Just curious what peoples though are of Saddington.
Just had this amazing thought , that Saddington might just be the key to a more stable season, a huge difference to our back line and possibly the contributing factor to a successful back half.

At his best he is good very good. Sure we don't really know how he'll pull up this season, even if he'll get through it.

BUT...

If he does, he offers Huge experience, supports Thorton hugely and takes off some of the pressure from emerging backman, such as Carlos, Hartlett, and Bower.

Saddington fit and healthy could be the vital ingredient for our jigsaw puzzle backman. The missing link.

Now this was just a thought, and i'd pobably go as far as saying this could also be his last year at Carlton also..

So who knows you tell me ?

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I know a little secret. And i'm not sharing.

If Saddington is the missing piece, that's one really shitty puzzle of a footy time we have.

Not all the pieces of a jigsaw puzzle have class about them...

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I know a little secret. And i'm not sharing.

What crap people talk. Saddington looked outstanding at the Intra-club match. Fit, assured, reads the play well. If he stays upright this year he will be a big stability factor down back. Go ask T-Bird what he thinks about him.

In the Intra club match he looked very fit and did quite well to keep up to Fev. Has also put on some size aswell and could be that missing link we need. We need some one to do the job and that could be Saddo.

At the same time I wouldn't be holdng my breath....But u'll never know as stranger things haver happened. Time will tell!

Saddington is THE key.
If he stays fit.
He will take the pressure off Whitnall. Lance will be able to play on the forward line and back when needed. Saddington has what our club lacks, ie 148 games of EXPERIENCE, only Kouta, Lappin, Lance, and Stevens have more.
If we had kicked 4 more goals a game last year we would have won 13. One more per quarter, hell, we missed so many easy goals thanks to Carrazzo, Waite, Fisher, McGrath etc.
So with Saddington, Waite, and Thornton down back, along with improvement from Carlos, Bower and Russell we will have less kicked against us. With improved delivery into the forward line from Stevens, Gibbs, Murphy and Simpson we will kick more goals and not rely too heavily on Fevola.
If Fev kicks 60 I will be happy. The others have to step up, Betts has to kick 35-40, Whitnall the same, Fisher 30, and Kennedy 20.

very very interesting half back line looming...

considering all carlton premiership teams had a champion half back line the jigsaw puzzle is very heartening to say the least

Saddington fit and firing is our most experianced backman so therefore undoubtably the key to a better season. He is a quality football from all reports to boot.

If he has been moving well i would suggest he might of stripped some weight off (instead of putting more on as someone said) to take pressure of his knee, and get some extra mobility. Remember when you gain more definition, you deceptively look bigger.

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Circumstance has no value. It is how one relates to a situation that has value. All true meaning resides in the personal relationship to a phenomenon, what it means to you.

With a fit Saddington, we nearly beat Sydney early last season.

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“In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.”
- Martin Luther King Jr.

Not impressed with Saddington and never have been....pulls out of marking contests and plays smaller than his 6' 4" height....wont be improving at his age either.
I would be using him only as backup and would be giving the stronger Adam Hartlett preference...

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

I mean this will all due respect, but you guys are nuts.
The key to Carlton climbing the ladder is the half forward line.
If you want to single out one person you can single out JK as the key.
But it really is have a half forward line that wins or holds the ball in the forward line that will decide where we finish on the ladder this year.
We know that the midfield will be competive this year. If all they have is Fev to kick it to we won't be moving.
If however Jk starts breaking packs, Fish on a flank kicks goals, Wiggo starts being an effective as a Hamil type flanker or Whitnall plays an effective role and kicks goals we will play some good football... if if if.

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"Carlton's most loyal, their bruised and battered egos now seemingly a bad dream, drank beers, murdered pies and cheered every time Judd touched the ball."

Of course the half forward line is important, and that is why Saddington is the key.
Whitnall to the forward/half forward line can set up many goals and bring players into the game.
Whitnall, Fevola, Kennedy, Fisher, makes it hard for the opposition to match up.
Hartlett, if he makes it, yes certainly, but at this stage Saddington with 148 games behind him is the logical choice. Hartlett has to prove himself in the Bullants.

Our last 8 premiership sides had,

1. one of the best ,if not the best backline in the comp.
2. one of the best ruckman in the comp.
3. a top centrehalf forward.
4. a competent on ball brigade.
5. never ever had a gun full forward (except one year Jezza)

Having lived in Sydney over the last decade, I have been priveleged to have seen a fair bit of Saddington in that time.

He is a very very good defender when fit. No player is good when they are not fit. Injury = bad luck, and not a bad player; people get this mixed up . So when discussing Saddo, we consider his value to the team as a fit player; as he seems to be at this stage of the preseason.

The thought of saddo earning a position in the backline makes me salivate.

He will be the General in the backline if he stands up. I don't like Lance in the backline, but I understand why he's played there, and with Saddo fit, we have an experienced stalwart to guiude the kids and support Thornton, and release Lance to the forwardline where he can do some real damage on the scoreboard.

I haven't commented too much on Saddo, but from all reports I get from Melbourne, he's not the same bloke from the past 2 years; he's the smoky and could surprise. Word is he is ahead of other candidates for a backline role, based on form in the preseason and ability (Thornton the exception)

He has a good track record for those interested in his potential.

Laserkid wrote



Hey Laser the amazer, we are not nuts. Each team is made up of Defenders, Midfielders and Forwards. Each 'zone' must be a strength if a team is going to win and be successful; it's a team game. JK is important, but he aint going to win it on his own.

As for forwards, yeah JK is the key this year IMO. I know what all the other forwards are capable of...but this discussion is based on the difference a fit Saddo could make to our team...and I believe he can...although that doesn't mean he will.

It's an important question and worth considering.

Well done Tractor Boy for instigating this thread.

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Everyone looks good in Navy Blue

Elwood Blues1 wrote



I've seen enough of Saddo to say I don't agree at all with your perception of him. He's turning 27 this year. How does that age imply that he's over the hill? 27, 28, 29, 30...he has potentially 3 good years left in him...2007, 2008 and 2009....maybe more.

His improvement will come by remaining fit. He has a good track record. If he matches his best whilst he's at Carlton, he is a certainty for our backline.



Hartlett can possibly make it if he can remain fit. I see him as a giant Southby, but he has proven nothing to me in the last 2 years...with Saddo, I know what he is capable of.

I hope he can remain fit to give our backline much needed experience...whilst bolstering it with height and athleticism....at least until Hartlett earns his place. Sorry, but that means proving himself in the Bullants first, because Bower, Setanta and IMO even Flint and Jamieson have shown more than Hartlett thus far.

Fingers crossed for all Blues to be fit, healthy and playing toi their potential. Depth is a beautiful thing.

May the best man win.

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Everyone looks good in Navy Blue

I think Saddo is going to be 1 of those players who needs to play well to get a spot and keep playing well to keep it.

A backline of ......

FB:- Anderson(?) Carlos Bower
HBF:- T-Bird Waite Scotland(?)

...will be pretty hard to break into and thats not even useing players like Walker, Lance, Carazzo, Lappin and Houla.

I really do hope Saddo makes it but all the above players, IMO are better than a fit Saddo or I would rather see them in team as they are the future.

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Not so best of TheSexySquad


AWWWWWW STEVENS.

Like your work Bondi but he isnt up to it...he pulled the handbrake when it got hot in a couple of games he did play for us and didnt keep his eyes on the footy...at 27 he wont be fixing that fault or getting harder at the footy..
Agreed Hartlett is no cert to make it but I would rather give a younger player the chance to make it..especially a younger player who has the physical size to make a difference to a team who lack muscle and grunt..
You trifecta Saddington with Houlihan and Russell and you have three doubtful quantities when it comes time to fix bayonets and make a stand...
Russell still has time on his side to adjust his game but Saddington IMHO wont be changing his attitude to holding his ground.....the three of them could learn something off the maligned Simon Wiggins who would never
let you down at crunch time and will always take a hit for the team...

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

No its not. The discusion is "Who is the key to Carlton improving this year?". The assertion is that it is Saddinton. I would suggest that the sky will fall in before a half back flanker is the key to Carlton improving.

As to the suggestion by someone that we almost beat Sydeny because Saddington was playing:
1. Coincidence
2. We were never going to win that game.

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"Carlton's most loyal, their bruised and battered egos now seemingly a bad dream, drank beers, murdered pies and cheered every time Judd touched the ball."

Must not be anything new to post on TC. Saddington is poor when it comes to judging the ball in the air if last year is any indication.

However he is fit and did well on Fev last week. Funny things have happened but he aint the key.

Laser wrote



Yeah I see where you are coming from Laser, and you could be right.

But I'll let Tractor define that, not that it's that important.

Tractor wrote



His ascertion is that a a stable back half is the key to a more stable season, and that could possibly happen with Saddo....but also could be read as A good Saddo = a good Carlton.



Again referring to the back half and our need to support our weakest link; inexperience in the back half.



Referring to the missing link being in the back half.

Anyway, I think you do have a point Laser. I just couldn't imagine that just one player could make the world of difference to a team lacking in depth and experience all over the park.

ie Who is the missing link?...and you suggest JK...I'd like it if he had more prescence in 2008.

I would have thought though that our problems over the last few years were (apart from a general lack of depth across the whole ground), an unaccountable midfield, lacking depth of midfielders for rotations with the view to to keep them fresh and competetive for 100 minutes.

I suppose we need a bit of everything.

I'm not suggesting Saddo is the key for us this year, as I have been burnt sticking up for his recruitment.

He hasn't been a glimpse of the player I watched before he came to Carlton. He is the big "if" for me, and no certainty; that's for sure. But if he can rekindle that form from around 2001-2005, I'd be happy to have him in the first 22 for sure.

I trust what you have seen of saddo since his arrival at Carlton keogh and Elwood Blues1.

He probably is past it...but he has shown some promise over the preseason, and I've only heard good things about his condiotion from mates I trust. He was fearless though between 2001-2005.

And Laser, mabe you're right about this:



In conclusion, I think we could succeed without him if he was not going to succeed in making the first 22.

But I do agree with fulmont's view, in saying

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Everyone looks good in Navy Blue

Sometimes this can be attributed to lack of confidence in your body, if you aren't fully recovered from a serious injury and don't yet have full confidence in your knee, shoulder or whatever you won't go at it with 100% conviction. I remember how tentative Kouta was when he returned and IMO he never fully regained his pre-knee character.

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The problem will be made. for the solution to be sold, to your face before your eyes, tolerance is now the new danger