First off I have to confess, I did not see the game, but it occured to me that despite the WCE unrivalled line up of midfielders they werent able to bring home the bacon. Their lack of KPP players seemed to have hurt them. Compared to the Brisbane premiership sides, both had supreme midfields, but whereas the Lions had an equally impressive spine the Eagles just didnt have it.

This brings me to our situation at Carlton. We are crying out for elite midfielders.
Our spine is a KPP backmen short to be fair but Thornton is holding his own, Livingston seems to be serviceable at best. The addition of Mal Micheal would complete the backline one player would make a world of difference.
Our forward line seems well serviced with the likes of Fevola Whitnall Fischer Waite DeLuca all capable of playing KPP.

Clearly we need to bolster our Midfield. We need Elite players in our midfield not also rans. We also need quantities of these midfielders at least 6.
For next year I would like to see
1. Stevens
2. Koutta
3. Campo ( In a rotation of 6 he still has value, but if he is traded his spot must be filled )
4 Walker (playing a Black like role- running running linking with handpasses being the prefered method of disposal)
5 Murphy (assuming he is in the same class as Deledio or Cooney)
6 one of Bartel or Power via the PSD

I have not included Bentick or Simpson in the rotation because I have not seen enough of them yet , but I accept that many on this site rate both players. I would be delighted if one or both step up next year.

In summary we need a mix of Midfield grunt and KPP to make progress next year. Our big holes are obvious- Midfield and KPP backman.
I would be extremely happy if we fix 3 holes with elite players- namely
1. Mal Michael
2. Mark Murphy
3. Bartlel
4. Power

Fact: We can get Murphy with our number one pick
Fact: We can get one of Michael, Power, Bartel via PSD
Fact: We are willing to trade one of Whitnall Fevola Lappin all of which could go a long way to securing one of the 3 that we dont snare in the PSD.

That is 3 quality players coming our way, a huge leap in tallent injection compared to the past 5 years. No reason why it cant happen- we have the means (picks and space) This should be our priority - go for quality

who's this Mark Murphy character?

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Love Cricket? Love me

Can someone compare the number of PP's and 1st round picks between the teams?

Its scientifically proven the Swans have more of both

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"The ability to speak doesn't make you intelligent." Qui-Gon Jinn 15-05-2005

"there’s more chance of me becoming the full forward for the [Western Bulldogs] than there is of any change in the Labor Party." Julia Gillard 18-05-2010

Backs: Crouch (pick 10 1995) Barry (hmm.... I think a zonal pick) Roberts-Thomson (zonal pick.... 2nd rounder in 2001)
Half-backs: Mathews (zone) C Bolton (PSD pick from Brisbane, 3rd round pick for Brisbane in 1999???) Kennelly (Ireland)
Centres: Buchanan (3rd or 4th round pick in 2000 (??) Goodes (4th rounder, but a "17 year old selection" in 1997) Dempster (father/son)
Half-forwards: O'Keefe (3rd or 4th round pick in 98 (?) Hall (trade from St.Kilda for pick 13 and Stafford, pick 19 in 95) J Bolton (pick 8 in 98)
Forwards: Williams (trade from Collingwood for pick 8 in 2000) O'Loughlin (4th or 5th round pick in 94) Davis (trade from Collingwood in 2002 for pick 21.... father/son from Collingwood)
Followers: Jolly (trade from Melbourne for pick 15... rookie pick for Melb) Kirk (rookie pick)
Rover: Ablett (2nd round pick in 1999/2000??)
Interchange: Ball (trade from W.C for 2nd round pick) Bevan (rookie pick) Fosdike (pick 3 in 1998) Schneider (late pick in 2000/2001/2002.. can't quite recall.. but a 4th or 5th round pick)

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Love Cricket? Love me

Remember that Sydney had more room in their salary cap than anyone else..
They would never have snagged Barry Hall if they were not given that concession.
He would have come to us... but in the world of salary caps (didnt always apply to us).. he went to Sydney for 650k.. and rejected around 500k from us.

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Due to recent budget cuts and the rising cost of electricity, gas, and oil....... the Light at the End of the Tunnel has been turned off. We apologize for the inconvenience.

if your goal was to make me cry, Synbad, well MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!!!

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Love Cricket? Love me

Let me also add this...

We got Corey instead.....

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Due to recent budget cuts and the rising cost of electricity, gas, and oil....... the Light at the End of the Tunnel has been turned off. We apologize for the inconvenience.

what about our pick 14 in 2001..... we didn't trade that as well did we???

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Love Cricket? Love me

Compared to Carlton:

B Carrazzo (Rookie), Thornton (Rookie), Teague (Trade from Kangaroos for McKernan, Kangaroos Rookie pick)
HB Lappin (traded from St Kilda for pick 22 and pick 53, 3rd round selection for St Kilda in 1993) Whitnall (father/son), Camporeale (first round selection 1994)
C Simpson (2002 fourth round selection), Bentick (rookie), Scotland (traded from Collingwood for pick35, third round selection for Collingwood 1998)
HF Fisher (6th round selection 2002), Waite (father/son), McGrath (traded by Essendon* for Justin Murphy, Essendon* 2000 rookie elevation)
F Betts (PSD), Fevola (3rd round selection 1998), Longmiur (traded by Fremantle for pick 67, 2nd round selection by Melbourne 1997)
R French (traded by Port for pick 16, rookie elevation 1998), Stevens (PSD, Port 2nd round selection 1997), Kouta (zone)
I Houlihan (5th round selection 1999), Walker (Pick 2 in the 2003), Morrell (Trade from Kangaroos for McKernan, Kangaroos Rookie pick), Bryan (6th round selection 2004)

wowie

Timing is everything .Ya tryi'n to depress us Big Sinner.Shuddup !

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All my dangerous friends

the only thing missing is the big name trade like Hall. Stevens, maybe??

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Love Cricket? Love me