2010 AFL Season Preview - Carlton

By Allblack
It is hard to pretend this isn’t the review I have been most looking forward to. Carlton has lost their most important player in a move they really had no choice about. The message sent to the list obviously hadn’t got through during a preseason filled with misdemeanours. Where does this leave them?

Their backline is not top 8 standard. Waite I would expect to play down back a fair bit this year but he will also be needed up forward as well. He is a very good player when fit. Thornton is hard to judge as he always went alright against us but he is still undersized and not coming off a stellar season. Jamison is held in high regard down at Carlton and should develop further this year. It gets pretty skinny after that. O’hAilpin started to play up forward last year but suspect he will be sent back again and still is an average performer. They found a reasonable running backman last year in Armfield but his skills aren’t yet AFL standard. Carrazzo will play down back more and should see a bit of the ball along with Scotland who is on his last legs. They will be hoping for a full 22 games from Walker and that he finally has his body right. Houlihan plays the role off half back but there is always a question mark over his attack on the footy.

Their midfield is good. Judd, Murphy and Gibbs are all class acts. Murphy and Gibbs should be better players again this year. Judd is still the best midfielder in the competition when his body lets him. The addition of Brock Mclean to do the grunt work wont hurt at all and should free Judd up a little. Joseph did well last year in the run with role and another year in the system will improve him. They don’t have great depth in the midfield when you go down to the next rung being players like Grigg, Hadley and Simpson (who I understand some people rate highly but I am not really one of those). They will need Judd, Murphy, Gibbs and McLean to have relatively injury free years but then most teams drop away after their first three or four. They will miss Stevens even though he was dropped last year.

The forward line is going to be a struggle. Losing Fevola who kicked 89 goals last year would hurt any team but seeing who they have to replace him has to be a worry. Henderson is a good kid but still young and not in the same postcode as Fevola in terms of talent. Betts is going to find it harder without a forward the quality of Fevola to crumb off. I think Kruezer will play more forward this season and will certainly help if he does but they don’t have a good enough ruck department to send him forward permanently. Fisher gets another year after losing Fevola and Wiggins is still floating around with Russell after showing some reasonable touch in periods last year. They will expect Yarran to step up this year but we don’t really know where his head is at. Garlett and Robinson are young and will be around the mark for depth.

The ruck department has potential. Warnock looked a talented kid for Freo but playing second fiddle to Sandilands makes life a little easier. Kruezer is needed elsewhere but may find himself at first ruck for a lot of this year. Hampson is a plodder (I could be under rating him but he doesn’t impress me) but at least provides depth.

The coach is still a little bit of an unknown quantity. He doesn’t seem to show great tactical nous and the behaviour we have seen in the offseason may ten to reflect he is too close to the playing group.

They are not as simple to measure as some might imagine as they have the potential to be flat track bullies and beat the teams with weaker midfields pretty comfortably. The loss of Fev though is just too big for me and no longer allows them to cover up their deficiences elsewhere. I think they will drop out of the 8 and will sit somewhere around the 10-11 mark.

Click Here for the BomberBlitz.com Forum Thread

Posted 27 January 10 in Important Articles