How much fun is football when you’re winning? Last Saturday finally allowed us two quarters of relaxation as we watched our Eagles do what they do best – tonk some poor helpless team into oblivion. While some will say that a big win over Melbourne counts for little at the moment, the truth is that the players were short on confidence, and that may have done them a world of good. To be fair, Melbourne have been frequently compared to traffic cones over the last few weeks. I think that’s a bit harsh though, I’d back the cones to last the duration of the game.
Our slow start has left is in a precarious position in which every home game becomes vital. Dropping any more points at Subi would mean that our form in Melbourne would have to be substantially better than in recent years, and that we’d finally have to not bottle a game against Collingwood or Hawthorn at the MCG. I’m not prepared to rely on that just yet, so with that in mind, Carlton needed to cop it this weekend.
And after all, what’s more fun than toeing Carlton around nowadays? They’re a pretty unlikeable bunch of bells, and I still think the highlight of last season was the bath that Scooter gave Chris Judd. Most of us are pretty much over the really strong hatred of Judd, and so we should be, but there’s just something about his consistent failure with them that makes my heart lift. Surely now he’s realising how lucky he was to be at an organisation like ours.
The Blues made a solid step forward last season by sacking monkey man Brett Ratten and replacing him with a more than decent coach in Mick Malthouse. Just as Ross Lyon has saved Fremantle in a way, I can see a future in which Malthouse’s arrival at Carlton is portrayed as some sort of turning point. Luckily for us, the ghost of Ratten past is still lingering around, leaving the players in a sort of coaching purgatory. This predictably is leading to two good quarters and two gash quarters a match. Guess which ones are Ratten’s.
Their injury list isn’t on the same biblical level as ours, but it’s significant nonetheless. Most critically, Matthew Kruezer broke a finger or something last week, so he’s out for a while. This should allow Dean Cox to add yet another good game to the bank as his career reaches a lengthy twilight. I was surprised to see Cox’s game against Melbourne receive so many plaudits, as I was tearing my hair out watching the big fella. Perhaps a victim of his own standards, it was frustrating to see him largely non-competitive at centre bounces and struggle to bend at the waist to pick it up off the deck. In saying that, he kicked three goals and had a bucket load of the footy, so who am I to complain? No doubt he’s giving Naita extra groin rubs to try and get him back quicker though, the poor bugger shouldn’t have to carry this load in his early forties.
Our much talked about midfield will get a good test this week, as a combo of Murphy, Judd, Gibbs and Carazzo is more than decent. Our dominance at both ends of the ground may help a little, but no doubt we will have to perform well in the guts if we want to win. Jamieson is a great defender, and will probably take Kennedy, but who can then take Darling, Hill, LeCras and a resting ruckman out of the equation? If we get it forward, we will kick goals. Jarred Waite is unsurprisingly injured for them, and as a result they lack big marking forwards. Rowe might be the short term answer, but I’d back either of MacKenzie or Brown to sort him out. The bigger problem will be the little guys, even though Betts will miss it. We haven’t coped well with quick small forwards this season, so Garlett and Yarran (should they play forward) will be an issue. Ash Smith may get a recall to douse this threat.
Another week has passed, so naturally that means two more players need to be added to the injury list. This week it is Beau Waters and Andrew Embley who have some old man niggles, and will miss a couple of weeks. We may get Matt Rosa and Eric MacKenzie back, but who the hell knows. The Naitanui riddle continues to get more confusing, as almost every day the return date seems to change. An article on Sunday told us that he may be two months away. Yesterday Woosha said he’s probably only a couple of weeks off. I won’t believe anything until he’s on a team sheet and being predicted as a late out. That’s when we know he’s back. That fella that we coughed up pick 18 for might play for us eventually, but at the moment I find myself frequently forgetting that he’s on our list. Which is really disappointing, because I was excited for his arrival. Who else is hurt? That’s right, everyone. It’s too depressing to even worry about.
Our first half against Melbourne was dead average, but to be fair the Demons actually put a shift in there for a while. Eventually they remembered they were terrible though, and we kinda went bezerk. How good is it having Josh Kennedy and Jack Darling in the same team? It’s scary how good they will be. It’s pretty bloody scary how good they are now. Lecca recovered typically well from his broken arm and was great, and everyone’s favourite hipster Masto was far and away our best midfielder. There were some very positive signs from Kerr on return, and I thought Shuey continued to show that he’s only one massive game away from completely breaking out. Here’s hoping it’s this weekend.
In a season like this, there are no unimportant games. Regardless of the first two rounds, we still do have a hell of a lot to play for this season, and we are only going to get better each and every week. Maybe the best way for us to really kick start 2013 is by pounding a helpless Blues team to every corner of Subi and back again, just like the good old days. I can only assume the players will wear black armbands for Schoey’s beard, so if they can’t get up for this game then they never will.
Come on Eagles, we haven’t got time for faffing about anymore. Let’s get serious.
