Carlton a flag chance in 2026.

[JustaBattler]

Didnt he take a pay cut?

Not sure Baggers fans spitting and swearing over the fence at their own players helps with player retention.

Not sure Big Cox has a clue- thoughts?

 

[JustaBattler]

Curnow has had $$$ since the day he was drafted

Carlton mates were telling me he 'Bleeds Blue'

Looks like he didnt really care


Jacob Wietering better stay fit and play his best football as he is the key to what type of year Carlton have

I htink he ahd a look at TDK's offer and said you have to be kidding now- who'd be dumb enough to match it...

 

[Obeanie1]

Watched a Blues fan podcast over the weekend and even they are worried.

Basically said Blues cannot afford any injuries to forwards or kp backs.

They took a massive hit to quality key players leaving and the likes of Dean and Jagga won't replace that in year 1.

If McCay is unavailable they have zero established key forwards.

If the wheels fall off they could end up 18th.

 

[Chip Scab1]

Watched a Blues fan podcast over the weekend and even they are worried.

Basically said Blues cannot afford any injuries to forwards or kp backs.

They took a massive hit to quality key players leaving and the likes of Dean and Jagga won't replace that in year 1.

If McCay is unavailable they have zero established key forwards.

If the wheels fall off they could end up 18th.

They couldn't be worse than WCE, Richmond & Essendon.

 

[Seattle Mariners]

I think they're a better chance than Port who are on a similar line of betting and were comparable teams in 2025.

Percentage is always a good indication and Carlton (96) had a far better % than Port (79%).
Port would need to pick up at least 20% to make the top 10.

 

[Milanista28]

 

[Fadge]

Jeepers!

Was a single target hit?

 

[mrmonkey]

It's hard to make predictions for top 8, top 10 this year. Always seems to be a team that seems to have a big jump and a team that slides. Which team makes way for Carlton? Logically Sydney, but they've got a good history of staying in finals, a poor start to the season cost them in 2025. Western bulldogs extremely unlucky to miss, 14 wins and a percentage of 137 which was 3rd highest in the league, they actually might be team to make a big leap. Hawthorn have been on the up, perhaps a slight decline as I think other teams will jump them but not a enough to slide out. Gold Coast look ready, Fremantle are a hard team to read, look good on paper but they do my head in. GWS list looks good. Brisbane just went b2b, Geelong always make finals (it's annoying) Adelaide should do well again hopefully win a final. Collingwood will be an interesting watch but surely won't miss.

 

[Fadge]

It's hard to make predictions for top 8, top 10 this year. Always seems to be a team that seems to have a big jump and a team that slides. Which team makes way for Carlton? Logically Sydney, but they've got a good history of staying in finals, a poor start to the season cost them in 2025. Western bulldogs extremely unlucky to miss, 14 wins and a percentage of 137 which was 3rd highest in the league, they actually might be team to make a big leap. Hawthorn have been on the up, perhaps a slight decline as I think other teams will jump them but not a enough to slide out. Gold Coast look ready, Fremantle are a hard team to read, look good on paper but they do my head in. GWS list looks good. Brisbane just went b2b, Geelong always make finals (it's annoying) Adelaide should do well again hopefully win a final. Collingwood will be an interesting watch but surely won't miss.

Yep.

Top many good teams in the top 10 this year for Carlton to get anywhere near it.

 

[SC_Power]

I came into this thread with a different thought to what many may have had reading the title

Aspiration: is when something other than air gets into your airways.

Choking: is when breathing is impeded by something other than air inside of your airways.

So I thought the thread title was a prediction of Carlton choking in finals, like this….

 

[Fadge]

I came into this thread with a different thought to what many may have had reading the title

Aspiration: is when something other than air gets into your airways.

Choking: is when breathing is impeded by something other than air inside of your airways.

So I thought the thread title was a prediction of Carlton choking in finals, like this….

View attachment 2516900

That wasn't a choke.

That was just them being completely outclassed, and proving to everyone that the only reason they were there was courtesy of one of the softest draws in the history of the competition.

Remember, they won a game against West Coast, as underdogs, having already played 4 games against Richmond and North Melbourne, to secure their top 8 spot...

 

[mrmonkey]

Not that it matters because either team would have lost that final, but Carlton made that preliminary final because melbourne are the biggest chokers in recent history. It happens quite often a plucky team makes it further in the season and get found out in big finals. I will use melbourne as an example again, I think we were a better team in 2018 than hawthorn, but I reckon we weren't ready for that preliminary final again the coast, despite beating them late on the season. I reckon if hawthorn got through the game wouldn't have been over by half time.

 

[Off Tap]

Jeepers!

Was a single target hit?

At the 0.39 second mark that little girl with the pink cap in the stands looked likely.

 

[Mr.X]

It's hard to make predictions for top 8, top 10 this year. Always seems to be a team that seems to have a big jump and a team that slides. Which team makes way for Carlton?

Likely bulldogs and Gold Coast will slip, and with two extra spots, gives blues a decent chance of playing finals.

 

[rdhopkins2]

Carlton won’t make finals.
Keen to hear Charlie Curnow

35

Charlie Curnow

Age

29

Ht

194cm

Wt

94kg

Pos.

Fwd

Career

Season

Last 5

D

13.3

3star

K

9.7

4star

HB

3.6

3star

M

5.3

5star

T

2.2

4star

G

1.3

5star

No current season stats available

D

10.8

3star

K

6.4

3star

HB

4.4

4star

M

3.2

4star

T

1.6

4star

G

0.8

4star

’s thoughts on it too.

 

[Fadge]

Likely bulldogs and Gold Coast will slip, and with two extra spots, gives blues a decent chance of playing finals.

The betting agencies consider Carlton a 25% to 30% chance of finishing top 10.

That doesn't scream 'decent chance' to me.

But I guess it's all relative...

 

[mrmonkey]

Likely bulldogs and Gold Coast will slip, and with two extra spots, gives blues a decent chance of playing finals.

Would like to know your reasoning on why you think those teams will potentially slip. Gold Coast have been building a list for years and finally made finals. They look to be on the rise and just added Trac in the trade period. JUH as well, I know he's questionable but if they can get him right he'll be a huge addition. They look to be well and truly on the rise. They're just about unbeatable at home now, and they don't choke when travelling anymore. The Bulldogs finished with 14 wins and the 3rd highest percentage. Darcy missed most the season if i'm not mistaken, if he stays injury free that will be huge for them. I don't recall all their trades but I just don’t agree they'll slide.

Carlton on the other hand I feel lost more than they gained in terms of experience. I just can't see them making an improvement.

 

[Freomaniac]

I have posted this before and Will post this again .

If Carlton wins the flag in 2026, it won't be unprecedented. It would be similar path to Melbourne and their 2021 flag path if you look at the last 5 years on how they were tracking.

But realistically they will contend for a spot in the top 10

 

[Del233027]

Likely bulldogs and Gold Coast will slip, and with two extra spots, gives blues a decent chance of playing finals.

Say that again

 

[mrmonkey]

I have posted this before and Will post this again .

If Carlton wins the flag in 2026, it won't be unprecedented. It would be similar path to Melbourne and their 2021 flag path if you look at the last 5 years on how they were tracking.

But realistically they will contend for a spot in the top 10

Not unprecedented but you need to look at the finer details. I don't have time atm to get in too much detail but melbourne had a core if players that were born between 94-96 which makes them around the 24 to 27 age range. About 10 players to memory. A few more older guys like Gawn, mcdonald, Brown and May. Hibberd was the only one over 30 I think. Then the rest were under 24. Pickett, Jackson, Bowey sparrow and James Jordon (sub)

I don't think Carlton's list is anything like that, I don't think they have a good core of mid 20 players.

 

[GC2015]

Likely bulldogs and Gold Coast will slip, and with two extra spots, gives blues a decent chance of playing finals.

You think the Suns are going to slip lower than 7th even after recruiting a prime Christian Petracca? Most analysts I've seen are predicting at least a top 6 finish for the Suns this year so that's a pretty bold claim from you.

I don't know what to make of Carlton's list this year. Obviously lost two of their best players in De Koning and Curnow last year so that doesn't instil me with a lot of confidence. No longer having Silvagni's flexibility is probably going to hurt as well.

On the bright side, I feel like Hayward and Florent will be good additions for them around the ground. Both are 27yo so you've essentially recruited them at their peak and should at least get three really solid years out of them.

I think I can comment on this because I watched him up close for 8 years - Ainsworth is likely going to tease you with moments of brilliance, but will overall be disappointing and won't deliver when you need him to. He made a habit of missing some really straight forward 35m almost directly in front shots in goal while he was at the Suns and it certainly cost us wins.

Having said all that, if Carlton are to rise in 2026, I don't expect it to be a big rise. Perhaps a wildcard entrant finishing somewhere between 7-10th? I think that's probably best case scenario for Carlton in 2026.

 

[Toump Ass]

... Recruiting a prime Christian Petracca?

"Prime Christian Petracca"

That fat pasta-eating campaigner hasn't been the same since Darcy Moore almost killed him lmao.

 

[THE_GUN]

I have posted this before and Will post this again .

If Carlton wins the flag in 2026, it won't be unprecedented. It would be similar path to Melbourne and their 2021 flag path if you look at the last 5 years on how they were tracking.

But realistically they will contend for a spot in the top 10

I think they are very different demographically to where melbourne were in 2021
Petracca , Gawn , Oliver , Viney etc were in their prime and playing at the top of their game and had game breakers
i dont see that with the 2026 version of carlton

 

[projectv]

I have posted this before and Will post this again .

If Carlton wins the flag in 2026, it won't be unprecedented. It would be similar path to Melbourne and their 2021 flag path if you look at the last 5 years on how they were tracking.

But realistically they will contend for a spot in the top 10

They're nothing at all alike in terms of lists or in output.

Melbournes list got better throughout their 4-5 year window. Carltons is getting worse.

 

[mrmonkey]

"Prime Christian Petracca"

That fat pasta-eating campaigner hasn't been the same since Darcy Moore almost killed him lmao.

I was thinking the same thing, however I would argue even before that he was past his peak, at least the first sign was when Harley Reid embarrassed him earlier that season. Having said that I think Trac will still contribute greatly to the suns, just not in peak Trac.