The Carlton Football Club has provided the AFL world with so much entertainment in the last decade or so, and not in a good way.
From salary cap breaches, to poor drafting, to questionable marketing campaigns and baffling coaching selections – we have seen it all. But maybe, just maybe, they are on the right track to making news for all the right reasons.
They have won their last two games against Fremantle and Essendon but before a ticker tape parade is planned we should have some perspective. The first half of that sentence is positive, but any positivity is tempered by the second half.
In any case, they have shown through the first six weeks that they are heading in the right direction for a number of reasons, and showing that while the process might be long it may well be worth the wait.
In 2002 the Blues became the last Victorian-based club to win the wooden spoon, which is remarkable given they are a founding club who have been around since 1897. So why is that relevant? Rather than use the 2003 draft to rebuild, Carlton were left in the lurch to a degree having been found to have breached the salary cap and subsequently lost their draft picks.
Add the inability to select youth at the draft table to questionable coaching selections and they finished in the bottom two in all but one season from 2002-2007.
Despite the draft sanctions the Blues had three number one selections between 2005 and 2008. They used these selections on Marc Murphy, Bryce Gibbs and Matthew Kreuzer. All three remain on the list but just one has proven to be worthy of a #1 pick – more on that later.
The Chris Judd-era saw a few finals appearances but largely uninspiring football under Brett Ratten and Mick Malthouse, and so we hit 2016. The coaching search went far and wide and resulted in Hawthorn senior assistant Brendan Bolton, a popular pick and one who came in with the richest pedigree but with minimal head-coaching experience.
Bolton’s problems seem plentiful as he not only inherited the least talented side in the competition, but one that conceded more points than any other in 2015, after ranking fifth worst in defence in 2014.
Furthermore they ranked in the bottom three in uncontested and total disposals from 2013-2015, and in the bottom five for contested possessions in three of the last four seasons. So they could not stop the opponents from scoring, nor could they get their hands on the ball. It was not seen to be a quick fix, and doesn’t look to be but the signs are promising.
Bolton has spoken of improving the culture, and from an on-field standpoint that has meant teaching defence first and it is paying dividends. Despite scoring averages being up across the board, the Blues have the sixth-best defence in the league and have conceded more than 100 points just once.
Sam Rowe and rookie Jacob Weitering have held down key posts while Zac Tuohy, Kade Simpson and Sam Docherty have been joined by Ciaran Byrne in providing dash from defence, while Lachie Plowman has shown signs of delivering on the potential the GWS Giants saw when they drafted him at #3 in the 2012 draft.
That group seems to have the mix of dour defensiveness, the ability to win a one-on-one contest and attacking flair expected from a successful defence.
While the midfield has a ways to go there is no doubting the depth that is building. In Cripps, Carlton has a future captain and star of the competition that already leads the league in clearances per game and ranks second in contested possessions per game. The sky is the limit for Cripps, and in Murphy he has a willing running mate and player that should reach the potential he has so often shown in glimpses.
Ed Curnow provides contested support for Cripps and remains a competent league footballer despite his disposal being below par, and Gibbs is looking like he might be able to provide the outside skill Carlton have wanted since drafting him so many years ago. Gibbs stands as one of the most underperforming #1 draft picks of recent times, when measuring his unquestionable skill against his output but he may just have found his niche and may flourish as the Blues midfield strengthens over the next few years.
Ex-Adelaide Crows Matthew Wright and Sam Kerridge joined the Blues over the off-season in what may be two of the more underestimated acquisitions of last summer. Neither looked likely to demand a game for the Crows, but both give the Blues the hard bodies and experience needed to support the likes of Cripps and Murphy.
Kreuzer has polarised opinions for years but the fact remains that he has been a dud of a player, and the time to trade him may have past as his value is low. He has started the season without injury and has played the first six games which is a small positive, and Carlton will hope that he can finally develop into the ruckman/tall forward that they have expected since that fateful draft day in 2007.
That the #97 pick in the 2012, Andrew Phillips may already be a better ruckman may be concerning but the Blues can leverage Philips’ expected improvement to perhaps utilise Kreuzer as a key forward.
The forward line needs work and remains a concern while the likes of Liam Jones and Levi Casboult are relied upon to kick a winning score. Casboult may be best aiming to become Travis Cloke 2.0 – he has an elite pair of hands and will definitely improve his aerobic capacity but his kicking remains a roll of the dice and is likely never to improve. Having said all that, Carlton would be very happy if he can become like Cloke from five years ago and not the version running around the VFL today.
In Charlie Curnow and Clem Smith the Blues have a young tall and a small forward brimming with talent, and would be confident in building a forward line around those two in the future given they can fill this void again at the trade or draft table at the end of the year.
While attacking football has found itself as the flavour of the month, and year in 2016 the Blues need not panic about their lack of goal-kicking options. This is not a coach building a list for 2016, but rather 2018 or 2019. Not only does Bolton have time on his side as he develops a defensive mindset, he can do so knowing that the game may evolve in the next 24 months to the extent where defensive football is again the norm.
If it is, his troops will be prepared for that and if it isn’t, the forward line should have developed to the extent where they can kick enough goals to win on a regular basis.
Carlton fans have had a wretched era as they have watched their club erode and become the laughing stock of the league, but that might be close to turning around. Rather than rely on Gibbs and Kreuzer to lead the charge, or sit and watch Eddie Betts and Jarrad Waite terrorise the opposition in different colours, they can take the ‘glass half full’ approach and enjoy the likes of Cripps, Weitering, Curnow and Plowman develop into players that may just take them back to the promised land
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