I believe that at some stage through the season we might find ourselves one midfield short due to the loss of campo. in our current side the genuine midfielders are Simpson, Bentick, Walker, Stevens, Scotland, Kouta. and there are many problems with all these blokes playing 22 rounds of footy in 05.such as:

-simpson and bentick all though look the goods and showing great promise dont progress as well as we would have hoped.
-kouta only being able to play bit parts and spending a lot of time up forward.
-scotland having another form lapse and being droped to bullants.

obviously within our list we have other players such as the likes of wiggins, davies, chambers, blackwell and possibly murphy/hurn (dont think that in there 1st year they will be able to transform our midfield) who can play in the midfield but will these players be suffiecient to cover our needs.

or would there be an arguement for bringing in another midfielder who as played afl footy previously through a). a late pick in the National draft or b). an extra pick in the psd such as a dylan smith or, woe, guerra or casey green or maybe another or are we better served with our current midfield stocks.??? thoughts

Yes, MBL. Very thin. They were thin even when we had Campo. remember Johnson is gone too.

I think picking up someone to fill a hole for a few years would be a huge mistake. Would set us back. If that is possible.

I think we just have to persevere with what we have and hope like buggery that some of the youngsters come through. I think this means that Russell, Walker and our early draftees will play a lot of football for us in 2006.

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Formerly: Ackland the Wonderkid / Army the Wonderkid / quivering mess / molsey / Tony Lynn Fan Club

No more retreds.. I expect Murphy to play senior football this season coming and I would expect Luke Blackwell to also get a run at some stage.
Its a development year and I wouldnt be getting too stressed about results.
I dont see Campo as a major loss and expect Carazzo to fill Campo's backpocket role and I would like to see Kade Simpson take over Campo's old role as wing/midfielder/ball carrier.
Last thing I want to see is us go for more bandaid players like Woewodin, Dylan Smith etc....we do that then you know the club has no plan for the future...

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

Our midfield is definitely thin, but more on talent than numbers. There are more players on our list who will play in the midfield during the year than just those you mention above. Carrazzo will get some time, as will McGrath, and we'll probably be looking for at least one of Davies, Wiggins, Blackwell, Chambers and Sporn to step up and demand some time in the middle. Also there will be the normal cameos from Prender and Bannister I would imagine. Plenty of numbers who'd be looking to play in the midfield, just very short on class.

Bringing in another questionable midfielder wouldn't really improve our situation, we just have to hope that some of the younger players take advantage of getting a run in the middle and cement a spot.

Agree Elwood.

Whilst on the surface our results last year might indicate a plethora of problems,i actually think that their is plenty to look forward to re on-ballers.

To my mind Bentick is the wild-card.I actually think he will be very good.As far as i am concerned you cannot have enough natural footballers,Adam is definitely one.Similarly young Blackwell has an uncanny knack of finding the football.

Add to the mix a fast emerging Simpson and the potential of a #1 draft pick in Murphy,our stocks maybe far better than we currently are credited with!

Persons attending the Bullants games could shed more light, but from some of the reports on Bullants forums young Smith [rookie] sounds promising.
I get the impression he's not super quick, but he knows how to get the pill and dish it out. Any verifications?
Regards Pedro.

I really see Andrew Carrazzo getting more time in the middle….he got a bit of time there towards the end of last season and did a reasonable job. I’m sure that McGrath and Chambers will have roles to play at various times during next season which will add a little bit of experience.
Can’t help but get excited about the prospect of seeing young new faces coming into the side. Luke Blackwell has impressed me when I’ve seen his games on ABC TV; Jordan Russell has good hands and pace, and I’m sure that some of our “newâ€

Bentick to play 20+ games this year (barring injury) and start on his road to 150 games!

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"A good composer does not initiate. He steals."

- Igor Stravinsky

yeah like the way bentick goes about his football. also is a life long carlton supporter and got to where he is the hard way, with hard work and patience...really rate the kid

I like Bentick as well..honest no fuss ball winner who keeps on trying..I hope if does have a few quiet games that we dont start dropping him or any other youngster straight away...kids are up and down and you need to persist with them...not panic and start rotating experienced players who wont ever make it like we have seen happen in the past.

Jess Smith is promising..bit Shane Tuck like ...not flash but knows how to get the footy and puts himself into contests.
You need a group of Blue collar workers, another group of ball carriers/distributors and at the top end you need a group of real class performers who can win you games and finish of the work...

I'm happy with the emerging midfield group but we need a couple of class players to top us off...Murphy will be one but ideally it would be nice to pick up another this draft...if Murphy equates to Luke Ball, I think we need to pick up a Nick Dal Santo or young Nigel Lappin type who can give us some more polish and class to compliment our workers and runners..

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

Hoping that they throw houlihan in the on - ball rotation- could play the camporeale role

Hopefully another PP next year.. and we pick up a great tall and another great midfielder and were getting somewhere...

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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.

I really hope we don't re-create the Camporeale role Frank - could be really divisive around the club...

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“When a clown moves into a palace, he doesn't become a king. The palace turns into a circus.”
Turkish Proverb

If you said this..


Then how come your sig says this...

Disappointed that I havent got a bite from Elwood - and not really advocating he play the Murphy /camporeale role but is obviously more an outside rather than inside player.

Thin? Our midfield stocks make Karen Carpenter look like Ricky May.

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Congratulations CK95

BOOM TISH!

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Richard Pratt - A Carlton legend.

What's that line about trying the chicken?

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Congratulations CK95

If I can can just answer on Synbad's behalf, I believe his autosignature appeared about the time of his brain meltdown / bizarro faze a few weeks ago. I think he was being ... like ... megafacetiousman, or something

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"In better news for Blues fans, Jarrad Waite was not named on the club's injury list."

Marc Murphy and Andrew Walker. Problem solved.