Will Carlton be the 'bolter' in 2023?

Power Play

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Oct 8, 2017
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As much as I hate to admit it, Carlton have finally got their s**t together as a football club after two decades of incompetence, with Brian Cook righting the ship as CEO, much like Gale and Peggy did for us after they came on board.

Cook's track record speaks for himself, you just have to look at West Coast and Geelong, the two previous clubs he was at, and see they're two of the modern powerhouses of football.

As far as Carlton's on field prospects are concerned, I believe they're primed to push for a spot in the top 4, and I have no doubt they'll win their 17th flag before Essendon do.

What's your opinion on Carlton's prospects for 2023?
 

lumpinee

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Jul 18, 2019
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play theyre GF every year rd.1
cannot take them seriously after the debacle that was the 2nd half of the season,got favours from the AFL from the get go,
8 x 50mtr penalties v Richmond rd.1 and Cripps reverse suspension to mention a couple and they still couldnt get it done despite these leg ups
destined for mediocrity once again and with a slightly tougher fixture cant see why things will be any different with them.
Essendon ,Hawthorn,St.Kilda,Gold Coast and Norths continuous self destructive practices make Carlton look like genuine hopefuls
every season but its just an illusion unfortunately for them
 
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Power Play

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Oct 8, 2017
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play theyre GF every year rd.1
cannot take them seriously after the debacle that was the 2nd half of the season,got favours from the AFL from the get go,
8 x 50mtr penalties v Richmond rd.1 and Cripps reverse suspension to mention a couple and they still couldnt get it done despite these leg ups
destined for mediocrity once again and with a slightly tougher fixture cant see why things will be any different with them.
Essendon ,Hawthorn,St.Kilda,Gold Coast and Norths continuous self destructive practices make Carlton look like genuine hopefuls
every season but its just an illusion unfortunately for them
I'd love to see them miss the 8 again, but knowing they've finally got their s**t together off field, along with Brian Cook's track record as CEO at West Coast and Geelong, they'll be contending for premierships in the near future, even if they miss the 8 again next year.

I just hope they fail to win a premiership when they're in contention again. I can't imagine a Carlton vs Collingwood grand final though, as I don't know who I'd rather win. Yuck.
 
Aug 13, 2018
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As much as I hate to admit it, Carlton have finally got their s**t together as a football club after two decades of incompetence, with Brian Cook righting the ship as CEO, much like Gale and Peggy did for us after they came on board.

Cook's track record speaks for himself, you just have to look at West Coast and Geelong, the two previous clubs he was at, and see they're two of the modern powerhouses of football.

As far as Carlton's on field prospects are concerned, I believe they're primed to push for a spot in the top 4, and I have no doubt they'll win their 17th flag before Essendon do.

What's your opinion on Carlton's prospects for 2023?
Ready to go.
Legit flag contender
 
Apr 11, 2012
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My bolter for 2023. They have built a premiership winning list. They now just have to hope Voss can execute. After what happened to them at the end of 2022, Voss is definitely the type of leader to help them bounce back.

Backline:

After his injury last season, Weitering struggled. He will be back to his best next season. He’s still one of the game’s premier full backs. The inclusion of Lewis young last year brilliant. Mitch McGovern’s return from injury was huge as well. He had an underrated season and will be even better in 2023. Adam saad is elite in his position and with their injured midfielders returning, Doherty will move back to half back. If Zac Williams can stay fit and finally repay the faith, their backline is top 4 quality.

Midfield:

Elite with incredible depth. Cripps, Walsh, hewett, cerra and Kennedy. The perfect mix of inside and outside. Incredible to think Sam Walsh is only 22. Despite having higher numbers last season than in 2020, he wasn’t as effective due to his syndesmosis injury. He will be back to his best in 2023. The Cripps/Walsh duo will be the best 1-2 midfield combo in the league next season. Their weakness last season was the wing, which they have improved with the inclusion of Blake acres, who for a future third round pick is a complete steal.

Forward line:

They have two of the five best key forwards in curnow and mcckay. Curnow’ season in 2022 was simply incredible and he will go to another level in 2023. They need to get more out of the likes of Jack Martin and Zac fisher. If those two can take their game’s to another level, the blues will be hard to beat. They still like an elite small forward. Luke Breust would have been a perfect for them. However, Jesse Motlop showed some elite signs last season and can become a quality afl small forward. He just needs to play consistently.

Rucks:

This is currently their only weakness imo. Pittonet is a battler but against the better rucks in the league, he struggles. Tom de koning was really solid early on when he replaced pittonet after his pcl injury, but he’s still too raw and ran out of legs. I think he can became a excellent afl ruck due to his agility and strong work around the ground but he needs more time. Unfortunately the blues had no salary cap space, as grundy would have been a perfect fit for them.

To summarise, the blues have the list to finish in the top 4 next season as long as they don’t cop another season of injuries to key players. They got absolutely decimated last season and rarely had their best 22 on the field at the same time. No team other than maybe Melbourne has a better core of elite talent- Weitering, saad, Cripps, Walsh, curnow and mcckay is as good as it gets for a top 6. It’s now up to the likes of Cerra, hewett (brilliant last season), kennedy, Williams, martin and fisher to go to another level and the blues are a great chance at winning the flag next season.
 

Power Play

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Still two gaping holes to fix:

Ruck - Can one of pitto and tdk be good enough to contend?

Small forward - do we have the talent within? if not woild love to try and get stack as dfa and bring eddie betts in to mentor
Jesse Motlop looks to be a talented small forward.

Pittonet and De Koning aren't great, but Stanley and Blicavs aren't great either, and that ruck combo just won the flag.
 

raskolnikov

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Would hardly be a "bolter". A bolter would be a team like Adelaide, Hawthorn, or us making the 8. Carlton are expected to make the 8 next year.
 

lumpinee

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I'd love to see them miss the 8 again, but knowing they've finally got their s**t together off field, along with Brian Cook's track record as CEO at West Coast and Geelong, they'll be contending for premierships in the near future, even if they miss the 8 again next year.

I just hope they fail to win a premiership when they're in contention again. I can't imagine a Carlton vs Collingwood grand final though, as I don't know who I'd rather win. Yuck.
if they miss finals in '23 they'll be searching for a new coach,nothing surer,watch the clacker pressure meter bursting at the seams roundabout round 15
when theyre 9-6,or 8-7,maybe even 6-9 :tearsofjoy:
 

Foucault1989

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Oct 16, 2016
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How about we actually achieve something before grand proclamations about our top 4 status. We are unproven and mentally melted in the second half of the year. Yes the narrative will be that we will use it to motivate and drive us forward. It could just as easily scar the players.

They need a solid sports psychologist. The talent is there but I worry it's not all there between the ears.
 

Gw2_James

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Sep 4, 2014
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People overrate us....

I'm not getting my hopes up while we still have certain players getting games, major injuries every year and just screwing up leads/choking.
 

BruceTempany14

Calling out Geelong supporters
Aug 4, 2016
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As much as I hate to admit it, Carlton have finally got their s**t together as a football club after two decades of incompetence, with Brian Cook righting the ship as CEO, much like Gale and Peggy did for us after they came on board.

Cook's track record speaks for himself, you just have to look at West Coast and Geelong, the two previous clubs he was at, and see they're two of the modern powerhouses of football.

As far as Carlton's on field prospects are concerned, I believe they're primed to push for a spot in the top 4, and I have no doubt they'll win their 17th flag before Essendon do.

What's your opinion on Carlton's prospects for 2023?

I reckon I’ve seen this post every year for the past 5 years . Carlton and Essendon .

It does though fill me with joy to see the buy in. The pain of it not coming to reality usually sets in about round 8 , although the blues did the extended version in 2022. Bliss.


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Jul 14, 2005
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How about we actually achieve something before grand proclamations about our top 4 status. We are unproven and mentally melted in the second half of the year. Yes the narrative will be that we will use it to motivate and drive us forward. It could just as easily scar the players.

They need a solid sports psychologist. The talent is there but I worry it's not all there between the ears.
Guarantee the club has a psychologist working with the players.

You can’t just flick a switch with these kinds of flings. Takes years to develop the necessary confidence and belief.

None of the squad have experienced any degree of team success and are in open water when they’re in situations that are unfamiliar eg winning games that will influence us getting into the finals.

The club ran a resilience program over the off-season and practice mindfulness as a performance strategy.

There’s only so many psychological ‘hacks’ we can use. Confidence is built on repeatedly performing well - we need to make sure we continue to build on last year’s wins and making the finals will take care of itself
 
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