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Opinion
The Blues are days away from making very difficult calls on club personnel. Some, must, already know their fate. Head coach David Teague is one that could be on the chopping block. Jonathan Brown said on On the Couch that “the belief is that he’s gone.”
Carlton’s hand might be forced. The club hasn’t improved since Teague took over in 2019 where the Blues haven’t finished higher than 11th. Although they’ve been competitive in most games this year, their best hasn’t been good enough to generate more than eight wins.
Teague’s Blues have gone 4-7 in their last 11 games with wins over the rebuilding Crows, Dockers, Pies and Saints. They’ve won 34 quarters for the year (ranked 14th) and their average losing margin is 30.2 points. In 49 games as head coach Teague has only won 22 games in three years — seven, seven and eight — without a trace of improvement.
But, the weekend’s 95-point loss to Port Adelaide, a game where the Blues were up by 24, might have triggered Teague’s demise. It also confirmed that the Blues are going nowhere and Teague is in the gun.
So if Carlton pull the trigger and Teague’s free fall sees him land without a job, who becomes the next best fit and logical figure to save Carlton from obscurity and back to winning flags?
There’s never been a time where so many experienced coaches are gettable. The key question that must be answered: who’s going to give the Blues the best chance at winning a flag in the next three years?
DT (Photo by Jono Searle/AFL Photos/via Getty Images)
Ross Lyon’s name has emerged and could be a front runner. He’s as ruthless as they get. He took middling clubs St. Kilda and Fremantle to grand finals. Nick Riewoldt gave Lyon high praise and said he was a “great coach” on On The Couch this week.
Don Pyke, another relationship-building coach, could be that figure that would provide discipline, structure and smart ideas on ball movement.
And then there’s the more obvious choices in Alastair Clarkson, Nathan Buckley, and potentially Michael Voss. I’m not sure either of those three necessarily fit. Clarkson and Buckley are leaving, and have left teams that are in rebuild modes after long stints at the helm.
The concern would be burnout. Voss is looking for another opportunity. The Blues need experience that Voss doesn’t have.
Brad Scott, who currently runs AFL Victoria, still has the coaching itch. He coached North Melbourne for 211 games and hasn’t coached since 2019. He could be bring in new ideas, enthusiasm, and discipline with a fresh perspective needed to recharge the group.
The biggest on-field issues largely hang around defence and cohesion. Off the field, the year-long scrutiny has provided an uncomfortable microscope where it has placed stress on relationships between Teague and his troops, as reported by media.
Teague went from a relationship builder to tough love. It hasn’t worked. A new coach. — whoever it might be – would need to be a disciplined glue guy, an approach adopted by Brisbane’s Chris Fagan.
Carlton’s paid $2 million on talent but haven’t improved. Other teams are showing rapid development with younger lists — North Melbourne and Essendon are two teams that come to mind.
Ben Rutten, in his first year at the helm, has taken the Bombers from a confused team that lacked confidence to an exciting, promising club that could be a serious x-factor in this year’s finals series. Carlton fans might be thinking: that should be us.
There’s still hope for Teague. He has belief the team will turn things around in the same way Damien Hardwick evolved Richmond into a premiership machine. The question is: can he? Hardwick showed improvement in his early years. The Blues look like they’re going backwards.
Looking ahead to this week and the end of the season, the Blues need to think about what comes next. They’ve been here before.
But if they don’t act now and pick up an experienced campaigner that knows how to navigate turbulent times, develop talent and get results, then it would be a huge opportunity missed and they’ll be stuck here in the same position 12 months from now.