AFL Premiership Round 1
[FONT="]CARLTON BLUES VS. RICHMOND TIGERS[/FONT]
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VS.
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[FONT="]CARLTON BLUES VS. RICHMOND TIGERS[/FONT]
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LADDER
(Nothing to see here yet, but left here for future templating purposes)
FORM
(NAB Cup)
Carlton: W L W W L
Richmond: L L W L L
Richmond's final hit out against the Crows at Visy Park once again showed their deficiencies in ball movement and skills and capped off a forgetful pre season competition campaign.
The NAB Cup and Challenge matches saw the Tigers struggle to get the ball out of their defensive 50 against sides who employed the forward line press. However on occasions where they were able to create space they looked dangerous on the attack when less thinking is required and they kick it long and run for each other. Their trades add to depth, not sure about their quality. Draft pick ups like Conca look more likely though, doubt they’ll have an effect against us.
Carlton’s Pre Season has been promising and we’ve seen new players like Duigan, Laidler and Collins all justify their selections and push for best 22 status. Others like Watson, Twomey and Curnow are very close too. Positional changes wise, Chris Yarran to the HB line has been a revelation and the Tigers would be crazy to not put a defensive tag on this guy. Andrew Walker to the forward line allowed Mitch Robinson to work not only on his endurance but to focus on solely being a midfielder and so far, he has added a welcome dose of grunt
A fade out in the last minutes of the Cats game can be attributed to the heat, but it’s nonetheless worrying and hopefully the two week break will allow for the boys to rest up and the likes of Murphy, Hampson, White, Carrazzo, McLean to rest up before the big game.
LAST TIME WE MET
Considering it’s a new season and last season is sort of irrelevant (as was the NAB Cup with plenty of new kids)...this should give a good indication of how it went..
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POSSIBLE TEAMS (My opinion)
Carlton
FB: Russell, Watson/White/Thornton/Austin, Laidler
HB: Yarran, Bower, Duigan
C: Simpson, Gibbs, Scotland
HF: Walker, Waite, Collins
FF: Garlett, Henderson, Betts
R: Warnock, Judd, Murphy**
IC: Hampson, Robinson, Armfield/Carrazzo**, Lucas/McLean/Curnow/Joseph(SUB)
** = Under an injury cloud or limited game time
Bolded = Spot up for grabs
Richmond
FB: Newman, McGuane, Rance
HB: Deledio, Astbury, Connors
C: Morton, Cotchin, Grigg
HF: Houli, Riewoldt, Conca
FF: Nahas, Vickery, Edwards
R: Graham, Martin, Tuck
IC: Foley, Jackson, Batchelor/White, Derrickx(sp?[SUB])
(not all too sure about this line up, so won’t bold and asterickx [pun intended] players)
KEY PLAYERS & MATCH UPS
- Jack Riewoldt: Where will he play? At Full Forward or further up the ground with Vickery at FF? This is could be a game changer with Jamison being out and having an undersized Bower, inexperienced White/Watson/Austin or less than favourable Thornton playing on him. We’ll need to double team him whenever possible, Duigan and Laidler will play an important part in this, Gibbs may float back too.
- Rucks: Warnock and Hampson look ominous and could inflict a world of pain if the Tigers’ rucks don’t step up. Will Angus Graham be accompanied by Tom Derickx (sp?) who has impressed or the unproven Tyrone Vickery who will rest forward? All 3 could be played though so keep your eyes on that battle.
- Mitch Morton: Usually kicks a few goals on us and is dangerous around the goals, looks set to play midfield which I believe is the wrong move with Houli and Grigg who are now available to rotate there. IMO he’ll be much less effectual in the midfield.
- Jeffrey Garlett: How will Richmond contain this guy while also trying to keep Eddie quiet?
- Bryce Gibbs: Has a point to prove, he’ll be aware he’s had an iffy pre season and let’s hope he comes out guns blazing.
PREDICTION
Richmond will not be confident of a win here but would absolutely LOVE to ruin our party. Watch for Shaun Grigg to have a big game against his old side and try to stick it up Ratts, in the end though they have not progressed enough to make ground on us and we’re getting closer and closer to pushing for top 6 and becoming a side that can shake up the Top 4 in next couple of years. Riewoldt in and Jamison out would make for an interesting match if it wasn’t for the impending complete shutting down of Richmond’s attack out of their D50. If there was another decent big forward we may well have been challenged, but Tyrone Vickery should not prove much for a Simon White or Bret Thornton type.
Watch for us to use our superior ball use and experienced bodies to overrun the Tigs. It doesn’t help them that we’ve also had this guy helping us at the club..
BLUES BY 44
