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Whateley: The three possibilities of what's going wrong at Carlton
Gerard Whateley • June 23rd, 2025 1:48 pm
For eight years together we have ridden the bust-bust cycles at Carlton with a brief and highly enjoyable period of boom.
The first thing to say about Saturday is there was going to be a moment when North Melbourne stood up to the Blues and said, 'No more', and that would be the most significant moment in Alastair Clarkson’s tenure thus far.
That was anticipated to be Good Friday which was what made that capitulation all the more disappointing.
But after the catastrophising, North put together a credible period entailing a couple of wins, a draw and mostly meritorious defeats.
Until they returned to the Carlton quest and prevailed.
From a North perspective, it was a shame they made a mess of defending a big lead rather than running the game right out and getting the full adrenalin charge of a 10-goal victory.
But while it might have diminished the euphoria it doesn’t dull the accomplishment.
There’s a lot of history between North Melbourne and Carlton that plays to class and wealth and sneering arrogance… so I’d imagine for Kangaroos supporters of a certain age this was a particularly sweet moment.
And all the more exposing when viewed from a Carlton perspective.
Most of the contemplations surrounding the Blues were drawn at three-quarter time.
For two quarters they had been bullied, conceding 12 goals to 3 and falling to a 46-point deficit.
We had witnessed a collapse of hope and belief.
My overriding thought was: What are the implications if North Melbourne just went straight past Carlton for real, not just for a day?
And had that continued unabated, everything was in play.
The Blues confound me to a degree… maybe more than they should.
What were they doing at the start of the game?
Before them was a team they have lauded over… a team they have feasted on… a team they have run up big scores against en route to big victories.
But rather than use it as a chance to reinvigorate and get the scoring endorphins flowing Carlton came out determined to play slow always looking backward rather than for the chance to attack.
It made no sense and it was nonsense. So deliberate and so misguided.
Give up field position in search of the switch and refuse to put any pace on the game.
It looked predetermined and trained… but with this Carlton team, it’s hard to tell.
What it did was invite North Melbourne into the game.
Rather than pick up where they’d left off on Good Friday they brought a stodgy plan against their bunny.
This was a long-term miscalculation writ large… it’s the one thing I’ve believed for a couple of years.
Carlton has traded away too much of its natural dare and attack in search of defence… and it doesn’t suit them.
Now all remnants of that glorious, madcap, popcorn footy are gone.
And they are left with this… boring, unimaginative and completely unthreatening. Waiting for a young, hungry and audacious team to pass them by.
That happened in the middle two quarters and by the final change the Carlton nation was burning.
Had it continued the pledges to stability would have looked like the worship of false idols.
Whatever it is Michael Voss is asking for he wasn’t getting so he went berserk at the final huddle.
That prompted Carlton to play in a manner that they should… with intent, with angles, with purpose.
It confused the whole picture. That should be Carlton. Why isn’t it?
This is Voss’ question to answer and he conceded to frustration that the plan should be further advanced in the fourth year.
The coach had to move from the “that’s not us” rhetoric to “the gap is too big between our best and our worst”.
Their bad is awful… the trouble is their good is not very good any more. There are three possibilities… and more than one thing can be true at the same time.
The list is completely ill-equipped for success in the current game.
The coaching group is unable to embed a mode of play that will succeed in the current game.
There’s something in the walls.
At three-quarter time on Saturday, I had to extinguish the candle I was holding for Carlton.
You can only wish and hope and think and pray for so long in the face of overwhelming evidence.
It’s not the first time we’ve said it and it’s been true all year and it’s the worst diagnosis there is in footy. The Blues just aren’t any good.
What’s the next plan at Carlton?
Sacking a coach as an act of retribution isn’t part of the culture any more… that’s the domain of talkback radio.
I suspect we’ll hear all the destructive qualities… and they’ll make me think of Tottenham Hotspur.
What they need at Carlton is a constructive plan to break these vicious bust-bust cycles and restore that brief and glorious glimpse of boom.
And that has so far eluded some of the best minds and greatest coaches in the game.
