AFL
3 months ago
Why David King isn't willing to be as critical of Carlton as their season spirals down the drain
By SEN
Carlton’s fall from grace in the last six weeks has been monumental. They’ve slipped from six points clear in second on the ladder after Round 16, to out of the top eight following Round 22.
In that stretch, they’ve beaten North Melbourne, blown a 39-point lead to GWS, blown a 31-point lead to Port Adelaide, lost to an understrength Bulldogs side, missed a shot after the siren to lose to Collingwood and now been blown out by Hawthorn.
Their injury list has blown out to near 18 players, headlined now by Charlie Curnow (ankle), Harry McKay (quad), Adam Saad (hamstring), Jack Martin (hamstring), Lachie Fogarty (shoulder) and Jordan Boyd (adductor) from the weekend.
These six join the likes of Tom De Koning, Adam Cerra, Matt Cottrell, Jack Silvagni, Sam Docherty, Caleb Marchbank and David Cuningham on the injury list.
David King believes the Blues’ season has been completely derailed by injuries, labelling it a fair reasoning for their horrific dip in form.
“Carlton have had so many injuries this year. They haven’t in the last six weeks been able to be the product that we all think they are,” King told SEN’s Whateley.
“Carlton fans are delusional, they really are. I know they were sitting second when they were reasonably healthy. Without Cerra, Cottrell, Cuningham, De Koning, Fantasia, Martin, Saad, Curnow, Boyd now. Docherty and Silvagni have been out for the year.
“Guys that are out there, Curnow’s banged up but he’s still fronting up and playing, you’re just not going to be the same product. What are you expecting from a team that’s probably batten down to player 30 on their list already? You don’t win flags with player 30 on your team.
“You can talk about (injuries) in isolation, but you can’t expect to keep up the level of performance you had sitting second on the table given those circumstances. I heard all of the callers off the top, ridiculous. How can you be blaming Vossy for this?
“The last six weeks, they’ve played the most players in the competition. 32 players they’ve played. They’ve only had 13 play every game.
“Some of those players who’ve played are the ones we’re talking about that are playing through injuries. You don’t win with player 30, 31, 32 against good sides, you just don’t. You’ve got to temper your expectations. Is it disappointing they’re here, absolutely.
“In hindsight when you look back you’ll say, ‘you know what jeez we were banged up’. In 2025, this time next year, we’ll be saying we learnt some tough lessons last year.”
However, King believes Carlton needs more from their key players in 2025 if they are to be a consistently competitive side.
“You’ve had some elite performances; Patty Cripps has been terrific,” he said.
“Curnow for the bulk of the year has been unbelievable. I still think you need more out of your backline players. Some of your stars down there don’t do enough for the team, they’re great for themselves but don’t do enough for the team.
“You need a better year next year out of McGovern, Saad. Weitering’s got to go absolutely next level, and I’ve been hard on that.
“(Weitering’s) not an All-Australian defender this year, he’s not. If they put him in, then they got it wrong. Jeremy McGovern has had twice the year that Weitering’s had.
“Stop picking the guys that are most likely to be injured halfway through the second quarter. You can’t play Jack Martin, you just can’t play Fantasia. You just have the same discussion each time, ‘oh he’s unlucky’. Just move them on, you’ve just got to move past those guys and at least get some continuity in the team.
“They may not be an eight out of ten player; they may be a seven and half out of ten player, but they’re there every week. There’s a big difference between having a settled line-up that share the experience of playing together, they learn how each other player. Cohesion is such a key piece in obtaining success, you can’t have players coming in and out of your team.
“Every team that has injuries, runs aground – every team. The injury ladder reads the same as the AFL premiership ladder usually.
“You can argue it, you can be disappointed with the performance, you can be disappointed with the effort levels. I wouldn’t play Jesse Motlop for the rest of the year. His refusal to chase when the players are literally around him, I’d make a statement.
“I don’t care if we are down to player 33 on our list this week, if you refuse to do what we say are the non-negotiables then you don’t pull on the jumper.”
Carlton finishes the season with West Coast in Perth and St Kilda. Two wins could still see them finish inside the top eight if one of the teams above them slip up.
