Now, moving on from the Tiger peanut gallery, to offer some impartial discussion on last night's game...
1) Carlton were paying $251 for the flag and $2.50 for the spoon going into last night's clash and certainly won't have improved those odds any. I don't think its total doom and gloom for the side, but their skill level (or overall lack thereof) has to be of concern. In some ways they remind me of Hawthorn circa 2005, although they aren't carrying as many newbies, not toting as many injuries, and not incorporating the same key contingent of improving 21-24 year olds.
2) Marc Murphy still has it ahead of him, but he is showing strong cameo signs of why he was taken number 1 in the draft. He can certainly find targets and has the smarts, and that first quarter goal was a gem.
3) I only watched the first quarter and the Blues were well on top at that point (should have been about 8 goals ahead at the first break). As with all struggling sides they struggle to play out enough winning quarters however. Even though they were doing well in the opening term, their defence looked up against it and very vulnerable. Most damningly, the club fell just one short of equalling the recorded team clanger record of 29 for a match, which is a weakness that is going to take some time to fix.
4) Richmond were barely short of horrendous in the opening term, so they did well to recover and get the points. The side also returned 22 clangers for the match, exceeding the competition average by 8. The side runs pretty hard and doesn't shirk issues, but while it is capable of getting good midfield ball, the quality of disposal arising from their centre players can be very erratic, to say the least.
5) The above point would be the focal reasoning behind the devotion of high picks to players like Deledio, Tambling & Oakley-Nicholls. Deledio is a no-brainer and I expect Tambling to eventually reward the faith, but the Oakley-Nicholls decision is already looking worrying. The boy has talent, but the club commented after his recruitment that they were looking several years down the track with him. This is fine, but when you are also carrying pressing KPP concerns that will need several years to iron-out, you run with a player like Clarke when the chance arises. Hughes was a fab pick-up at 24, but had they punted on Clarke at 8 they will most likely still have got him with that pick. Pursuing things with Hughes is a good move, but nobody can tell me that having a player like young Clarke in ahead of Stafford wouldn't be doing more for the future Tiger structure than having Oakley-Nicholls slow-burning in the lower grades. Its true enough that the side also has a need for skilled outside mids, but they could have comfortably picked-up capable outside types (that can come on quicker than JON) across the 2006 & 2007 drafts.
