Really once upon a time they were the days of eternal sunshine - spring led to finals led to flags led to a summer spent waiting for the next year to roll around, all was sweet and everything made sense. Now, now sadness follows the blues and by midwinter the year is shot and arguments and dissections begin again, cut this, scrap that, redo this, trade him, and him, and probably him and so on...we are the haunting harmonica, the melancholic steel guitar, we have gravel for voices and leadbellies in our boots...is it a curse...are we forever doomed?

There are many reasons, like the way we sack coaches faster than other teams change away strips
The way we surround ourselves with the stench of what we once were rather than what we could be
It is also about talent and how we search only for the diamonds and forget the other gems that can be unearthed
It's patience in developing kids, committing to their futures, their paths, not lining up draft picks like slaves on crosses in a remake of Spartacus...that's the image I have...all those boys we've recruited, all the bodies limp and dead on the shrinking vine that is this club. We do not care and in not caring create the rot that keeps feeding on the roots of our aspirations.

So why can't we develop, why this obsession with only the top end talent - and even then only the best of what they do...when will we commit to developing all our players to be the best they can be, not for the jumper - @#$%&! the jumper - it's just colours, cloth and patterns, but for them, the kids who get no choice but must arrive at our clubhouse to be broken on the dreams of what we once were.

You can see it already in Walsh, in Doc, in Cripps, they talk the talk the club wants them to talk but the walk, no one guides their walk, we just push them out to perform and then discard when that performance falters...

get rid of Cripps...its his fault now, as it was Murph's before and so on and so on...trust me I know, I am as guilty as any at the club because I feasted on those glory days, gorged on the flags, the records, the sublime players but
I'd like to toss the jumper away now, relocate the club somewhere else, melt the cups into slag heaps and start again.

Already I've had calls, and texts about when will Voss go, when can we trade out Cripps, how can we secure the number 1 pick...
again...
really...we are back there again...

How about this...

Put in place around Voss what Voss needs.
Put in place around the players what they need.
Tell everyone from the CEO down, that's it, that's what this place is about, not finals, not flags, not being the best club in a jungle of chest-beating clubs...just this, a football club, a place where aspirants are recruited to follow and develop a dream...just that.

Don't care about flags, really we need to let that go...lets just become the best club at developing the players we select....the best club at helping dreams reach fruition...the best club at nurturing, at supporting, at developing...
Stop this insane revolution of years as if we are a giant spinning wheel and if we spin it enough times we'll come up with a flag...@#$%&! that...

lets just work on helping our players be the best they can be, helping them and the coach forge a team that is the best it can be, take our eyes off the hallucination that we are all about flags and get back to what this club should be about,

finding and nurturing players...

maybe then we can find our way out of the blues and back to being Carlton.

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This type of slight is alien in the more cultured part of the world - Walsh. Its up there with mad dogs, Englishmen and the midday sun!

Kicking some goals would be a nice start.

in all sorts of ways

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This type of slight is alien in the more cultured part of the world - Walsh. Its up there with mad dogs, Englishmen and the midday sun!

I’ve almost signed out emotionally.
Almost because if it was fully I wouldn’t be here
We can ( I can ) fully bang on on what we need
Rather than repeat myself too much I will write about a phone conversation I had with a mate this week. He lives in Geelong and follows the Cats but also the local footy.
Corio Football Club have been easy beats for years.
Recently a female assumed the role of head hancho off the field
President CEO whatever title you want to give her doesn’t matter

She got the broom out and got rid of all the flower
She told the club this is how we are going to operate
She was modern age in her thinking
The whole culture of the joint changed
And the club is playing better footy
It starts from the top( sorry to sound like a broken record)
Sayers is a throw back to what used to work but doesn’t anymore

We desperately need someone at the top that knows how to have success in the AFL modern age
Until that happens we are ducked
Sayers saying our aim is to play finals is an outdated statement that places the assumption that we want success too quickly
So we go out and pay a Kings ransom for overrated players from other clubs and are too quick to think the current list is good.

When I read about Sayers and Mathieson disagreeing in the changing rooms after another loss( probably over what Uncle Brucee said in the press) doesn’t that tell nothing has changed in two decades

It’s sad that I only have a vague interest on how we are going to play before a game
And I am sure I am not on my own
Until there is true modern change with people who are perceptive about others nothing will change

Good on you Dan . Always a delight to read your stuff . Bit highbrow for me but i love your stuff all the same . Me , i have been happily following our great Club for seventy years and have loved every bit of the ride good and bad ................... but sadly i cracked it ten minutes into the first quarter against the Dees . I mean like really cracked it . And i am a really forgiving tolerant patient person .Moral is , when Mick cracks it it is extreme emergency time . Pull the ripcord stuff . What now Dan ? please , restore my faith . Give us something .

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All my dangerous friends

sorry Mick haven't got much at all, but gee Kemp's game brought a smile to me. As did the urgency of Cincotta, a bloke that's had to wait and wants it. It was hard to watch how labouring we are...are there a few carrying too much niggles? I don't know but I am sick and tired of how this club bangs on about success in terms of flags and not in terms of people. Take care of the people and see what follows. At least until we build a viable environment where f=development is taking place. I was happy to see Dow get a run - couldn't give a @#$%&! about long term I just saw a kid who has played well week in week out in the vfl, has not thrown in the towel but just goes out and does what he does. It was great to see him finally get a game in the firsts, and it was great to hear the cheers when he got a touch! So maybe we focus on the little things and the big things just might turn around - but like the side - find a way to help them have a bit of fun out there 'cos at the moment they looked tortured.

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This type of slight is alien in the more cultured part of the world - Walsh. Its up there with mad dogs, Englishmen and the midday sun!

Thanks Dan . I"m calm now .

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All my dangerous friends

Great post D.B.
It worked for Ted Lasso and AC Richmond.
And it seems to be working for the Pies.

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That’s not a political statement — it’s a harsh reality, and we must act,” she said. “He is a clear and present danger to the things that keep us strong and free. I support impeachment.”

70 years?

Yeah mate , born in 1947 a week before we won a flag .Naturally i didn't see that one but i have been to everyone since . I have had a fantastic ride . But geez , all you younger guys have showed so much loyalty and dedication deserve so much more .................... been extremely loyal myself but i finally cracked it last week . Taken the one wood to everyone since . I actually think blokes like me are part of the problem . We have been blindly loyal and saying everything will be alright instead of kicking up a stink and demanding more . Anyhow , better late than never . I have done a one eighty degree flip and i'm not backing off till i see something . This old dog has still got a bit of fight left in him .

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All my dangerous friends

Always enjoy reading your posts Mick

70 explains a lot

with age comes wisdom

Dont stop posting them

I need the glass half full attitude!!

G

Thanks Chris . One thing gives me hope . Its the calibre of our young supporters coming through . Real tough resilient never say die types . Can only be good for our future .

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All my dangerous friends

Yep, they're both great kids.

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Orandum est ut sit mens sana in corpore sano. Fortem posce animum mortis terrore carentem, qui spatium vitae extremum inter munera ponat naturae, qui ferre queat quoscumque labores.

I love the mention of fun.

I have seen the pies coaches box when an on field blew happens, and it doesn’t surprise to see McRae and team have a chuckle.

Our list is talented enough. They seem to have lost their natural instincts, the flair that should come from being young and having your dream job. They are in their heads.

What about Vossy - before he addresses the team at Qtr time - asking Charlie (for example) “Charlie what’s the funniest thing that happened that qtr?”

“Thanks Charlie …..now boys let’s rip into it and back yourselves”.

I know for a fact Voss is well supported with leadership science and mentors. However, he seems to caught up in his head (as do the players) versus leading with his/their hearts.

Fun and heart go hand in hand.

Love your work DB

"the bit where our small forwards kept it in the forward line"

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#DonTheStash

Now that’s funny

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"Liberals feel unworthy of their possessions. Conservatives feel they deserve everything they've stolen."

Mort Sahl

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That’s not a political statement — it’s a harsh reality, and we must act,” she said. “He is a clear and present danger to the things that keep us strong and free. I support impeachment.”