Here are some hits and misses in recruiting, along with how the Carlton Blues should line up in 2017.
Hits: Caleb Marchbank, Patrick Kerr, Sam Kerridge
Caleb Marchbank expressed his interest in spending his 2017 at Princes Park before the commencement of the trade period and to satisfy his wishes, Stephen Silvagni secured him at Carlton in the off season.
The former Giant is set to use his robust stature to challenge some of the biggest forwards in the competition, as well as add some vital pace across the Blues’ back line. The defender featured in just seven games since his debut for GWS in 2015, but nonetheless, he has shown promising signs, gathering 15 disposals against Melbourne in Round 1 of 2016, proving that he can make an immediate impact in the team.
Patrick Kerr, a robust half-forward, was rated the best forward in the draft and arguably should’ve gone for a much higher pick. Nonetheless, Kerr finds himself in a navy blue jumper and will be raring to go in 2017.
The 194cm forward had a stellar Under 18s Carnival for the Oakleigh Chargers, taking the most marks out of any player in the league.
The 18-year-old was also the third highest goal kicker in the championships which shows that he fills the full credentials of a promising young half forward.
Sam Kerridge was one of the Blues’ most consistent players in 2016, featuring in every game apart from the Round 22 win against Melbourne. The midfielder averaged 21 disposals as well as ten kicks and 11 handballs.
However, with Carlton welcoming more depth in the midfield thanks to the recruitment of Sam Petrevski-Seton and Zac Fisher, Brendan Bolton can be more flexible with his midfield options, meaning that he can shift the former Crow forward to gather the ball in the 50 and create goal-scoring opportunities.
The 23-year-old kicked six goals in Adelaide colours against the Kangaroos in 2013 and can do the same in the navy blue forward line in 2017.
Misses: Dale Thomas, Liam Sumner, Sam Rowe
Dale Thomas has continued to frustrate Carlton supporters with his inconsistency and lack of explosiveness on the field.
The former Collingwood star showed promise by claiming a season-high 31 disposals against the Saints in Round 12, but failed to back up this performance and show consistent signs of promise across the back line and in the midfield.
The 29-year-old has been at Carlton since 2013 but hasn’t hit his straps or looked comfortable in blues colours and frankly, his chances are running out.
Liam Sumner provided some much needed pace for the Blues in 2016, but struggled to regain his form after an injury disrupted the end of his season. Sumner provides some explosiveness in the Carlton attack but often fails to provide it consistently.
The former Giant should spend the beginning of the season playing for the Northern Blues so that he can develop and refine his kicking and hand-balling in a bid to complement his electric running.
Sam Rowe has been criticised by many throughout his time at Carlton, as he lacks the ferocity needed as a defender. His name has been on the chopping block many times and has survived, however, his chances may be slim at this point in time due to the rapid development of young stars, Jacob Weitering and Caleb Marchbank.
This injection of youth means that Sam Rowe will need to work incredibly hard on his game to match the fierceness of Weitering and Marchbank and hence, solidify his spot in Carlton’s best 22.
Ladder prediction: 12th
In the middle of the year in 2016, Carlton was arguably the biggest surprise package of the season, after winning four games in a row and claiming the scalp of top-four team, Geelong.
However, they were disappointing in the second half of the season and lacked the poise to finish off close games. The Blues certainly showed many promising glimpses of good football, but lacked the consistency to contend for a higher ladder position.
Carlton are still a team in a rebuild and therefore, will take a number of years to develop before seriously pushing for a finals spot.
FB: Caleb Marchbank, Lachie Plowman, Billie Smedts
HB: Kade Simpson, Jacob Weitering, Sam Docherty
C: Sam Petrevski-Seton, Bryce Gibbs, Ed Curnow
HF: Sam Kerridge, Patrick Kerr, Dennis Armfield
FF: Jack Silvagni, Levi Casboult, Matthew Wright
R: Patrick Cripps, Matthew Kreuzer, Marc Murphy
I: Kristian Jaksch, Dylan Buckley, Charlie Curnow, Zac Fisher
Leigh
Guest
Byrne wont be back until July at the Earliest due to ACL. Smedts has enormous upside. Fit and with continuity he can become a super player. Jones, Thomas and Jaksch will all be gone by year's end. Phillips will certainly play when he recovers from injury. Lebois, Pickett and Armfield will fight it out for the pressure/goal scoring forward roles. Possibly there is room for 2 of them in the starting lineup. A Silvagni is backup for an injury. Sumner and Lamb are not good enough
Leigh
Guest
Oh and Rhys Palmer comes into the team for Jaksch. I'd like to see Cuningham come in for injured Sam PS. Sorry Daisy Thomas your days are numbered
Leigh
Guest
Your knowledge of Carlton's list is pretty good aside from 2 errors in my opinion. Jaksch is way down the pecking order (and I'm almost certain he will be delisted at the end of this season) and Kerr will probably get a game towards the end of the year but there is no way Kerr should be in ahead of Harry McKay. He will probably come in earlier if his form is good and Levi is struggling. Aside from I think your selections are spot on. I like the inclusions of Fisher, Smedts and Sam PS although since injuring his quad obviously wont start round 1 now. Good job though
Macca
Guest
Stev009 - To me the best way to look at the situation is when Mick took over he was given a bucket and told "This bucket has a slight leak, could you fix it?" he then tried to fix it with hydrofluoric acid before setting what was left on fire.
Macca
Guest
Exactly - we had an issue that meant we were stuck at mid tier rather than pushing for top 4 and then Malthouse made that issue big enough to drive us right back to the bottom again by getting rid of players he should have kept, brining in duds on long term high paying contracts and recruiting even worse. Did you see the article in the age the other day about how much repair work Bolton had to do to a fractured club after Malthouse? How Malthouse had isolated the football department from other staff, ex-players and family members? It wasn't just his recruiting and player development or even his game plan - it was also the environment he created. I have seen him referred to both Darth Vader and Colonel Kurtz - that isn't a good mix.
Steve009
Guest
"getting rid of Betts, Waite, Robinson Laidler and Garlett for nothing" With the exception of Garlett, getting rid of that group was a huge mistake, particularly when there was no one on the list to replace them.
Macca
Guest
Being the best Strasbourg on the market doesn't make you eye fillet.
ken oath
Guest
is don is good.
Macca
Guest
Steve009 - I can see the damage, I just don't rate it anywhere near as highly as getting rid of Betts, Waite, Robinson Laidler and Garlett for nothing and recruiting so badly just 2 years after you leave only 3 of 17 picks remain on the list.
Don Freo
Guest
It's an interesting suggestion, Ken. I think you are insulting Steve, though. He makes good sense. Top name...Ken Oath.
Steve009
Guest
Rattens contribution to the Carlton list from his time as coach and the players drafted in the 2 years prior: The 3 number one picks, Chris Yarran (that's everyone from the 1st and 2 round + Kennedy for Judd), and then the bunch of late (40+) and rookie selections that, Touhy and Garletts aside, could best be described as players who are hard working, but light on for talent and/or poor users of the football. And your right Macca, if you can't see the damage that drafting and development like that over a 7 year period did to out list, then it probably isn't worth taking this any further
Aransan
Guest
Oh, don't start this up again I thought it had d1ed.
ken oath
Guest
Is there a chance that Steve and Macca are actually the same person. Split personalities perhaps, two computers and 1 very complex relationship with each other???
Macca
Guest
Steve - So in the Ratten years from those picks we got Kennedy, Yarran, Robinson, Hampson & Grigg all playing 98 games (and we got decent trades for Kennedy, Yarran & Hampson) or more plus we got numerous players from the rookie drafts and the 3 number one picks while from the Malthouse period and 2 years prior we got Graham, Boekhorst & Cripps (from 17 draftees in Malthouse 3 drafts in charge alone) plus 2 Irishmen and threw away Betts, Robinson, Garlett, Waite & Laidler. Even if we take you narrow view that we should focus solely on the "national" draft the Ratten years were much better than the Malthouse ones but when you include the rookie drafts and look at the players Malthouse let go it is blantantly obvious who bares the bulk of the blame. As I have said repeatedly I don't think everything went swimmingly in the Ratten years but this all started with your comment that the "cupboard was bare" when Malthouse took over and that clearly isn't true. Just for a start Malthouse had a midfield that consisted of Judd, Murphy, Gibbs, Carrazzo, Kreuzer & Curnow. Anyway it is clear no amount of supporting evidence, whether it be the comparative win loss record, the comparative success of the recruiting, Malthouses attitude towards playing young players or even the numerous reports of the negative atrmosphere created by Malthouse (he was referred to by some as Darth Vader) will change your mind so why bother going on.
Steve009
Guest
"the players he recruited are facts and those facts clearly demonstrate his recruiting and player development were successful" OK Macca, let's have a further look at the success of Rattens recruiting and development you mentioned. Picks 2 -40 in the national draft in The Ratten years and two years prior. Sit down Macca it ain't pretty. 2005- 4 (Kennedy), 20, 36 2006- 17, 19, 35 2007- 36 2008- 6 (Yarran), 40 (Robinson) 2009- 12 2010- 18, 34 2011- 22 Two compromised drafts I know, but that's pretty damning Macca. Numbers without names failed at the club or making it in the AFL all together. First rounders now playing elsewhere are Hampson, Griggs and Kane Lucas (if he didn't get delisted off season). What also striked me while going through that list is what became the regular practice of trading out our 2nd round pick during Rattens tenure at the club. Anyway Macca, personally I believe that failed period in the National draft was the greatest contributor to Carlton's list woes and subsequent slide down the ladder. And yes Macca, Malthouse played a part too.
Steve009
Guest
Im kind of opposed to grading players on the A to F school grading system, it's pretty limiting, but anyway here goes with D being a low pass: - Robinson C+ at Carlton, B+ at Brisbane. - Garletts capable of putting in an any of a an A through to F performance on any given week, but averages out on a C - Casboult is an A grade player until the ball hits his boot. Kicking is an important part of football. He's currently a C. - White works hard and has improved over the last couple of seasons, but would have been cut from most lists. He is a D. - Touhy a B and one of Rattens success's - Curnow, a C under Ratten, but has improved under Ratten and Bolton and is nudging a B - Buckley has been a D for most of his time at Carlton, seemed a poor decision maker, but he actually showed some good signs last season. - Bell, a C grade player with upside. His disposal was pretty poor. I hope he continues to grow as footballer, I do like the way he goes at it. And there you go, I've done my best to get back to as many comments as I could today Macca, but you have the texting/typing stamina of Ed Curnow.
Macca
Guest
Steve009 - "the majority of these failed picks are at or came through Rattens tenure" I have proven this not to be true - the fact she just don't support this statement. And the 3 number 1 picks and the players picked up under Pagans tenure were "developed" by who? And what part did Kreuzer play in 2011?
Steve009
Guest
I reckon your right on that one, I'm sure the coach has a lot to say about the clubs needs and the type of players they want, but as for the actual selection of the players on draft night that would come down entirely to the list manager. While they would have expressed their needs going into the draft, Ratten and Malthouse didnt pick any of those players. They did however control the environment the draftee's would come to to develop as players. Away from the draft though Malthouse did seem to have an influence on list management and it's where he did his most damage.
Justin Ahrns
Roar Guru
I'd like to see Sam Rowe in their team. I think he adds a bit to their defense. Everything else is pretty accurate I would say
Steve009
Guest
As for Malthouse's ability to develop young talent, he did a great job at Collingwood and he really wasn't at Carlton long enough to make a call on his ability to develop young talent there. I will say Ed Curnow, Simon White, Sam Rowe and Bryce Gibbs all improved under him.