Find out what’s being said about the club in the major daily newspapers on Saturday, May 28, 2011
Herald Sun
Blues thrash dour Demons
By Mark Robinson
SPIN doctoring is something of an art form in the AFL. But you can't spin this. Not even Warnie. Under-manned, ultra-defensive, woeful skills, and under the usually heady lights of Friday night footy, this was a frightful fizzer. The depleted Demons seemingly set out to avoid a touch up, and to do so, they sent a platoon of players behind the ball, and at the contest. In the greasy conditions - it rained heavily an hour before the game - it meant the game was largely a mosh pit of players throwing themselves as the ball, resulting in few highlights, and plenty of mediocre football. Without 11 of their best 22, the Demons did avoid a potential humiliation, and it's testament to how much footy is loved in town that most of the 47,464 fans at the game, stayed until the final siren. The Demons fans were often unimpressed. Their largest boo was when a soccer kick for a goal went against them near three-quarter-time. Their next five loudest boos were for former Melbourne player and now Blue, Brock McLean, when he touched the ball. The final score was 13.15 (93) to 6.10 (46).
Watts going on with Jack?
By Bruce Matthews
MELBOURNE coach Dean Bailey defended the plan to play Jack Watts as a spare man in the defensive 50 for much of the first half last night. Bailey said the seemingly negative tactic was designed to create options to move the ball quicker to the forwards. But he said it broke down with the poor disposal and the inability of the forward targets to lead to the correct spots. "We wanted to try something a bit different, to get the ball moving forward by switching the ball a bit more," Bailey said. "That had been our problem the last couple of weeks, we've been unable to switch, so we thought that extra player coming forward rather than just sitting back would've given the opportunity to switch. "But our forwards got too far up the ground and weren't leading back and kept coming at the kicker, which meant a couple of the Carlton blokes just sat back. "Unfortunately, our kick inside 50 found them rather than us."
Two No.1s in the twos
By Sam Landsberger
TOM Scully and Matthew Kreuzer, both No. 1 AFL draft picks returning from serious knee injuries, will be given almost full VFL matches this weekend. Scully, who has not played since receiving a stress fracture in his patella pre-season, will be given "much more than a half" of Melbourne affiliate Casey Scorpions' clash with Williamstown today.And Kreuzer, who played a half with Carlton affiliate Northern Bullants last week, will play a full game against Box Hill tomorrow."It'll be much more than (a half of game time) - otherwise, we wouldn't be playing him," Casey coach Brad Gotch said of Scully.If Scully recovers without soreness, he could return to the Demons' midfield against Essendon on Friday night.
The Age
Blues overrun limp Demons
By Rohan Connolly
TAKE one team undermanned and down on confidence, then add to the equation an opponent with more ability and in better touch but good enough to win without fully extending itself. The result? Pure tedium. Carlton's 47-point win over Melbourne last night won't be rushing off the shelves of the ''Name A Game'' video guys any time soon. It was riddled with errors in difficult conditions, it lacked genuine highlights and, perhaps worst of all, had an air of inevitability hanging over the result. Even with the Blues appearing for most of the night to be pacing themselves. Good sides can win with plenty in reserve, and that's what Carlton is and did. Improving sides, what Melbourne is supposed to be, need to show a lot more preparedness to get their hands dirty than did the Demons, with or without some of their bigger names.
Highlights galore, all off the field
By Greg Baum
Herald Sun
Blues thrash dour Demons
By Mark Robinson
SPIN doctoring is something of an art form in the AFL. But you can't spin this. Not even Warnie. Under-manned, ultra-defensive, woeful skills, and under the usually heady lights of Friday night footy, this was a frightful fizzer. The depleted Demons seemingly set out to avoid a touch up, and to do so, they sent a platoon of players behind the ball, and at the contest. In the greasy conditions - it rained heavily an hour before the game - it meant the game was largely a mosh pit of players throwing themselves as the ball, resulting in few highlights, and plenty of mediocre football. Without 11 of their best 22, the Demons did avoid a potential humiliation, and it's testament to how much footy is loved in town that most of the 47,464 fans at the game, stayed until the final siren. The Demons fans were often unimpressed. Their largest boo was when a soccer kick for a goal went against them near three-quarter-time. Their next five loudest boos were for former Melbourne player and now Blue, Brock McLean, when he touched the ball. The final score was 13.15 (93) to 6.10 (46).
Watts going on with Jack?
By Bruce Matthews
MELBOURNE coach Dean Bailey defended the plan to play Jack Watts as a spare man in the defensive 50 for much of the first half last night. Bailey said the seemingly negative tactic was designed to create options to move the ball quicker to the forwards. But he said it broke down with the poor disposal and the inability of the forward targets to lead to the correct spots. "We wanted to try something a bit different, to get the ball moving forward by switching the ball a bit more," Bailey said. "That had been our problem the last couple of weeks, we've been unable to switch, so we thought that extra player coming forward rather than just sitting back would've given the opportunity to switch. "But our forwards got too far up the ground and weren't leading back and kept coming at the kicker, which meant a couple of the Carlton blokes just sat back. "Unfortunately, our kick inside 50 found them rather than us."
Two No.1s in the twos
By Sam Landsberger
TOM Scully and Matthew Kreuzer, both No. 1 AFL draft picks returning from serious knee injuries, will be given almost full VFL matches this weekend. Scully, who has not played since receiving a stress fracture in his patella pre-season, will be given "much more than a half" of Melbourne affiliate Casey Scorpions' clash with Williamstown today.And Kreuzer, who played a half with Carlton affiliate Northern Bullants last week, will play a full game against Box Hill tomorrow."It'll be much more than (a half of game time) - otherwise, we wouldn't be playing him," Casey coach Brad Gotch said of Scully.If Scully recovers without soreness, he could return to the Demons' midfield against Essendon on Friday night.
The Age
Blues overrun limp Demons
By Rohan Connolly
TAKE one team undermanned and down on confidence, then add to the equation an opponent with more ability and in better touch but good enough to win without fully extending itself. The result? Pure tedium. Carlton's 47-point win over Melbourne last night won't be rushing off the shelves of the ''Name A Game'' video guys any time soon. It was riddled with errors in difficult conditions, it lacked genuine highlights and, perhaps worst of all, had an air of inevitability hanging over the result. Even with the Blues appearing for most of the night to be pacing themselves. Good sides can win with plenty in reserve, and that's what Carlton is and did. Improving sides, what Melbourne is supposed to be, need to show a lot more preparedness to get their hands dirty than did the Demons, with or without some of their bigger names.
Highlights galore, all off the field
By Greg Baum
THAT was quite a show the Melbourne Football Club put on last night. Then the football team appeared. The ageless Olivia Newton-John was the early best-on-ground, or just off it, on a stage in the Great Southern Stand. Footballing minstrel Russell Robertson joined her, and Jim Stynes joined them, for You're The One That I WantBlues sitting pretty as Demons fail to fire
By Jake Niall
CARLTON is well-placed to entrench its position in the top four after strolling to a 47-point victory over an undermanned Melbourne last night. The Blues, who led from the outset and were never really challenged by the depleted Demons despite losing two players during the match, moved to third place on the ladder with six wins and a draw from nine outings, half a game behind Collingwood, with Hawthorn able to move ahead of them if they beat the Bulldogs tomorrow.
The Australian
Ratten's new Blues emerge as contenders
By Stephen Rielly
NOT so long ago, stubborn and inferior opposition still troubled Carlton. The Blues, improving though they were, didn't always know how to win ugly or grind their way free of a side determined to play well within its limitations. Even last year, the Blues could be hauled back down to a level beneath them. But it seems that those days and nights are now finally a thing of the past.Melbourne turned up at the MCG last night trying not to win but not to lose. With a depleted side, the Demons regrettably chose to limit their pain, make themselves into a small target and play not with enterprise but on Carlton's past vulnerability.They were trounced for their trouble, by 47 points, and with their lack of ambition were sent back down to the lower reaches of the ladder as Carlton returned to the top four.It has been 15 years since the Blues opened a season as well as they have this year. . Here, if the Demons cared to look, was a lesson in resilience. Stynes sported a beanie, illuminated horns, a parka and an MFC tie. He was, as ever, all things to all men. But his grievously undermanned football team is not capable of being even true to itself. It ran onto the field between pairs of flaming torches, and there the flair stopped. Rather than try to take on Carlton on the Blues' free-flowing terms, the Demons sought to set their own grudging conditions.
By Jake Niall
CARLTON is well-placed to entrench its position in the top four after strolling to a 47-point victory over an undermanned Melbourne last night. The Blues, who led from the outset and were never really challenged by the depleted Demons despite losing two players during the match, moved to third place on the ladder with six wins and a draw from nine outings, half a game behind Collingwood, with Hawthorn able to move ahead of them if they beat the Bulldogs tomorrow.
The Australian
Ratten's new Blues emerge as contenders
By Stephen Rielly
NOT so long ago, stubborn and inferior opposition still troubled Carlton. The Blues, improving though they were, didn't always know how to win ugly or grind their way free of a side determined to play well within its limitations. Even last year, the Blues could be hauled back down to a level beneath them. But it seems that those days and nights are now finally a thing of the past.Melbourne turned up at the MCG last night trying not to win but not to lose. With a depleted side, the Demons regrettably chose to limit their pain, make themselves into a small target and play not with enterprise but on Carlton's past vulnerability.They were trounced for their trouble, by 47 points, and with their lack of ambition were sent back down to the lower reaches of the ladder as Carlton returned to the top four.It has been 15 years since the Blues opened a season as well as they have this year. . Here, if the Demons cared to look, was a lesson in resilience. Stynes sported a beanie, illuminated horns, a parka and an MFC tie. He was, as ever, all things to all men. But his grievously undermanned football team is not capable of being even true to itself. It ran onto the field between pairs of flaming torches, and there the flair stopped. Rather than try to take on Carlton on the Blues' free-flowing terms, the Demons sought to set their own grudging conditions.
