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Important SN update for Southland"Déjà vu": Gibbs’ concern over the Blues’ perpetual failure
Jaiden Sciberras • June 26th, 2025 2:37 pm
Carlton’s struggles in 2025 have been well documented over the season to date, with the Blues failing to fire to the lofty standards set prior to their Round 1 disaster against Richmond.
Now, following their disappointing loss to North Melbourne, the Blues’ season remains on a knife’s edge, with a near-perfect record required from their remaining nine fixtures to have any chance of making the top eight.
Highlighted by standout losses against the Tigers and the Kangaroos, Carlton sits in a measly 10th place, managing just six wins from 14 to sit two games and percentage out of the top half.
Ahead of Thursday night’s must-win contest against Port Adelaide, former Carlton No.1 pick Bryce Gibbs weighed in on the club’s inability to succeed over such an extensive period, likening the Blues’ current struggles to the difficulties faced during his time at IKON Park.
Gibbs suggests there are too many cooks in the kitchen.
“If we can find an answer, anyone, please get in touch with the Carlton footy club,” Gibbs told SEN SA Sportsday.
“It’s been a long time, and over recent weeks another year of a lot of hype and a lot of hope if you’re a Carlton supporter, it just hasn’t quite hit its straps again.
“It’s following in a similar trend that happened for the best part of 20-30 years. It brings back a bit of Déjà vu when I was running around for them 10-15 years ago.
“It just seemed to be facing similar problems. Being a big club such as Carlton, as a player your job is to play and that’s all you’re really focusing on, but it is hard not to listen to a lot of things that happen in the footy club.
“Probably the biggest thing that stood out - a club as big as Carlton - having so many voices. You’ve got your leadership, your board members, your execs, then your footy department… when I was playing everyone seemed to want to have an opinion and want to make a decision on what’s right for the club, which way they want to go.
“It just seemed a little bit… no one seemed to be on the same page. I know certainly in most recent years they’ve tried to iron that out and stamp out all of that confusion.
“Whether they’ve got it right I’m not sure, but there seems to be something still not right at that footy club.
“Carlton supporters, I do feel for them. Over the last couple of years, they’ve got the talent in, they’ve gone and traded what they’ve needed to, and they just can’t quite put it together, and they’re staring at another year where they might not make finals, at a crossroads yet again.”
Within Gibbs’ 11 seasons at Carlton, the Blues finished with a positive win-loss record just twice, winning just two finals and failing to ever progress beyond the semi-finals under the supervision of CEO at the time, Greg Swann.
As the club prepares for a new era under decorated incoming CEO Graham Wright, Gibbs holds out hope that they will undertake a number of highly necessary changes, both on and off the field.
“When the higher hierarchy are making decisions on coaches and things off the field, those sorts of things are out of (the players’) control, and it can be a little bit frustrating,” he said.
“I just hope they can get it right; we know that Graham Wright is coming in sooner rather than later hopefully. He has a good track record, he’s been a good judge for a number of years, and he really just needs to go through everything – and no doubt he will.
“From a board point of view, from a footy department point of view, the senior coach, what the coaching looks around him, game plan, the list, and that culture piece, there’s plenty of things that he’ll need to go through and hopefully he can sink his teeth into it and make the right changes that they need to get back and playing good, consistent footy at the pointy end of the year.”
Despite the ongoing rumours surrounding the security of head coach Michael Voss, Gibbs believes the club should get behind him, making the necessary changes around the club to give Voss the best chance for success.
“I think ‘Vossy’ is a pretty good operator,” he continued.
“From what I’ve seen and from people that I’ve spoken to, I think they need to back him in. You still need the cattle to go out and execute that.
“It just refreshes my memory… do you remember when (Damien) ‘Dimma’ Hardwick at Richmond? He was at the crossroads and Richmond made a decision to stick with him.
“They changed some pieces around and got him the support he needed, and they went on to have the dynasty that they did. I sort of feel this could be a situation at Carlton.
“They just need to go through it with a fine-tooth comb, work out exactly what the underlying issues are. I think the list… that needs a lot of work. We all know there’s no quick fixes but I’d probably tinker with the list.
“I think he’s got the right tools as a coach, being a coach for the second time around as a senior coach, I reckon that’s held him in really good stead.
“He has had this group of players play some really good footy over the past couple of seasons.
“He’s still contracted; they are not going to make any decisions for the rest of the year I wouldn’t have thought.
“It could be a case of ‘he’s your man’, who else is out there potentially as well, there are some names like (John) Longmire and (Adam) Simpson and these guys who have got pretty good records as well.
“It could be a matter of backing your man in and fitting the right pieces around him to allow him to succeed.”
The under-fire Blues take on Port Adelaide at Adelaide Oval tonight in a bid to remain within touching distance of the top eight.
