In amongst all the supposed tanking and ongoing debate, we are witnessing as Frank Dardew wrote, a changing of the guard at Carlton. The biggest pitfall we face in any changing of the guard is that our confidence in the new guard is misplaced; that AB is just another Jon McCormick and Simmo is just a revved up Damien Lock. the fullness of time will help us out, but what over the next 10 years can we expect from our younger players?

Are any of :
* Carrazzo
* Bentick
* Simpson
* Fisher
* ohAilpin
* Waite
* Walker
* Russell

200 game players for the Blues? And are any stars in the making, or are they just destined to full a spot on a list (which over the long run is all we can really ask for)?

To me, 1AW, Waite and Simmo are desinted to be 200 game players. I fear for:

* AB, given pace limitation
* Fisher, as I think he'll be worked out over time
* o'hAilpin, as this is a hard game to master...

Any other thoughts?

I expect Brownlows, All-Australian selections, plenty of Premiership medallions and one Test century. Tell me, is that too much to ask? Is so little too much to ask? I don't think so.

Not at all Andain. If we don't set the bar high, how can we possible expect achievement.....

So who's most likely to get the century?

Disagree with Fisher.

He'll be a 200 game IMHO. He did get beat on the Sat night (a rarity) by that Harry Brazilian player, but Fish kept presenting and never stopped chasing. He's kicking has improved markedly, and I believe with more experience and bulk will become better.

Bentick - only time will tell, but the signs are good so far - survived this year, and needs another season or two.

O'hAilpin - too difficult to tell as he's had little AFL experience. Will need to be promoted onto the list and played next year to see what he's really made of.

Agree with Simmo, 1AW, and Waite.

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For some silly reason, you people want to assassinate him, and it's just rubbish. You people. All of you, ALL of you!

Haven't seen russell play and only heard him mentioned in SEN broadcasts of the ressies, but I would expect that after a couple of years development there is no reason he will not be a long term prospect with his speed and ball handling ability

Carrots? well anyone with the determination that he has and the ability to find the ball has to be a chance. Being able to maintain his fitness and therefore sustain any pace he has picked up because of it is important.

Fisher - well you could argue thay will all be challenged by teams being able to work them out. He has always surprised me with his ability to take a mark. And it is always a tough one to conquer....i.e compete against someone who can take a mark in a pack. He needs to remain mobile. He doesn't have the muscle to out body, so as he gets older, he'll need to still be running around creating space for himself.

the others i would agree with you on - particularly AB....but wouldn't it be nice to see him become another Ratts.

Good conversation to be having!...cheers molsey

LB, had to come up with something. We're going over the same old same old (don't some us get it, we'll never agree on this! it's the evil AFL yet again)....

and given the youngsters are what keeps the 'supporter's interested whilst we're coming last, I thought it would be a nice topic.

Back on topic, Russell is interesting. He was on the ABC game here on the weekend and the most divergent views are coming out. I thought, as they normally do, they played him on a tough, in-form, streaky opponent... and he did well, really ran hard. But then a mate thought he got towelled!

Simpson has me really excited. I expect that he will be a very valuable 200+ game contributer, fingers crossed.

He seems the complete package. Pace. Skills. From this admittedly very far away viewpoint, he seems to have a very good demeanour - doesn't give lip, doesn't whinge. Just goes hard at the ball, and takes on his opponents. FANTASTIC to see. Hopefully he drags the rest of the kids along with him with his current meteoric rise.

Waite is in such good form. I'd always thought that he would be a handy player, and boy, am i happy to be proved wrong. He is in such touch at the moment that he could be anything. Great to see the next superstar at Carlton emerging!

AB is the cream of the crop

Simmo, Waite , Fish will be long term quality for us

Carrots will be there / Therabouts

I know Thornton wasn't listed but i think he's the dud of the lot with the jury still well and truly out on Setanta.

Russell has shown a bit

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*(grow - fun - gah)

Yeah but whatabout your whataboutism.

O'hAilpin seems to have shown the best ability to adapt of the bunch so he'd probably take less time than most to make the transition from Brownlow medalist and 5 time premiership champion to tear away fast bowler with a dash of all round ability with the bat. Maybe we should have a chat with him now to get him on the road to his inevitable destiny, it'll save time.

as long as he ran hard and stayed with the fella, then i'd expect russell did o.k. Let him learn the ropes and relish the fact that he has the skill and speed up his sleeve for the future.

it is like 1AW.....you could complain that this year he has been a flop compared to the development rate of Cooney....but he is learning the real art of the game.

Let them keep their heads down and bums up.....and just keep working them.

Denis loves his horses and i am sure he figures some of his boys have four legs and need the hard track work before saddling them up when truely ready for the group one events

Regardless of how you felt after the Collingwoood game, listening to Denis's post match conference ,was inspirational....he was really excited about the young fellas (horses!) coming through

First pick in THAT draft of 2002 - it will be interesting to see how the numbers stack up at the end of the careers of one Kade Simpson and that other guy that went at number 1.

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"Hence you will not say that Greeks fight like heroes but that heroes fight like Greeks"?

Winston Churchill

I think most of those players will form the nucleus of our team for the next generation however we need some matchwinners to take us to the next level. The protankers are right when they say we need a Judd, Ball, Reiwoldt etc to provide the class neccessary to compete with the very bext players the competition has to offer.....I might disagree on the method to get those players but I do agree this present group of players even at their best wont take us to the next level ...

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"When you have the attitude of a champion, you see adversity as your
training partner."
- Conor Gillen

You're 100 % right Elwood. All our young players are starting to back themselves in the contest and moving on the ball while under pressure, just like Pagan loves. Put 3 to 4 miraculous ball winners amongst our young crop, and all of them will develop to their potential and have extended careers. Whatever happens on Sunday against Essendon* happens, but the addition of Murphy this year and two of 193 cm. Thorpe, 195 cm.(??) Sellar and Gibbs (who racked up high teen possies in SANFL seniors on the weekend as a 16 year old) next year, will set up our list for a generation. Two years of shite and then we'll be back in the ball game for a generation. Anyway, that's my opinion.

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Blue is the colour, Blue is our colourful conversation, football is the game, talking carlton is our aim, we're all together, we're all together, winning is our aim, arguing is a pain, let's debate for gain. .. .!

maybe adding shannon hurn to the list wouldn't be so bad.... probably the best bet for ton...

Can we add Betts, Blackwell & maybe Hartlett to the list?

Thornton & Livo are still improving.

You can add whoever you like!

I just think we need to be mindful of assuming every one of our kids comes through. If you look back at most early 2003 'future teams', you know, where poeople say in 2009 (in our next premiership team), alot had McCormick because he was playing very well at the start. No one had Simmo or Fisher because they hadn't come through yet.

Whether we like it or not, some of the list above won't be at Carlton in 2-3 years. Just the way it goes.

Take Livo for example. I've been a Livo Lover for some time but this weekend he couldn't reclaim his spot from Whitnall, and Livo's man in the 2's broke the game open with Livo finishing on the bench. Hardly inspiring is it?

Livo has a contract - Whitnal doesn't

On your other point all are youngsters could be capable of playing 200 games - but I wouldn't bet on it with this current adminstration and their attitude to long term contracts. Have one bad year and if it happens to be your contract year- Look Out

It would have been pleasing to see Hartlett- Russell - Blackwell get some game time this year as you can see what the injection of youth can do to a team. It baffles me why DP doesn't want to give these guys a taste of the big time it could only enhance their development

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If you allow the Government to change the Laws in an emergency
They will create an Emergency to change the Laws

SB - i think the long-term contracts have been offered to certain youngsters, just not those at or approaching 30. Those near 30 aren't a young gun so outside the intent of this post.

As for your last comment, would generally agree but we've already got a lot of youngsters out there, to play more we'd have to drop a senior player or two. As for the other young players:

* Hartlett has only just made the bullant seniors, i think he;s played 4 games, and he's been between FF and FB the whole time. Runs abit like Murray Vance.

* Blackwell, like hartlett, has not had a lot of game time, but was serviceable on the weekend. He is finally adding a bit of size but he's just as tiny as Simmo, you'd have to doubt whether we should have too many little blokes in the 1's at the same time.

* Russell is getting a lot of game time and I hope he gets another game. Needs to work on his passing by foot though, very good at hitting people's feet.