How high can Carlton go in '08?

[dukester95]

If they picked up Cousins they could go quite high.

ok then let's pickup Cousins....oh, I see what you mean

 

[Blacky]

Something tells me this thread is going to light up one way or another come round 1...
10th for me.
Does Ratten know how to coach a winning side?
As for being premiers in 09, I am pretty confident that both Geelong and Hawthorn will be far and away better sides than Carlton for at least a few more years.
I don't know what any of you have to gain from talking this up so much, you are just setting yourself up for a fall, just be happy that you will make some strides this year.

 

[Kruze]

Something tells me this thread is going to light up one way or another come round 1...
10th for me.
Does Ratten know how to coach a winning side?

Did Roos, when he first started?

At least Ratten played in a winning side for all but 1 year of his career, so I think he knows at thing or two about hard work and what it takes to win.

 

[Blacky]

Did Roos, when he first started?

At least Ratten played in a winning side for all but 1 year of his career, so I think he knows at thing or two about hard work and what it takes to win.

Hahaha
Ratten will never be half the coach Paul Roos is. Also he wasn't gifted more ones and twos than a German porno!

 

[_RT_]

If all these things happen:

- Judd and Stevens both return to full capacity
- Murphy and Gibbs development is accelerated as much as can be reasonably expected, and become fully-fledged midfield stars
- Fevola is injury (physical and mental) free, and returns to his '06 form
- Fisher plays as well as he did in 07
- Hampson bulks up and becomes a ruck option, Cloke stays in injury-free as a backup and Kreuzer is AFL-ready
- O'Hailpin keeps developing and can hold down a KP defence spot, Jamison bulks up and becomes another KP option
- Walker realises his potential
- Waite finds some consistency
- One or more of Grigg, Hartlett, Anderson, Bower, Bentick, Wiggins takes a big step forward and becomes a decent player
- Ratten proves himself to be a competent coach, and demonstrates that the horrific coaching errors he made late in 2007 (leaving 3rd-gamer Jamison on Matthew Lloyd one-out in the last quarter, playing Saddington on Rocca and not O'Hailpin, failing to rotate the midfield against Port) were in fact deliberate ploys as part of a 'tanking' strategy, and not just evidence he can't coach.

If all that happens, Carlton will be a top 4 team. Likelihood of that occuring? Probably 1 in 1000.

More realistically:
- One of Judd/Stevens misses 8 games or more. The other returns to 75-80% capacity in the short term
- Murphy and Gibbs continue to develop steadily. Murphy rises to 'star' status, Gibbs remains 12 months away
- Fevola has 4 absolutely dominant games, 4 games where he flips out and moons the crowd or abuses the coach, misses 3 games through injury and 2 through suspension, and wins the Coleman medal.
- Fisher drops back to being solid but nothing more
- Hampson is still 2 years away. Cloke plays 5 games, then gets injured because he is undersized. Kreuzer isn't AFL ready. Carlton use a combination of O'Hailpin and Ackland in the ruck again
- O'Hailpin plays in the ruck instead of defence. This leaves Thornton/Jamison outmatched, pinches Waite from attack and the defence again struggles
- Walker confirms the general bigfooty opinion to be correct
- Waite has 3 great games in a row from rounds 6-8, which prompts everyone to announce his 'arrival'. He then goes missing for the next 4 matches, spends 3 weeks in defence, goes missing for another 5 games, then plays a blinder in round 22
- Grigg looks good but does stupid things. The rest get delisted at the end of the year
- Ratten confirms my suspicions and proves that his 0-6 coaching record in 2007 wasn't out of character

If, as I suspect is more likely, the second scenario occurs, Carlton will likely be somewhere between 12th and 16th again.

Finally a realistic Carlton fan who can see that although Judd has been added and Stevens is to return it is not just a case of pencilling a Carlton finals appearance.

This year if they play to their full ability I think they can finish between 10th-14th. Must be remembered that despite having players like Judd, Stevens, Scotland, Houlihan & Fevola as the experience most of the team will be young kids still learning and developing. Murphy and Gibbs will be better as will Carrazzo, Bentick, Walker Fisher & Waite but even so they will still be prone to suffering the odd period of poorish form. If I was a Carlton fan then I would realistically be hoping for between 5-9 wins for the year and no more 100 point beltings. Get the kids experience so they can support Judd, Stevens, Fevola & co in the years after. Then the club can look at having sustained success like they used to and not just one year up one year down like some other clubs are prone to.

 

[Kruze]

Hahaha
Ratten will never be half the coach Paul Roos is. Also he wasn't gifted more ones and twos than a German porno!

Wow! ******ed, psychic and a comic genius.

 

[Blacky]

Wow! ******ed, psychic and a comic genius.

Well where do you get off predicting premierships, and comparing a guy with a pathetic coaching record, to someone who has taken a team without a stack of priority gifts to a flag?

 

[Port_GW]

Well where do you get off predicting premierships, and comparing a guy with a pathetic coaching record, to someone who has taken a team without a stack of priority gifts to a flag?

Salary cap concessions can be helpful too

 

[_RT_]

Wow! ******ed, psychic and a comic genius.

Wow! Having a holiday for getting carried away.

 

[huggy_b]

Should notch up half a dozen wins or so. Finals are still a little way beyond them yet.

 

[Blacky]

Salary cap concessions can be helpful too

Better than the ones Carlton gave themselves...

 

[Kruze]

Well where do you get off predicting premierships, and comparing a guy with a pathetic coaching record, to someone who has taken a team without a stack of priority gifts to a flag?

6 games in total at the end of the season, with a depleted side is hardly a coaching record.

Things have a way of evening out, Roos inherited a half decent side and made the most of what he had and recycled a few others sucessfully, kudos to him for that. Will be coaching the Swans to a spoon in the next few year, with the Swans brilliant forward thinking recruiting in the same period...( if he is still around)

Ratten on the other hand will be coaching a premiership side before the Swans make the finals again.

 

[Beagle_Charlie]

Realisticaly we can finish 1st.

Im not saying we will finish top, but if everything goes right we have the ability to finish 1st. All it takes is for Geelong to have a bad year and its anyone's year as there is no other dominant team. We have one of the best foward lines and midfields and our young backline should step up this year.

You have to take into account that the past few years the players hated the coach. Id like to see how any other team would go with that relationship between the coach and players. Judd and Stevens back is also a big plus.

I predict we will finish betwwn 5-8 but it could be anywhere between 1-15. You never know how a team will go this far out, just look at the Kangaroos this year.

 

[kelvin_sheedy]

Best - 15th
Worst - 16th

 

[Kruze]

Should notch up half a dozen wins or so. Finals are still a little way beyond them yet.

You'll be in for a rude awakening when the Blues notch up more wins than the Aints then.

 

[Kruze]

Best - 15th
Worst - 16th

Essendon suporter.

 

[blues4flag]

I believe we can sneak into the 8 - anywhere b/w 6th and 12th I'm expecting. The inclusion of Stevo and Judd has far reaching benefits beyond just their footballing ability - players who were expected to hold up the midfield will find life a hell of a lot easier playing as a 3rd, 4th or 2nd string midfielder. More options = less late game fadeouts. Also, we won't be conceding 4/5 goals on the trot as we did numerous times this year due to a lack of midfield depth.

Couple that with the continued development of our younger players, and the future's looking bright for Carlton.

 

[huggy_b]

You'll be in for a rude awakening when the Blues notch up more wins than the Aints then.

If, and I mean if it happens, then I will be the first to repent. But I don't think you have a snowflakes chance in hell. No ruck, a so-so midfield, a slowly developing backline and a one dimensional forward line. You need a lot of things to go your way.

 

[Blacky]

I am baffled that so many of you think things will just turn around come round 1, and that you are in calculations for top 4. You have already pencilled in Stevens returning to 100%, Judd being everything he was in 2004, despite the fact his supporting cast of Cox, Cousins and Kerr, are being replaced by Kreuzer, Stevens and Marc Murphy.
Walker, Simpson and co are all apparently shoe-ins to take the next step.
And the leagues worst defence is just going to start closing down opposition forward lines, or is it that you are so blind that you think you won't lose a clearance all year

 

[hustla]

Can't wait for round 1 2008. Carlton to blitz everyone in their sights. I can see the headline now:

"CARLTON KREUZ IN TOP 8"

 

[whytee]

I believe we can sneak into the 8 - anywhere b/w 6th and 12th I'm expecting. The inclusion of Stevo and Judd has far reaching benefits beyond just their footballing ability - players who were expected to hold up the midfield will find life a hell of a lot easier playing as a 3rd, 4th or 2nd string midfielder. More options = less late game fadeouts. Also, we won't be conceding 4/5 goals on the trot as we did numerous times this year due to a lack of midfield depth.

Couple that with the continued development of our younger players, and the future's looking bright for Carlton.

Judd n Stevo takin the tag will open Murphy up heaps. Gibbs gettin a run in the middle, not expecting much from him yet consisyency wise. Hadley should be useful. We'll be alright this year.

 

[LordLucifer]

Just getting out of the bottom four will be some sort of achievement, I'll take 12th and be extremely happy with that !!

 

[Kruze]

If, and I mean if it happens, then I will be the first to repent. But I don't think you have a snowflakes chance in hell. No ruck, a so-so midfield, a slowly developing backline and a one dimensional forward line. You need a lot of things to go your way.

Everything you say is true! However I choose to be optomistic about season 08. FWIW I have a good feeling about our up and coming Ruck stocks Hampson, Aisake and Possibly Kruezer. If only one of them has a break out year, we'll do ok there at worst one of them will kick 30 goals resting in the forward line.

Backline will not see as much incoming traffic with an improved midfield rotation, giving the young guys playing back there a chance to grow in confidence as the year progresses.

 

[Blacky]

Judd n Stevo takin the tag will open Murphy up heaps. Gibbs gettin a run in the middle, not expecting much from him yet consisyency wise. Hadley should be useful. We'll be alright this year.

100% correct.
You will be alright this year.
You guys are putting too much emphasis on a midfield that haven't played together, Judd will be wrapped in cotton wool till round 1, with others probably used in a limited capacity till round 1, all getting fed the ball by a bloke that hasn't even cut his teeth yet.
A good defence is pretty important.

 

[BBFFC]

I would expect them to be around 9th-14th.

Still some glaring holes in their team especially down back, midfield is unproven. There have been many a talented team on paper never amount to much.