Hot Topic Chicken Little thread - 2025 edition
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The Return of the Paf
Club Legend
- Aug 22, 2020
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I thought this was the 'chicken little thread', not the 'praise with faint damn thread'.
I don't buy that. Grand total of 2 changes in the team that played Hawthorn from the team that beat Geelong by 10 goals, something besides injury went seriously wrong in that back stretch of the season. And yep I know that game was cooked to the degree it was by in-game injuries but writing was on the wall before they all started going down, would have just been a 6 goal loss instead of 12 imo.
Now one of those changes was TDK who obviously makes a fair bit of difference (just not sure its 6 goals worth of difference) but that's what I'm getting at - we still seem unable to cover injuries to even 1 or 2 important players. Until we can sort that out (or get a dream run with injury as mentioned) I can't see us doing all that much.
Yeah a bit in this I reckon. We win through a brute force kinda approach - crash and bash, clearance dominance and contested marking from Charlie and Harry. And when thats not working there ain't much plan B.
really need a 2025 edition unfortunately
I bleed Blue
Brownlow Medallist
Nothing more certain than this happening to Jagga.
We are just cursed.
Wait till mid year when Cerra does a hammy. Walsh's back goes.
Cripps will be doing it all alone, wondering where Matt Kennedy is.
**** me I'm just so furious at the footy gods.
Just give us one year with a clean run
We are just cursed.
Wait till mid year when Cerra does a hammy. Walsh's back goes.
Cripps will be doing it all alone, wondering where Matt Kennedy is.
**** me I'm just so furious at the footy gods.
Just give us one year with a clean run
blue gunslinger
Hall of Famer
SO DEFLATED! - he will return strong and know all the systems: but tragic
bradfisher14
Not actually Brad Fisher
It’s February and I’m putting a line through us in the premiership race.
Gut wrenching.
Gut wrenching.
toddkurnski
Debutant
- Aug 16, 2009
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Forked
Definitely time for a bump. Let's consider:
- Our forward line is an utter shambles. Curnow is out... indefinitely (last time that meant 2.5 years). Owies (3rd on the goal-kicking last year) is playing for West Coast. Hollands (5th last year) is out... indefinitely. Kennedy (6th last year) is playing for the Bulldogs. Jack Martin is playing for Geelong. Jack Silvagni has apparently been swallowed by a black hole and hasn't reappeared since injuring his ACL - 20 months and counting. Our forward line is a Harry McKay (love the bloke, but he gets in his own head), and ummm... a converted (injury-prone) back pocket, Jesse '6 goals last year' Motlop, and take your pick of our collection of 'forwards who don't kick goals, get possessions, or tackle, but do run around a lot' (Durdin, Fantasia, Fogarty and that guy from Port we signed). How do we even get to 10 goals in a consistent way with this crew (3 to Harry, 1-2 to Motlop and Williams, and... sheesh).
- The backline is also a shambles. Weitering is playing a lone hand; somehow alongside a 30 year old and slightly checked out looking Adam Saad, a 33 year old Nick Haynes. Newman (fantastic last year) is out for the season. Jordan Boyd has disappeared into the same black hole as Jack Silvagni. Mitch McGovern isn't injured yet, but will be. Cowan is good, I guess... and then it is Lewis Young and prayers.
- The midfield is looking very shaky. Cripps is amazing, but has done too much for too long. Hewett is reliable and solid. Walsh is injured. Cerra isn't injured yet, but will be. Docherty is held together by sticky tape and the collective goodwill of the Carlton public. Kennedy plays for the Bulldogs. Stocker and Dow play for St Kilda. Sorry, but finals teams don't place their midfield hopes and dreams on Cooper Lord, but there really isn't much else there right now.
I think we are all really underestimating how much depth we have given away (our 2023 prelim final list had Stocker, Dow, Kennedy, Carroll, Martin, Fisher who are now on other lists, plus Plowman, Marchbank, Cuningham and O'Brien as veterans capable of plugging a spot). As a follow-up, I think we are underestimating how many guys on our list look (to put it politely) 2-3 years away.
On paper, I think we are honestly a 12-14th team given current injuries - probably ahead of West Coast, St Kilda, Richmond, but I'm not wagering on anyone else. At the same time as this, we've traded our first and second round draft picks (to Hawthorn, who on betting odds might just leapfrog us into the top 4 AND collect a top 5 draft pick on our behalf) and likely won't have a draft pick until pick 40-ish and will face a devilish choice with TDK (make him the most overpaid player in the league, or lost a 26 year-old good player in a position in which we have almost no depth).
- Our forward line is an utter shambles. Curnow is out... indefinitely (last time that meant 2.5 years). Owies (3rd on the goal-kicking last year) is playing for West Coast. Hollands (5th last year) is out... indefinitely. Kennedy (6th last year) is playing for the Bulldogs. Jack Martin is playing for Geelong. Jack Silvagni has apparently been swallowed by a black hole and hasn't reappeared since injuring his ACL - 20 months and counting. Our forward line is a Harry McKay (love the bloke, but he gets in his own head), and ummm... a converted (injury-prone) back pocket, Jesse '6 goals last year' Motlop, and take your pick of our collection of 'forwards who don't kick goals, get possessions, or tackle, but do run around a lot' (Durdin, Fantasia, Fogarty and that guy from Port we signed). How do we even get to 10 goals in a consistent way with this crew (3 to Harry, 1-2 to Motlop and Williams, and... sheesh).
- The backline is also a shambles. Weitering is playing a lone hand; somehow alongside a 30 year old and slightly checked out looking Adam Saad, a 33 year old Nick Haynes. Newman (fantastic last year) is out for the season. Jordan Boyd has disappeared into the same black hole as Jack Silvagni. Mitch McGovern isn't injured yet, but will be. Cowan is good, I guess... and then it is Lewis Young and prayers.
- The midfield is looking very shaky. Cripps is amazing, but has done too much for too long. Hewett is reliable and solid. Walsh is injured. Cerra isn't injured yet, but will be. Docherty is held together by sticky tape and the collective goodwill of the Carlton public. Kennedy plays for the Bulldogs. Stocker and Dow play for St Kilda. Sorry, but finals teams don't place their midfield hopes and dreams on Cooper Lord, but there really isn't much else there right now.
I think we are all really underestimating how much depth we have given away (our 2023 prelim final list had Stocker, Dow, Kennedy, Carroll, Martin, Fisher who are now on other lists, plus Plowman, Marchbank, Cuningham and O'Brien as veterans capable of plugging a spot). As a follow-up, I think we are underestimating how many guys on our list look (to put it politely) 2-3 years away.
On paper, I think we are honestly a 12-14th team given current injuries - probably ahead of West Coast, St Kilda, Richmond, but I'm not wagering on anyone else. At the same time as this, we've traded our first and second round draft picks (to Hawthorn, who on betting odds might just leapfrog us into the top 4 AND collect a top 5 draft pick on our behalf) and likely won't have a draft pick until pick 40-ish and will face a devilish choice with TDK (make him the most overpaid player in the league, or lost a 26 year-old good player in a position in which we have almost no depth).
Some reality checks there. I am not convinced we have the quality coaching required to go to the next level.
- Apr 21, 2019
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Was concerned when we let Martin, Kennedy and Owies go without as much as a shrug.
Now we have an injury list of injury prone players and we’re looking a bit cooked…
Will be struggling to make finals from this position this year.
Now we have an injury list of injury prone players and we’re looking a bit cooked…
Will be struggling to make finals from this position this year.
There is only so much of this utter BS you can take before the bottom falls out.
Can never really have a clear, fair run it. Always, always having to deal with material obstacles.
Injuries can never be short term and to less key players. Always long term/season ending and to key players.
Recent evidence suggests our success has been player/talent driven rather than system/coaching.
We are going to have to be materially better in every aspect of the football program to even make finals let alone truly contend.
Can never really have a clear, fair run it. Always, always having to deal with material obstacles.
Injuries can never be short term and to less key players. Always long term/season ending and to key players.
Recent evidence suggests our success has been player/talent driven rather than system/coaching.
We are going to have to be materially better in every aspect of the football program to even make finals let alone truly contend.
I'm flat as, like many.
Been thinking today where's our improvement going to come from? What's different to last year? Are we still predicable?
I hope this wears off but I'm not feeling confident this year at all.
Been thinking today where's our improvement going to come from? What's different to last year? Are we still predicable?
I hope this wears off but I'm not feeling confident this year at all.
The Old Dark Navy's
Moderator
- Moderator
- #317
My first thought was that it is more of the same. We paid a huge price to get Jagga and now won't have access to the only point of difference we added to the team who struggled with midfield pace last season.
It's a year. We will still have Jagga for his whole career, but we have burned another year of Cripps, Curnow, Weitering, Walsh, McKay. Mind you, this could have happened to Dan Houston if he came to us too, and we wouldn't be getting 15 years out of him.
So we are back to the same old list, minus Kennedy and a heap of injury plagued guys. I don't care that we don't have Owies. He was good at finding space, but whose to say another small forward can't get the balls he was getting.
We get back Docherty and Silvagni this year, but lose Smith and Newman.
Smith is a first year player and from what I saw on Saturday, he was going to take some time to get up to speed. Everyone loves Newman, and I was one of, if not the first supporter on BigFooty to suggest we approach him as a moneyball selection before we got him. However, as good a general as Newman can be at times, as a medium defender, he is slow as a wet week, and therefore part of our defensive woes. I have been excited about trying a new option back there since he went down, and know that Voss wouldn't have made the change anyway.
However, Voss will also stubbornly stick to this Ollie Hollands to half back decision and it's a real risk right now. We have no other real pace to bring in aside from Wilson and Charleson. Let's hope one of them puts their hand up.
As for Charlie and Walsh ... I just don't know anymore. If they come back fully fit, then we have a chance still if everybody has their head in the game. If not, we are toast.
It's a year. We will still have Jagga for his whole career, but we have burned another year of Cripps, Curnow, Weitering, Walsh, McKay. Mind you, this could have happened to Dan Houston if he came to us too, and we wouldn't be getting 15 years out of him.
So we are back to the same old list, minus Kennedy and a heap of injury plagued guys. I don't care that we don't have Owies. He was good at finding space, but whose to say another small forward can't get the balls he was getting.
We get back Docherty and Silvagni this year, but lose Smith and Newman.
Smith is a first year player and from what I saw on Saturday, he was going to take some time to get up to speed. Everyone loves Newman, and I was one of, if not the first supporter on BigFooty to suggest we approach him as a moneyball selection before we got him. However, as good a general as Newman can be at times, as a medium defender, he is slow as a wet week, and therefore part of our defensive woes. I have been excited about trying a new option back there since he went down, and know that Voss wouldn't have made the change anyway.
However, Voss will also stubbornly stick to this Ollie Hollands to half back decision and it's a real risk right now. We have no other real pace to bring in aside from Wilson and Charleson. Let's hope one of them puts their hand up.
As for Charlie and Walsh ... I just don't know anymore. If they come back fully fit, then we have a chance still if everybody has their head in the game. If not, we are toast.
Meh.
We’ll be alright, Motlop kicks 40, TDK dominates and SOS becomes a premier backman.
Let’s post negativity because Carlton doesn’t have enough of it.
- Oct 4, 2018
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Are you saying you think the O.Hollands experiment hasn't worked already? Or are you saying if it proves to not work in-season you are concerned Voss won't change it?
The Old Dark Navy's
Moderator
- Moderator
- #320
This is the thread for it.
I'll go into every game thinking we will win. We need a lot to go right, and no fade outs between the ears.
The Old Dark Navy's
Moderator
- Moderator
- #321
I'm saying I have concerns about his footskills and his one on one defence. I pray it works. I think I want Binns on the wing ahead of him anyway.
If he is struggling, and we know the Saints tried to play through him, then I think Voss will take a long time to make a switch. I'm hoping Charleson, Wilson and Matt Carroll hit the ground running in the VFL and really put the pressure on.
- Oct 23, 2017
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I ****ing hate hearing "oh it's not our fault players keep getting injured, it's just bad luck".
Absolute ****ing rubbish. Playing 30 minute quarters in 30 degree heat was a ****ing great idea. Not to mention playing our prized draft pick who's still built like an Italian greyhound for more than a half to in a scratch match.
We have to have the most brain dead coaches in the league.
This club is still in yesteryear. Won't be signing up again anytime soon. Best thing I ever did was cancel my membership and stop going to games.
Absolute ****ing rubbish. Playing 30 minute quarters in 30 degree heat was a ****ing great idea. Not to mention playing our prized draft pick who's still built like an Italian greyhound for more than a half to in a scratch match.
We have to have the most brain dead coaches in the league.
This club is still in yesteryear. Won't be signing up again anytime soon. Best thing I ever did was cancel my membership and stop going to games.
- Oct 4, 2018
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I have high hopes Boyd will add a lot to the back 7. Very good one on one defender and genuinely one of better kicks in the AFL.
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The Old Dark Navy's
Moderator
- Moderator
- #324
I keep forgetting about Boyd because we have hardly seen him.
The Old Dark Navy's
Moderator
- Moderator
- #325
You can't do shit about ACLs. They are not an overuse injury.
