher than most but I absoltuely would go for Houston. I think he would be almost a transformative player for us.

He has exactly what we need, penetrating kick that can unlock our ball movement, how often do we bemoan the slow sluggish ball movement and the lack of bravery to take the inside kick. Houston will hit that kick as good as anyone in the competition.

He's also hard at the ball, good ball handling, defensively sound and a big moment player (remember that goal after the siren against Essendon from 50m+ at the MCG to keep the Port streak going).

Would be perfect for us - a big yes from me for a future first (anymore than that and I start to hesitate only due to his age). Coming out of the backline with options like Houston, Saad, Newman, McGovern and Boyd would be huge next year.

It's not just the kicking, it's the run from behind the ball.

Houston has a high number of inside 50's. He has also kicked 7 goals this year, which doesn't sound a lot, but it equals the TOTAL number of goals from Boyd, Saad, Newy, Gov and Cowan combined. Imagine if Houston added 1 goal in our games versus Collingwood, Adelaide and St. Kilda.

With our contested guys in the middle, we need run from behind to dish the ball off to. Saad gets sat on and the others struggle to do it consistently. It's why Ollie went back there.

He is more of a need than a lot of people realise.

 

[myblueroan]

Reading B.Lloyd's trainwreck of an interview it seems the narrative in house is 'injuries leading to lack of continuity'.
This is fine if it accompanies coaching and MC accountability in their 'learnings'

 

[HarryFlashman]

Houston would be great in our system atm
he would run, catch up to our grouped together mids/wings, have no one leading up and when we turn it over it would be 25-35m deeper in (still to shallow for a decent forward entry) our forward half.

100% it gives us more time to defend the turn over!

FFS we need a big body full back & small forwards more than anything else, Houston is a great player but totally pointless the way we are playing & his age is concerning.

Its possible we will continue to shit the bed, we need to err on the side of youth not an older player, u always have to plan for the next window while trying to get thru the one that’s open now.

 

[myblueroan]

Houston would be great in our system atm
he would run, catch up to our grouped together mids/wings, have no one leading up and when we turn it over it would be 25-35m deeper in (still to shallow for a decent forward entry) our forward half.

100% it gives us more time to defend the turn over!

FFS we need a big body full back & small forwards more than anything else, Houston is a great player but totally pointless the way we are playing & his age is concerning.

Its possible we will continue to shit the bed, we need to err on the side of youth not an older player, u always have to plan for the next window while trying to get thru the one that’s open now.

Breakaway outside speed a high priority?

 

[HarryFlashman]

Breakaway outside speed a high priority?

Yep, in the mid field to capitalize on 6/6/6 especially from the center bounce.
From the back line - not so much, if we could do it, we would have seen signs with Saad/Boyd even Cinc (think back to his earlier days- he can run).
Run from the backline is a great way to play - but it’s not how we play