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Outspoken former-Carlton President John Elliott told David Parkin before appointing him as coach for a second stint in 1991, “We don’t rebuild in Carlton.” 23 years down the track, the Blues still seem to have that attitude, and it needs to change.
Going into this season, Mick Malthouse talked about the premiership window – a term he invented at Collingwood about ten years ago – and felt his Blues were at 11.00, with 12 being where the window is fully open, with a strong premiership breeze at your back.
However, even though it’s only three rounds in, Sunday night’s display against arch-enemies Essendon was not of a team who can win the flag anytime soon.
Despite making the finals four of the past five years under the besieged Brett Ratten and Malthouse, Carlton weren’t a legitimate premiership threat in any of those campaigns.
They did get close to West Coast in Perth in the 2011 semi-final, but even if they had won, eventual premiers Geelong would have had their measure the following week in the preliminary final.
Ratten was constantly criticised by fans that he didn’t make enough moves and that by sitting on the bench, he couldn’t see enough of the field to coach properly. As soon as Carlton had a poor year, as they did in 2012, one of Carlton’s most reliable players in the 1990s was given his marching orders.
I know the Carlton family hates this word, but the Blues may to go down the rebuilding path. The big question is, has Mick got another rebuild in him?
He still appears to have the drive and passion to coach at the highest level – he said when appointed coach at Carlton that he wouldn’t take it on if he didn’t have that desire – but rebuilds take time, maybe five to six years if done properly.
Carlton’s playing list isn’t good enough. It has holes everywhere, especially in the key defensive and forward posts. Lachie Henderson is their best tall position player by a mile at both ends, but there’s obviously only one of him.
If you look at their draft record in the past six years, after securing those number one picks in consecutive years of Marc Murphy, Bryce Gibbs and Matthew Kreuzer, there have not been many success stories. Mitch Robinson at selection 40 in 2008 and Dennis Armfield at 46 in 2007 are notable exceptions, while Chris Yarran at number 6 in 2008 hasn’t yet reached the heights expected.
They invested heavily in talls at the 2010 National Draft, with their first three selections – Matthew Watson, Patrick McCarthy and Luke Mitchell – but only Watson remains on the list and is yet to nail a permanent spot in Carlton’s best 22.
The Blues have always loved to top-up by getting high-profile players from other teams. Chris Judd has been outstanding, but they gave quality tall forward Josh Kennedy to the Eagles to get him. This season they nabbed Dale Thomas from Collingwood. He has been a quality player for the Magpies, but has been plagued by an ankle injury for the past two seasons and his best could be behind him.
Carlton dropped their first three in 2013 and still managed to make the finals, so all isn’t lost, but there wasn’t an 81-point drubbing in those first three defeats in 2013.
The Blues will start favourites against both Melbourne and the Bulldogs in the next fortnight and should they win, they are sort of back in the mix on pure numbers. But their list can’t compete with the best on the biggest stages.
This draft is apparently full of talls set to be selected in the first round. Carlton needs quality in that area and if Bryce Gibbs wants to go back to South Australia through free agency, they can also gain a decent selection in compensation for him.
We all know this club demands success every season. They are victims of almost 30 years of domination, winning eight flags between 1968 and 2005, but the AFL landscape has changed dramatically since then and the Blues still appear to be struggling to get with the program.
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