Notes from the game: 2015 Round 5 Carlton

The Pies rain (and reign) on Malthouse's parade in a desultory, mistake-ridden, unattractive game that told us more about Carlton than it did about Collingwood.

Team                    Q1      Q2      Q3      Q4      Final 
Carlton Blues           1.1     2.3     5.6     6.9     45
Collingwood Magpies     4.4     8.9     14.11   18.12   120 

Oops

I wanted to go into some detail in response to a short conversation I had with offspring number one, but the clods who run http://www.afl.com.au/video/smart-replay have cocked things up. When I tried, the site blocked me claiming I was outside Australia! If they fix things in the next day or two, I'll try to find time to write a postscript.

I wanted to get this post out asap, but I've had several distractions including my other reason for living and, last night, a rather delicious Cleopatra.

Carlton

Given the occasion, you might have expected a burst of something from Carlton, but two goals to half time for a 7-goal deficit pretty much killed the contest. Even that probably flattered the Blues, because, unnoticed alongside Carlton's abysmal performance, Collingwood had a poor game. As Hawkeye says, the dullness rubs off.

Carlton's ineptitude closely matched Collingwood's against Adelaide (a game in which it was easy to believe that the coach's pre-game instructions were something along the lines, "Try to avoid taking possession. If you must grab the pill, at least try to fumble. Oh, and on those occasions when you have it in the clear, see if you can deposit it into the arms of an opponent".)

Carlton players displayed little appetite for the ball or the contest. Judd seemed to be trying but had few allies perhaps apart from Bell and Wood.

Whatever anyone thought of Carlton at the start of the year, that evaluation must be discounted 80% or 90%. I've watched most of Carlton's games this year, and I'm delighted to report that they are terrible; a genuine candidate for the wooden spoon. Of course the Queensland teams might have a say in that.

Mick

Footy people being who they are, not to mention Carlton people, the avoidable but likely fallout will be Malthouse. It's a bit like many people's attitude to a virus.

"Can I get an antibiotic?"

"Antibiotics only work on bacteria. Little Johnny has a virus."

"But you must do something!"

With the inevitable braying in the media by the likes of Caroline "Queen of Hearts" Wilson (whose solution to everything seems to be "Off with their heads!"), expect abundant speculation on Malthouse's future.

With apologies to Tim Rice (Evita):

        Dice are rolling, the knives are out
        Would-be journalists are all around
        I don't say they mean harm
        But they'd each give an arm
        To see him six feet underground

Collingwood

So you'd think this game might have given me a lot of joy, if not for the magnitude of Collingwood's victory, then for the magnitude of Carlton's defeat¹. There was that. But any cheer on that front was mitigated by the frequency of Collingwood's clangers.

Here's a random handful of examples. Cloke missed three gettable shots to the near side; he dropped a mark in the goal square (though he buttered up and kicked the goal - but at least had the decency to hang his head); he dropped another mark around half forward; he sprayed a shot from 12m (though he still managed to score a major - but at least had the decency to hang his head). Adams has an alarming propensity to kick the ball into opposition players. He only did it once this game, but he has form. Swan fumbled repeatedly; when he wasn't fumbling he was selling Frost into trouble - a mistake which resulted in a goal to Carlton.

Yes, I know that many players did lots of good things, but they were individual acts like Karnezis's goal - which came from one of the plethora of Carlton screw-ups, not from good team play on the part of Collingwood.

One nice team play resulted in a goal across his body to Varcoe. Another was a spate of really nice deliveries to Cloke in F50, often by Crisp. Just as often, Cloke missed - to the near side.

The good

Collingwood's defence was excellent. Frost was again doing what he does. It's a lot more than Maxwell's see ball, punch ball - though he can also do that. He's usually outstanding at leaving his man, then covering an impossible distance to spoil another opponent. It's a judgement call that he gets right most of the time, so we can forgive the few occasions when his opponent ends up in possession, near to goal, unattended. Again he had the least disposals (equal to Karnezis who played a little over a quarter - but, astonishingly, more than 7 Carlton players!); but that's no measure of the man. He's way better than that. And he's not even part of the team! He's a rookie, promoted to replace someone, perhaps Reid or Macaffer.

Oxley had 26 disposals, but seemed to be everywhere. With better finish he might have scored more than 1.3. Nevertheless, he managed a game-high 9 marks, some of them severely contested. Ramsay with 16 disposals also had impressive numbers for a defender. But it's not just Ramsay's numbers; he does a wonderful trade in sidestepping opponents, and never seems flustered.

Williams had 22 disposals and was again very effective. So far, in the last 5 seasons we have seen two players come into the team and play so well in their early games they defied the coaching staff to drop them: Blair and Fasolo. I think Williams might fit in that company. He looks like a natural successor to Benny Johnson, probably much more talented.

The current defence has some huge shoes to fill: Shaw, Leon, H, Maxwell (despite how he is seen outside the club), Tarrant. Although they are nothing alike in other respects, the emergence of Goldsack performing Leon's kick-in duties looks good (so far). And Goldsack provides heaps of other features. After a promising start, he went missing for a few seasons, but this year looks to be his best. Who knows? Potentially, Oxley, Ramsay and Seedsman will become as valuable as the stars who have left. They'll be needed if Keeffe and the other Thomas receive an extended holiday.

Grudgingly, I'll admit that both Adams and Langdon are playing much better than last year. Both are committing fewer clangers; both were very good.

There's a lot to like about our defence. (When the players are doing well, they are ours; at other times they are yours.)

The not so good

Unlike the defence who clearly have an understanding and share duties, the forward line did not function as a unit. That we kicked 18 goals is more of a tribute to Carlton's ineptitude. We kicked a disturbingly inaccurate 8.9 to half time; astonishingly, Carlton outdid us in inaccuracy by kicking 6.9 - for the entire game. (But Carlton were woeful.) In the second half, we did much better, kicking 10.3, thereby righting the ship for a final tally of 18.12. But we were playing witches' hats. We should have kicked far more and and far more accurately.

Given that we outmarked Carlton 111-44, I'm inclined to think that 200 points went begging.

Grundy had a mixed night. Collingwood (mainly Grundy against the pairing of Cam Wood and Warnock) lost hitouts 49-27. It also lost the related stats of hitouts to advantage but managed to halve clearances. But around the ground, Grundy was much more effective, using his athleticism, speed, stamina and marking. At one point, he cheekily bounced the ball running away from the less mobile Warnock.

Keep an eye on Grundy: he has an impressive leap. He just needs to time it so that he contacts the ball at his highest point. Usually he jumps too early so he's hitting the ground as the other ruckman is tapping it to advantage. He could be like Ryder.

The wrap

As I write (Sunday morning, the round incomplete) we sit atop the ladder with the second best percentage in the league. We have winnable games against Geelong, Richmond and Gold Coast providing the possibility for the players to become more cohesive. (However, winnable is to won as kickable is to kicked - think Cloke.) Eventually we will face formidable opposition.

Nevertheless, the team - our team - provides possibility, and as the Footy Bogan's alter ego is wont to say, possibility beats paradise.

Sources, Notes, Footnotes, References

http://www.footywire.com/afl/footy/ft_match_statistics?mid=6000

[1] If that remark doesn't make sense to you, read the first two paragraphs of this.