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Carlton had an indifferent 2014 season, coming as it did in the midst of an indifferent decade.
In fact, they’ve been largely irrelevant since the turn of the century, and any claims to being a powerhouse of the competition have long since turned from arrogant but entitled boasting, to addle delusion.
Last year, the Blues finished thirteenth on the ladder, but three wins behind the twelfth-placed Gold Coast. It’s probable that a few more clubs will leap-frog them this time around.
» Read the rest of Cam’s AFL preview series
Let’s have a look at what the make-up of their best side could be:
B: A.Walker S.Rowe Z.Tuohy
HB: C.Yarran M.Jamison K.Simpson
C: E.Curnow B.Gibbs P.Cripps
HF: D.Thomas L.Henderson T.Bell
F: T.Menzel L.Casboult L.Jones
Foll: M.Kruezer C.Judd M.Murphy
Int: S.Docherty A.Carrazzo M.Watson A.Everitt
Em: B.Boekhorst K.Jaksch J.Tutt
At face value, it looks a team full of good ordinary players, with a few bright exceptions.
The on-ball division will once again be a strength, relatively speaking, at Carlton, with top end talent led by Bryce Gibbs and Marc Murphy being relied upon to keep them in matches.
Chris Judd will be hoping his hamstring troubles are behind him, and he appears mentally refreshed after playing only twelve games last season. How we’d love to see some of the explosiveness from his younger days once more.
Dale Thomas was a handy acquisition in 2014, even if Carlton paid for more than that. While never quite as good as he was made out to be at his best, and nor did his best even last more than a couple of seasons, he was still a damaging link player.
He’ll need to give Carlton more than an average of 17 touches and half a goal a game. There were signs late in the season that he might be able to return to his hard-running best and cover the territory that he needs to in order to have a meaningful impact.
Matt Kruezer rarely has his body right, and he’ll again miss early games. The only time he’s played every match in a season was in his second year at the Blues, 2009. Cameron Wood and Robbie Warnock, honest battlers, will vie for the number one role in his absence.
The forward-line will be led by Lachie Henderson, who went backwards last year. The Blues are in an unfortunate position with many of their most important players being injury-prone. Henderson will need to step up, particularly in the absence of the defected Jarrad Waite.
Footballers don’t come much more unreliable that Levi Casboult, Matthew Watson and Liam Jones, but two of them will need to find some consistency to support Henderson. Reservations are held by many.
Troy Menzel oozes talent, and showed last season that he can fill the hole that Eddie Betts left when he left for Adelaide. He’s going to be an important player for many years to come.
Sam Rowe made a great leap forward as a full-back in 2014, and was rewarded with a top five finish in Carlton’s best and fairest. It was pleasing to see him back himself in the air, as the best defenders do, and we can expect to see him improve again, hopefully by adding more run to his game.
Michael Jamison and Zach Tuohy will be reliable once more, and get the blue collar work done. The running and linking from half-back will come from the dangerous duo of Kade Simpson and Andrew Walker.
Chris Yarran, probably the most naturally talented player on the list, will perform cameos across the ground. He can dazzle us with his brilliance, and is a genuine game-breaker, but he needs to get more of the ball than he does. This will be his seventh season and it’s time for him to deliver more.
Of the younger and inexperienced players, the Blues will be looking to Sam Docherty to raise his linking game in the back half, Patrick Cripps to anoint himself as the next generation midfielder, and Tom Bell to find another level up forward.
Depth is a weakness, and if the aforementioned injury-prone important players get struck down again at any stage, their inability to cover them will be costly.
The future is reasonably bright for a lot of the clubs that will be down the bottom end of the ladder in 2015, but it’s not immediately obvious that this is so for Carlton.
There’s a good chance they’ll be singing the Blues for a long time yet.