Several years ago I made a big call that T-Bird would be an All-Australian full back or CHB within 4 years. - Boy do I look stupid!!

Aftera fantastic debut season he has never quite lived up to his initial promise. Last year he had a horrible year and was not dropped only b/c our backline stocks are so thin. so fas this season little has changed - he has really failed to impress me.

He seems to slow to play on quick FFs like Williams and Richo and is not strong enough to stand one-on-one with a Lloyd, Rocca, Neitz et al. I actually think that in an effort to bulk up 2 years ago T-Bird lost a couple of yards of pace and this has really hurt him.

He tends to give away free kicks when trying to play man on man which i think is due to a lack of confidence and panicing as the ball approaches.

A feature of his form in his first and second season was his decision making, thius seems to have left him recently. We no longer see him run the ball out of defence but rather he looks for the quick short kick usually to a player on the other side of the ground.

Skills have remained fairly constant and I would have hoped his long kicking would have improved.

I think that a stint at CHB may help him as it would encourage him to attack the ball more and also force him to use more initiative rather than just play reactive football. He generally has safe hands and wouldd be a good target from the kick ins. He needs to be encouraged to push up the ground and deliver the ball to our HF line.

I love his endevour and he obviously is passionate about his footy but unless we see some improvement over the next 6 weeks a spell in the 2s may be in order.

i posted this a couple of weeks ago and the thing about tbird that gets me is that he is so unwilling to take a risk and leave his man to help his team mates.

against hawthorn, several goals could have been stopped if he left williams but he seemed to be more interested in stopping williams rather than helping the team as a whole.

i am a big t-bird fan and think he could be good, but i think he just needs to maybe have a run in the ants to get some confidence back. hell he was elevated and thrown into full back as a fix it and barring injury has played there ever since.....the kid needs a break.

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Back like a raging case of pubic lice

He hasn't been that bad this year. He's still not playing the kind of footy we saw from him earlier in his career but he's been more than acceptable.

Doesn't seem to have recovered from the knee injury in the pre-season cup last year. Hasn't been awful though and has carried an enormous burden.

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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

I think one thing that would drastically help T-Bird is if the midfield had defensive skills. Just about every week he is given the job on the most dangerous forward (to whom he gives away cms and kgs) and defends a goal that is constantly bombarded because there's no pressure up the ground.

Give the guy a break. Being a member of the current Carlton backline is one of the toughest jobs in footy.

i agree bnz ... i recall having this discussion with some TC dudes in the social club area at the hawthorn game.

he seems mentally shot and is playing self-preservation football ... probably wouldn't be the only one either

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... an eagle flew out of the night. he was something to observe, came in close i heard a voice, bending stretching every nerve, had to listen had no choice ...

The same thing that killed Teague last season.

Teague made it worse however by leaving his man at times to cover for his slack teammates

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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

exactly Maxy.....he certainly isnt the only one, and i dont want people to think i am sniping him, hell i even had him in my leadership group at the start of the year.......

i hope he gets back to where he was, and better eventually.

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Back like a raging case of pubic lice

Noticed the same thing in the first match against Melbourne.

A couple of times he had the chance to help Livingston spoil against Neitz (who needs any support he can get) but was too interested staying with his own man just in case the ball reached ground level. Just watched Neitz take the mark.

Can you blame him if he did become a mental case? (not saying that he is)

Playing full-back in one of the worst teams in AFL history. That'd do wonders for your self-belief wouldn't it?

Consistently played on the best forward every week. Gets very limited backup from some team-mates up the field who do not man up or chase, thus allowing the ball to come in at will.

8/10 times Thornton only gets beaten when the delivery by the opposition allows him next to no chance to go with his man.

It's just the same for opposition full backs when Fev is on the lead and someone like Murphy or Stevens is running towards him unopposed.

It's just that it happnes down Thornton's end a lot more than it happens down Fevola's.

That said T-bird hasn't been too bad at all this year. He beat Williams, did pretty well against the Swans (on O'Loughlin) and had an excellent game on Pavlich. He had one shocker against Richo - who is bloody unstoppable when his head is screwed on.

So what's the problem?

Don't look at Thornton - look at what's around him, and the game plan he is forced to work within.

In any other side he'd play on a flank or pocket but at Carlton is forced to play in a key position. No wonder he's not doing as well as we'd hope.

yeah ... absolutely

have a look at the way maxfield has been allowed to develop at collingwood ... playing on a back flank with a genuine leader like clement, and experienced bodies like wakelin and presti.

thornton, on the other hand, has had to play on the gorillas AND has had to observe the least accountable, "it's all about me" midfield ever ...

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... an eagle flew out of the night. he was something to observe, came in close i heard a voice, bending stretching every nerve, had to listen had no choice ...

jeez you blokes are tough, playing full back for the worst team in the comp for the past 4 years and you are slightly undersized and should be playing CHB.

Did a great job against Melbs and Freo (didn't he keep Pav or Mcpharlin to quiet games). Kept O Loughlin to two goals in 3 quarters after Saddo gave away the first two and was terriific last week on Williams who he kept to two goals and six kcks. hardly struggling and plenty of good players have had richo kick bags on them.

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Go Blues

I think Thornton might be still suffering ill-effects of his knee injury, swelling after the game and training and some such.

Those sort of things always take a toll. The biggest problem for Thornton is that he has never really possessed the closing speed of a SOS, Walker or Scarlett. If he loses his focus on his opponent when the ball's coming for just one second, he needs his midfielders to pressure the passer because he will not close the gap unless he is clearly faster than his opponent.

The problem is that when this is the case, they're usually able to out reach his spoil or time a leap to do so. Thornton might want to work with our running coach on regaining his acceleration and agility to try and reduce this.

So it's a case of an unaccountable midfield and a break in focus. He'll get smarter at it and he needs to keep his cool, he certainly has spat the dummy a lot in the last 18 months or so.

Is he eligble for the NRS? I'm pretty sure he's under 21 and hasn't played 10 games.

What ? who are you talking about?

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"Go blues"

Feel my love...............

Thornton.

Michael Johnson is a better defender than him...

Michael Johnson should be AA.

Apart from the Richo game has been good.Perhaps is too defensive minded but who can blame him.Its a pity Livo hasnt developed to take some of the burdon off tbird.That would help.