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No vision, no belief, no Malthouse

11th May, 2015
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Carlton coach Mick Malthouse has been sacked.
Expert
11th May, 2015
83
1505 Reads

Expectation is the biggest coach-killer in the AFL. Carlton people dared to have finals thoughts in the lead-up to the season proper, but it became evident two rounds in there would be no September action for the Blues this year.

Rarely is Mick Malthouse out of the headlines when coaching, but once the status of his side was established, the pressure was immediately upon him in the last season of his three-year contract.

Many thought Carlton would be a bottom-four side in 2015, and anyone with a football brain had them as a bottom-six certainty. And while the general expectation on Malthouse and the Blues this year was not to figure in the finals, the uncompetitive nature of some of their losses, and the lack of run and fight in others, has led to the heat being turned up to searing.

There was also the broader expectation upon Malthouse’s arrival at Carlton, and what it signalled to a starving, impatient and soon-to-be angry supporter base.

This was supposed to be a team that was ready to contend. With his decades of experience and glittering CV, Malthouse would put the finishing touches on a premiership tilt.

As we now know, this was as poor a reading of the play as anything we’ll see on the field this weekend. Delusions never came so grand.

The suspicion also lingers that Malthouse was moved to coach Carlton for the wrong reasons. No doubt he still has a passion to coach, but was it the sole driving factor in his decision, or was it proving something to those at Collingwood who he felt had let him down?

Recruiting Dale Thomas from the Pies to the Blues also smacked of something other than pure motives.

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This was a move that could have been understandable if they had both joined the new club together, in the quest to deliver a flag to a side believed to be moving into contention. It would be OK to make an error of judgement moving from the outside in, based on external observation and a club board whispering sweet nothings while looking through rose-coloured glasses.

But for Malthouse, after a year at the helm of a mediocre football side, to bring in a mature player of Thomas’ standing in the game, at a hefty cost both in dollar value and contract length, sent a message of impending success to both Carlton supporters and the AFL world.

Thomas was never quite as good as some would have you believe in his halcyon days of 2010-11, but he certainly hasn’t come close to those heights as a Carlton player. Injuries can be no excuse given he was coming off a five-game season in 2013. Caveat emptor.

Collingwood was more snake than ladder at the end of 2013, being bundled out of the finals in the first week. Did Malthouse recruit Thomas as a way of giving the Pies a clip on the way down, simultaneously hastening the process? It’s hard not to think it played a role.

As is now clear to all, the Carlton playing list is nowhere near contention.

We’ve all heard of Jack Dyer’s “good ordinary footballers”, but the Blues don’t even have those. More like ordinary ordinary footballers. If players can get suspended for bringing the game into disrepute, Levi Casboult and Liam Jones should serve time for crimes against kicking.

As for the playing leadership at Carlton, that’s an oxymoron if ever there was one.

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Chris Judd has given every fibre of his being on the field for the Blues. No-one could question that. But let’s face it, this is Judd’s eighth year at the club, five of them spent as captain. If there are any culture problems, including that of uncompetitiveness, then they have evolved on his watch. The similarities to fellow superstar Gary Ablett at Gold Coast aren’t too hard to find.

The freedom has gone from Marc Murphy’s game since he took over as skipper; too heavy lies the crown. Bryce Gibbs finally matured into the complete footballer last season, but once was apparently enough; he hasn’t been seen since.

Malthouse has had multiple failings at the Blues. And not all that is wrong there is his fault. But twice now he has failed to recognise where his playing list was at. He couldn’t let his Collingwood bygones be bygones. Appointing Marc Murphy as captain was a mistake.

But there is something worse that all of these things.

Malthouse’s reputation as a master coach has not just been built on his three premiership from seven grand finals, and umpteen finals series reached.

Mick has always been the players’ coach. They have loved and adored him, not just feared and respected him. When he’s had a limited team under his command, if nothing else, they’ve given 100 per cent effort, 100 per cent of the time.

He has taken teams to greater heights than they themselves could have imagined. Because they trusted his vision. Because they bought into what he wanted. Because they believed.

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We can only judge the Carlton players on what we see on the weekend. Not only that, but we can judge it against 30 years of Mick Malthouse-led sides.

There is no trust. There is no buy-in. There is no belief.

And because of that, more than anything else, as of next year at Carlton, there will be no Malthouse.

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