Sadly I suspect a lot of our issues revolve around on field/playing group leadership and everyone else will once again carry the can. Crippa is as dedicated as anyone but what sort of leaders do we have? Everything I hear revolves around conciliation, connection and "sticking fat". But is there accountability and challenge when required? You can't just wrap your arms around people when they continually make the same errors. The players are not there as a support group. They are playing elite sport that comes with responsibility.

The list? Yes our list has holes and the game has evolved significantly this season, but we've dominated games this year for quarters or halves, just rarely 4 quarters. When momentum goes against our players, they don't appear to have the resilience to stop it. Is it preparation by the coaches tactically and psychologically? Winning 11 of 15 first quarters suggests not to me. Outscoring the opposition 52.46 to 37.33 in first quarters suggests not.
So our game style can dominate games but not for 4 quarters. It would suggest the answer lies somewhere between concentration, fitness, resilience or leadership.

If it's coaching or strategy. You'd suggest teams would know our weaknesses and have our measure from the start of games. Everyone would know our tactical inability, train it during the week and take advantage. But that rarely happens. We're the team that dominates early in games.
Others say our players don't have the skill to connect with our forward 50 or to convert on the scoreboard. Yet last year, this playing group (with minimal changes) was the 4th highest scoring team of the year. If we'd scored 1 more point per game, we'd have been number 2 scoring team in the AFL!
How does the team that is largely the same drop off so much? You don't lose your skill overnight.

The calls for board change are also nonsense IMHO. The board is there to appoint quality people, stay out of their way and to provide quality governance. Financially the club is the healthiest it has been for 30 years. The board employed a man recognised as one of the greatest CEO's in the history of our game. (Cook). He rubber stamped the appointment of Voss and the board ratified the decision. Thats the way it should be. Stay out of it and let your people do their job.

Tactically I believe the coaches have done a reasonable job. We were being flogged with ball movement in 2023 so we adapted and became one of the best in the AFL. We were a high scoring team in 2024 but we leaked goals so we adapted. Our defending, defensive transition etc have improved markedly.
So is the answer the inability of the coaches to find a balance between strengths and weaknesses or the players inability to adapt?
It has to be one or the other. Statistics suggest the coaches know the mechanisms and strategies to change game styles as required. It's a matter of whether we are chasing the pack retrospectively or perhaps the players can't reconcile it themselves during games.

IMHO, the answer lies majorly with the playing group. The coaches are not there to hold their hands during games and provide them with answers mid quarter. They are full time athletes. They would attend more meetings and lectures than they care for. Training is designed to build instinct through repetition. They know what to do strategically.
But do the players truly demand a response from themselves and each other when required?
When Cripps is being flogged in the centre square or refusing to run defensively, do any of his team mates say "that's no where near good enough, get out of the middle and give someone else a go"?

Does anyone tell Weitering that when he drops off Taylor Walker at defensive 50 and watches Walker put it over his head for a goal that he's not doing his job properly?

It's interesting that people are talking about players who give 100% no matter the state of the game. Ot those who give a shit, demand better and show leadership and resilience when it counts. Defenders who defend like their life depends on it. (Haynes, Newman, Silvagni).
Forwards who sacrifice for others. Block opposition defenders so their team mates can win the contest instead of them (Fogarty, Williams)
Midfielders who work hard both ways and will sacrifice their own game to stop an opposition player at the expense of their own game (Hewett). Is it coincidence that apart from Silvagni, they all learnt what it takes to be a team player, at other clubs?

IMHO, we have the majority of the talent required. We have mostly good coaches. We need better standards, expectations and resilience from those who lead the playing group on field. I think it was Bondiblue who recently said something along the lines of, "if you can't change the people, change the people".

What if our players just can't play the 'contested game plan' for 4 quarters and hence why dominate early in games, or deep down, they believe they will get run over by the opposition as the game progresses, hence why you see them give up in the 2nd half, as they have nothing left to offer?
What if the players have approached the coaching group to modify the system but nothing is being changed?

Just a thought / consideration from the player's side.

Maybe. But it's interesting we can go on consecutive runs of 8-9 games dominating in recent seasons playing a contested game plan but can't physically put together more than 2 quarters now.

Money yields power
And many people bend over backwards for it
Kiss arse for it
Call it whatever
It’s a sad fact of life
It worked at VFL level 40 years ago
But in the last 25 years it simply doesn’t mean success at AFL level
An example of how it effects the way the team’s performance
Malthouse wanted Carrazzo as captain but he was told Murphy will captain
This despite Malthouse coaching a premier where not necessarily the best player was captain in Nick Maxwell
Carrazzo would have made a better captain than Murphy but he was overridden from above
Who should make the decision on who is captain
Clearly the coach particularly one with first hand experience but no Murphy was the better player
Better marketing
Number one draft pick
Blah blah
Having the right leader on the field is vital to success
Murphy was an ordinary captain
So is Cripps
He ain’t hard enough on his own teammates
It’s all about the image of the club being maintained at the expense of making sure every inch is covered for success on field
Have a look at how the club views violence against women
They trott out games to promote the anti-violence message against domestic violence yet are happy to take a profit of a few million each year from poker machines
To keep Bruce happy
And what is one of the major reasons for domestic violence
You guessed it
Problem gambling
Money rules
You might not see it in a workplace directly but if there is a level of hypocrisy of any sort and money is the main objective then it seeps through any organization
And the powers will be good at telling us supporters it’s all ok when the shit hits the fan like it has the last 2 weeks and provide a staged media conference telling us all that it is going to be sorted

Thanks no.8 .
I feel like if the likes of Malthouse, Pagan and Voss find it difficult to stare down the back room powerbrokers (who are pulling the levers at the Board), we have an extremely difficult problem to fix!
I’m an optimist, so hopefully as we have become more financially independent of those powerbrokers, we can appoint more independently minded Board members, who will then allow the key leaders make the decisions they believe are required, against which they can be held accountable. (Assuming, of course, we haven’t built our financial strength on the back of ongoing contributions by those powerbrokers!).
Having said that, everyone loves a winner so hopefully, Wright can make the correct calls, manage the right people in the background, and that produces good results which everyone can get behind. Hopefully…

RIP Carlton.

It’s done.

We are somehow further away from success than at any point this century.

Very little real actual young talent coming through.

No draft picks

Aging overpaid “stars”

No leaders

Clueless coaches

Even more clueless board

Awful football staff department.

Smelly smelly brand.

Essendon* cheated, simple as that