List Mgmt. 2025 List Management III 📃

[WalshistheGOAT]

Kemp is the forward who really excites me. He has an aerial game that is probably as good as Charlie. And unlike Charlie, if the ball comes to ground, he is still in the hunt for the ball. He's athletic and fast. He'll provide the perfect foil to Harry in our forward line.

Harry is going to love the new entry instructions because they will play to his strengths. He can lead to the ball carrier or he can offer a long diagonal lead that allows the ball carrier to kick it in front of him. We just need him to get Levi's mindset of "if someone drops into your leading lane, go through them".

I'm all for a bit of excitement over pre season but to compare Kemp to Charlie in at this stage is a bit laughable. Charlie may not have cared for chasing or digging in over the course of 2025 but he was easily the most talented forward we've had since Betts.

 

[Chookaradley]

i agree though i think you can build or flesh out a forward line with medium or 190-192cm types if you have to. obviously at least one central tall would be ideal. i was kind of surprised lemmey was let go but then again i've only read about him, watched only highlights.

defence though... you need to cover who they put on the park and we're extremely thin and a weitering corky away from gaping holes.

I like the looks of our defence 2027 onwards. Am a huge HOF fan!, and Dean a year under his belt. I watched Lemmey a lot he was just not mobile enough. Still need a tall presence forward, we have only really1 option

 

[Dramoth]

I'm all for a bit of excitement over pre season but to compare Kemp to Charlie in at this stage is a bit laughable. Charlie may not have cared for chasing or digging in over the course of 2025 but he was easily the most talented forward we've had since Betts.

Charlie's problem was that he wanted to wrestle with his opponent because his knee issues slowed him down. His knee issues stemed from him playing that pickup game of basketball with his mates. The club played its part by not giving him time to recover fully like we have with Kemp, in his rookie year (first year on the list), and now. This I put on the backroom powerbrokers wanting the club to play the best all the time.

 

[azlou]

I'm all for a bit of excitement over pre season but to compare Kemp to Charlie in at this stage is a bit laughable. Charlie may not have cared for chasing or digging in over the course of 2025 but he was easily the most talented forward we've had since Betts.

I reckon you can compare Moir mercurial Kemp high marking leading to Charlie it being two is a bonus as there harder to cover can’t double team two players

 

[FitzroyBlueBagger]

I'm all for a bit of excitement over pre season but to compare Kemp to Charlie in at this stage is a bit laughable. Charlie may not have cared for chasing or digging in over the course of 2025 but he was easily the most talented forward we've had since Betts.

And Fev…

 

[FitzroyBlueBagger]

I like the looks of our defence 2027 onwards. Am a huge HOF fan!, and Dean a year under his belt. I watched Lemmey a lot he was just not mobile enough. Still need a tall presence forward, we have only really1 option

If he had O’Keefe’s natural competive nature and aggression, he’d would have played a few games & still be on the list… talent v competitiveness

 

[Chookaradley]

I'm all for a bit of excitement over pre season but to compare Kemp to Charlie in at this stage is a bit laughable. Charlie may not have cared for chasing or digging in over the course of 2025 but he was easily the most talented forward we've had since Betts.

Charlie has many shortcomings, but he is a legitimate match winner. They dont grow on trees. Your point is well made. This new version of Carlton will look to score by comittee, not by relying on one or two.

 

[btdg]

Charlie's problem was that he wanted to wrestle with his opponent because his knee issues slowed him down. His knee issues stemed from him playing that pickup game of basketball with his mates. The club played its part by not giving him time to recover fully like we have with Kemp, in his rookie year (first year on the list), and now. This I put on the backroom powerbrokers wanting the club to play the best all the time.

Charlie took 2.5 years off to recover that knee injury? How much longer could we have given him given his prime was evaporating? He did come back and win 2 (and almost 3) Coleman medals so his rehab must have been decent.

I know that he had ongoing issues, though, and it was clear in 2025 he was rushed back hampered and probably only playing because McKay was injured and the season was heading into the toilet. Somehow that's become something he is criticised for because he wasn't tackling enough or whatever, but he was doing what he could.

Kemp, in contrast, is coming off a ruptured Achilles tendon and tbh, if he ever plays a competent AFL match again we should consider that a win. That injury is a potential career killer. By all accounts his rehab has been smooth but anyone who thinks he will slot straight in and replace Charlie is not being fair to Brodie (and likely to be disappointed). But I would set the over/under on games played by Kemp this year at 0 and be happy for anything from there...

Whether we can cobble together a functional forward line from McKay, Kemp, Moir, O'Keefe, Hayward and whoever else out of McGovern, Young, even Weitering... remains to be seen. I still think it was crazy to trade Curnow, and it will be brutal watching him play for a probable top 4 Sydney team (and could he kick 100 on the SCG? Possibly...).

We probably did have to do it though - had to try something after coming up short for the last 4 years with that structure, so I've made my peace with it.

 

[BlueJet]

Charlie's problem was that he wanted to wrestle with his opponent because his knee issues slowed him down. His knee issues stemed from him playing that pickup game of basketball with his mates. The club played its part by not giving him time to recover fully like we have with Kemp, in his rookie year (first year on the list), and now. This I put on the backroom powerbrokers wanting the club to play the best all the time.

Charlie is supremely talented & was impacted by injury (few aren't), but there were definitely some bad habits creeping into his game, too.
Even if injured, standing 30m from goal with your hand in the air providing a static target, when everyone knows where the ball is going more often than not, gives the opposition defence a point of reference, allows them to sag off the other forwards & commit numbers to Charlie, which assists with their intercept/rebound game.
When compromised, I would have liked to see him played as a decoy more, when they overcommit to him, you play through the spares. (Unsure whether this is on coaching or Charlie himself)
I suspect he'll be refreshed following the shift to the Swans & good luck to him.

 

[JustOneTime]

Charlie's problem was that he wanted to wrestle with his opponent because his knee issues slowed him down.

I think of it is more to do with Carlton's gameplan. It's been repeated a lot that the strategy is deep entries inside 50 to both Mckay/Curnow and lock it in.

This means both key fwds are left there wresting a lot. How many time have we watched Mckay hit the turf while at the other end the key forward marks 15 metres away from young types over 2-3 years.

Carlton's gameplan alone destroyed the core build from 2015 onwards. This reset only works if they change how they play.

 

[ItsAllAboutMe]

I think the interesting question for the club, is if we finish in the bottom 3rd of the ladder.. are we not better to just take the free agent compo for Walsh which will be a top 6 pick?

 

[WalshistheGOAT]

I think the interesting question for the club, is if we finish in the bottom 3rd of the ladder.. are we not better to just take the free agent compo for Walsh which will be a top 6 pick?

A single pick for Walsh? No thanks.

Three firsts or something similar? Would get me listening at the very least

 

[marcmurphy3]

I think the interesting question for the club, is if we finish in the bottom 3rd of the ladder.. are we not better to just take the free agent compo for Walsh which will be a top 6 pick?

Whatever pick we get for Walsh will be swallowed up to match Walker. Unless he has another injury interrupted year, Id rather Walsh

 

[Bluebag13]

Didn’t Walsh sign his last contract at the very beginning of that season.
Plenty of time to be worrying about this later.

Walsh needs to concentrate on having a good full preseason above all else, hasn’t had one in I don’t know how long.

 

[I bleed Blue]

I'm always a glass half full guy.

I think we will win alot of games to start the season. Playing a fast moving brand of footy.

Walsh will be flying. Re-sign before the half way point and will be our next captain.

 

[azlou]

Charlie took 2.5 years off to recover that knee injury? How much longer could we have given him given his prime was evaporating? He did come back and win 2 (and almost 3) Coleman medals so his rehab must have been decent.

I know that he had ongoing issues, though, and it was clear in 2025 he was rushed back hampered and probably only playing because McKay was injured and the season was heading into the toilet. Somehow that's become something he is criticised for because he wasn't tackling enough or whatever, but he was doing what he could.

Kemp, in contrast, is coming off a ruptured Achilles tendon and tbh, if he ever plays a competent AFL match again we should consider that a win. That injury is a potential career killer. By all accounts his rehab has been smooth but anyone who thinks he will slot straight in and replace Charlie is not being fair to Brodie (and likely to be disappointed). But I would set the over/under on games played by Kemp this year at 0 and be happy for anything from there...

Whether we can cobble together a functional forward line from McKay, Kemp, Moir, O'Keefe, Hayward and whoever else out of McGovern, Young, even Weitering... remains to be seen. I still think it was crazy to trade Curnow, and it will be brutal watching him play for a probable top 4 Sydney team (and could he kick 100 on the SCG? Possibly...).

We probably did have to do it though - had to try something after coming up short for the last 4 years with that structure, so I've made my peace with it.

Your right just read up on it would have better of doing a knee.
One plus is it was is left leg power and jump comes from his right.

 

[Red_man2008]

That whole game was a farce

That was so bad. The guy should never have umpired a game again. Blatant cheating.

 

[Bamboo Harvester]

I think the interesting question for the club, is if we finish in the bottom 3rd of the ladder.. are we not better to just take the free agent compo for Walsh which will be a top 6 pick?

I guess it depends on our list strategy the end of the year.

Hypothetically, if we were keen on getting Ben King across as a FA the end of 2026, that would likely nullify the compensation pick if Walsh chose to leave. We'd be better off matching the offer (unless it's another TDK bull**** type offer), and getting extra draft picks even if it's not as lucrative as the compensation pick.

ie lose Walsh, but get King + pick x + pick y etc

 

[azlou]

Charlie took 2.5 years off to recover that knee injury? How much longer could we have given him given his prime was evaporating? He did come back and win 2 (and almost 3) Coleman medals so his rehab must have been decent.

I know that he had ongoing issues, though, and it was clear in 2025 he was rushed back hampered and probably only playing because McKay was injured and the season was heading into the toilet. Somehow that's become something he is criticised for because he wasn't tackling enough or whatever, but he was doing what he could.

Kemp, in contrast, is coming off a ruptured Achilles tendon and tbh, if he ever plays a competent AFL match again we should consider that a win. That injury is a potential career killer. By all accounts his rehab has been smooth but anyone who thinks he will slot straight in and replace Charlie is not being fair to Brodie (and likely to be disappointed). But I would set the over/under on games played by Kemp this year at 0 and be happy for anything from there...

Whether we can cobble together a functional forward line from McKay, Kemp, Moir, O'Keefe, Hayward and whoever else out of McGovern, Young, even Weitering... remains to be seen. I still think it was crazy to trade Curnow, and it will be brutal watching him play for a probable top 4 Sydney team (and could he kick 100 on the SCG? Possibly...).

We probably did have to do it though - had to try something after coming up short for the last 4 years with that structure, so I've made my peace with it.

Chad

Charlie is supremely talented & was impacted by injury (few aren't), but there were definitely some bad habits creeping into his game, too.
Even if injured, standing 30m from goal with your hand in the air providing a static target, when everyone knows where the ball is going more often than not, gives the opposition defence a point of reference, allows them to sag off the other forwards & commit numbers to Charlie, which assists with their intercept/rebound game.
When compromised, I would have liked to see him played as a decoy more, when they overcommit to him, you play through the spares. (Unsure whether this is on coaching or Charlie himself)
I suspect he'll be refreshed following the shift to the Swans & good luck to him.

Chad wingard zac Williams jarred rough head Sam butler Anthony Rocco Charlie spargo all came back successfully.
Fingers crossed for Kemp

 

[Michael Jezz]

My opinion....if walsh has not signed by round 1...he is gone

 

[ItsAllAboutMe]

I guess it depends on our list strategy the end of the year.

Hypothetically, if we were keen on getting Ben King across as a FA the end of 2026, that would likely nullify the compensation pick if Walsh chose to leave. We'd be better off matching the offer (unless it's another TDK bull**** type offer), and getting extra draft picks even if it's not as lucrative as the compensation pick.

ie lose Walsh, but get King + pick x + pick y etc

I hope not.. I think if we finish in the bottom 3rd of the ladder we wont be looking for a quick fix like King (or Butters) We will have a new coach, and wont be a desirable club for any high profile free agents. We already have the draft capital to acquire Cody so if we lost Walsh we would get to use the pick in the draft. If we are resetting the list its not a bad way to do it, Jagga Smith (pick 3) Harry Dean pick 3, Cody Walker pick 2 or 3, SW approx compo pick 6. 5 top 5 picks in a 3 year period is a good starting base.

Of course my hope is that we have a great 2025, finish top 8, Sam Walsh re-signs, Voss stays and we still get Cody.. I think a lot will be dependant on results early which will set the direction of the club for the next 5 years.

 

[Dramoth]

Charlie took 2.5 years off to recover that knee injury? How much longer could we have given him given his prime was evaporating? He did come back and win 2 (and almost 3) Coleman medals so his rehab must have been decent.

I know that he had ongoing issues, though, and it was clear in 2025 he was rushed back hampered and probably only playing because McKay was injured and the season was heading into the toilet. Somehow that's become something he is criticised for because he wasn't tackling enough or whatever, but he was doing what he could.

Kemp, in contrast, is coming off a ruptured Achilles tendon and tbh, if he ever plays a competent AFL match again we should consider that a win. That injury is a potential career killer. By all accounts his rehab has been smooth but anyone who thinks he will slot straight in and replace Charlie is not being fair to Brodie (and likely to be disappointed). But I would set the over/under on games played by Kemp this year at 0 and be happy for anything from there...

Whether we can cobble together a functional forward line from McKay, Kemp, Moir, O'Keefe, Hayward and whoever else out of McGovern, Young, even Weitering... remains to be seen. I still think it was crazy to trade Curnow, and it will be brutal watching him play for a probable top 4 Sydney team (and could he kick 100 on the SCG? Possibly...).

We probably did have to do it though - had to try something after coming up short for the last 4 years with that structure, so I've made my peace with it.

Would you say that Zac was playing bloody good football over the last couple of years? Remember that he had an achilles injury as well. And from the article that Aph posted in Kemp's thread, he's been constantly talking to Zac about his recovery and doing comparisons.

He will come back from it just as good as he was before then. I've said, I can't remember where, that Kemp will be back in full training early next year, I reckon we give him a bunch of half games in the VFL to get him back up to speed and then with 6 weeks before the bye, we start giving him full games. That way, he's match fit come the bye, and we can slot him into the forward line.

 

[Coona Blues]

Would you say that Zac was playing bloody good football over the last couple of years? Remember that he had an achilles injury as well. And from the article that Aph posted in Kemp's thread, he's been constantly talking to Zac about his recovery and doing comparisons.

He will come back from it just as good as he was before then. I've said, I can't remember where, that Kemp will be back in full training early next year, I reckon we give him a bunch of half games in the VFL to get him back up to speed and then with 6 weeks before the bye, we start giving him full games. That way, he's match fit come the bye, and we can slot him into the forward line.

Happy if we need to wait for Kempy to be fit if necessary, but the signs are quite positive that he is ready to step up to full training quite soon.

 

[gbatman]

Kemp is the forward who really excites me. He has an aerial game that is probably as good as Charlie. And unlike Charlie, if the ball comes to ground, he is still in the hunt for the ball. He's athletic and fast. He'll provide the perfect foil to Harry in our forward line.

Harry is going to love the new entry instructions because they will play to his strengths. He can lead to the ball carrier or he can offer a long diagonal lead that allows the ball carrier to kick it in front of him. We just need him to get Levi's mindset of "if someone drops into your leading lane, go through them".

Me too, his 5 against the dogs last year was not an accident. Has the pace to impact with pressure and has proven he's good with ground balls up forward.

Our goal is to go from very few good targets to 5 or 6 really strong forward targets without losing anything at ground level. Thich changes opposition tactics and how sides defend against us. No more picking out one or two players to target and get numbers to, it becomes more one on one, which is what sides have to look at when playing Brisbane and Collingwood to a lesser extent when they are up and about.

McKay, Kemp, Moir, O'Keeffe, Ainsworth, Hayward and Byrne. This really excites me. There is no way you can drop off your man to double and triple team in that situation unless you can get up hemmed in tight on the boundary.

What I love about that line up is that they are all strong as hell overhead but when the ball come to ground, they are mostly strong there too.

All we need to do is not get too wide with the ball and enter our forward line from a more central position, kick well and move it really well. Because of these names, the opportunity to move the ball really quick and effectively is going to be there.

I think there is a really strong chance those 7 players make up our forward line which puts a heap of heat on guys like Williams and Motlop who are good player but now have stronger competition.

I think O'Keeffe and McKay will just fill the same role of all the other forwards and lead and present and get used if the best option. But when we get pushed wide and we are playing a little slower, they will have to get good at knowing when to give the outlet. Both should change between FF and CHF so that means switching between giving us an outlet coming out of defence up the wings and giving us an outlet going inside 50.

I am really excited for next season. Not just this structure but having a few more runners coming through. Saad has help in Florent and Wilson coming along and Newman back. Saad was a one man band last year and copped the brunt of good opposition tactics. Chesser is someone I am pumped about getting. A few other young ones like Carroll are going to be great for us. Smith will be a good one and if we start doing it like the better clubs, it will be crazy fun if Ison really comes on as well.

 

[Benaly28]

Big year for B Campo.Would love to see him debut and then stay in the side.