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Full Noise by SN
The Live Sport Bible is here!“Looks done”: Time for Carlton to blow it up?
SEN • May 4th, 2026 10:12 am
The Carlton Football Club was again the topic of conversation on Monday morning after another horror loss.
The Blues led St Kilda by 12 points at half-time only to concede 11 goals and kick just two in the second half, losing by 39 points at Marvel Stadium to leave them with a 1-7 record.
So, what does the club do to turn this all around?
Kane Cornes reckons it is now time to blow it all up and move Michael Voss on, just as Melbourne has done with Steven King at the helm.
Cornes also believes Patrick Cripps “looks done” and could benefit from a shift elsewhere.
“The broader discussion is around what do you do with their list?,” Cornes said on SEN’s Fireball.
“Can they have a new coach come in, like Steven King has done, and reset the place and be a lot more competitive instantly? That's the question.
“So they've got Pick 3 as it sits right now, the Charlie Curnow picks that they've got, they've also got Pick 18, which they got from Sydney. This is just the way that it sits right now and I know that's going to change.
“(Jacob) Weitering, Cripps are a large discussion around what they do with their list.
“Cripps looks done to me. I don't know that may just be the weight of what he's been having to deal with for a long period of time, but what do you do with their list?
“Can a new coach come in, fresh mindset, fresh attitude, some significant list changes, and then get them doing what Melbourne has done this year or not? Is it more broken than that, their list?”
David King addressed Carlton’s shortcomings, admitting he feels for Michael Voss.
He believes the club’s leaders “get away with murder”.
“Well, I spoke last night (on Fox Footy), I reckon they've got the Holy Trinity of Ineptness,” King said.
“They've got lack of leadership, lack of effort, lack of structure. I spoke about those that are responsible. I don't necessarily just hold Michael Voss to task on this. I think their leaders get away with murder.
“There's always a moment in the game where you can stand up for the rot, you can stop the rot. You can actually lay a big tackle, create a physical confrontation, a big spoil. It's usually a defensive action. Or you can do the offensive stuff, which they're pretty gifted at.
“So if you can't do it with a moment, you need to do it with a positive, proactive piece of play. They don't get any of that from any of their next wave of leaders.
“They had 13 guys that had played 100-plus games on Saturday and not one of them did anything to shift the course of that game mid third quarter. If Denis Pagan was coaching Carlton he would have called them a bunch of wildebeests. They just gave up, they laid there and said, ‘Got me, I'm gone’. And they were mauled.
“I feel for Vossy.”
All-Australian defender and vice-captain Jacob Weitering also came in for criticism from King who says it’s time for a Malcolm Blight style cleanout.
“I think he plays for himself. He plays selfish footy,” he said.
“We've highlighted this over the last couple of years. If you put him on a gun, he'll get the job done. He can seriously play.
“But in terms of getting across and helping the others survive… There's an uncontested mark at the top of the goal square from TDK, where there were six Carlton defenders, including Weitering, and nothing happens because everyone worries about their own backyard.
“‘I don't care if we lose, my man is not kicking a goal’. And that's an awful mindset. So that's been the case for a while. I think a Malcolm Blight style (cleanout) - ‘Get him out and get what you can for him, I want a first-rounder and a second round for Weitering’.
“‘Let's let's do the right thing by Patty Cripps, let's send him back to Perth and get what we can. Let's let him go and purge this constant psychological trauma we give this guy’.
“And then if you want to make a decision on a couple of the others, you might get something for them, you might not, but they've got to have a big shift.”
The legacy of Cripps
Cornes and King then discussed the legacy of Carlton captain and two-time Brownlow Medallist Cripps.
Cornes: “What's the legacy of Patrick Cripps?”
King: “Nah, superstar. I think he's been a beauty. I think he's really harshly judged. When the game stops, there's not many better.”
Cornes: “Yeah, so that's the majority view, I think, and so well admired and respected for the way that he's gone about it.
“But what will his legacy be in 10 years' time as a leader of the (Blues)… He's played in four finals.”
King: “Yeah, not his fault though, is it?”
Cornes: “Well, that's the question. Is it not his fault or do we just say it's not his fault? Why is it not his fault?
“Four finals as the superstar of this club. Yep, individually, no worries. 205 Brownlow Medal votes for goodness sake.
“It's about winning. He's played in four finals in the whole of his career. He's 31 now, he's clearly well past his best.
“But how will Carlton fans remember Patrick Cripps, is the question?”
King: “I’ve never seen a player have his deficiencies highlighted as regularly as Patty Cripps does. I don't see one review show that doesn't show him being beaten on the spread. Not one review show.
“Name me another player we've done that about in the history of the game?”
Cornes: “So you think there's been more scrutiny on Cripps and you think it's been unfair? Because I think he's been lauded, myself.
“Rarely have we ever criticised Patrick Cripps for obvious reasons.”
King: “I don't agree with that. I think he would have been critiqued 20 times in the last 18 months about what he can't do. And we all know he can’t spread.
“But the minute the game stops, good luck beating him at clearance.
“That's still the case this year, his clearance numbers and contest stuff is still pretty strong. But Greg Swann's changed the game. It's gone away from Patty Cripps.
“There's never been less stoppages and never been less ability to catch up with the game again for a slow player.
“I think he’ll be remembered quite fondly by Carlton people. It's just because you're there at the wrong stage or the wrong era, it’s not not all your fault.”
Cornes: “No, I'm not saying it's not all his fault but when you look at the majority of his, when you look at his body of work in 10 years’ time, it’s amazing individually. Couldn't be better - Hall of Fame, all of that.
“But you've played in two winning finals.
“He doesn't have many poor games. But as a leader of this footy club, how demanding has he been on this group?
“I see a lot of sort of smiles with Crippa. I never really see him be demanding of his teammates, I never really have. I've never seen him be not accepting of what they have delivered for so long.
“Now maybe it's a situation like maybe Dustin Martin who might have been the same at Richmond but they brought in others to help him. Maybe Carlton never supported Patrick Cripps with the defensive runners, the high half-forwards that can cover for his weaknesses and just let him be the star.
“Maybe that's unfair of me to even raise that because he hasn't been helped but it's an interesting one for his legacy because it's about winning, it's about winning finals, about winning premierships and through the whole of his career he's played in two winning finals.”
King: “So you're of the belief that the team success dictates your legacy?”
Cornes: “I think so, I think it does.”
