Why would Ratten want to stay at Carlton?
Roar Rookie By Widget, 5 Jul 2012 Widget is a Roar Rookie
- Tagged:
- AFL, Brendan Fevola, Brett Ratten, Carlton Blues, Chris Judd
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In 2007, former premiership player and club captain Brett Ratten was granted the role of head coach of the struggling Carlton Blues.
Taking over the role from legendary North Melbourne coach Denis Pagan, Ratten was given the unenviable task of turning around the fortunes of a club with thousands of supporters who had been deprived of success in recent years.
At the beginning of his time at Carlton, he managed to obtain the services of the almighty Chris Judd who was looking for a return to Melbourne. In exchange, they had to give up the then unknown Josh Kennedy and a high draft pick. In doing so, Ratten was seemingly given the ultimate start to his senior coaching career.
The acquisition of Judd, seemed to give the supporters that beacon of hope they were looking for. A beacon of hope that was taken quite seriously by fans who demanded success.
Coming off a 15th place finish in 2007, the Blues made a minor improvement in climbing up the ladder to eleventh by the end of 2008.
In 2009, Ratten had finally achieved one of the goals put to him by the whole organisation when he took over: to play finals football. Despite a first round exit, Ratten seemed to be establishing a good level of approval from the Carlton fan-base.
After a successful year for the club, an array of indiscretions from bad boy Coleman medalist Brendan Fevola resulted in the club parting ways with the match winner.
This move was seen differently by many people, as some thought it was a little hasty, while others saw it as a way to rid the club of off-field problems.
After an indifferent 2010, which saw the Blues finish eighth even after the loss of Fevola, Ratten came under much scrutiny as many people believed that Carlton were under performing and still had the talent to be a serious top four contender.
Much of this fell on the head of the senior coach who would soon see the up and down nature of his side’s supporters.
A major breakthrough for the club in 2011 would be the winning of a first final and a narrow loss to the Eagles in the west during the second week of the finals. Coming off such great success, it seemed as if even more pressure would be heaped on the shoulders of the coach.
Prior to the beginning of this season, Ratten made a bold call, which is now seemingly coming back to bite him. Ratten declared that anything less than a top-four finish this season would be a failure by himself and his playing group.
Carlton supporters seemingly took this on board and are now using it as ammunition against the increasingly under fire coach.
In round three, after his side put the Magpies to the sword in a ten goal thrashing, the Blues were installed as premiership favourites, by not just their supporters, but by many football enthusiasts.
Ever since that standout performance, the Blues have been struggling with injuries and results. After being heralded as a genius during the successful times, it seems as if Ratten is being made a scapegoat by supporters of a club which sits tenth on the ladder with a record of six wins and seven losses.
The immense scrutiny being put on Brett Ratten makes you wonder, why put yourself through it? Why not just take the easy option of walking away and taking an assistant coaching job somewhere?
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The Crowd Says (15) | Page 1 of Comments
Have Your Say
- Explore:
- AFL, Brendan Fevola, Brett Ratten, Carlton Blues, Chris Judd
July 5th 2012 @ 9:21am
swannies05 said | July 5th 2012 @ 9:21am | Report comment
Widget, I have to disagree. AFL coaches are AFL coaches because they love the pressure, they thrive on it, at least the good ones do anyway. Why would you want to step down and become an assistant somewhere else. As you said, he is a former premiership player with the club, has coached there for over 5 years and I am assuming has a deep love for the Blues, surely he wants to try and bounce back and lead his beloved Carlton to premiership success over the next few years?
July 5th 2012 @ 9:22am
Macca said | July 5th 2012 @ 9:22am | Report comment
Not sure why 2009 was deemed successful and 2010 was viewed as indifferent given they both had narrow first round finals losses and 2010 involved the complete restructure of the forward line and while the Fevola trade may have been controversial at the time in hindsight getting Henderson & Lucas for Fev was a masterstroke.
Other than that I agree with the overall sentiment of this article, people (and supposed carlton supporters especially) have been all to hard on Ratten given the starting point and the terrible run with injuries this year.
I would also like to mention that there has been a lot of criticism on this site about the blues taking Mclean instead of keeping pick 11 in the 2009 Draft, below is the top 20 from that year, I would suggest not many of them have achieved any great heights and the player the blues would rue missing the most would be Menzel, but given he has missed this season with knee injuries I don’t think he would help much.
1. Tom Scully (Melbourne)
2. Jack Trengove (Melbourne)
3. Dustin Martin (Richmond)
4. Anthony Morabito (Fremantle)
5. Ben Cunnington (North Melbourne)
6. Gary Rohan (Sydney)
7. Bradley Sheppard (West Coast)
8. John Butcher (Port Adelaide)
9. Andrew Moore (Port Adelaide)
10. Jake Melksham (Essendon)
11. Jordan Gysberts (Melbourne)
12. Kane Lucas (Carlton)
13. Daniel Talia (Adelaide)
14. Lewis Jetta (Sydney)
15. Christian Howard (Western Bulldogs)
16. Jasper McMillan-Pittard (Port Adelaide)
17. Daniel Menzel (Geelong)
18. Luke Tapscott (Melbourne)
19. Ben Griffiths (Richmond)
20. Nat Fyfe (Fremantle)
July 5th 2012 @ 9:29am
D.Large said | July 5th 2012 @ 9:29am | Report comment
Yeah good point Macca. I would much rather have the 27 year old McLean then the 21 year old Talia, Jetta, Menzel & Fyfe!
July 5th 2012 @ 9:38am
Macca said | July 5th 2012 @ 9:38am | Report comment
D.Large – On Jetta do the blues need another quick small forward? Could you really play Betts Garlett, Yarran and Jetta?
Fyfe is a more than handy player but again outside midfielders aren’t what the blues are missing.
Talia is looking good this year and would of been very handy but the blues have Henderson & Jamison plus Watson all the same height and type of player.
And Menzel looks a gun and is what the blues need as a forward (although he only stands 188cm) but has already had 2 knee injuries and missed this entire season, will he be as good when he comes back?
What most people complain about when they discuss the blues is a lack of an insdie midfielder and a key forward, are there any on that list? And if so is it McLean or Lucas who should of gone?
And the other point is the blues aren’t on their own in making mistakes in that draft it appears, every club missed Fyfe, everyone else had a chance to get Menzel before Geelong got him. At this stage it looks like it was a fairly ordinary top 20.
By the way McLean is 26.
July 5th 2012 @ 5:05pm
Macca said | July 5th 2012 @ 5:05pm | Report comment
By way of comparison McLean is averaging 23 possessions and4.7 tackles a game in 2012, Scully is averaging 20.7 possessions and 4.8 tackles, Melksham is averaging 16.2 and 2.2.
July 5th 2012 @ 9:34am
andyincanberra said | July 5th 2012 @ 9:34am | Report comment
I was surprised at how long Carlton held onto Brendan Fevola. He was given chance after chance, when he was finally shown the door, Carlton really were left with no tall forward to kick to. From what I understand, Carlton were looking to have a premiership window begining in 2012, and presumably lasting 3-4 years. Given Fevola had a history of indiscretions, Carlton should have cut him loose earlier and developed/recruited another big forward target. Now they are left with a pretty big hole down there.
Maybe Ratten is just too nice to be a senior coach.
July 5th 2012 @ 9:40am
Macca said | July 5th 2012 @ 9:40am | Report comment
Andy – “Carlton should have cut him loose earlier and developed/recruited another big forward target” Possibly fair but forwards with Fevolas talent don’t come along every day.
July 5th 2012 @ 10:10am
Go Blues said | July 5th 2012 @ 10:10am | Report comment
Well said Widget. Ratts has been great for Carlton and their supporters. He is inspiring in the way he puts up with all the criticism he has taken since Day 1 and shows the same bravery as he did on the field. Well done Ratts. Carlton supporters, either support his beloved team through thick and thin or go somewhere else.
July 5th 2012 @ 10:18am
Macca said | July 5th 2012 @ 10:18am | Report comment
Exactly go blues!
I just hope that when the blues do grab 8th spot and win that first final only true supporters are allowed on the bandwagon.
With Murphy, Henderson and Waite back in coming weeks and winnable games against North, the Bulldogs, the Suns, Richmond, Brisbane and St Kilda to come it is not beyond them.
July 5th 2012 @ 1:06pm
brendan said | July 5th 2012 @ 1:06pm | Report comment
Whilst it is admirable the support Carlton supporters are posting for Ratten the reality is the only way to find out how good a job he has done is to relace him.Perhaps he has got the most he can out of the group but i personally doubt it.Macca you constantly refer to untried talent in the seconds perhaps Ratten has erred by not pushing them up more as Chris Scott does at Geelong( apparently the Cats have a citeria that so many players under 50 games have to play each week.) The Northern Blues have copped some fair pastings recently with about 18 Afl listed players in the team.Th upside for the Blues is they do get the chance to prove themselve as apart from tomorrows nights game most of there matches are against sides in similar positions.
July 5th 2012 @ 1:25pm
Macca said | July 5th 2012 @ 1:25pm | Report comment
Brendan – It’s a bit hard to “push up” up players from the seconds when they are injured. Luke Mitchell only return to the seconds less than a month ago after missing most of the past 2 seasons with shoulder injuries, Casboult faces a test this week after having knee surgery on the eve of the season, Davies and White have both missed the majority of the year while Buckley missed about 6 games with a finger injury (and weighs about 70kg) and Sam Rowe has Cancer.
Of the others so far this year Kane Lucas has played 7 games, Bootsma 5 and Watson 4 (these are the blues top draft picks from the last 3 years). McInnes has been in great form and I would be surprised if he doesn’t get the call up this week. Collins has plyed 4 games and Curnow 9. So it isn’t a case of Ratten not trying his young players.
The assertion “Whilst it is admirable the support Carlton supporters are posting for Ratten the reality is the only way to find out how good a job he has done is to relace him” is a nonsense, if they replace him now coming up to a run of winnable games with quality players returning is that a far comparison to the first half of the season and if they wait unitl next year and they start the year with a full list, young players who have had a taste and another preseason under their belt and a top 10 draft pick form what is tipped to be a super draft the new coach might just reap the rewards of Rattens work.
July 5th 2012 @ 1:38pm
Macca said | July 5th 2012 @ 1:38pm | Report comment
Also Brendan – The blues currently have 1 player above 30 on the list and4 are or who will be 29 this year, Geelong have 9 who are or will be 30 this year and another 3 who are or will be 29.
This difference leads to the apparent “criteria” of the cats I would suggest.
July 5th 2012 @ 4:49pm
brendan said | July 5th 2012 @ 4:49pm | Report comment
Macca i wasnt saying he should be replaced now at seasons end if things dont pick up.Every club has players who are out for great periods of time.Geelong have been without Menzel,Vardy and Varcoe all year and on top of the retirements from last season have still found themselves in with a chance.Over the last few years the Cats have lost Mumford,Egan,both Abletts and Laidler to other clubs so it happens to all teams.At the start of the season you agreed with me that the first six or so games would be indicative of your year ,the Blues got the start they needed and now find themselves with games coming up against sides in similiar ladder positions.Apparently the injury situation at Carlton is abating so if your one or two players off your best 22 against Stkilda, North and Richmond and dont win enough games to make the eight the only logical conclusion that an outsider to the club like me is that your players are not good enough or the coach cant bring out there best.
July 5th 2012 @ 4:59pm
Macca said | July 5th 2012 @ 4:59pm | Report comment
Brendan – It isn’t that simple, if they beat North, Richmond and St Kilda and still don’t make the finals I don’t think your conclusion can be reached, if they lose to those teams you are probably right (providing they are just a couple off their best side).
As for your comparison to Geelong as I have said previously they are at a very different stage in their development, the blues are Geelong in about 2005 or 2006, they are about to build some really good depth over the next 3-4 years with few retirements looming and key players entering the prime of their careers.
July 5th 2012 @ 5:32pm
brendan said | July 5th 2012 @ 5:32pm | Report comment
Macca the 05 Geelong side lost to Sydney in the semi – final and the 06 side won 7 of there last 11 games ,Carlton i don’t think measure up to either of those years.Frankly, for Ratten to keep his job Murphy is going to have to prove what most people think that he is the key to Carlton and Waite will have to consistently kick bags of goals.Dont misread my posts i am not anti- Carlton i personally think they haven’t developed enough depth.I am waiting for a side with many top draft picks to win a flag, Stkilda almost got there ,Melbourne are a long way off,Richmond are so-so leaving the Blues as the great white hope.I dont like the hoo-hah surrounding first round draft picks the pressure on those selected as the panacea to a clubs shortfalls is too great . IMO the first round should be open so clubs can confidentially select players to alleviate defiencies in there sides rather than take what is the best remaining option.