In recent times we Carlton supporters have been subjected to a barrage of negative analysis, from people claiming the list is “cooked” and our under-23 players consists solely of “Patrick Cripps and GWS rejects” to claims that Essendon without their banned 12 will still beat the Blues’ best side.
In response I thought I would take it upon myself to find some potential positives, and encourage our supporters to ponder “what if”.
To do this I have broken the list down into five groups, and identified two players from each group that I think could significantly contribute to the Blues outperforming expectations – by that, I mean maybe getting out of the bottom four, before people start thinking I am talking finals.
Number ones
Carlton now has four number one draft picks on their list and while we can expect Marc Murphy to uphold his high standards and Jacob Weitering is just in his first year (and will be discussed at a later point) it is Bryce Gibbs and Matthew Kreuzer who have the capabilities to have the biggest impact on the Blues’ season.
Gibbs enjoyed a stellar 2014 season but a horror 2015 as Mick Malthouse’s ordinary game plan – he seemed to be told just to win the clearance and bomb in forward – suspension and injury all played their part in making him largely ineffective.
Reports are that he is having an excellent pre-season posting numerous personal bests and if he can recapture that 2014 form a midfield trio of Murphy, Gibbs and Cripps will pose some serious questions to opposition sides.
Kreuzer has had a horror run with injuries but looks set to complete his first ever full pre-season in the AFL and his late season form from 2015 showed he still has the potential to become an elite AFL ruckman. If he does reach those heights we have long expected, it adds another dimension to the Blues’ side.
Trade recruits
While a lot has been made of the Blues grabbing four GWS players in one hit – most former first rounders – I think it will be Sam Kerridge and Daniel Gorringe who can have the biggest impact from this group.
Kerridge is a hard-working, hard-running midfielder who will never be an elite player but if he can simply become a good solid midfielder who gets his 20-25 possessions every week and works his butt off for the team it adds that midfield depth and work ethic the Blues have sorely missed, and makes life a lot easier for the Murphy, Gibbs and Cripps.
Daniel Gorringe is a former No.10 draft pick and All-Australian under-18 ruckman who was among the Suns’ best runners while standing above 200cm. The Blues appear to be trying to establish him across half forward and if he can finally achieve his potential – and he wouldn’t be the first big man to take a while – he could be that key forward the Blues so desperately need to help out Casboult.
Draftees
The Blues grabbed five very good players in this year’s draft and while I am excited about the longterm possibilities of Harry McKay and Charlie Curnow and interested to see how Jack Silvagni comes on it will be Jacob Weitering and David Cunningham which will have the biggest impact in 2016.
Weitering has had so much written about him I hardly need to rehash it here, but I expect him to be a solid third tall defender in 2016.
Cunningham on the other hand will have slipped under a lot of people’s radar but has been really impressing in the Blues’ match simulations with his ability to win the ball at the contest and use his speed and agility break away from it and find space.
If he can manage to make the transition to AFL level he will compliment the more established mids perfectly and give the Blues’ midfield the speed it has been missing.
Under 23s
This area is the most exciting area of the Blues list comprising almost 50 per cent (22 of 46 players), and includes the likes of Sam Docherty and Dylan Buckley who have established themselves in 2015. In 2016 I am looking for break out performances from Nick Graham and Blaine Boekhorst.
Graham will be one of the most relieved players in the league that the sub vest has gone for good and he showed in his final few games of 2015 – before a foot injury ended his season – that he belongs at AFL level, with 24 possessions against the Suns and 26 and five tackles against the Bulldogs.
Like Kerridge I don’t expect him to be a match-winner but his ability to accumulate possession, lay tackles and find the goals adds a lot of depth to the Blues’ midfield.
Boekhorst managed 11 games in 2015 – again a victim of the sub rule – and has been much maligned by those outside the club as a waste of a first round pick but the more he played at AFL level the better he got and there were a number of small moments in games for him that showed his true potential – a really nice hanger, a set shot from outside 50 that split the middle, and a centering pass to Cripps that won the Melbourne game are stand outs for me.
After his first full pre-season Boekhorst is noticeably bigger and with greater endurance – in his best two games against Hawthorn and Collingwood he got most of his possessions in the first half before fading – should be able to become that dynamic line-breaker the Blues need.
Rookies
There are two rookies that really standout to me, both Irish, both named Ciaran.
Ciaran Byrne played just one game – as the sub – last year before hamstring injuries ended his season but his nine possessions against Essendon in Round 3 from just 28 per cent gametime at close to 100 per cent efficiency was incredibly exciting – if can stay fit, he could be the quick classy half-forward that makes the Blues’ forward line dangerous.
Ciaran Sheehan missed all of 2015 with injury but his four games in 2014 showed plenty of promise with plenty of dash off half-back – if he can emualte Zach Tuohy’s 2015 season it might release the likes of Docherty or Buckley to be deployed in a more attacking fashion.
So those are my top 10 players to be optimistic about Carlton fans, I would love to hear yours.
Macca
Guest
Yeah great news Col. I thought he would extend this year but shows how much he wants to stay at the blues to get it done so early.
Col from Brissie
Guest
Macca, just read that Cripps has signed a contract extension for another 2 years taking him up to the end of 2019. Fantastic news.
mattyb
Guest
Go Doggies Woof woof woof.
mattyb
Guest
And don't forget to tell the vets the doggies are here PD,in a big way. It's so close I can taste it. All on board the Doggie train PD this is going to be epic,for the ages,an era unimaginable to those who are blind to the force about to awaken.
Pumping Dougie
Guest
You blokes are funny how you ignore the points I made and scream, "yeah, but show me the brown paper bags!" and "ohh but that's not fair, others did it too". I bet you were happy to draw conclusions of guilt from circumstantial evidence presented in the Essendon drugs saga. I suppose you blokes reckon you didn't tank too?!! ? Good luck with the season boys. I'm done with this topic - time to head off to vets footy training then have a couple of frothies and stir-up some more Carlton supporters. ?
mattyb
Guest
I would say it is as equally fair as comparing a minor breach to a major breach. If I was to comment on what I may determine as unfair,I would probably say that to not forgive after punishment has been served is unfair.
Col from Brissie
Guest
mattyb, I have not compared the breaches at all, but cheating is cheating, big or small. I love how you dismiss the Bulldog breaches as poor paperwork only, when they were not fined for poor paperwork but for breaching the salary cap. You are sounding more like an Essendon supporter. Tell me mattyb is it fair to make allegations without the evidence to support them as Dougie has done?
Macca
Guest
mattyb - I think the point Col is trying to make is that if Pumping Dougie wants to assert that Carlton cheated in 1995 because they were caught in other yeas then the asserton can equally be made that the Bulldogs were cheating more than hey were caught for also. Both accusations have no basis in reality
mattyb
Guest
Col,you need to stop comparing the doggies salary cap poor paperwork to what Carlton did. From an outside perspective though I thing the long lasting gripe has as much to do with who committed the crime as much as the crime itself. People don't like Elliott,he was boring and made people cringe. Carlton people seemed to love him and some still do. He was a poor business man in an era of many unfortunately.
Col from Brissie
Guest
Dougie, all I ask is for you to back up your allegations with facts. once you do that then I will gladly accept it. Carlton cheated the cap in certain years and were penalized, just like your Bulldogs.
Macca
Guest
Just saw this on the AFL website "Yarran's first pre-season at Punt Road Oval has been interrupted by soft tissue injuries and illness" condiering Yarrans issues with soft tissue injuries at Carlton it doen't look like the greatest of starts at his new club.
Q
Roar Rookie
You can call whatever you like, but its tripe if not substantiated with evidence Dougie.
Macca
Guest
PD - If the blues were too smart to get caught in 1995 how come they were penalised for breaches in 1993 and from 1998 to 2001? Somehow they only year they were smart enough was 1995?
Pumping Dougie
Guest
Col, you're starting to sound like James Hird's QC. So those players which Carlton recruited 2 years before salary caps were introduced just had two year careers with Carlton did they? Of course Motley didn't play, he was just listed as another example of the stars pursued and the mindset at Carlton - spare no expense, buy everyone, outbid Collingwood, etc. then when the salary cap came in 2 years later, what do you think they did? Sorry boys, you have to take a pay cut? Oh hello, short time later under the same administration Carlton is convicted of the worst systematic salary cap cheating in AFL/VFL history. No Col, I didnt see their contracts or brown paper bags and I haven't examined their bank accounts. Call it blowing in the wind if you want to cherish the tainted 1995 success and act in denial, but I call it cheating. ?
Col from Brissie
Guest
Dougie for some reason my reply to you is awaiting moderation for the last 2 hours!! Basically I said that Kernahan, Bradley & Motley were recruited a couple of years before the salary cap was introduced. Andrew McKay was Carltons first pick in the 1993 national draft. Tragically Motley only played the one season. How can you say Carltons book work was so good that the AFL were deceived. Please provide your evidence of this or as I suspect you are just 'blowin in the wind'. You earlier had a go at Q for his link about the salary cap and said it doesn't support his comment yet you happily make allegations without a shred of evidence. As you asked him, I will ask you, do you seriously expect to have any credibility on this forum posting unsubstantiated crap.
Q
Roar Rookie
Col from Brissie, apparently the time to let go is never for every opposing supporter. We paid our dues back, and had the largest punishment in league history, even to the Dons drugs sentence. Despite that they wish us to suffer more. Sydney went over their cap in 1995, if they got motioned for a breach then, why did the league not uncover a breach for us then? Why, because it didn't happen, yes the years we did but not that year.
Q
Roar Rookie
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/AFL_salary_cap. Look in breaches section. Was actually found first in the Bulldogs and Magpies forums. Then on Wikipedia, then the Carlton forum. Irrespective of where it is, it's credible. Last time I checked, a cap breach was a cap breach, no matter how big.
Col from Brissie
Guest
Oh Dougie, you do realise that players like Kernahan, Bradley, Motley were recruited a couple of years before the salary cap was introduced in 1987. Tragically Motley only got to play the one season. I wasn't aware that Andrew McKay was such a star in South Australia that Carlton would need to pay him so much. So you know that Carlton were too smart with their book work that they fooled the AFL. Wow you best pass on the details to Gil so they can re-investigate. These are the wild unsubstantiated comments by opposition supporters that give me the s.its. Carlton cheated, were found out and punished. Don't make up stuff you cannot back up with evidence.
Pumping Dougie
Roar Guru
Macca, Carlton weren't convicted for 1995 because they were too clever with their bookwork and the AFL didn't have a strong enough framework in place to prevent and uncover it - it was only discovered in 2000 due to some ex-players revealing it. Fraser Brown was furious with the whistleblowers (I knew his mum). Why do you think Carlton was able to purchase a whole heap of interstate stars (Kernahan, Motley, Braddley, Diesel Williams, Andrew McKay and afford them, but other clubs couldn't? Or did this never occur to you?)
Col from Brissie
Guest
Macca, Mattyb, he was actually part of the Ian Collins board that ousted Elliott. He resigned after 12 months for family reasons. He then was an assistant coach at a number of clubs including the Bulldogs. Elliott was critical of both Silvagni and Craig Bradley over the assistance they gave the AFL's investigation into the breach. There is no love lost between Silvagni and Elliott. Dougie, what proof do you have that Carlton were operating that way for a decade? I could say the same about the Bulldogs 3 breaches over 6 seasons but I wouldn't because I don't know just like you don't know.