robblues17 wrote:
If the past hadnt happened would Pratt by around in the same vein as he is now? Its a tough one to weigh up
Pratt has always been a very big contributor for Carlton (mainly financially), thought the good times and the bad. If you are asking if rorting the system was worth it for the past 5 or so years - I look at it this way...
Carlton won the 95 GF with players that were involved in the salary rorting, the last triumph of the old, old administration - but to win the spoon, even once it wasn't worth it.
The years of heckles and, more gratingly - reading hundreds of articles written by shithouse journos kicking a team that was once so powerful nobody could hardly write a bad word about them... the media world has been waiting for over a hundred years for Carlton to fall - so had the Pies, Dons, and other opposition supporters... even Richmond fans (many of who wouldn't understand the conceot of success) were digging the heels in!!!
But one of the major changes that has brought the team to life was the understanding that every team, no matter who - has to drop eventually... then use the draft system that was created for these teams, and build their way back to the top again. Too many years we recycled, topped-up, drafted a few late pick gems and won another GF. No other team (Essendon* comes close) has done this better than us.
But these days that won't cut it, rehashing the team isn't even working for the Dons anymore - so, in light of Black Friday and the sanctions and penalties - Carlton has gotten with the program, done the time in purgatory and is now well on the way to being a force again. Pratt can either be credited with saving the club, accellerating the process - or both.
I guess the real question in relation to the above is, where would Carlton be if we HADN'T been caught and penalised???