I don't think SOS is a problem. he's turning over the list, i think he's neglected pace and delisting a few of our faster guys at the end of last season like Buckley has left a hole.

development is the concern.

as of right now, SPS, Weitering, McKay, and a handful of others either haven't come along, or have taken a step or two backwards from their rookie years. and that is alarm bells. whether it's bolton's coaching, or the line coaches and development strategy, if it's not fixed soon, we'll lose another whole generation of high picks to mediocrity.

Weitering is struggling but I'm not sure of the others. SPS is up on last years kicks, handballs, marks and is impacting games with greater consistency. McKay has put on a bit of size and started to get his body right. Who are the handful of others you're talking about?
Fisher has improved significantly. Charlie has improved enormously. Marchbank has improved significantly. Cuningham looks to have improved significantly. Williamson would be a walk up start if fit, Kym LeBois is having a more consistent impact in the VFL and Macreadie is defending well in the VFL.
I'm seeing quite a number of players who have improved.

As for Dylan Buckley, please. He's a sub -standard AFL player. Suggesting his delisting is a mistake is drawing a long bow IMO. Its no point having pace if you cant get the ball or cant impact contests. Buckley is in his 7th year in the AFL. He's not up to it.

A constant selection. Obviously Bolton and the MC rate him and I'd suggest they know far more than you or I.

More than half the list should be midfielders or capable of playing midfield.
In a list of 44 . At least 22 should be mids

Sent from my SM-G900I using Tapatalk

Let’s face facts, whatever list management decisions Carlton makes it is going to be a 3rd tier team for some while. I don’t watch the NRL but at least their games are much more unpredictable.

The AFL should stop worrying about gender fluidity, refugees, religious minorities and being social justice warriors and worry about why the game is made up of 3 tier teams as early as 4 matches into the season.

1st tier- Sydney (year after year and never in a “rebuild”), GWS, Richmond etc teams competing for flag

Btw Why does Sydney never need to rebuild? Are the AFL’s equalising measures really working?

2nd tier- generally competitive against most teams and perhaps building for 1st tier eg Port

3rd tier- teams that have no hope of victory against 1st and 2nd tier teams for 90% of time eg Carlton, Brisbane, Gold Coast

Why are these teams cellar dwellers year after year? Is it all due to poor list management decisions or is there something structurally wrong with AFL?

Do good players want to get out of these clubs ASAP? Free agency? Is the draft really an equalising mechanism?

NRL = unpredictable by 30% more where underdogs win
AFL = does anyone really want to tip Carlton against West Coast? Or Brisbane vs Geelong? We know the results of these matches before they are played.

The game has a problem. Results are easy to pick. Carlton nailing one draft pick per year isn’t going to fix anything.

In an entertainment business you need unpredictability. At least 2 to 3 matches each weekend are highly predictable in terms of the result. The AFL should focus on this.

So you picked Richmond and the Bulldogs to win flags the last 2 years? Nothing predictable in that.
Someone has to be bottom and because of a ineptitude the last 5 years its us. Agree 1 draft pick doesn't do anything and PP should come back for any side finishing 2-3 years in a row finishing bottom 3 etc.

this is now getting really weird....