We all know what is to be expected from a true footy supporter. Those whose club is in the midst of a golden period or on the verge of culmination, get told to live the dream. Others like me whose club has long been struggling to keep in touch with the competition's standards, are encouraged to chase it. What does this tell us? We as fans see 'solidity' as one of the very few principles when we look to the footy field. We're given the choices, we choose one for ourselves and we stick hard with it unless worse comes to show. Whether the ship sails every sea or is sinking and in need of serious repairs, the supporters are expected to be there to do what's required of them. It's nothing that can be objected, nor is there any need for one to do so. I myself, see good in the principle.
I made a choice, I stuck with it and I never looked back. This happened when I was around the age of five years, and it would go against my father's wish. The wish that was to see every boy of his donning the black and white. The wish that my only sibling chose to follow. It's still uncertain as to what exactly had me preferring the navy blue. But I like to think it was many small things rolled up into a ball. The one colour. The iconic monogram. The fact that my mother supported them. As strange as it may seem, one thing was for sure. It wasn't the club's position in the league at the time. As a kid, I knew of Carlton's disappointing situation from the TV and papers. However, footy was never my interest. I didn't care for watching any game, not even the Grand Finals. That would change once I hit adolescence in 2008-09. The blues were fighting their way up the ranks for few years. Ever since, I've looked to support Carlton in all the ways I could. My team playing a somewhat good brand of footy may have been a factor of pulling me in. But to anyone that thinks I'm a fair-weather fan, think again. The proof isn't hard to find. All one needs to do is answer these two questions. Why did I take time to publish this piece, and where is my team currently at?
But enough about my childhood. This piece is about my beloved Carlton Blues and where they now sit. Well obviously everybody knows where that is. They are rock bottom and yet to register a win. As an avid fan, it most certainly hurts me. It's hard to argue any point when the proof is on the sheet. It's hard to display my team in public when there is a greater chance fingers will be directed at me with laughter. It's hard having to block out the noise when the pressure finds its way to destroy the clubs new legs they try standing on. My team's last premiership came just before I was born, and I along with the rest of the new generation of blues supporters have been left to witness the once-proud club with the richest of histories get caught in all of the wrong places. The salary cap scandal. The suspected tanking. The old, habitual arrogance and building impatience. Elders have the success to look back on while we're to sit and watch the dust and cobwebs shroud Ikon Park.
Where Did It Go Wrong?
Where Did It Go Wrong?
Carlton have constantly found itself drawing the shortest straw in the modern era, with the cause often swinging both ways. A club so tied up in their past achievements stepped into the new millennium believing their outdated strategies were maintainable, as they refused to acknowledge the natural evolution of the game. So much so, that it wouldn't take long for the AFL to come around and knock some sense into the twisted joint, penalizing them for what was at the time, the biggest violation committed by any team in the sport. The blues were pushed to ground level and below, forced to build a new staircase with limited supplies. It would become a six-year struggle in the cellar that had countless fans reasonably disenchanted, unable to detect any source of light. Finally, the board and administration came to terms with the indispensable makeover and thought enough was enough. It was time to put heads down and become familiar with some new terminology.
But even when the words sunk in, the lesson wouldn't. Carlton continued their role as the AFL's spotted leopard. For the next few years, the stubbornness remained on display for all to see. A "Rebuild" was moulded to meet with an expired blueprint that included gathering talented individuals and further enticing them with big pay-packets and sponsorship deals. The desire to look pretty on the surface saw team morality having to occupy the back seat. Player welfare was shunned with insipid retribution, as the boundaries were placed beyond reach. And as for the many drafts that awaited them. 'What draft?', they'd say. Carlton was quick to throw away the periscope after two or three years and treat most of what talent they carried like mad dogs off the leash. The 2007 - 2012 period may have looked promising, but deep down it was an unsustainable system within a sullied culture. Oh how we all got fooled by the false dawn.
The shame being how it all came crashing down in the most unpleasant of ways. 2012 be the season when an inflated board so devoid of certainty, were fast in throwing the blame on everything but themselves as the gods inflicted misfortune over the entire navy blue land. Just when one thinks the Carlton cake was sweet to bite into, the bitterness crept in and the sour aftertaste would be detected before the end arrived. Blues supporters were as elated as they could be after the arch-enemy was put in their box on the 'haunted' Friday night of round three. The label of 'premiership favourites' had many rightly licking their lips with excitement, thinking they have taken the next step. But all it took was eight days for the tables to turn. Inconsistency kicked in and big names found themselves as victims of the worst injury list in decades. As expected, the rocky road to south had media monsters calling for the coach's head and the board wasn't at all reluctant to bend over. In the end, a club great with his bags packed for him, was pushed to the sword. Could things get any worse than this? The answer... Carlton.
In steps Michael Malthouse. A highly accomplished and knowledgeable veteran, who would be purely appointed on reputation alone. Along with him comes a team of new staff in coaching and management, very experienced yet detached from the required process. The Malthouse era is arguably considered as the darkest period of the Carlton Football Club. It was an era that sucked spirit out of fans and members everywhere, all from watching their team get crumbled into dust both inside and out. Free agency would come to twist the knife in, as big-name players walked out for nothing in return. Drafts were once again scorned by the smallest of eyes, as the preference to repair damages leant towards handing lucrative deals to unproven and underwhelming list-cloggers. It all led to 2015, the ultimate nightmare. A year of absolute humiliation. With what was deemed as the 'worst list ever put together' accompanied by a horrid run of injuries, the blues were spanked week by week on prime-time television. Malthouse was quick to embarrass the Carlton faithful, spit on the administrators and run away with a big cheque. Left for the club was a gaping hole, another wooden spoon and almost nothing to look forward to.
Despite the atrocity of 2013-15, one thing the club got right was its analysis of the problems in play. Carlton had finally hinted a sense of sanity, as it looked in the mirror. The faulty make-over, did go on to bring about proper discipline and a change in culture. The good were rewarded and the bad were punished. The club was starting to take things seriously and the people in charge saw things the way they should have. Unfortunately, they could never approach the matters correctly. They were unable to reduce the impact of every consequence. It was the right eyes accompanied by the wrong hands. 2013-15 wasn't in a 'rebuild', but instead the poorest attempt at a 'quick-fix'. One applied to the least-fitting team in the competition. Malthouse is undoubtedly a legend of the game. He was a premiership player and three-time premiership coach. But he would only prove to all he was never meant for the navy blue.
Where are they now?
Come 2016, the club became completely understanding of its condition. It new what it needed to do and tried best to inform members and supporters of its brand new perspective. To help spread the message was newly appointed coach Brendan Bolton, an ex-footballer, teacher and former assistant under the tutelage of the greatly admired Alastair Clarkson. With him was a fresh team of personnel with an eye to build something not only great, but cohesive and sustainable over a long period of time. Former club legend, Stephen Silvagni took over the role of list manager and with help from Bolton and others, placed focus onto drafting the best young talent possible and teaching them the importance of morale and teamwork. Attention also shifted to fill the list void caused by numerous failed draft picks over a 7-year period, as Carlton took advantage of the mandatory GWS list cull to temporarily patch up the holes. The 2015 off-season turned out as a promising and beautiful-looking impetus of what was going to be an actual rebuild.
Bolton spoke of the 'journey'. A roller-coaster to be solidly constructed with many ups and downs. The honesty resonated throughout the entirety of Carlton's headquarters, and it made contact with the supporter base. To not expect miracles overnight. To admire the green shoots. To know that pain won't be easy to evade. Wins and losses meant little to the club. It was all about building something formidable from the ground up. Packaged with the change of attitude, was the meeting of the middle. The blues began to manage fulfilling the desires of its people, while also working out where most of the advantages for themselves lied. It would be as if Carlton had undergone a complete transformation. Bolton and his team wrote up a healthy plan and stuck with it from the very first day. There is no asking for anything better than that.
2016 was a strong start. It saw the team avoid all sorts of mortification and prove to the seventeen others that they were no longer easy-beats. A few weeks in, supporters grew accustomed to the potential of the Carlton backline as the defensive strategies brought out the best in them. Kade Simpson and Sam Docherty made a formidable rebound duo while Lachie Plowman and Jacob Weitering were labelled as future key pillars. Patrick Cripps went on to prove that his 2015 season wasn't a fluke, replicating the stats and then some. 2017 saw the same path being followed, but with the kids getting more time to shine. It resulted in five young blue boys recognised with rising star nominations (Caleb Marchbank, Sam Petrevski-Seton, David Cuningham, Jack Silvagni and Charlie Curnow). Fans were getting a taste of something they've rarely had before.
Today, Carlton are doing it tough. After a promising pre-season, the dominoes were quick to fall as players started dropping like flies. Docherty who became the first All-Australian for the blues in six years, ruptured his ACL a couple of weeks into his preseason. Promising small forward Jarrod Pickett would miss half the season, fracturing his scaphoid during training for the opening match. Highly-rated young defender Tom Williamson continued his battle with an ongoing back issue. Ciaran Byrne's luck with fitness remained faint. And to top it off, many experienced heads made themselves unavailable six rounds into the year (Marc Murphy, Matthew Kreuzer, Jacob Weitering, Alex Silvagni, Caleb Marchbank, Matthew Kennedy, etc.). The club also walked into the season without one of their star players in Bryce Gibbs after heeding his request to return home and trading him to Adelaide for draft picks. A lot of pain has so far been endured, but it was to be expected.
How Does All Of This Sit With Me?
Like most passionate Carlton supporters, I've been left extremely frustrated with the club's pathetic attempts in chasing flag seventeen. It obviously hurts to discover that eleven years were wasted in recovering a method that destroyed the place to begin with. I won't deny that I was caught in the moment. I won't pretend a year like 2011 didn't excite me. But now looking back on it, I learnt that the strong performances were never going to last. The people then were reckless with their decisions. They never thought things through. It was always the 'present' and never the 'future'. Their impatience crept in way before ours. 22 years of my life have passed since the most recent premiership and my blues are still as far as any team can be from winning another, and 15 of those years was how long it took for the truth to settle in. I believe the right for any Carlton fan to be annoyed is there. And it seems to me the old 'way of thinking' that ruined the club, has recently raised its ugly head for the women's team. No? Then how does one explain the wooden spoon after almost tasting the inaugural Grand Final?
Again like most around me, I've always saw the state of my club in two different ways. And it often depended on the performances both on and off the field. When things appeared to go well, I caught a glimpse of the potential. I would see the small flickering light in the distance. A sign of good things to come. The individual elements that brought about the satisfying conditions, looked as if they were in the right place. Everything going according to plan. Evidently, the opposite thoughts and emotions would rise when nothing went right. Choices are questioned and fingers are pointed. The torture becomes harder to bear. And there comes that occasional moment when I've asked myself 'Will I ever see my team play well and If so, when?'. Supporters of other clubs say they know how we feel, believing they have shared the same experiences. But I don't think they have. Carlton for many years have failed to even compete with the next best team, and have more often than not been ruled out of contention before they could begin.
I've never seen a naturally good Carlton side, but somehow I still have faith that I eventually will see one in the coming years. Thanks to logic. From glory to agony, there is a start and end to everything. There will come a time when my blues will shine bright and defy the odds. But again, it's a matter of patience. The club are now seeing things the way they should have long ago. They are assessing each and every deficiency and are searching far and wide for answers. My team now has a genuine excuse for their shortcomings, and still correctly go above and beyond in search of better. Most of the current playing group wear their hearts on their sleeve and try to impress in every way they can. I couldn't ask for anything more than this right now. The hope for greatness remains intact.
Can I handle losing? Absolutely, so long as doesn't come from capitulation. When my team can't win, I want them to fight like they can. I want them walking into every match full of confidence and determination. I then want them walking out of every match undeterred by results. Failure looks its best when it follows good effort. As I always like to say, 22 hearts over 22 minds. One can be the most talented and most skillful player on the field but if they don't ever bother to give it their all, it is clear they don't deserve to be running out. Effort and hard work will at most times prevent embarrassment. I rather have the 2018 Carlton side lose the way they do compared to the side of three years ago. Of course winning games is the priority and I want to see wins as badly as everybody else does. But many more losses will come, and the best I can do is hope they remain 'honourable'.
Losing is one thing, but what stings the most is having my team break all the wrong records. Whether it's losing margins, losing streaks or even comparing stats to other clubs, it all leaves my favourite team as the butt of all jokes. Want some of the records I find hard to stomach? I'd be happy to share them:
In steps Michael Malthouse. A highly accomplished and knowledgeable veteran, who would be purely appointed on reputation alone. Along with him comes a team of new staff in coaching and management, very experienced yet detached from the required process. The Malthouse era is arguably considered as the darkest period of the Carlton Football Club. It was an era that sucked spirit out of fans and members everywhere, all from watching their team get crumbled into dust both inside and out. Free agency would come to twist the knife in, as big-name players walked out for nothing in return. Drafts were once again scorned by the smallest of eyes, as the preference to repair damages leant towards handing lucrative deals to unproven and underwhelming list-cloggers. It all led to 2015, the ultimate nightmare. A year of absolute humiliation. With what was deemed as the 'worst list ever put together' accompanied by a horrid run of injuries, the blues were spanked week by week on prime-time television. Malthouse was quick to embarrass the Carlton faithful, spit on the administrators and run away with a big cheque. Left for the club was a gaping hole, another wooden spoon and almost nothing to look forward to.
Despite the atrocity of 2013-15, one thing the club got right was its analysis of the problems in play. Carlton had finally hinted a sense of sanity, as it looked in the mirror. The faulty make-over, did go on to bring about proper discipline and a change in culture. The good were rewarded and the bad were punished. The club was starting to take things seriously and the people in charge saw things the way they should have. Unfortunately, they could never approach the matters correctly. They were unable to reduce the impact of every consequence. It was the right eyes accompanied by the wrong hands. 2013-15 wasn't in a 'rebuild', but instead the poorest attempt at a 'quick-fix'. One applied to the least-fitting team in the competition. Malthouse is undoubtedly a legend of the game. He was a premiership player and three-time premiership coach. But he would only prove to all he was never meant for the navy blue.
Where are they now?
Come 2016, the club became completely understanding of its condition. It new what it needed to do and tried best to inform members and supporters of its brand new perspective. To help spread the message was newly appointed coach Brendan Bolton, an ex-footballer, teacher and former assistant under the tutelage of the greatly admired Alastair Clarkson. With him was a fresh team of personnel with an eye to build something not only great, but cohesive and sustainable over a long period of time. Former club legend, Stephen Silvagni took over the role of list manager and with help from Bolton and others, placed focus onto drafting the best young talent possible and teaching them the importance of morale and teamwork. Attention also shifted to fill the list void caused by numerous failed draft picks over a 7-year period, as Carlton took advantage of the mandatory GWS list cull to temporarily patch up the holes. The 2015 off-season turned out as a promising and beautiful-looking impetus of what was going to be an actual rebuild.
Bolton spoke of the 'journey'. A roller-coaster to be solidly constructed with many ups and downs. The honesty resonated throughout the entirety of Carlton's headquarters, and it made contact with the supporter base. To not expect miracles overnight. To admire the green shoots. To know that pain won't be easy to evade. Wins and losses meant little to the club. It was all about building something formidable from the ground up. Packaged with the change of attitude, was the meeting of the middle. The blues began to manage fulfilling the desires of its people, while also working out where most of the advantages for themselves lied. It would be as if Carlton had undergone a complete transformation. Bolton and his team wrote up a healthy plan and stuck with it from the very first day. There is no asking for anything better than that.
2016 was a strong start. It saw the team avoid all sorts of mortification and prove to the seventeen others that they were no longer easy-beats. A few weeks in, supporters grew accustomed to the potential of the Carlton backline as the defensive strategies brought out the best in them. Kade Simpson and Sam Docherty made a formidable rebound duo while Lachie Plowman and Jacob Weitering were labelled as future key pillars. Patrick Cripps went on to prove that his 2015 season wasn't a fluke, replicating the stats and then some. 2017 saw the same path being followed, but with the kids getting more time to shine. It resulted in five young blue boys recognised with rising star nominations (Caleb Marchbank, Sam Petrevski-Seton, David Cuningham, Jack Silvagni and Charlie Curnow). Fans were getting a taste of something they've rarely had before.
Today, Carlton are doing it tough. After a promising pre-season, the dominoes were quick to fall as players started dropping like flies. Docherty who became the first All-Australian for the blues in six years, ruptured his ACL a couple of weeks into his preseason. Promising small forward Jarrod Pickett would miss half the season, fracturing his scaphoid during training for the opening match. Highly-rated young defender Tom Williamson continued his battle with an ongoing back issue. Ciaran Byrne's luck with fitness remained faint. And to top it off, many experienced heads made themselves unavailable six rounds into the year (Marc Murphy, Matthew Kreuzer, Jacob Weitering, Alex Silvagni, Caleb Marchbank, Matthew Kennedy, etc.). The club also walked into the season without one of their star players in Bryce Gibbs after heeding his request to return home and trading him to Adelaide for draft picks. A lot of pain has so far been endured, but it was to be expected.
How Does All Of This Sit With Me?
Like most passionate Carlton supporters, I've been left extremely frustrated with the club's pathetic attempts in chasing flag seventeen. It obviously hurts to discover that eleven years were wasted in recovering a method that destroyed the place to begin with. I won't deny that I was caught in the moment. I won't pretend a year like 2011 didn't excite me. But now looking back on it, I learnt that the strong performances were never going to last. The people then were reckless with their decisions. They never thought things through. It was always the 'present' and never the 'future'. Their impatience crept in way before ours. 22 years of my life have passed since the most recent premiership and my blues are still as far as any team can be from winning another, and 15 of those years was how long it took for the truth to settle in. I believe the right for any Carlton fan to be annoyed is there. And it seems to me the old 'way of thinking' that ruined the club, has recently raised its ugly head for the women's team. No? Then how does one explain the wooden spoon after almost tasting the inaugural Grand Final?
Again like most around me, I've always saw the state of my club in two different ways. And it often depended on the performances both on and off the field. When things appeared to go well, I caught a glimpse of the potential. I would see the small flickering light in the distance. A sign of good things to come. The individual elements that brought about the satisfying conditions, looked as if they were in the right place. Everything going according to plan. Evidently, the opposite thoughts and emotions would rise when nothing went right. Choices are questioned and fingers are pointed. The torture becomes harder to bear. And there comes that occasional moment when I've asked myself 'Will I ever see my team play well and If so, when?'. Supporters of other clubs say they know how we feel, believing they have shared the same experiences. But I don't think they have. Carlton for many years have failed to even compete with the next best team, and have more often than not been ruled out of contention before they could begin.
I've never seen a naturally good Carlton side, but somehow I still have faith that I eventually will see one in the coming years. Thanks to logic. From glory to agony, there is a start and end to everything. There will come a time when my blues will shine bright and defy the odds. But again, it's a matter of patience. The club are now seeing things the way they should have long ago. They are assessing each and every deficiency and are searching far and wide for answers. My team now has a genuine excuse for their shortcomings, and still correctly go above and beyond in search of better. Most of the current playing group wear their hearts on their sleeve and try to impress in every way they can. I couldn't ask for anything more than this right now. The hope for greatness remains intact.
Can I handle losing? Absolutely, so long as doesn't come from capitulation. When my team can't win, I want them to fight like they can. I want them walking into every match full of confidence and determination. I then want them walking out of every match undeterred by results. Failure looks its best when it follows good effort. As I always like to say, 22 hearts over 22 minds. One can be the most talented and most skillful player on the field but if they don't ever bother to give it their all, it is clear they don't deserve to be running out. Effort and hard work will at most times prevent embarrassment. I rather have the 2018 Carlton side lose the way they do compared to the side of three years ago. Of course winning games is the priority and I want to see wins as badly as everybody else does. But many more losses will come, and the best I can do is hope they remain 'honourable'.
Losing is one thing, but what stings the most is having my team break all the wrong records. Whether it's losing margins, losing streaks or even comparing stats to other clubs, it all leaves my favourite team as the butt of all jokes. Want some of the records I find hard to stomach? I'd be happy to share them:
1. Excluding the two new franchises, Carlton are one of two clubs to have not made a Grand Final from 2000 onward (The other being North Melbourne, which won the flag in 1999 against them).
2. Brendon Bolton so far sits on 13 wins and 37 losses after 50 games. That is a winning percentage of 26%. Excluding the two Queensland teams (both having fairly new coaches), that is the worst percentage of any coach.
3. Since June 4, 2016, Carlton have not scored 100+ in any of their matches. 39 and counting. Of the 50 matches under Bolton they have only managed to do so twice in consecutive weeks (Geelong and Brisbane).
4. Carlton's last victory on a Friday night was on July 18, 2014 against North Melbourne. The margin was 23 points. Since then, blues have gone to lose 11 consecutive Friday night matches by an average of 63 points. Seven of those losses saw the margin 60+.
5. One of those Friday night losses would be etched as Carlton's worst defeat in its history. 138 points against Hawthorn on July 24, 2015. Hawthorn would go on to win third-consecutive premiership that year while Carlton won its fourth wooden spoon in 14 years.
6. The 86-point loss against North Melbourne at Blundstone Arena on April 4, 2018, is the worst seen at the stadium. Their final score of 4-6-30 was the lowest against North Melbourne and the lowest score for the club since May 27, 1995.
Think that's bad? Here are a few more undesirable records the club is not far off from achieving:
1. Carlton is looking to be the first club to have its AFLW, AFL and VFL teams all win wooden spoons in the same year.
2. The blues are likely to finish with less than five wins in 2018, which will see them finish with less wins than a season's worth of matches (less than one quarter) when looking over the past four seasons.
3. Carlton is every chance to be the first club in AFL history to finish a season without a win (0 - 22).
The last one wouldn't surprise me one bit. I have walked into every year, always believing that each team will see at least one win and one loss during the season. If any club was to prove me wrong, it will be Carlton. Always and forever Carlton.
The last one wouldn't surprise me one bit. I have walked into every year, always believing that each team will see at least one win and one loss during the season. If any club was to prove me wrong, it will be Carlton. Always and forever Carlton.
Now, About The Rebuild...
Beware. Here, I become very emotional.
I can't see how anybody can make assertions now. What's important to understand is that this was the only route the club could take to climb back up and regain respect. Carlton dug their own hole and were left to dig themselves out of it. It's the price to pay for their disgraceful actions. Besides, one could say it's a bloody good thing they copped the bad results. The blues would learn from themselves. Times have changed since the last flag. They're now to do what every other team does. The self-inflicted punishment saw the birth of a new Carlton Football Club. I mean how often has anyone walked out of the front doors of Ikon Park and said 'let's go to the draft'? Don't think I have ever recalled such a thing happen? This club have already proven to me that they have evolved and are seeing everything clearly.
So what is to blame for the poor start? I like to think everything but the blues themselves, especially the media. I watched the media whinge time and time again for some attacking layers. I watched the media talk up the importance of trading Gibbs. I watched the media throw Jacob Weitering around and call for the inexperienced Harry McKay. Now having got it all, what do I then hear. Whinging! 'Go back to being defensive!' they say. 'Keep Weitering down back!' they say. 'Shouldn't have traded Gibbs!' they say. On top of all this, they look to Bolton and mention the word 'sack'. Talk about making something out of nothing. These desperate attention-seeking morons have become more known for doing one's head in than providing useful information. The club had told people from the get-go, not to expect a smooth incline. That there will be heaps of pain along the way. Seems like journalists are nothing but a brick wall.
The one thing that sucks about sucking, is that the wrong people get blamed. Carlton can only play the cards they are dealt with. Players get injured. The coaches try hard to replace them. Things can naturally go wrong. But according to the media, that's not true. Bolton is surely to blame. Let's put pressure on the board and hope they succumb to the ridiculous idea. After all, it's not like Clarkson or Damien Hardwick have achieved anything. Pfft! Bolton would be the last person to blame for the trouble now. I wouldn't even blame SOS. He has gotten the best out of every tough situation. He was smart enough to take the stab at raiding the most talented list in the competition. He took a stand and fought for the best trade deals possible. Thanks to him, Carlton were 'pushovers' no more. None of our drafting has yet proven to be a mistake. As a matter of fact, it's the best I've seen in years. Almost every other club would have gone for Weitering with the first pick. And we snared a couple of gold nuggets in Curnow and Zac Fisher. Brilliant work!
Want to know what else I'm now hearing? The blues are likely to take the first pick of the 'strongest draft in decades'. It becomes the best chance for a classy midfielder or a monster tall. Suddenly, the word 'trade' is tossed around by so-called list experts. Why not throw away the chance of taking one of the most exciting prospects for short-term patchwork? It's pure genius. Risk it all for uninterested stars of other teams. Don't bother trying to make better out of what's already there. Don't keep eyes on the draft and don't attempt throwing money towards free agency. This will certainly guarantee future success. NOT! If something like the 2018 draft is as good as people say it is, there is no passing the opportunity of getting first dibs. No way would I trade pick one and there is nobody I could think of trading it for. I'm willing to take the hard road.
The smartest of blues fans know the truth. It's more the case of everybody else needing to figure it out. Carlton are 'rebuilding'. It's a challenge. There will be pleasure. There will be pain. Expectations from outsiders can't be too high. The players will fight hard. Kids will be played. Kids will get exhausted. The draft will stay relevant. The plan will remain solid. The coach will coach and the board are to back him in. Carlton know they aren't a destination club. They know stars will chase for better elsewhere. They know some of their players may choose to leave and they know they are to try their best to prevent that from occurring. What else is there to say? Everything has been said. It's the harsh reality, but I know things will get better. Keep the faith and stick to the course because nothing stays bad forever. I have spoken.
Us fans all understand the recent horror dished up by this illustrious football club. I can't fault people for once giving up their loyalty when the times were extremely bleak. But now isn't the time. Our beloved Carlton Blues have finally comprehended the modern game. They're giving us reasons to be excited. They've brought in some of the most reliable men to get the place back on its feet. Think of Patrick Cripps and what more he can achieve with us. Think of the many other talented juniors that have stepped foot into the glorious Princes Park. 'Solidity' can no longer be questioned. All I ask for is one premiership, and I believe I will see it someday. Carlton is destined for more success sooner or later. I just know it. Blue-Baggers, our dream will come true and our time of ultimate glory awaits us. Hang in there!
So what is to blame for the poor start? I like to think everything but the blues themselves, especially the media. I watched the media whinge time and time again for some attacking layers. I watched the media talk up the importance of trading Gibbs. I watched the media throw Jacob Weitering around and call for the inexperienced Harry McKay. Now having got it all, what do I then hear. Whinging! 'Go back to being defensive!' they say. 'Keep Weitering down back!' they say. 'Shouldn't have traded Gibbs!' they say. On top of all this, they look to Bolton and mention the word 'sack'. Talk about making something out of nothing. These desperate attention-seeking morons have become more known for doing one's head in than providing useful information. The club had told people from the get-go, not to expect a smooth incline. That there will be heaps of pain along the way. Seems like journalists are nothing but a brick wall.
The one thing that sucks about sucking, is that the wrong people get blamed. Carlton can only play the cards they are dealt with. Players get injured. The coaches try hard to replace them. Things can naturally go wrong. But according to the media, that's not true. Bolton is surely to blame. Let's put pressure on the board and hope they succumb to the ridiculous idea. After all, it's not like Clarkson or Damien Hardwick have achieved anything. Pfft! Bolton would be the last person to blame for the trouble now. I wouldn't even blame SOS. He has gotten the best out of every tough situation. He was smart enough to take the stab at raiding the most talented list in the competition. He took a stand and fought for the best trade deals possible. Thanks to him, Carlton were 'pushovers' no more. None of our drafting has yet proven to be a mistake. As a matter of fact, it's the best I've seen in years. Almost every other club would have gone for Weitering with the first pick. And we snared a couple of gold nuggets in Curnow and Zac Fisher. Brilliant work!
Want to know what else I'm now hearing? The blues are likely to take the first pick of the 'strongest draft in decades'. It becomes the best chance for a classy midfielder or a monster tall. Suddenly, the word 'trade' is tossed around by so-called list experts. Why not throw away the chance of taking one of the most exciting prospects for short-term patchwork? It's pure genius. Risk it all for uninterested stars of other teams. Don't bother trying to make better out of what's already there. Don't keep eyes on the draft and don't attempt throwing money towards free agency. This will certainly guarantee future success. NOT! If something like the 2018 draft is as good as people say it is, there is no passing the opportunity of getting first dibs. No way would I trade pick one and there is nobody I could think of trading it for. I'm willing to take the hard road.
The smartest of blues fans know the truth. It's more the case of everybody else needing to figure it out. Carlton are 'rebuilding'. It's a challenge. There will be pleasure. There will be pain. Expectations from outsiders can't be too high. The players will fight hard. Kids will be played. Kids will get exhausted. The draft will stay relevant. The plan will remain solid. The coach will coach and the board are to back him in. Carlton know they aren't a destination club. They know stars will chase for better elsewhere. They know some of their players may choose to leave and they know they are to try their best to prevent that from occurring. What else is there to say? Everything has been said. It's the harsh reality, but I know things will get better. Keep the faith and stick to the course because nothing stays bad forever. I have spoken.
Us fans all understand the recent horror dished up by this illustrious football club. I can't fault people for once giving up their loyalty when the times were extremely bleak. But now isn't the time. Our beloved Carlton Blues have finally comprehended the modern game. They're giving us reasons to be excited. They've brought in some of the most reliable men to get the place back on its feet. Think of Patrick Cripps and what more he can achieve with us. Think of the many other talented juniors that have stepped foot into the glorious Princes Park. 'Solidity' can no longer be questioned. All I ask for is one premiership, and I believe I will see it someday. Carlton is destined for more success sooner or later. I just know it. Blue-Baggers, our dream will come true and our time of ultimate glory awaits us. Hang in there!
Travis "TJ" James
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