To be a force, the Blues must look to Sydney

It is an easy and media friendly line to trot out, I am sure there is some truth in it and if that was the criteria you could drop every player who played agaisnt the bombers but Waite created a number of goals for the blues through defensive pressure and Tom Bell laid 5 tackles against Port, got in the best against the Tigers and managed 10 possessions in just over a quarter against Essendon, I am not usre why they are the ones being hit up - especially given Bell's age and experience.

On the Marngrook Footy Show last night, Andrew Walker was on the panel and mentioned the defensive aspects of the game when responding to a question about the reasons behind the 4 players being dropped. Malthouse is clearly not happy with their effort.

Andrew A - It would be nice if Thomas started doing some other the 99%er's as well as all these 1%er's he is supposedly doing! I agree somthing has gone wrong but I put a lot of the blame at Malthouses feet - the selections over the past year and a bit have been continuously mystifying - Bell, Menzel, Buckley & Graham harldy get played last year which hampers their development now we have Bell getting dropped, Lucas in and out, both being used as the sub and Graham can't find his way in no matter how well he plays - it is no point in having exciting young players on the list if they don't get used!! Between Menzel, Graham and Cripps I think the blues will get at least 1 more Rising star nom to with Buckley's before the season is out if those player are just given the chance to win one. I thnk the completely confused selection process is negatively affecting the players performance as it plays on their minds and confses the message.

I've been discussing Carlton's list and performances with a good mate of mine who is as passionate a Carlton supporter you could ever meet. He often boasted how good Carlton's list is, in particular stating that Carlton's midfield is the best in the AFL, that Jamison is close to being the best full back in the AFL, that Bell, Curnow and Menzel are guns etc. etc. Malthouse would bring all this super talent together and the Blues would be a powerhouse. Something has obviously gone wrong and there's no pussy footing around the fact that while the Blues list might sound good on paper with so many top picks, their output has been mediocre. The team showed more defensive intent under Ratten than they do under Malthouse. Daisy Thomas is one of the few players who does the one percenters to help downhill skiing teammates.

Andrew A - 2 days without a game being played and a simple question is all it takes to get you to do a complete about face on your opinion? And if Malthouse wants to "develop the Blues into an unselfish team that places value on the defensive aspects of the game." he should first get his thinking clear on selection as the treatment of Lucas, Bell and Graham is confusing to say the least and given so far under Malthouse they have gone decidedly backwards in points against he may want to rethink his strategy.

Yes, on reflection perhaps I am way off the mark to think the Blues list is looking good. My apologies. Sure they have a lot of players who were high draft picks, but for whatever reason, these high picks haven't developed into great players capable of forming the nucleus of a premiership contender. Malthouse has his work cut out to develop the Blues into an unselfish team that places value on the defensive aspects of the game.

Peter S - Have a look over the entire time frame between 2005 and now, yes Freo made the GF last year but over the Freo have Finished above Carlton in 5 of the 8 years with 2010 the difference being 6th to 8th and 2012 it was 7th to 10th so not a great difference and in 2005 Freo won 11 games compared with the Blues winning 4 - so considering the starting point a slight victory in the "who finished higher" tally isn't a sign of out performance. I also acknowledged a couiple of posts above that Freo ahd a massive 2008 draft and got a couple of bonuses in 2009 which they are seeing the benefit of now and have kept them so far immune from the compromised drafts of 2010-2012 - however wehn PAvlich, Mundy, Crowley, Sandilands and McPharlin go over the next year or 2 those drafts will hurt then and Lyon will walk away from another list in disrepair.

um.. freo? did you live in a cave last year?

Good question Gene A-C :) Waite and Garlett dropped for this week. The Demons may yet give the Blues a scare, play a bit of 'bruise full' footy. They've got nothing to lose. Carlton have plenty to lose - middle of the table at best this year.

One more thing there also Sports fan, if you look at the teams that didn't make the 8 in 2005 You have the Bulldogs, Freo, Bribane, Richmond, Essendon, Hawthorn, Collingwood and Carlton - outside of Hawthorn and Collingwood who has performed better since than the Blues? the Bulldogs who won 11 games that year? Going into the 8 you have teams like Melbounre & North who I would take the blues record over as well. So when you consider where Carlton came from in 2005 and the performance of the other teams since their recruitng hasn't been too bad - just has a couple of holes from sanctions and compromises in the draft.

Well Hawthorn must of thought he was doing something right as they snapped him up pretty quick, and he will come out better for the experience.

Oh and as I have said previously look at the blues list in 2005 it was terrible - it wasn't just that they got the sanctions it is that they got them when they were already on the bottom of the ladder.

SportsFan -As you say hindsight is a wonderful thing, even Freo didn't take Fyfe with their first pick, a lot of those picks V the players listed aren't losses for the blues and the blues weren't the only ones to overlook some of the better players and no one would of predicted Kreuzer would do his knee and suffer the injury concerns he has had. If you look at the 2009 draft in particualr of the top 15 players taken only really 5 have been worth their pick and none of them a real stand out stars - the blues weren't the only ones to miss the mark in that year. Yes ther have been some mis-steps in drafting (every club does) but they have also done some pretty good things (especially through Rookies and late in the draft), if you don't take my word for it look at the article in the Sun a couple of weeks back after Mathieson blasted the drafting. On the Sanctions yes they are still clearly effecting them, the players they would of got would be around 28 now with roughly 200 games experience in the preime of their careers that makes a difference and then to have the compromised drafts come in which have clearly affected not only the blues but all those mid tier clubs (and will effect the likes of Hawthorn and Geelong in a year or 2 as their better players retire) as only Collingwood and Sydney from the 2008 5th to 8th have any real success (5th placed Adelaide is the only other team to make the top 4 since and that was just the once in 2012 but have otherwise been ordnary) since that point and none of those mid tier clubs look like winning a premiership even this year.

Axle: you say you have nothing against a National Competition and suggest its great for football. Unfortunately, in order to have a national competition the Afl has needed to provide assistance to Brisbane, Sydney and now Gold Coast and GWS. You can't have your cake and eat it too, so to speak. One should also remember that the Swans had decades of struggles before becoming the successful club they are today. Yes they received AFL assistance but so does modern day Melbourne, North Melbourne etc. It is up to these clubs to use this assistance, be it draft concessions, priority picks, monetary handouts wisely. Who knows one day Melbourne maybe successfull again and copping the unjustified criticism the Swans are receiving now. Oh and axle, for someone who is not whinging and doesn't care less why have you made 5 comments saying basically the same thing???

What list are you looking at?

That soft coach got us to finals. But only one against west coast is worth mentioning. This is the result of bad coaching, really bad recruiting and not improving the kids when it was the ONLY thing that was expected of them. Dont talk to me about ratten! When are people going to realize just cause he is a favorite son doesnt mean he is a capable coach! !!!

There's too much attention being brought to Carlton after being slaughtered by Essendon. It's too early in the season to be hitting the panic button. Carlton have one of the all time best coaches who should get the team going fairly soon once his game plan clicks. The Blues list is looking good and just needs some game time into some promising young talent. The last thing Carlton need is for their billionaire board members who know nothing about football interfering with the direction Malthouse is taking the club.

I agree with most of what you said SportsFanMelb except: ask your club why they wouldn’t trade with either the Suns or Giants but rather hung on to the players they had who are now heading out of their prime and towards the exit door. Clubs cannot force a player to let them trade them, who know how many players were asked behind closed doors if they would be willing to accept a trade and the clubs were told no. AFL players have ALL the power when it coming to trading, clubs have absolutely none if the player doesn't want to go.

Reply: I have nothing against a national comp, its grate for football. My argument is that Sth Melb/ Sydney have been getting a handout since 1982 and still are. They cry poor to the AFL which gives them what they want, then they go get Tippett and Franklin. What Vic clubs would get help then can go and get them type of footballers? Im not whinging, im only stating the assistance Sydney have had since 1982, personally i dont care less. -- Comment from The Roar's iPhone app.

So just to confirm the Blues current malaise is due to draft sanctions at the turn of the century and not their drafting and recruiting since they re-joining the draft properly in 2004 (even though they kept their priority pick from 2003 which they used on Andrew Walker)? Regardless of the compromised drafts of 2010 and 2011 (and to a degree 2012 considering how poor both the Giants and Suns were early days) should the Blues not already have the blocks in place for their premiership tilt? Right now the Blues should have a great core of players selected in 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009 drafts. 2006 First picks – (1) Bryce Gibbs, (17) Shaun Hampson and (19) Shaun Grigg Players overlooked with Pick 1 – Joel Selwood, Ben Reid, Travis Boak, Matthew Leuenberger, Jack Riewoldt Players overlooked with Pick 17 & 19- Eric McKenzie, Kurt Tippett, Will Schofield, Todd Goldstein 2007 First picks – (1) Matthew Kreuzer, (36) Steven Browne Players overlooked with Pick 1 – Trent Cotchin, Patrick Dangerfield, Harry Taylor, Callan Ward and Scott Selwood • Got Chris Judd from WCE and sent Josh Kennedy and Pick 3 & 20 to WCE (at the time Judd was in his prime so can’t really argue with the deal) 2008 First Picks – (6) Chris Yarran, (40) Mitch Robinson Players overlooked with Pick 6 – Daniel Rich, Jack Ziebell, Luke Shuey, Jack Redden, Dayne Beams, Daniel Hannebury, Zac Clarke and Stephen Motlop • Robbie Warnock and pick 69 from Freo and sent picks 24, 56, 72 2009 First picks – (12) Kane Lucas, (43) Marcus Davies Players overlooked with Pick 12 – Daniel Talia, Lewis Jetta, Nathan Fyfe, Jake Carlisle, Mitch Duncan, Jack Gunston, Sam Reid and Allen Christensen • Brendan Fevola and pick 27 to the Lions in exchange for Lachlan Henderson and pick 12 Some serious talent overlooked by the Blues recrutiters who obviously believed that they picked and traded well during this crucial period before the expansion clubs came into the scene. In addition to this no trading at all for talented 17 year olds or draft picks with the new teams shows that they thought they were heading into the premiership window. I admit hindsight is a wonderful thing but other clubs during that same period continued to draft and recruit smartly.