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After a promising start to the season, the Blues will be disappointed with their post-bye form slump.
They could only sing the song once after the bye and embarrassing losses to Essendon and Brisbane brought them out of fantasy and back to earth.
Here are Jonty’s other team summaries.
Brendan Bolton looks to be a great coach and seems to have brought a great family culture to the club.
While the Blues still have a long way to go before they can make the top eight, the potential of the young players on their list is something for fans to get excited about.
In 2016, the big season long contributors were Patrick Cripps, Sam Docherty and Kade Simpson.
Patrick Cripps
It is hard to believe Cripps is just 21 and is only competing in his second full season of AFL. He plays with the composure of the best players in the league and can break tackles so easily and his decision making is above most 21-year-olds.
He won the Carlton best and fairest last year in just his second season and this year looks certain to finish in the top three. He leads Carlton in contested possessions averaging 16.9.
Amazingly, this is over six contested possessions per game more than second ranked Bryce Gibbs.
He also leads the AFL for clearances averaging almost nine Most players would take at least two games to accumulate this amount. He is also Carlton’s highest ranked player, ranking 51, a figure he will almost certainly improve on in the years to come
Sam Docherty
Leads the club for marks with 173 for the season, 19 clear of second and intercept possessions averaging eight per game. Has played every game this year for the Blues.
His consistent improvement is evident with one look at his year by year stats as he has improved dramatically this year to last year.
With him and Jacob Weitering in the same team, it is hardly surprising that they are a challenge to score against and both will only get better for the decade to come. When Docherty is at his best, he is like a magnet to your eyes.
His slick and fast ball movement make it hard to believe he only has played 70 games. He is a rock in defence that Carlton are privileged to have.
Kade Simpson
The veteran of 264 games looks likely to take out the best and fairest this season being in the top four for every important stat.
He is a player that Carlton know they can always rely on. Even if he is having a bad day, the stuff he does off the ball is equally important. Leads the blues in disposals (597) and metres gained (467 per game).
His disposal efficiency of 82 per cent is also the best it has ever been. The vice-captain has been as important as ever this season on the back flank, not only as a valuable player, but also a mentor to the younger blues backline coming through.
The Blues are a team on the rise and showed games where everything goes right and that they are unstoppable. How long can Carlton sustain that form for though?
Should they last the whole season on their pre-bye form, the top eight is well within the question. With a young team though, that seems difficult as almost half of their best 22 don’t have more than four pre seasons in them to sustain a consistently good year.
Ten wins is possible for next season.
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