6 hours ago
1
Carlton’s hierarchy says the Blues are aiming to make the top 10 and play finals after a post-season of significant change and a reset of the club’s playing list and football department.
Carlton chief executive Graham Wright and president Rob Priestley said there was no timeline for a decision on the future of senior coach Michael Voss, who is coming out of contract this year, but that they were looking for improvement across “all areas” of performance, rather than a specific benchmark in Voss’ fifth year at the helm.
Wright revealed, too, that the Blues were about to finalise a three-year list plan, and that they would have significant room in their salary cap following the exits of Charlie Curnow, Tom De Koning and Jack Silvagni. He said they were interested in pursuing free agents this year, despite the youth-focus.
Wright said while the Blues had invested heavily in the draft, their goal was to make the top 10 and play finals this year, and to win more games than they lost.
“You never know how quickly things can turn ... but then [we have] not put a ceiling on anything really,” Wright said.
“But, you know, we hope we’re in the top 10 this year. If we’re not aiming for that, I’m not sure why we’re here. So we’re not sitting back thinking, ‘We’ll be bottom four and that’ll help us’.”
In an interview with the club’s president and CEO to lay out their vision and plans, Priestley said the club would assess Voss on improvement in various facets of football.
“We’re a footy club so we want to win as many games as we can possibly win, but in terms of assessment moving forward, and it’s way too early yet, but we’ve made a lot of change,” he said.
“We’re fully behind Michael, he’s contracted through to 31 October. So, it’s, you know, about seeing improvement, and as a club getting better in all those areas that we’re focused on. That’s really what we’re focused on. Hopefully, on the back of that, we win a lot more games than we lose.”
Wright said the football program was not just about the senior coach. “It’s not just about one person ... there always is a hell of a lot of focus on just the coach, but [it is] how we’re getting better across our culture, leadership environment, everything we’re doing, how we’re getting better.
“And Michael and CD [new football boss Chris Davies] are the two that are leading that. We’ll have measurements in place along the way, but ... we haven’t set anything in stone where we said, ‘We want to be here at round whatever it might be.’
“We wanted to make sure Vossy has everything he possibly needs, and that we’re able to support him and be aligned in everything we’re doing on the way through, and we’ve had a regular catch-up.”
Wright added on Voss’ assessment: “We don’t have a time frame on it ... it’s more about what we’re working towards, as opposed to, there’s a set date or anything ... there’s a range of things, we want to see improvement across every aspect of the footy department.”
In laying out Carlton’s plans and progress after a post-season of change, Wright and Priestley also revealed:
*That the club had no plans to withdraw from its gaming operations and the pair had spoken multiple times with club gaming partner and outspoken billionaire club benefactor Bruce Mathieson snr.
“There’s no plans at the moment to change,” Priestley said of the club’s gaming operations, which have reaped millions in revenue for the Blues for years in partnership with Mathieson. “We’ve done a really good job over the last few years in becoming financially viable and having financial sustainability.”
Priestley said gaming was one of Carlton’s diversified revenue streams, alongside the new medical imaging centre, Carlton College of Sports, and Carlton in Business.
“So we talk to them [Mathieson’s gaming group] regularly. I talked to Bruce snr yesterday.”
*That the Carlton bosses had lobbied hard to have the changes to the father-son and academy bidding process – a change slated for this year’s draft – postponed, to allow the Blues and other clubs “runway” in list management.
Priestley and Wright had recently met with AFL bosses, including CEO Andrew Dillon and football boss Greg Swann, to lobby for a postponement of the rule. Priestley said he had also phoned then AFL chairman Richard Goyder to make their case.
Carlton will snare high draft prospect Cody Walker as a father-son, but, as Wright pointed out, they would pay a higher price than any club yet if the change is enacted. The AFL has not been swayed by Carlton and Port Adelaide’s pleas (Port having potential No.1 pick Dougie Cochrane) and plans to press ahead with the new rules.
Wright said he supported the changes to the draft bid rules, which will mean clubs can only use a maximum of two (higher) draft picks to pay for father-son or academy recruits. “We’re paying for three rule changes in three years, and it potentially looks like being us and Port Adelaide that are going to stump up way more than anyone else has had to. But also, too, we haven’t had benefit of the previous rules,” he said.
*That their three-year list plan was being finalised.
“It’ll be a three-year plan,” said Wright, adding that his experience suggested it might require another year to be added after 12 months. “We’ll be adding ’28 [2028] but we’ve had to look forward and say, ‘What does Tassie look like for us?’”
The Blues have snared high draft picks Jagga Smith and Harry Dean and will gain Walker after this year, but Wright confirmed that free agency was also on the agenda. They had hopes for other youngsters, such as debutant Talor Byrne, draftee Jack Ison, Matt Carroll and Cooper Lord. “We feel as though we will have scope to enter into free agency,” Wright said.
The Blues acknowledge that the bids for Walker would soak up picks – such as one gained for Charlie Curnow from the Swans – in a complication to 2026 trades.
*That club great and board member Greg “Diesel” Williams would retain his role as a part-time paid consultant with the football department.
Priestley said Williams had a passion for helping the club’s academy. “So there is a consultancy role for [him] in terms of the academy and some commercial functions, and different things that we pay him a small retainer for that. That’ll stay.”
*That the Blues had changed their game style, with new intellectual property, under Voss, in a revamped coaching team. Davies, the ex-Port Adelaide football boss, joined late last year, while Josh Fraser (Collingwood), Leigh Adams (North Melbourne) and Ash Close replaced Aaron Hamill, Aaron Greaves and Tom Lonergan, and ex-Port champion Travis Boak joined to help player leadership. The Blues also parted with recruiting manager Mick Agresta.
Wright said they had needed new IP and improved fundamentals. “We were 17th or 18th for kicking efficiency last year. But then the way we play is we’ve changed that up to a certain degree with new IP, and Michael’s led that, obviously.”
Keep up to date with the best AFL coverage in the country. Sign up for the Real Footy newsletter.
