Being a Carlton supporter is a journey that calls into question every life decision you’ve ever made. It’s a sentiment I shared in a recent Facebook post after witnessing Carlton being bullied by the Sydney Swans on a fateful Friday night.
I could list the posts of a dozen of my friends and the themes are similar. One of despair, heartache, and sadness for this once great club. “We’re the team that never lets you down” has today become we’re the team that always let you down.
My journey began in the living room, the flickering glow of our old Panasonic TV and with some fiddling of the antenna, I watched Brendan Fevola in this strange navy blue kick eight goals against the Eagles. My heart filled with new excitement as I decided that night: I was going to be a Carlton supporter.
What I didn’t know was this club would find new, cruel, state-of-the-art, ways of breaking my heart over and over again. Like the evolution of technology Carlton evolves its methods of heartbreak.
My older cousin, a supporter since the ’90s wooed me with stories about Kouta, Diesel and Sticks. Using his VCR, he put on the 1995 grand final telling the story of how SOS prevented the great Gary Ablett Sr from kicking a goal in the 1995 grand final.
I was mesmerised but in hindsight, I realise I was deceived, but not by my cousin. It was this once great club itself that fooled me, just like it deceived thousands of other Carlton supporters.
The broken promises
The club took me on a journey. What I didn’t know was it was a journey of broken promises. The arrival of the greatest player in the country (Chris Judd) in 2008 after three years down the bottom end of the ladder heralded the first of many false dawns.
Younger Blues supporters would’ve been wooed with tales of Juddy in the manner I was with Kouta, Diesel, and Sticks.
The opposition knew were coming. It took four long years and in Round 3 of 2012 after beating our arch enemy in Collingwood on a cold Friday night at the MCG, Carlton were premiership favourites. The blues have arrived. The Carlton swagger was back.
I remember going to school on the Monday telling anyone who would listen how we would win the flag. I remember being kicked out of class for talking too much. But I did not care for the Blues had finally arrived.
Harry McKay of the Blues celebrates a goal. (Photo by Dylan Burns/AFL Photos via Getty Images)
Being a bagger is that after experiencing a short high, the lows are never far away. Like any good tv-show, supporting the blues is a rollercoaster of emotions. A rollercoaster that never relents. The 2012 season ended in disappointment breaking the hearts of thousands of us supporters once again. The first of many broken promises.
Whilst I was only in high school, I learnt very quickly high expectations lead to much higher disappointments. Nonetheless I had faith.
We were about to sign the best coach, a premiership coach. A coach that would take us to the promised land. Once again, the Carlton Football Club gave all of us supporters that teasing illusion of hope. Fools we were.
We believed and said, “I am Carlton” and got onboard. That year we beat the Richmond Tigers in an elimination final and to this day remains arguably the best memory for Carlton supporters ten years on.
Commentator Dennis Cometti’s call “Waite to Judd, this will be fitting, this will be fitting” still to this day gives me goosebumps.
Ask any Carlton tragic where they were that day, and they will tell you.
The following year as has become the standard, Mick Malthouse was gone, the club finished last, was granted another number one pick, and the club was ready to embark on a new journey and completely rebuild. The club was to start again from scratch and without shortcuts.
I remember going into my weekend retail job and telling my colleagues it’s fine we lost, “we’re rebuilding”. It’s a terrible feeling talking to fans having pity on your team. “Hey atleast you guys didn’t get beaten by 100 points” or “you scored more than 70 points today”.
I don’t envy fans of North Melbourne, West Coast or Hawthorn fans going through that now. I found this hardship quote that I changed that sums it up “May the hardships you face be gentler than the hardships we blues fans have endured”.
“The blues are back”
In 2019, the losses became too much, Brendan Bolton who replaced Malthouse was gone, and David Teague was hired. It didn’t take long for the Teague train to derail and two years later Michael Voss was hired.
The first 10 games felt like a dream. Whether it was on slack, on zoom or in the office I reminded everyone the blues are back.
I told everyone around me to tip the blues for they will not lose. Carlton are the real deal. Years of suffering finally paid off.
I flew to Melbourne as often as I could, planning my trip around the Carlton match to watch them tear teams apart. Rewatching the game on Kayo on the train home, jumping on fan cams (the Arsenal Fan TV equivalent for Carlton supporters) and walking with that swagger. That Carlton swagger.
Are Carlton actually improving? (Quinn Rooney/Getty Images)
Like that rollercoaster I mentioned, it didn’t take long for that feeling to leave. It’s like when you suspect your partner is cheating on you, but you don’t have proof. You make excuses. The Blues had injuries, the umpires made poor decisions, they were unlucky to not beat good teams.
By the end of the season, we needed to beat our enemy to play finals. I paid over $1000 for flights the night before out of hope. That joy at three quarter time when Carlton were leading by four goals made it worth it. It was unlosable.
Then the unthinkable happened. They lost. The feeling when the blues lost is akin to when you find out your partner was cheating on you or when you lost someone important to you. A part of you dies.
The most painful aspect, above all else, is that it is hope itself that inflicts the greatest pain.
If you want to know what it means to supporting the blues, listen to this montage of Carlton supporters expressing themselves or this one of a passionate man that has had his heart broken again and again and again.
Nevertheless, being a bagger is about the “monogram on the front is more important than the number on the back.” It’s about being apart of something bigger.
It’s about community. It’s about the Carlton family that is on this journey with you. It’s about the passion, the emotional rollercoaster. It’s about reminding opposition fans about the 16 premierships.
It’s about watching your team at weddings, on your honeymoon or when you’re on the other side of the world. Most of all it’s about teams knowing when they’ve been “playing against the famous old dark blues.”
Curmudgeon1961
Roar Rookie
Both my grandmas could have coached those 1987 players to a Premiership
AdamDilligafThompson
Roar Rookie
Fingers crossed for you guys as supporters.
PeteB
Roar Rookie
Yeah we need to try a few things differently and hope they work.
AdamDilligafThompson
Roar Rookie
I'd be so tempted to play Charlie near goal and Harry outside the forward 50, even if just for the start hopefully let Harry get his hands on the ball further up the ground and give him abit of momentum and confidence before sticking him in front of goal. It'll be a heart breaker if his first shot a goal is a shocker. As much as people will try to get to him and show its ok you know players and supporters are going to be thinking here we go again and it becomes catching.lol. start fast and kick a few straight and Melbourne could very well feel the pressure and it get to them.
PeteB
Roar Rookie
We’ve got a few out as well. If we play the same style and our forwards continue their kicking woes, Demons by 8 goals. If we’ve reformed and changed the way we play we can only hope.
AdamDilligafThompson
Roar Rookie
Not that it helps you now but Melbourne had the same prob before they won the big dance the next year they finally learned to lower their eyes and same with us, we bomb on top of Charlie's head too much rather than in front of him but we seemed to of made some improves so far, maybe Charlie being out and Todd acrually forced us to lower our eyes knowing we haven't got that get out of jail free card in Charlie and you guys are alot the same, bomb it long and one of the two big guys will just mark it. Huge game this week stating the obvious, what are you expecting or hoping for this week.
Macca
Roar Rookie
Yeah I neeeded a couple of days to compose myself after Friday night (if you dpn't have anything nice to say don't say anything at all :laughing: ) and then things got really busy but suddeny it is a federal case.
Macca
Roar Rookie
After a few days of sulking after the debacle that was last Friday night, after a frustrating couple of weeks before that (21.42 plus roughly 10 no scores in 3 weeks!!!), followed by a few pretty hectic days IRL I have had plenty of time to process (and start deluding myself again) . I am hoping that last Friday night is the tipping point, after Sayers called out Mathieson and forced his resigntion, after Cripps called out Caro’s BS, after Weitering backed in Voss to the PResident and laid the blame squarely at the players feet, after McKay has come out and publicly said his and Curnow’s 1.6 from 9 shots cost the Blues the game and after Voss’ steely presser today that finally something has shifted at the Carlton. Is it possible that last weeks catastrohic defeat has become the catalyst to galvanise the group and drive a turn around in the second half of the year that still provides a draw open enough to find a path to finals? The first glimpse as to whether this will happen will come at selection tonight where we simply need to be braver and more honest and the numerous injuries provide ample opportunities to do it. Dow’s form in the VFL just has to be rewarded – he may not be the answer but when a team has lost 6 out of 7 and you aren’t picking the player who would be top 5 in the league B&F (if not top 3) you have some integrity issues in selection. Heweet’s absence provide an opportunity to get him in. JSOS for Pittonet and Binns for Hollands are 2 obvious ones and I would like for them to move past Ed and bring back Cowan to play the negating half forward roll – the kids is as hard as a Cats head, got some wheels and a beautiful kick could add some real bite. Losing Durdin really hurts but Fogarty is probably the most likely (until Cuningham or even MArtin a fit again) and with Ed coming out is a pretty godd option as the sub. Then on Friday night we have a great opportunity to make a statement, the Dees are a good side but not in great form and after a bruising week and missing a number of best 22 players we can come out and simply outwork the Dees, take our chances up forward and grab a win against the odds. P.S. – I forgot Fisher who had a massive game in the 2’s last week – I think it is time to jst put him in as a pure mid and let him use his tricks to provde some zip around the contest – starting him as a sub would give him the chance to you his assets after the opposition is tired and should help mitigate his lack of size.
PeteB
Roar Rookie
They’ve been missing you Macca. Can’t take a few days off or they start pining :laughing:
Macca
Roar Rookie
The stupid thing is that Owies is very good at presenting on that short hit up lead and is genreally one of our more reliable set shots, yet we don't utilise him often enough whcih makes the talls jobs even harder.
Macca
Roar Rookie
You just can't help yourself can you Pete.
Charlie
Roar Rookie
It's hard enough being a Carlton supporter, but I also support Parramatta in the NRL, Waratahs (Super Rugby) and NSW (RL State of Origin). These teams all have similar tales of woe over long periods of time. After last night, I'm almost considering ditching all of them and starting again. Almost.
junk
Roar Rookie
You have no suffered enough. Another 20 years of pain and suffering should sort things out. tip from a Melbourne supporter.
Farmyard Friend
Roar Rookie
I have no sympathy for the author. Why? Because I’m a Saints supporter & he should be feeling sorry for me! Only the one flag in 1966 however since then got overrun in the final quarter of two GF’s against the Crows & Geelong & the most frustrating of all was the bad bounce Stephen Milne received in the final stages of the drawn GF in 2010. I just knew Collingwood would win the replay. Recurring “déjà vu” being a St Kilda fan. I’d like to think there could be a chance this year however I am a realist.
Nabil Feki
Roar Rookie
I can agree its' a generational difference. You were fortunate enough to see 4 flags. I saw a semi-final finish as the highest we have ever placed. I place Judd in the category of being what the club needed at the time. We didn't know Kennedy was going to be a star and with our track record of development it's possible we could have found a way to ruin him. I wrote this paragraph that i edited out due to article length, that explains our frustration " The Marketing Mirage The brilliance in the Carlton Football Club lies in their marketing team. The marketing department at Carlton is undeniably the GOAT, standing tall as the epitome of greatness among every organization in the past 30 years. “I am Carlton” “Can you smell what the blues are cooking” “They know we’re coming” “Bound by blue”. I could go on and on but what the club has been able to do is swindle thousands of supporters to believe"
Nabil Feki
Roar Rookie
It's a long season and i agree, we just never know. It helps the draw is softer at the back end of the season.
PeteB
Roar Rookie
That’s the most frustrating thing though Adam. The tweaks aren’t being made. Watch us week after week. It’s the same game style, same mistakes, long bombs into the forward line, poor pressure, poor kicking and low percentage plays.
Darkbluepaul
Roar Rookie
Yeah not sure about a roller coaster, maybe the little one at Dreamworld’s kids park? The roller coaster is our club stealing money from their supporters by pretending that we are better than we are against the rest of the AFL. I give credit to Voss Sayers Cooke and the players for taking ownership now! But pay us back,or at least the poor souls who you brought onboard this year!!! I am a longtime member and I will walk if the club doesn’t take ownership! Massive injury list at the start of the year that they hid with TBC…rubbish! We have a list of players who are gone in Vossy’s mind, including a number 3 pick and the best player in the VFL! If we can’t develop players and we can’t keep players fit! Or we decide to keep injury prone players while not offering contracts to Setterfield & Sticker! Then payback memberships! Love the article but we have not won more than 4 games in a row since 2001! Judd!!! Don’t give him credit for any level of success!!! He took the money and retired at 31! We never got top 4 with him and he left Gibbs and Murphy high dry! Let’s not forget Lenny Hayes & Rory Sloane did their ACLs at 31 but continued for their club. Don’t dare put Judd in the inspirational category he set us back 5 years losing Kennedy pick 2 for Fifth place in 1 season!!! I respect you passion but this article shows your age! I saw 4 flags in my life and a 20 win 2 loss season!
Col from Brissie
Roar Guru
Sydney beat us at Marvel round 3. We beat them in round 17 at SCG.
PeteB
Roar Rookie
Lots of hand wringing this year Pete. This was meant to be the first year of our peak. Bolton’s green shoots have withered and died. What do we do with the likes of Kennedy, Fisher, Silvagni, Marchbank, Cuningham, OBrien, Dow that never took the next step or if they did it didn’t last a year. They all need to go along with the dud recruits McGovern, Martin and possibly Williams. Some will stay because of contracts and lack of interest for trades. Another mini rebuild will need to be underway but if they get it right things can be turned around quickly. Maybe 2026 will be our year if the right decisions are made now.