Whoa!!! Let's just have a look at who Carlton have beaten: Essendon, Hawthorn and the Kangaroos. Real Quality there. No wonder they shined. And they have had the pick of recruits. They may well be on the up this year, but we won't find out until they play some real teams.
I'm far more impressed by Brisbane: They've been the Saints, the Dogs and Geelong, and travelled each week to do it.
Look at who we've lost to: A Geelong team at full strength, with one of the better midfields in the competition, when we were short of talls and lost Richo during the game... We lost to the Swans when we played almost no senior players: 24 games average vs 75 (or thereabouts) to Swans... We lost to Melbourne, again with a swag of big bodies out, and Melbourne at near full strength. All our losses have been to class teams, with Melbourne knocking on the door of the four.
I wonder if this doesn't put some of our "poor disposal" and decision making into perspective. Our younger players have been matching it with hard teams who know how to play one-on-one football, and that includes the Swans juniors. You only learn good disposal under pressure by playing under pressure, and that means games.
One of the most interesting things about last year was the consistency of the team overall. We beat the teams below us and lost to the teams above us. We need to do better this year, but that will happen gradually, probably very gradually, as the existing players gain experience and newer ones push for selection.
I'm far more impressed by Brisbane: They've been the Saints, the Dogs and Geelong, and travelled each week to do it.
Look at who we've lost to: A Geelong team at full strength, with one of the better midfields in the competition, when we were short of talls and lost Richo during the game... We lost to the Swans when we played almost no senior players: 24 games average vs 75 (or thereabouts) to Swans... We lost to Melbourne, again with a swag of big bodies out, and Melbourne at near full strength. All our losses have been to class teams, with Melbourne knocking on the door of the four.
I wonder if this doesn't put some of our "poor disposal" and decision making into perspective. Our younger players have been matching it with hard teams who know how to play one-on-one football, and that includes the Swans juniors. You only learn good disposal under pressure by playing under pressure, and that means games.
One of the most interesting things about last year was the consistency of the team overall. We beat the teams below us and lost to the teams above us. We need to do better this year, but that will happen gradually, probably very gradually, as the existing players gain experience and newer ones push for selection.
