CARLTON
The, now, not so mighty Blues go into a new season with many question marks. There are uncertainties about the tenure of the coach, the tenure of the current Board, the relationship of the coach with the Board, and the relationship of
the coach with the recruiting/football department. These symptoms would indicate that there are "red lights" flashing at Princes Park, or whatever it is called now.
Dennis Pagan remains coach. He is assisted by respected former footballers in Craig Bradley, Gavin Crosisca, Terry Daniher, Gary Dempsey, Tony Liberatore & Barry Mitchell.
The The List, fig.1, names 43 players on the Carlton list. Unless I've made an error, that's one less than the normal 44. Of the list, 23 of the 43, 53% are 190 cm or taller.
This is an improvement on last season's 60% of the list being 190cm plus, but still far too many.
Also, 19 of the 43, 44%, of the Carlton list is under 21yo. Indications are that this team will take a battering until the height and age proportions of the list become more normal.
The Spread, fig.2, indicates clearly that there are too many tall players on the list.
One can clearly see that Carlton could drop off 7 of its taller players and take on 7 smaller, speedier players.
Positional Depth, fig.3, indicates potential holes that can occur during a season, due to injuries, suspensions & "out of forms". Clearly Carlton lacks enough smaller running types to cover its flanks, both in defense and attack.
The lack of running smalls in defense, pushes Stevens, Teague & Carrazzo into positions that they are not quite suited to play.
The listed six ruckmen indicate that the losses of French, Bryan & Deluca were overstated, and the recruitment of Ackland & Cloke might have been wasted opportunities.
Conclusion
Indications are that the Carlton list is out of balance. It has far too many talls and is lacking for enough speedy midfielders & flankers. The team is very young, top heavy, and slow.
During 2007, many may have thought that Carlton may have been playing "fox" to pick up some early draft picks. When understanding the spread of the Carlton list, one realises that the performance reflected those imbalances.
Mind you, the distribution of the list has improved from last year. There are more smaller faster players than in 2006. For that reason, only, there may be marginal improvement for Carlton in 2007.
The, now, not so mighty Blues go into a new season with many question marks. There are uncertainties about the tenure of the coach, the tenure of the current Board, the relationship of the coach with the Board, and the relationship of
the coach with the recruiting/football department. These symptoms would indicate that there are "red lights" flashing at Princes Park, or whatever it is called now.
Dennis Pagan remains coach. He is assisted by respected former footballers in Craig Bradley, Gavin Crosisca, Terry Daniher, Gary Dempsey, Tony Liberatore & Barry Mitchell.
| Fig.1 - The List | |||||
| Aisake O'Hailpin | 201 | 86 | 21 | rookie | |
| Shaun Hampson | 201 | 93 | 18 | new | |
| Sam Jacobs | 200 | 101 | 18 | new | rookie |
| Setanta O'Hailpin | 199 | 96 | 24 | ||
| Cain Ackland | 196 | 96 | 25 | new | |
| Dylan McLaren | 196 | 98 | 24 | ||
| Cameron Cloke | 195 | 98 | 22 | new | |
| Adam Hartlett | 195 | 88 | 20 | ||
| Josh Kennedy | 195 | 93 | 19 | ||
| Jason Saddington | 194 | 93 | 27 | ||
| Jarrad Waite | 194 | 93 | 24 | ||
| Mark Austin | 194 | 88 | 17 | new | |
| Bret Thornton | 193 | 95 | 23 | ||
| Michael Jamison | 193 | 87 | 20 | new | rookie |
| Lance Whitnall | 192 | 100 | 27 | ||
| Brad Fisher | 192 | 82 | 22 | ||
| Paul Bower | 192 | 87 | 19 | ||
| Jake Edwards | 192 | 82 | 19 | ||
| Anthony Koutoufides | 191 | 98 | 34 | ||
| Brendan Fevola | 191 | 100 | 26 | ||
| Anthony Raso | 191 | 75 | 19 | ||
| Jordan Bannister | 190 | 88 | 24 | ||
| Shaun Grigg | 190 | 79 | 18 | new | |
| Andrew Walker | 189 | 85 | 20 | ||
| Craig Flint | 189 | 80 | 19 | ||
| Clinton Benjamin | 189 | 81 | 18 | new | |
| Jordan Russell | 188 | 77 | 26 | ||
| Joseph Anderson | 188 | 81 | 18 | new | |
| Ryan Houlihan | 187 | 84 | 25 | ||
| Simon Wiggins | 187 | 88 | 24 | ||
| Andrew Carrazzo | 187 | 88 | 23 | ||
| Bryce Gibbs | 187 | 78 | 17 | new | |
| David Teague | 186 | 90 | 25 | ||
| Adam Bentick | 184 | 83 | 21 | ||
| Ryan Jackson | 183 | 84 | 19 | rookie | |
| Matthew Lappin | 182 | 77 | 31 | ||
| Nick Stevens | 182 | 85 | 27 | ||
| Heath Scotland | 182 | 85 | 26 | ||
| Kade Simpson | 182 | 76 | 22 | ||
| Marc Murphy | 179 | 75 | 19 | ||
| Ross Young | 178 | 76 | 23 | new | rookie |
| Luke Blackwell | 177 | 70 | 20 | ||
| Eddie Betts | 173 | 75 | 20 |
This is an improvement on last season's 60% of the list being 190cm plus, but still far too many.
Also, 19 of the 43, 44%, of the Carlton list is under 21yo. Indications are that this team will take a battering until the height and age proportions of the list become more normal.
| Fig.2 - The Spread | |||||||
| <175 | 175-179 | 180-184 | 185-189 | 190-194 | 195-199 | 200+ | |
| 28+ | Lappin 182 31 M | Koutoufides 191 34 U | |||||
| 25-27 | Stevens 182 27 M | Russell 188 26 M | Whitnall 192 27 U | Ackland 196 25 R | |||
| Scotland 182 26 M | Houlihan 187 25 F | Saddington 194 27 D | |||||
| Teague 186 25 D | Fevola 191 26 F | ||||||
| 22-24 | Young 178 23 M | Wiggins 187 24 D | Bannister 190 24 U | McLaren 196 24 R | |||
| Carrazzo 187 23 D | Waite 194 24 F | S.O'Hailpin 199 24 R | |||||
| Simpson 182 22 M | Thornton 193 23 D | Cloke 195 22 F | |||||
| Fisher 192 22 U | |||||||
| 18-21 | Betts 173 25 F | Blackwell 177 20 M | Bentick 184 21 M | Walker 189 20 M | Jamison 193 20 D | Hartlett 195 20 F | A.O'Hailpin 201 21 R |
| Murphy 179 19 M | Jackson 183 19 M | Flint 189 19 D | Bower 192 19 D | Kennedy 195 19 F | Hampson 201 18 R | ||
| Anderson 188 19 M | Raso 191 19 U | Jacobs 200 18 R | |||||
| Benjamin 189 18 D | Edwards 192 19 F | ||||||
| Gibbs 187 17 M | Grigg 190 18 M | ||||||
| -18 | Austin 194 17 D |
One can clearly see that Carlton could drop off 7 of its taller players and take on 7 smaller, speedier players.
| Fig.3 - Positional Depth | |||
| B: | Teague 186 25 D | Thornton 193 23 D | Bannister 190 24 U |
| Carrazzo 187 23 D | Jamison 193 20 D | Flint 189 19 D | |
| HB: | Wiggins 187 24 D | Whitnall 192 27 U | Stevens 182 27 M |
| Benjamin 189 18 D | Saddington 194 27 D | ||
| Bower 192 19 D | |||
| Austin 194 17 D | |||
| C: | Koutoufides 191 34 U | Scotland 182 26 M | Russell 188 26 M |
| Walker 189 20 M | Gibbs 187 17 M | Anderson 188 18 M | |
| Grigg 190 18 M | |||
| HF: | Lappin 182 31 M | Waite 194 24 F | Houlihan 187 25 F |
| Kennedy 195 19 F | |||
| F: | Fisher 192 22 U | Fevola 191 26 F | Betts 173 25 F |
| Cloke 195 22 F | Hartlett 195 20 F | ||
| Raso 191 19 U | Edwards 192 19 F | ||
| R: | Ackland 196 25 R | Simpson 182 22 M | Murphy 179 19 M |
| McLaren 196 24 R | Bentick 184 21 M | Blackwell 177 20 M | |
| S.O'Hailpin 199 24 R | Jackson 183 19 M | Young 178 23 M | |
| A.O'Hailpin 201 21 R | |||
| Hampson 201 18 R | |||
| Jacobs 200 18 R |
The lack of running smalls in defense, pushes Stevens, Teague & Carrazzo into positions that they are not quite suited to play.
The listed six ruckmen indicate that the losses of French, Bryan & Deluca were overstated, and the recruitment of Ackland & Cloke might have been wasted opportunities.
Conclusion
Indications are that the Carlton list is out of balance. It has far too many talls and is lacking for enough speedy midfielders & flankers. The team is very young, top heavy, and slow.
During 2007, many may have thought that Carlton may have been playing "fox" to pick up some early draft picks. When understanding the spread of the Carlton list, one realises that the performance reflected those imbalances.
Mind you, the distribution of the list has improved from last year. There are more smaller faster players than in 2006. For that reason, only, there may be marginal improvement for Carlton in 2007.
