When Carrazzo is allowed to play he is a ball magnet.

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"We used to sit around and talk about how bad the game plan was." Anthony Koutoufides

Carazzo's disposal by foot is almost as bad as Walkers, almost.

From "AFL Prospectus"

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"You are being watched. The government has a secret system. A machine that spies on you every hour of every day. I know because I built it." - Finch

Interesting, thanks for that. So in all of his VFL years we've (+ Geelong) made him a defensive midfielder, or is that what he became to get a game?

Effes wrote


Great timimg Effes. We all need reminders such as yours, that highlight strengths players have displayed in the past.

Carazzo should be in the middle to find his own ball. He does have the ability to play a defensive role on the one hand and hurt his opponents with his ability to find the ball. It's called accountability.

I don't mind Carrots playing an accountable role; it shows Stevens by example how he could improve his game. Every player should have an opponent, and the object of the game is to beat your opponent, get the ball, and help your team mates achieve the team goals.

As simple as it sounds, Carrots does it.

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Everyone looks good in Navy Blue

...yeah but.... has he ever played a game at Carlton where he hasn't minded someone? Today in this post seems to be the first time anyone's called for him to be our prime midfielder, when all through his Bullants / Rookie / early Carlton days he was either a defensive middie (ie minding his man and getting it himself) or a defender pure & simple.

Or have I misunderstood the 'ball magnet' commentary?

Carrots and Bentick are two shining lights in our lineup.Apart from there ability,they have great tempraments.They never sook or whinge.Both have been on the end of withering Pagan sprays.And when they cop it they always look him in the eye and dont blink.Great character and future captain material.

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All my dangerous friends

I dont remember Carrots ever being a defensive midfielder till he came to us...

I remember him killing them in the TAC... and ripping us a new arsehole a couple of times in the VFL.

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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.

You are correct Synbad. He was the highest possession winner in the 2001 TAC Cup Year. Geelong did not play him as a tagger in his time there - he played midfield and half back. Not say that he was not accountable - but was able to be creative.

Recent performances in the VFL show what he may be capable of. That is, being a midfielder who reads the play very well (one of the main reasons why you 'find the ball'), is able to win his own ball and importantly take players on through the middle of the ground (he does not have Simpson's speed but has shown he can - at least he seems to have the good judgement to know when to and when not to.)

However , when players are given the role of tagging ... and .... told not to leave your opponents side, not matter what. It does seems to point to a rather defensive approach. Pretty hard for the young players to have confidence and believe in themselves as anything other than negative 'stoppers'.
.

I was hoping BlueHeart would post in this thread....

Geelong gave him the flick after he played the way you wanted him to play. He is an average footaller and would struggle to get a game at most clubs.
Synbad, in his TAC year when he dominated nobody really wanted him and perhaps there is a message in that for you about his ability or perhaps limitations.

obviously needs to work on his kicking, but I also think he needs to be drilled in belting out a fast 10 - 15 metres sprint as soon as he gets the pill.

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This might sound extreme in the context of alleged sexual assault, drunken violence and a drug trafficking charge...

WBY wrote


I agree WBY, and yeah his kicking at times in the last year has been letting him down, yet the year before when he really came onto the scene in the BP, his kicking was rather good.

I admire his poise, when he slows things down and has a good look after summarising the options. He doesn't seem too rushed, which does imply he has a great feel for the game. That being the case, he must be mindful though that the modern game requires fast, continuous play with team cohesion paramount.

He is a player capable of getting the pill, getting a break on his opponent, and therefore capable of breaking the lines. He needs to add this to his game. He could break the lines, if only he would just hit the accelerator, as Simpson does, when he gets the ball.

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Everyone looks good in Navy Blue

I'd like to see a rookie promoted, Bryan get some games, Edwards and Bower get a taste of senior footy as well..
As Keogh said earlier we are work in progress...going to be up and down...Geelong are difficult for us because they are so much bigger and stronger and when you have complete ruck domination like they had its makes it hard for our smalls against one of the better midifields going around.

French, Mclaren and Deluca are not the answer in the ruck and never will be....not sure if Bryan or Batson would be either but they deserve trying...very difficult to beat teams who have a dominant big man/men...Simmonds has been a big factor in Richmond progressing this year and I think BondiBlues recent posts about the prospect of recruiting a decent rookie ruckman are on the money..we have to do something in this area rather then persisting with these tried and failed ruckman.

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

Woof,

Agree with you. Carazzo is just an average footballer at BEST. From what people say about him on here you would think he was elite.

Carrazzo has limitations like almost our entire list and his disposal is really disappointing. I would think every body on this site would kick the sitter he missed 10 out of 10 times. How can a player get to that level and not be aware of where the mark is when having a set shot. BUT he has great hands and is one of the few players i would back to mark a pass every time. He doesn't fumble marks they have to be spoiled. He's never going to be a star, but if we are wanting a team of stars we should either look back 20 years or give up. Even Adelaide has some average players.

Still I'd be standing Carazzo 20 meteres out with a man on the mark at training and making him kick the goal 30 times and if he misses one, do it another 30.

Apart from Carlton, nobody wanted Brad Fisher or Eddie Betts.
Nobody wanted Aaron Davey or Danyle pearce.

Geelong have a wealth of midfield options. Carrazzo won a VFL B&F at Geelong ahead of several players who would walk in to our side.
He's no world beater but he's better at winning the ball than 90% of our list.

Our players rate him very highly, even if you dont

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Looking forward to seeing our potential realised.

I think DeLuca, being tall & mobile, should be persevered with and given a full time ruck coach to improve his ruckwork. We've got enough KP prospects on the list so get Archie on an intense ruckwork program starting right now.

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There's so much I could say...

You need your blue collar players to support your A graders.....Carazzo wont be the next Daniel Kerr but either will Matthew Bode be the next Andrew Mcleod...what we need is more A graders to provide the polish and finish and let Carazzo, Bentick do the blue collar stuff...and not have to do the finishing as well.....
re: Deluca....handy up forward and gives variety to Fev but is going to be handy at best in the ruck..I like him because he finishes his work well and we need players who can kick straight but he wont ever be a genuine quality ruckman IMO..

We need to recruit a specialist rookie ruck..in fact we need two of them because the best teams have a combo...

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

When he was at Geelong, he liked to run into space and get the uncontested possession. As soon as we (Bullants) put some pressure on him and had a player run with him then he was useless so was very easy to take out of the game.

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