Today we turn our attention to the Carlton Blues’ prospects for 2016, having already covered the Adelaide Crows and Brisbane Lions.
Coming off the worst season in their 152-year history, the Carlton Football Club will be looking to start fresh in 2016 and move into the future.
With former Hawthorn assistant Brendon Bolton at the helm, the Blues will enter 2016 with one goal in mind and that is to get games into their younger players and begin to rebuild a positive culture around the club.
2015 was an absolute disaster for the Blues. There is simply no other way to look at it. They sacked Mick Malthouse mid-season after the AFL’s most experienced coach failed to turn the Blues into a premiership contender.
Instead, Malthouse leaves Carlton with many fans questioning his coaching tactics over the past few years, as his decision to ignore young talent for extended periods frustrated many.
Interim coach John Baker did a solid job after Malthouse’s sacking, but it was already a lost cause. This was compounded by a 138-point thrashing from Hawthorn on a Friday night in Round 17.
That was only one of the Blues’ many embarrassing losses in 2015 and the club will hope the days of 100-point losses are behind them.
That hope may be justified with the arrival of number one draft pick Jacob Weitering.
Weitering has been proclaimed as the best defender seen in the AFL draft in years and when looking at the tape of his play at the TAC-Cup, Under-18 championships and the NAB AFL Academy, it is easy to see why.
Weitering’s strong hands and marking ability stands out the most, as he averaged just fewer than eight marks a game in the TAC-Cup. The powerful, towering and strong hands that Weitering possess makes him a lock for the Blues’ best 22 and his 15.1 beep test score shows he is ready for the fast pace and speed of the AFL.
Along with Weitering, the Blues also picked up Harry McKay, Charlie Curnow, David Cunningham and Jack Silvagni at the draft and while all of those players have the potential it is hard to see them breaking into the best 22 come Round 1.
Best 22
B: Kristian Jaksch, Michael Jamison, Jacob Weitering
HB: Sam Docherty, Sam Rowe, Zac Tuohy
C: Ed Curnow, Patrick Cripps, Kade Simpson
HF: Dale Thomas, Andrejs Everitt, Dylan Buckley
F: Sam Kerridge, Levi Casboult, Andrew Walker
Foll: Matthew Kreuzer, Marc Murphy, Bryce Gibbs
INT: Cameron Wood, Dennis Armfield, Lachie Plowman, Blaine Boekhorst
MVP: Marc Murphy
He is the captain, the best and fairest and the heart and soul of the club, so the questions surrounding whether Murphy should remain the club’s leader for 2016 are ridiculous and need to stop immediately.
Murphy is a model of consistency for the Blues and his 2015 season was simply another indicator of that. He averaged 26.8 disposals, 15.3 kicks, 11.5 handballs and 4.2 marks per game, which included a 37-disposal performance in the aforementioned 138-point loss to the Hawks. Murphy is an elite-level AFL midfielder and all signs point to him getting better in 2016.
Future star: Patrick Cripps
Is it fair to call the runner-up of the club’s best and fairest (by one vote by the way) a future star? Probably not, but in the Blues’ case, Cripps is both a star in the present and a star of the future.
Cripps blends in his silky-smooth game with an element of toughness in the midfield, as he averaged 23.6 disposals, 15.6 handballs, 7.9 kicks and 3.2 marks per game in 2015. Among rising stars, Cripps ranked first in clearances, effective disposals and contested possessions, as he proved a class above the AFL’s other emerging talent. Cripps was one of the only positives in 2015 for the Blues and the sky is the limit for the Canberra native.
Make or break: Dale Thomas
The marquee free agent signing from a few years ago and one of Malthouse’s favourite players, Thomas is faced with a career-defining 2016 season. He has yet to capture the form he had at Collingwood due to multiple injuries and poor play.
After another lost season, Thomas must be ready to raise his game in 2016. He won’t be picked in the team because of the coach loving him, as Bolton has no previous relationship with Thomas like Malthouse did. Thomas has been criticised for being soft and not playing his hardest with the Blues but with a new coach, young talent coming through and an injury-free pre-season, Thomas has no excuses to have another underwhelming campaign.
The Original Buzz
Guest
I think Thomas will need a break out year and really perform this year. He is now injury free and if he breaks down again then it might be time to move him on and let one of the juniors take his spot. There are a few more that could make the best 22 and it is hard to say who should be in and who shouldn't be at this stage. Some of our recent acquisitions could be guns and then again, some maybe duds. What ever happens, I am looking forward to the 2016 season and watching the development of the team. I still think there will be one or two blowouts in scores throughout the season but it is the development and improvement I am interested in.
Macca
Guest
he has had what was referred to as "minor hip surgery" and was predicted to miss 8-10 weeks of the main training group but expected to resume "light duties" in just 2 weeks from the surgery. On that schedule he would be on light duties straight after Christmas and back to full training by the 18th of Feb at the worst case 10 weeks - which would still give him 5 weeks of full training before round 1. It isn't ideal and they might prefer to give Jaksch and Weitering the early rounds to give Plowman a little more time but I would expect to see him play inside the first month.
DingoGray
Roar Guru
Only issue there hasn't Plowman broken down and unlikely to see early season action?
Macca
Guest
Col - I think your best 22 is probably as close as anyones and fully agree on Graham, I think if he stays injury free he will have an absolute monster year. However I don't see Plowman, Weitering, Jaksch, Jamison & Rowe all playing in the same side - the most would be 4 of them (with either Jaksch or Rowe playing forward) but more than likely it will just be 3 of them most weeks with Rowe & Jamsion likely to miss a number of games throughout the year just to allow the more inexperienced players more games. I wouldn't be surprised to see the likes of Byrne or Lamb come in for the extra tall.
Macca
Guest
I think the blues "best 22" will be very fluid this year with experienced players being rotated out to allow inexperienced players to get some experience. While I firmly expect the blues to be in the bottom 4 for the year the season is not without hope, Murphy, Gibbs, Cripps and Kreuzer is a more than handy starting centre square squad and hopefully we can see the likes of Boekhorst and Graham emerge as quality mids. Up forward will not definitely not be a conventional set up but Walker has a 56 goal season behind him, Everitt bagged 31 goals while not playing as a permanent forward and Casboult averaged 1.5 goals per game last year nad hopefully could build on it this year (especially with Malthouse gone) and down back Wetering, Plowman and Jaksch have the potentil to become a very good long term trio.
Macca
Guest
"Andrew Walker might suffer that same fate if he can’t lift his performance level from last year" Walker's last 5 games are what we need to be looking at for this year, he went forward and kicked 11 goals in 5 games (including a 0 in his first game back against Collingwood).
Macca
Guest
There is no way that Kreuzer, Casboult and Wood all play - Graham is as close to a certainty as you can get to play round 1 and would definitley replace Wood in the side listed.
Josh
Expert
I suspect Cam Wood and Dennis Armfield will both probably make way for some younger footballers to be rotated though - McKay, Curnow, Cunningham, Sumner, Phillips, Lamb. Even Andrew Walker might suffer that same fate if he can't lift his performance level from last year. The backline is probably also a bit tall, don't think all of Jaksch, Jamison, Weitering and Row can play in the same backline, might move KJ forward, or one is out of the team. Altogether a pretty solid effort though.
TomC
Roar Guru
Ruckmen tend to get about three clearances a game. Usually they're quick kicks or handballs when a ball lands at their feet from a stoppage. It doesn't mean much. It's also worth remembering that Wood is only a rookie listed player, with Kreuzer and new recruits Gorringe and Phillips on the senior list. As it stands I'd be surprised if he played round one.
Luke Sicari
Roar Guru
Nick Graham was very stiff to miss out, I must admit. I feel like Wood was a very solid contributor last season- finished 4th in the team in clearances. I feel his spot is fairly safe, for round one at least. Carlton have been pretty high on Jaksch throughout the pre-season, I feel he is set for a breakout season
Luke Sicari
Roar Guru
I agree, for a rebuilding team, it is tough to settle on a sure-fire best 22. Carlton will want to get as many games into the young bodies as possible, so the line-up will be in a constant rate of rotation all season long
Luke Sicari
Roar Guru
Correction: I apologise for the mistake in the article- it was Murphy who was the runner-up to Cripps for the B&F by one vote. I apologise for the mistake
Darren
Guest
I think a best 22 is not partucularly relevant for where Carlton is at. They are looking to build a strong list and so will probably have a bit of an eye on the future. I'd expect the best 22 to look quite different by the end of the year - that would be a measure of success for the year. Having said that, I think Nick Graham for Denis Armfield and I can see Ciaran Byrne breaking into the best team this year - ahead of Jaksch. Also many people are saying Charlie Curnow maybe ready to play. I'm sure he'll get lots of opportunities - as per point above. I also see Plowman, Wright, Armfield, Sheehan and Lamb getting a fair bit of game time this year.
Michael Huston
Guest
Carlton's best 22: http://m.carltonfc.com.au/club/history/team-of-the-century
mattyb
Guest
They can't trade Murphy surely,they have virtually no leaders already.Lists need balance,we saw what happened at Melbourne when they went with kids only,it's disastrous.Murphy is a must along with perhaps Simpson,Gibbs you could probably trade off though.
BBJ
Roar Rookie
That is a pretty ugly goal to goal line. What Malthouse did to Carlton borders on criminal negligence. All they can do is trade off their assets like Gibbs and Murphy and turnover their list.
mattyb
Guest
Surely Liam Jones is a poor enough footballer to be in that 22?
slane
Guest
More number 1 picks for sure.
WhereIsGene
Guest
Name should be changed to "Carlton's least-worst 22"
alicesprings
Guest
Anyone know if Carlton still has more first round draft picks than GWS? Serious questions.