I agree with you tigerextra - Carlton =
I think that Carlton will do a little better with Judd in the side but to say they will improve and get into the 8 because of one man is just ridiculous. Apart from Judd, they have little else to to base that thought on. They seem to think that having Stevens back will be the clincher but in my eyes, he has played at best, 4 good games for the scum since moving to them. Week after week I see him kicking to opposition players or being run down and tackled and worse, afraid to get the hard ball, so I am not sure what the excitment is all about.
They may start the year chock full of confidence but we all know this will not last and after about 8 rounds we will see the lack of talent shine through. You dont often get lots of wins based on confidence alone - you need skill, something that few have in that team.
Murphy? IMO has shown nothing really except glimpses of talent. His development has not that great at scum.
Gibbs> IMO - new I know but did not show anything to give hope in his first year.
Walker? IMO - he is next to useless, does not read the ball or the play well and is at best, a receiver who does not fight for the ball. Soft at the contest.
Stevens? IMHO - next please, Im not a fan. He is ok if his team has the ball - another receiver with some shocking disposals.
Simpson, Carutzzo etc etc are IMO average players that I think are there to make up the numbers.
They have no backline to speak of and Waite and O'Halpin are other under achievers to date. Oh, and I forgot to add they still have Houlihan ;D. Where is the improvement coming from? I cant see it but I must be missing something!
Kreueser is not likely to impact much in his first season so they will once again rely on Hackland :

and as far as the others in their team -most (not all) would not get a game at any other club - well maybe Freo ;D
My flatmate is a scum supporter but he is a bit more realistic - thinks they have more hope to move up the ladder but he is thinking that 5-7 wins would be a win in his eyes. Personally, I cant see that many wins with just Judd. He will not have a champion ruckman putting it down his throat and no Cousins and Kerr backing him up. He is a star but even stars cant win games off their own boots week in week out, they need support. Judd has had first class support for his entire career - this will show how much of a star he is without the others propping him up.
For mine, they have not improved their list much at all and if they think that they have then good on them, let them go. They will get a very rude awakening in 2008. This is a team that has so many 1st and 2nd draft kids yet have failed to develop them at all. They have a loser mentality and the club has a coach that at the moment sits at 0 wins and seems happy about it - so they got Judd and Kreuser (we got Cotchin and in my eyes we got #1). They seem happy about that losing strike rate - thank god I dont support that lot!
What do they have to sprout off about - nothing, they are the worst performed club in the last 6 years and have not improved their talent much at all! Carltank are the worst and they may improve slightly but cant see the them improving enough to back their beliefs :rofl