After Round Ten of the 2022 season, Carlton fans had every reason to think that the “Green shoots” that were promised by Brendan Bolton at the start of the club’s rebuild were starting to grow into very good AFL footballers. He wasn’t really wrong. Charlie Curnow and Harry McKay are both Coleman Medallists, Patrick Cripps is a Brownlow Medallist, and the likes of Jacob Weitering and Sam Walsh are legitimate superstars of the competition. It was at the end of Round Ten in Michael Voss’s first year as coach, the Blues sat inside the top four at 8-2 and it was a much simpler time for the Navy Blue faithful.
Since then, the Blues have gone 7-18 with one draw. The wins after Round Ten last season barring a win at home over Fremantle were against the sixteenth-placed Bombers, the seventeenth-placed Eagles, the fifteenth-placed Giants, and a Geelong team that started the season 0-3, and GWS and North Melbourne who are expected to finish bottom eight and bottom four respectively. This isn’t just a bad patch of form; it is twenty-six games of complete and utter mediocrity from a team who has more talent than most.
To just single out any player or coach is unfair. It has been a collective lack of effort that has brought the Blues back to the team that surrendered against St Kilda in the second half on Sunday. Outside of Patrick Cripps (who hasn’t been at his very best but has still been incredibly good) and Sam Walsh, the Carlton midfielders should be ashamed. George Hewett has been a shell of himself. He is averaging three fewer clearances a game compared to last year, three fewer score involvements per game, and is averaging 95m gained compared to 270m gained last season. The same can be said for Matt Kennedy who is averaging two fewer clearances a game, and nearly two fewer score involvements a game. There has been no improvement from either Tom De Koning or Marc Pittonet which they desperately needed and ultimately, it is the reason why they rank fifteenth in clearances, fourteenth in tackles, and seventeenth in goal assists per game this season.
The same can be said for the small forward brigade. Yes, Matt Owies is a loss, but outside of Corey Durdin the Blues’ smalls don’t have the willingness to defend their own fifty and apply any type of pressure. Jesse Motlop is averaging two tackles a game and is averaging a goal a game. Jack Silvagni has also only applied two tackles a game and isn’t even averaging a goal a game, whilst the likes of Josh Honey and Zac Fisher have done the same. One has to ponder the question, what is the point of having small forwards play who don’t kick goals and don’t lay tackles? It’s like starting with fifteen men on the field in some ways.
The defence has battled manfully in many aspects but they generally do let an opposing forward have a big say on the game which is something they need to address and quickly. In Round One Tom Lynch had six of the Tigers’ eighteen scoring shots and kicked the goal to draw the game, in round two Jeremy Cameron kicked six and has twenty-five disposals, in round four Cameron Zurhaar kicked 3.4, in round five Darcy Fogarty kicked five, and Daniel Butler kicked three after being in and out of the Saints side on Sunday. The best forward is usually getting to play on the likes of Lewis Young and Mitch McGovern and from the view of an outsider, that needs to change. Weitering is one of the best lockdown defenders in the competition and McGovern has the potential to be one of the best intercepting defenders in the league. You aren’t even robbing Peter to pay Paul; you are robbing them both and leaving yourself with nothing.
Sunday’s loss was damning in many ways, but the main one was the fact that they won all the KPIs. They won the contested ball, they won the uncontested ball and essentially drew in clearances and inside 50s. After the first half, they were +26 in contested ball, +6 in clearances, +5 in Inside 50s, and +3 in tackles and all that combined for a lousy six goals and only a four-point lead at halftime. The game plan must come into question. They lost all the close ones at the end of last year when there was no composure or Plan B in place, and this season, even in games Carlton have dominated, they haven’t been able to put it on the scoreboard whilst having Charlie Curnow and Harry McKay in the forward fifty. Michael Voss was an abject failure at Brisbane and the jury is now out in a big way on him as the Carlton coach. They will be eighth at the end of the round with West Coast, The Western Bulldogs, Brisbane, and Collingwood to come over the next month. If they drop any more than two of them, the wolves will be at the door and the drums will start beating around the future of Michael Voss. Carlton fans are demanding finals and they have every right to. Anything less and the revolving door of coaches at Visy Park will remain.