Opinion Has this Carlton list already peaked?

Has this Carlton list already peaked?

  • Yes

    Votes: 9 64.3%

  • No

    Votes: 5 35.7%
  • Total voters
    14

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GC2015

GC2015

Norm Smith Medallist
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May 27, 2013
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AFL Club
Gold Coast
Carlton's spine is interesting. New recruit Nick Haynes is turning 33 next year. Cripps is turning 30 in a few months and McGovern is already 30. Hewett is turning 29 next month. Curnow will be 28 before the start of next season. Weitering and McKay will both be 27 before the end of this year. Lewis Young is turning 26 next month, as is Adam Cerra next year. Sam Walsh is turning 25 next year. Depending on who you want in the ruck, Pittonet is turning 29 next year and Tom De Koning is turning 26. They're essentially all in their peak years right now, with Sam Walsh being arguably a year or two away from his peak. It's worth mentioning other best 22 players like Sam Docherty (31), Nic Newman (31), Adam Saad (30), Zac Williams (30) and Blake Acres (29) are arguably in or past their peak years as well.

Carlton seemingly took a step backwards in 2024 and barely qualified for the finals. So, does it get any better for Carlton from here or did they peak in 2023 when they made a run to the preliminaly final?
 

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I think theyve got 2 years. Once players start to retire theyre going to need free agency and trade ins to stay in the hunt for a premiership.
Clubs like the Pies and Cats did it despite being old, and the blues do have a bunch of good players in that mid to late 20s bracket that wont fall off just yet, but there really isnt enough to replace the guys who are already past 30 in the pipeline imo.

Theyve probably copped a few too many injuries to make full use of their list. Losing some of their depth this year doesnt help either, Kennedy, Carroll, Owies etc may hurt if they keep getting those injuries

I think they went too hard to get pick 3, theyve got nothing in the draft next year and the Camporeale twins arent that highly rated, theyre expected to be picks 40+ or something.
 
Made the prelim final last year.

We were in genuine premiership contention this year until injuries hit and it all went **** up. The OP mentioned 14 players (I am ignoring Pittonet and Young who are backups). Of those 14, by the end of the season 8 were out injured, and 2 others were playing when they probably shouldn't. Still made the finals and ended up within 5 goals of the eventual premiers on the road.

Yep, the list is probably 'peaking' and is probably slightly off the pace. But still miles ahead of where we were before, and I think the reason for optimism is there seems to be a much better sense of long-term thinking over the past 3 years. Having Brian Cook from Geelong has no doubt helped that but there feels a lot more stability and a goal of being competitive (if not dominant) for a long run.

As such, we have a list undergoing a mini transition. We will bring in pick 3 and two F/S prospects and hopefully add some long term stability to the midfield (Walsh and Cerra were weirdly listed in the OP with next year's age but are still 24 and 25). If pick 3 is good, along with TDK/Curnow/McKay/Weitering that is a core that will be good for 5 years, and then we can ideally play the Geelong game (as big contracts come off the salary cap year after year we have flexibility to add good free agents etc).

So hopefully we are set to hang around the mark for the next 5-6 years at least. If everything pans out then maybe we pinch a premiership. If it doesn't, still a decade far better than the previous two.
 
I mean who knows but you'd say they're in their windows at least the next two years. They seem to have a ton if class and they're trying a few things to improve, they're not drifting like the poor old Saints.

Footy is full of luck and chances an circumstances, they might jag a flag or come 10th, but you'd feel pretty confident they play finals.
 
Their list demographic is what you want if you're going to win a flag in the next 2 years.
They need to perform better but its not like they are too old. They would be counting on improved injury management to make up the difference between where they were this year and where they want to be.

Their best 5 players are still in their absolute primes. So even if a few of the support cast were to fall away, well its a lot easier to replace support cast than it is to replace your stars.
 
No I think we are in an era now where “peak” gets pushed back 2!62-4: or so, or maybe more extended.

Geelong, Pies & Brisbane have all had a huge chunk of players (Geelong more so) who won a flag well past their so called peak but were still out performing everyone.

Compare Neale to Cripps, and Zorko to say Docherty - yes there is differences etc but I guess the point is that the feared “30” is not the cut off it used to be if you’re a good player.

If you’re rubbish? Sure, delist time. But if you’re good & in a flag side, 30 is a meaningless number. I’d be looking at 32 now before starting to cut players down.

My problem with Carlton is their coach. Don’t rate Voss. I think fully fit their list is good enough & if they got the right match ups on prelim & GF day (non Vic teams) the momentum and adrenaline of the crowd could get them home. But I don’t rate Voss as a tactician
 
Geez I hope not, but I’ve asked myself this question in some of my darker moments in 2024.

My feeling is that we’ll see significant improvement next season with a better high performance set up. Every team has injuries, but we’ve consistently been one of the worst in the league. If we can manage a league average injury run it could make a massive difference.

I guess my next point is slightly off topic, but I think the Carlton list will peak 4-5 years from now. We’ve got pick 3 coming in this year who will hopefully be an elite mid and Cody Walker in 2026 who is meant to be a top 5 prospect. If our current core can maintain/improve their level of performance while the younger brigade develop, we could see our window extend further than expected. Hopefully we’ll also see some high quality free agent pick ups over the next years.
 
stallon said:
I think theyve got 2 years. Once players start to retire theyre going to need free agency and trade ins to stay in the hunt for a premiership.
Clubs like the Pies and Cats did it despite being old, and the blues do have a bunch of good players in that mid to late 20s bracket that wont fall off just yet, but there really isnt enough to replace the guys who are already past 30 in the pipeline imo.

Theyve probably copped a few too many injuries to make full use of their list. Losing some of their depth this year doesnt help either, Kennedy, Carroll, Owies etc may hurt if they keep getting those injuries

I think they went too hard to get pick 3, theyve got nothing in the draft next year and the Camporeale twins arent that highly rated, theyre expected to be picks 40+ or something.
Click to expand...
I thought they would be all in on bringing in a player to maximise their shot at winning a flag over the next two years.

Houston’s great but i don’t think he’s a need with their half backs. Bolton would have been amazing for them but he was set to go back to WA. Barrass probably another good fit and I would have thought they would have gone hard at him.

Their list movements this year indicate the club believes the list is ready to contend for a flag.

For them to do so they need to have a healthy list, with their key backs, hard running link men and small forwards all over performing.
 
I voted yes because it's Carlton...

But I said the same thing about the Brisbane Lions have peaked the previous year, what I will say is the next couple of years for Carlton are crucial cannot afford to have another making up the number's finals campaign.

In reality they still have a chance to get to the top.
 

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Voted no but it's actually yes. They've peaked and a top 8 finish is the best they can do. They need a top 4 finish with a shot at the flag though but there's not much evidence to show they can reach top 4.
 

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Opinion Has this Carlton list already peaked?

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