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Carlton is a very dislikable football club. Their past success stemmed from money, greed and ruthlessness in a time when that was allowed.
Unfortunately for the Blue Boys, since the draft and the salary cap this strategy has resulted in consistent bottom-four finishes and the worst period in the club’s history.
Coincidentally, the general happiness of Victorians has been at record highs during this period.
Now the football media is telling us the Blues are set for another period of misery, with thinly concealed pleasure emanating from many of the commentators.
Carlton is not like the Bulldogs; people genuinely enjoy looking at the ladder and seeing navy blue near the bottom.
However the modern game has proven over and again that change can happen very quickly. Just two years ago who would have thought that Port Adelaide would have the quality it currently has?
Carlton aren’t likely to turn things around as quickly as Port, but resurrection need not be a long journey.
Hawthorn went from uncompetitive to genuine contenders in a couple of seasons in the mid-2000s. Same for St Kilda in the early 2000s. The Bulldogs and Melbourne are building similar platforms now, not to mention the expansion clubs.
People will say those teams drafted well and the Blues have not, and indeed Carlton have had more misses than hits recently. But getting back on top only takes two or three years of smart decisions.
Equality in the AFL means the bottom four have never been closer to the top four in terms of pure talent, and Carlton’s list is not as bad as everyone seems to believe.
Marc Murphy and Bryce Gibbs are both excellent midfielders. Michael Jamison, who was admittedly taken to the cleaners by former Carlton player Josh Kennedy last week, is normally as tight a key defender as there is. If Matthew Kreuzer ever returns to fitness Carlton have an elite ruckman at their disposal. Kade Simpson, Andrew Walker, Lachie Henderson, Sam Docherty and Chris Yarran are all excellent players too.
The top-end talent is there, Carlton just need a few younger players – like Patrick Cripps, Kristian Jacksh, Levi Casboult and Dylan Buckley – to become AFL quality.
If those players can step up, and the recruiters finally start getting it right, it may not be that long until Victorians are as unhappy as they were when Stephen Kernahan, Diesel Williams and Stephen Silvagni were strutting around Princes Park in the early 1990s.
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