No More Knee-Jerk Reactions Please!
Carlton has been in the front of minds and voices these past days since the match last Thursday night, in a game they should have won. Commentators and “”supporters”” alike have likened this round one (yes, round one) defeat as the worst in the club’s history; a bit over the top, to be honest. I have listened and read from “”supporters”” that in 2025, Carlton is doomed. Again, a bit over the top, to be honest. To reiterate again, it is round one!
But let’s take a step back a bit. Sure, Carlton has been yo-yo-ing their seasons since the debacle of the salary cap issue. Since then, we have gone through not one, not two, not even three or four, but five, yes, five coaches. Yet some expect, nay, insist that the club becomes once more the arrogant-led one that got them down the path which set them back not one pace, but long, long steps backwards to try and regain its once successful path. The question I have and will continue to have and also state is that no club, organization or group of people will ever, ever attain any success if they keep on changing a coach or a leader every time things don’t go the way that others want.
Let’s state categorically that the team did not play a game that they had hoped they would play to secure the win. They did not apply pressure, and it seemed they were one step behind the game. This did not happen towards the end of the season but in round one! But that does not mean, nor should it, that the club needs another knee-jerk reaction to get rid of the coach and coaches. This is not and never will be how you set yourself up for any resemblance of success. Yes, I know we have been waiting a long time, but no other club has gone through what Carlton has gone through since its 1995 Premiership. I know we are frustrated and impatient to be once more on top, but it won’t happen unless we are consistent and stable across the entire club after the instability and unstable organization of having five coaches in ten years.
But let’s go a bit further. In season 2024, Brisbane Lions were after six games, four losses, and two wins. They were deemed to be no close to winning a final, even a Grand Final, before the major bye round. Then everything changed, and we saw what happened at the climax of the season, a major thrashing of Sydney in the Grand Final.
So far this year, in the Opening Round, Collingwood got thrashed against a very dynamic GWS. Commentators and supporters loaded negatively on their effort with comments such as “too old”, “not physical enough” and that there were questions about them as a team. Sigh! Now, in round one, they, being the commentators and supporters, have labelled them as being one of the teams to beat! The fickleness of both commentators and “supporters” serves a narrative that tries to make these people relevant and knowledgeable. I would have more respect for any commentator or supporter if they said, ‘It’s only early days yet; let’s not get ahead of ourselves’. This must and should be applied to Carlton.
We played a very poor game against a team that we should have, in theory, thrashed. We did not. I do believe, and I don’t care if others say I have “rose-coloured” glasses on, we will get better. It may be a slow progression, but all that matters in the long-term of a long season is that we finish in the top 8. It has been proven by the Brisbane Lions and even Western Bulldogs in 2016 who finished seventh, that wining a Grand Final is possible no matter where you finish in the top eight. Sure, it is a slog to get to the Grand Final and ultimately win it, but it has been proven that it is possible if the team’s mindset switches to the point of determination to succeed no matter what or where they end up at the end of the season. Sometimes, a shock to the system can make a team and players so much better in the long term. The white noise from the outside world of the club is just that, white noise.
So, I will keep my “rose-coloured” glasses on for two reasons. One, it is only round one, and two—I do believe that at the end of the season, the calamity that Carlton started with will fade into the start of the climb to ultimate success. As long as there are no more knee-jerk reactions.
SPORTZ 