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2023 Carlton Football Club season

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Carlton Football Club
2023 season
PresidentLuke Sayers
CoachMichael Voss
Captain(s)Patrick Cripps
Home groundMarvel Stadium, Melbourne Cricket Ground
(Training and administrative: Ikon Park)
AFL season3rd (15–10–1)
AFL Women's season12th (4–6)
John Nicholls MedalJacob Weitering
Leading goalkickerCharlie Curnow (81)
Average home attendance51,421[1]
Club membership95,277
← 2022 2024 →

The 2023 Carlton Football Club season was the Carlton Football Club's 160th season of competition.

It was the club's men's team's 127th season as a member of the Australian Football League, and the second under senior coach Michael Voss. The team recovered from a bottom four position at midseason to finish fifth in the home-and-away season with a 13–9–1 record, and ultimately finished third after reaching the preliminary finals. It was Carlton's first time qualifying for finals since 2013, ending a club-record nine-year finals drought; and its highest finishing position since 2000.

The club's women's team contested its eighth season of the AFL Women's, finishing twelfth out of eighteen teams with a 4–6 record. The club also fielded its men's reserves team in the Victorian Football League and its state level women's team in the VFL Women's.

Club summary

[edit]

The 2023 AFL season was the 127th season of the VFL/AFL competition since its inception in 1897; and, having competed in every season, it was also the 127th season contested by the Carlton Football Club. The club also fielded its women's team in the eighth season of the AFL Women's competition, its men's reserves team in its sixth Victorian Football League season, and its VFL women's team in its fifth VFL Women's season.

As in 2022, Carlton's primary home ground was Marvel Stadium and secondary home ground was the Melbourne Cricket Ground, with the team playing six home games at the former and five at the latter.[2] Traditional home ground Ikon Park continued to serve as the training and administrative base, and as the home ground for AFL Women's and the men's reserves matches.

Car manufacturer Hyundai, which had been a major sponsor of the club continuously since 2008,[3] and Great Southern Bank, which became a major sponsor during the 2021 season, continued as the club's major sponsors through the 2023 season;[4] Carlton signed a further five-year extension of its long-term deal with Hyundai during the year.[5] The club signed 95,277 members for the season to be the fourth-highest membership in the league, and exceeding 2022's record of 88,776 in early May; it was the sixth consecutive season that a new club record membership had been set.[6][7] The club returned a net operating profit of $1.5 million, down $2 million on 2022 which was attributed to full year depreciation of the completed Ikon Park redevelopment; and launched a new philanthropic program called The First 18 in May.[5]

Senior personnel

[edit]

It was a year of stability for Carlton's senior personnel: Luke Sayers continued in his second year as president, Brian Cook in his second year as CEO, Michael Voss in his second year as senior coach, and Patrick Cripps in his second year as sole club captain and fifth year overall (having served as co-captain with Sam Docherty for three years).

Departing the club's coaching panels was development and reserves coach Daniel O'Keefe, who stepped away after three years. His role as reserves coach was filled by Luke Power;[8] Tom Lonergan joined as Development and Talent Manager, bringing experience from two Talent League clubs;[9] and former Port Adelaide player and football committee-member Brad Ebert joined as development coach.[10]

Squad for 2023

[edit]

The following is Carlton's squad for the 2023 season.

Statistics are correct as of end of 2022 season.

Senior List
No. Player Age AFL Debut Recruited from Career (to end 2022) 2023 Player Statistics
Gms Gls Gms Gls B D K HB M T HO
1 Jack Silvagni 25 2016 Oakleigh (U18) 99 73 16 14 12 217 129 88 64 43 47
2 Paddy Dow 23 2018 Bendigo (U18) 63 19 10 2 1 159 96 63 15 25 0
3 Jesse Motlop 19 2022 South Fremantle 12 12 21 24 7 209 123 86 38 50 0
5 Adam Cerra 23 2018 Eastern (U18), Fremantle 94 21 22 9 7 560 275 285 74 106 0
6 Zac Williams 28 2013 GWS Academy, GWS 136 32 0 – – – – – – – –
7 Matthew Kennedy 25 2016 Collingullie-Glenfield Park, GWS 78 36 16 5 6 291 157 134 58 48 0
8 Lachie Fogarty 23 2018 Western (U18), Geelong 43 12 12 4 4 149 77 72 28 58 0
9 Patrick Cripps (c) 27 2014 East Fremantle 159 87 24 9 14 596 226 370 51 3
10 Harry McKay 25 2017 Gippsland (U18) 86 174 21 29 29 247 190 57 141 34 18
11 Mitch McGovern 28 2016 Claremont, Adelaide 88 104 22 2 2 379 297 82 105 54 0
12 Tom de Koning 23 2018 Dandenong (U18) 41 12 19 9 7 228 114 114 54 47 337
13 Blake Acres 27 2014 West Perth, St Kilda, Fremantle 120 37 25 10 5 576 319 257 137 62 0
14 Oliver Hollands 18 2023 Murray (U18) – – 19 2 4 266 163 103 58 48 0
15 Sam Docherty 29 2013 Gippsland (U18), Brisbane Lions 144 17 23 8 9 586 359 227 138 90 0
16 Jack Carroll 20 2022 East Fremantle 5 1 1 0 0 4 1 3 0 1 0
17 Brodie Kemp 21 2021 Bendigo (U18) 6 0 17 1 0 269 182 87 113 28 0
18 Sam Walsh (vc) 22 2019 Geelong (U18) 81 31 18 6 4 514 222 292 63 44 0
19 Corey Durdin 20 2021 Central District 23 16 11 11 7 97 66 31 16 44 0
20 Lachie Plowman 28 2013 Calder (U18), GWS 144 2 1 0 0 12 9 3 5 2 0
21 Jack Martin 27 2014 Claremont, Gold Coast 135 113 13 17 10 142 75 67 46 31 0
22 Caleb Marchbank 26 2015 Murray (U18), GWS 52 0 8 0 0 111 77 37 46 16 0
23 Jacob Weitering (vc) 25 2016 Dandenong (U18) 133 11 26 0 0 402 317 85 208 23 0
24 Nic Newman 29 2017 Frankston, Sydney 86 14 24 3 3 561 376 185 183 85 0
25 Zac Fisher 24 2017 Perth 95 49 12 4 5 250 135 115 40 16 0
26 Lachie Cowan 18 — Devonport, Tasmania (U18) – – 7 0 0 69 49 20 20 13 0
27 Marc Pittonet 26 2016 Oakleigh (U18), Hawthorn 41 5 18 0 1 171 89 82 24 32 446
28 David Cuningham 25 2016 Oakleigh (U18) 41 23 12 6 4 166 64 102 26 102 0
29 George Hewett 27 2016 North Adelaide, Sydney 135 36 22 3 1 445 182 263 49 102 0
30 Charlie Curnow 25 2016 Geelong (U18) 84 143 26 81 44 356 280 76 180 27 3
31 Harry Lemmey 18 — West Adelaide – – 0 – – – – – – – –
32 Jaxon Binns 18 — Dandenong (U18) – – 0 – – – – – – – –
33 Lewis Young 24 2017 Sturt, Western Bulldogs 43 2 15 0 2 200 114 86 77 16 60
34 Sam Philp 21 2020 Northern (U18) 2 1 0 – – – – – – – –
36 Josh Honey 21 2020 Western (U18) 11 7 6 3 3 44 27 17 14 13 0
42 Adam Saad 28 2015 Calder (U18), Coburg, Gold Coast, Essendon 152 10 25 0 0 502 341 161 111 48 0
44 Matthew Owies 25 2020 St Kevin's, Seattle Redhawks 31 29 18 27 12 161 107 54 48 44 0
Rookie List[11]
No. Player Age AFL Debut Recruited from Career (to end 2022) 2023 Player Statistics
Gms Gls Gms Gls B D K HB M T HO
4 Lochie O'Brien 23 2018 Bendigo (U18) 60 16 6 0 1 43 30 13 17 5 0
35 Ed Curnow 33 2011 Geelong (U18), Adelaide, Box Hill 204 50 17 3 6 225 141 84 46 43 0
37 Jordan Boyd 24 2022 Western (U18), Footscray reserves 7 0 9 0 2 112 83 29 26 21 0
38 Sam Durdin 26 2017 West Adelaide, North Melbourne, Glenelg 23 1 0 – – – – – – – –
39 Alex Cincotta 26 2023 Newtown & Chilwell, Carlton reserves – – 19 3 2 234 113 121 53 35 0
40 Hudson O'Keeffe 18 – Oakleigh (U18) – – 0 – – – – – – – –
41 Domanic Akuei 20 – Carlton academy – – 0 – – – – – – – –
45 Alex Mirkov 23 – Carlton reserves – – 0 – – – – – – – –
46 Matthew Cottrell 22 2020 Dandenong (U18) 37 14 17 11 11 238 160 78 72 34 0
Senior coaching panel[12]
Coach Coaching position Carlton Coaching debut Former clubs as coach
Michael Voss Senior coach 2022 Brisbane Lions (s), Port Adelaide (a)
Luke Power Head of development, reserves coach 2020 GWS (a), AFL Academy Manager
Tim Clarke Assistant coach (Midfield) 2016 Richmond (a), Coburg (s), Richmond reserves (s), Gold Coast (a)
Aaron Hamill Assistant coach (backline) 2022 St Kilda (a), Sandringham (s)
Ashley Hansen Assistant coach (forwards) 2022 Western Bulldogs (a), Footscray reserves (s)
Matthew Kreuzer Assistant coach (ruck) 2022
Tom Lonergan Development and talent manager 2023 Calder Cannons (d), Geelong Falcons (d)
Brad Ebert Development coach 2023 Port Adelaide (m)
Torin Baker Carlton College of Sport and Academy and development coach 2021 Western Jets (s), Hawthorn (d)
Aaron Greaves Coaching and performance manager 2022 Melbourne (d, a), Port Adelaide (a, d), North Melbourne (d), AFL umpires (s)
  • For players: (c) denotes captain, (vc) denotes vice-captain.
  • For coaches: (s) denotes senior coach, (cs) denotes caretaker senior coach, (a) denotes assistant coach, (d) denotes development coach, (m) denotes managerial or administrative role in a football or coaching department

Playing list changes

[edit]

The following summarises all player changes which occurred after the 2022 season. Unless otherwise noted, draft picks refer to selections in the 2022 National Draft.

In

[edit]
Player Former Club League via
Blake Acres Fremantle AFL Trade period, in exchange for a third-round selection in the 2023 National Draft.[13]
Oliver Hollands Murray Bushrangers NAB League 2022 National Draft, first round selection (No. 11 overall).[14]
Lachie Cowan Tasmania Devils NAB League 2022 National Draft, second round selection (No. 30 overall).[14]
Jaxon Binns Dandenong Stingrays NAB League 2022 National Draft, second round selection (No. 32 overall).[14]
Harry Lemmey West Adelaide SANFL 2022 National Draft, third round selection (No. 47 overall).[14]
Hudson O'Keeffe Oakleigh Chargers NAB League 2023 pre-season supplemental selection period.[15]
Alex Cincotta Carlton reserves VFL 2023 pre-season supplemental selection period.[16]

Out

[edit]
Player New Club League via
Jack Newnes Greensborough[17] Northern FL Delisted after the season[18]
Liam Stocker St Kilda AFL Delisted after the season,[19] then recruited by St Kilda in the 2023 pre-season supplemental selection period.[20]
Oscar McDonald Williamstown[21] VFL Delisted from the rookie list after the season[18]
Luke Parks Carlton reserves[22] VFL Delisted from the rookie list after the season[18]
Will Hayes Euroa[23] Goulburn Valley FL Delisted from the rookie list after the season[18]
Will Setterfield Essendon Australian Football League Trade period, along with a fourth-round selection (provisionally No. 68), in exchange for a for a fourth-round selection in the 2023 National Draft[24]

List management

[edit]
Player Change
Liam Jones Signed with Western Bulldogs as an unrestricted free agent; Carlton received a third-round selection as compensation (provisionally No. 49). Jones had retired from Carlton prior to the 2022 season due to the league's COVID-19 vaccine mandate, which was later removed; but Carlton remained entitled to a compensatory draft pick because of the short duration over which Jones had been retired.[25]
Matthew Owies Elevated from the Category B rookie list to the senior list.[26]
Ed Curnow Demoted from the senior list to the rookie list. Administratively, Curnow was selected in the 2023 rookie draft with Carlton's first round selection (No. 10 overall).[14]

Season summary

[edit]

Pre-season

[edit]

Carlton played two practice matches, the first deemed unofficial and the second deemed official, as part of its lead-up to the premiership season.

Date and local time Opponent Scores (Carlton's scores indicated in bold) Venue Attendance
Home Away Result
Friday, 24 February (11:00 am) Collingwood 12.12 (84) 11.8 (74) Won by 10 points[27] Ikon Park (H) 6,000
Friday, 3 March (7:10 pm) Sydney 15.7 (97) 7.12 (54) Lost by 43 points[28] Blacktown ISP (A) 6,000

Home-and-away season

[edit]

Following Carlton's improvement and narrow finals miss in 2022, expectations were high among experts that Carlton would make finals;[29][30] and the season opened well with the club sitting in second place after an unbeaten first month.

Thereafter followed a sudden drop in form, and Carlton lost eight of its next nine matches – defeating only wooden spooners West Coast – to drop to the bottom four with a 4–8–1 record. While Carlton maintained strong performance in contested ball during this period and frequently won the territory and inside-50 counts, its matches were characterised by low pressure without the ball, and a forward structure which struggled to convert territory into goals[31] – averaging below eight goals in those losses and including separate 28 and 34 point losses in matches with more scoring shots than the opponent.[32]

As the losing streak progressed, there was unrest among the club's powerbrokers and directors: on 13 May, long-time powerbroker Bruce Mathieson gave a newspaper interview critical of the club's off-field leadership;[33] and in the dressing room after the loss against Sydney, director Craig Mathieson was compelled to resign after a verbal altercation with president Luke Sayers[34] – a reaction which was seen as a strong statement by Sayers against the club's other administrative factions in support of Michael Voss as coach.[35] In the week prior to the final loss of the streak against Essendon, the playing group organised a campfire retreat at Ed Curnow's Torquay home, which served as an honesty and bonding session, which was considered a key catalyst for the club's onfield recovery in the latter half of the year.[36]

The club's form improved significantly, and a nine-game winning streak followed – including wins against top four opponents Port Adelaide, Collingwood and Melbourne over a five-week period – characterised by record level stoppage differentials, improved efficiency of scoring from turnover, and a complete reversal of its difficulties converting territory to scores.[37] The club secured its finals berth in round 23 Gold Coast with its ninth consecutive win – recovering from a 40-point second quarter deficit to win by four points[38] – before losing a round 24 match against Greater Western Sydney which by the time it was played had no impact on Carlton's fifth-placed finish.[39]

Across the home-and-away season, Carlton was 3–3 in six games against the top four (who won sixteen or more games), 2–6 against the clubs who finished 6th to 11th (eleven to thirteen wins), and unbeaten with 8–0–1 against the bottom seven. The club's late season recovery was one of the most remarkable on record: only the 1945 Blues, 1959 Bombers and 2023 Giants (who also achieved the feat this year) had ever reached a preliminary final after sitting in the bottom four of a twelve-or-more team competition at or beyond midseason.[40]

Rd Date and local time Opponent Scores (Carlton's scores indicated in bold) Venue Attendance Ladder
Home Away Result
1 Thursday, 16 March (7:20 am) Richmond 8.10 (58) 8.10 (58) Match drawn[41] Melbourne Cricket Ground (A) 88,084 9th
2 Thursday, 23 March (7:20 pm) Geelong 13.12 (90) 12.10 (82) Won by 8 points[42] Melbourne Cricket Ground (H) 55,861 7th
3 Saturday, 1 April (4:35 pm) GWS 9.10 (64) 9.20 (74) Won by 10 points[43] GIANTS Stadium (A) 9,691 3rd
4 Friday, 7 April (4:20 pm) North Melbourne 11.18 (84) 16.11 (107) Won by 23 points[44] Marvel Stadium (A) 49,062 2nd
5 Thursday, 13 April (7:10 pm) Adelaide 18.10 (118) 9.8 (62) Lost by 56 points[45] Adelaide Oval (N) 47,395 4th
6 Sunday, 23 April (3:20 pm) St Kilda 8.12 (60) 12.10 (82) Lost by 22 points[46] Marvel Stadium (H) 45,770 8th
7 Saturday, 29 April (5:30 pm) West Coast 6.8 (44) 23.14 (152) Won by 108 points[47] Optus Stadium (A) 47,490 6th
8 Friday, 5 May (7:50 pm) Brisbane Lions 11.8 (74) 15.10 (100) Lost by 26 points[48] Marvel Stadium (H) 45,458 8th
9 Saturday, 13 May (7:30 pm) Western Bulldogs 8.11 (59) 11.13 (79) Lost by 20 points[49] Marvel Stadium (H) 42,756 9th
10 Sunday, 21 May (3:20 pm) Collingwood 7.15 (57) 13.7 (85) Lost by 28 points[50] Melbourne Cricket Ground (H) 80,354 11th
11 Friday, 26 May (7:50 pm) Sydney 11.11 (77) 6.15 (51) Lost by 26 points[51] Sydney Cricket Ground (A) 36,310 13th
12 Friday, 2 June (7:50 pm) Melbourne 8.13 (61) 6.8 (44) Lost by 17 points[52] Melbourne Cricket Ground (A) 49,872 14th
13 Sunday, 11 June (7:15 pm) Essendon 6.16 (52) 13.8 (86) Lost by 34 points[53] Melbourne Cricket Ground (H) 83,638 15th
14 Sunday, 18 June (1:10 pm) Gold Coast 18.12 (120) 8.13 (61) Won by 59 points[54] Melbourne Cricket Ground (H) 29,602 14th
15 Bye 15th
16 Sunday, 2 July (1:10 pm) Hawthorn 7.10 (52) 17.10 (112) Won by 60 points[55] Melbourne Cricket Ground (A) 66,337 14th
17 Sunday, 9 July (2:20 pm) Fremantle 6.9 (45) 14.14 (98) Won by 53 points[56] Optus Stadium (A) 49,469 11th
18 Saturday, 15 July (4:35 pm) Port Adelaide 18.14 (122) 10.12 (72) Won by 50 points[57] Marvel Stadium (H) 34,306 10th
19 Saturday, 22 July (2:10 pm) West Coast 21.14 (140) 10.9 (69) Won by 71 points[58] Marvel Stadium (H) 34,954 9th
20 Friday, 28 July (7:50 pm) Collingwood 10.16 (76) 14.9 (93) Won by 17 points[59] Melbourne Cricket Ground (A) 86,785 7th
21 Sunday, 6 August (3:20 pm) St Kilda 8.6 (54) 10.13 (73) Won by 19 points[60] Marvel Stadium (A) 42,656 5th
22 Saturday, 12 August (7:20 pm) Melbourne 9.6 (60) 8.8 (56) Won by 4 points[61] Melbourne Cricket Ground (H) 68,577 5th
23 Saturday, 19 August (2:10 pm) Gold Coast 13.9 (87) 13.13 (91) Won by 4 points[38] Heritage Bank Stadium (A) 19,253 5th
24 Sunday, 27 August (6:10 pm) GWS 11.7 (73) 16.9 (105) Lost by 32 points[39] Marvel Stadium (H) 44,354 5th

Finals

[edit]

In the elimination final, Carlton faced Sydney. A strong second quarter saw Carlton build a 29-point lead at half time, before Sydney gradually fought back throughout the second half; Sydney's last goal with thirty seconds left to play drew the margin back to six points, the closest it had been since the first quarter, but Carlton held on for a six point victory.[62] In a close semi-final against Melbourne, played with high pressure and high errors, Carlton conceded the first three goals then scored the next five, before neither team managed more than two consecutive goals for the rest of the game;[63] Carlton trailed by nine points entering time on in the final quarter, before kicking the last two goals to defeat an inaccurate Melbourne by two points.[64] 2023 recruit Blake Acres kicked Carlton's last goal late in the final quarters of both games: a steadying goal which put Carlton 14 points ahead in the 23rd minute against Sydney;[62] and the go-ahead goal with less than a minute remaining against Melbourne.[64] In the preliminary final against Brisbane, Carlton opened strongly with the first five goals to lead by 30 points after 22 minutes; Brisbane then took control of the game, and kicked ten of the next eleven goals between the late first quarter and the early final quarter to lead by as much as 28 points; two quick goals by Carlton brought the margin back to 16 points with eight minutes remaining, but Carlton got no closer and 16 points was the final margin.[65]

Week Date and local time Opponent Scores (Carlton's scores indicated in bold) Venue Attendance
Home Away Result
First elimination final Friday, 8 September (7:50 pm) Sydney 11.8 (74) 9.14 (68) Won by 6 points[62] Melbourne Cricket Ground (H) 92,026
First semi-final Friday, 15 September (7:50 pm) Melbourne 9.17 (71) 11.7 (73) Won by 2 points[64] Melbourne Cricket Ground (A) 96,412
Second preliminary final Saturday, 23 September (5:15 pm) Brisbane Lions 11.13 (79) 9.9 (63) Lost by 16 points[65] The Gabba (A) 36,012

Team records

[edit]
  • Round 7 – the 108-point victory against West Coast was the club's greatest winning margin since round 2, 2011.[47]
  • Round 13 – Carlton lost by 34 points against Essendon, equalling the club record for heaviest defeat when recording more scoring shots than the opponent.[32]
  • Rounds 14–19 – Carlton won five consecutive matches by fifty or more points, joining the 1989 Cats and 2008 Cats as only the third team ever to achieve the feat.[66]
  • Rounds 14–23 – Carlton won nine consecutive matches, its longest winning streak – and, first winning streak longer than four games – since 2000.[67]
  • Round 19 – Carlton scored 9.5 (59) in the first quarter, and 15.8 (98) in the first half, against West Coast. It was the club's highest quarter time score since round 2, 2011, and highest half time score since round 16, 2000. Its half time lead of 82 points was its highest since round 19, 1982.[68]
  • Round 23 – Carlton defeated Gold Coast after trailing by 33 points at quarter time, the club's largest quarter time deficit successfully overcome since round 3, 2007.[69]

Individual awards

[edit]

John Nicholls Medal

[edit]

The Carlton Football Club Best and Fairest awards night took place on 8 October 2023.[70]

John Nicholls Medal

The winner of the John Nicholls Medal was Jacob Weitering, who polled 210 votes to win the award for the second time in his career. Nic Newman finished second with 193 votes for the best finish of his career to date, and Charlie Curnow was third with 174 votes.[70]

Pos.
 Player
 Votes
1st Jacob Weitering 210
2nd Nic Newman 193
3rd Charlie Curnow 174
4th Adam Cerra 167
5th Patrick Cripps 158
6th Blake Acres 153
7th Sam Docherty 152
8th Adam Saad 149
9th Sam Walsh 143
10th Mitch McGovern 108
Other awards

The following other awards were presented on John Nicholls Medal night:-[70]

  • Best Young Player – Oliver Hollands
  • Best Clubman – Nic Newman
  • Best Finals Player – Sam Walsh
  • Spirit of Carlton Award – Blake Acres
  • Bill Lanyon Inner Blue Ruthless Award – Sam Walsh
  • Carltonians William A. Cook Award – Charlie Curnow
  • Coaches' Award – Blake Acres
  • Players' Award – Charlie Curnow

Leading goalkickers

[edit]

Charlie Curnow won the Coleman Medal as the league's leading goalkicker in the home-and-away season for the second time in his career. Curnow kicked 78 goals in the home-and-away season, winning the award by a margin of two goals from Taylor Walker (Adelaide) after kicking three goals in the round 24 match against Greater Western Sydney, and finished with 81 goals.[71] Curnow became the first Carlton player ever to win consecutive VFL/AFL leading goalkicker awards; and it was Carlton's third consecutive Coleman Medal as a club, Harry McKay having won the medal in 2021.[72]

Player Goals Behinds
Charlie Curnow 81 44
Harry McKay 29 29
Matthew Owies 27 12
Jesse Motlop 24 7
Jack Martin 17 10


Other awards

[edit]
Honorific teams
AFLCA awards
Other awards
  • Sam Docherty won the Jim Stynes Community Leadership Award for his work as an observer to the board of the Peter MacCallum Cancer Foundation and as an ambassador to the MacKillop Family Services’ Paws4Kids.[80]
Statistical leaders
  • Jacob Weitering took 208 marks, the most of any player in the league.[81]
  • Charlie Curnow took 67 contested marks and 73 marks inside forward 50, the most of any player in the league.[81]
Records
Hall of Fame

AFL Women's

[edit]

After failing to play finals in both 2022 AFLW seasons, the club conducted an independent review of its AFLW program, which ran between December 2022 and January 2023. Among the review's conclusions was the need for a full time senior coach to improve leadership across the program, and a recognition that there had been confusion among the players regarding the club's onfield game plan – two conclusions which resulted in the club terminating part-time senior coach Daniel Harford, who had coached the team for five seasons. The review also identified a need for an increased professional and high-performance culture, and improved 360° feedback and development.[84]

Harford was replaced as senior coach by Mathew Buck, who had been a senior assistant coach with the club's men's reserves team.[85] The extended coaching panel was also replaced in full: Carlton College of Sport coordinator Ash Naulty stepped up as Head of AFLW; Tom Couch joined as head of development and midfield assistant coach; Glenn Strachan joined as senior and backline assistant coach; Christina Polatajko joined as forwardline assistant coach; and Lachlan Swaney was appointed development coach.[86]

Squad

The club's AFL Women's 2023 squad is given below. Experienced players lost from the squad were: Elise O'Dea (28 games for Carlton after 28 for Melbourne), who retired;[87] Lucy McEvoy (33 games), who signed with Sydney;[88] Brooke Walker (26 games), who was traded to Essendon;[89] and Natalie Plane (21 games), who was traded to St Kilda in a three-way trade including Richmond;[90] Inaugural Melbourne player Harriet Cordner joined the club from Richmond in the Plane trade.[90]

Carlton was active in the 2023 AFL Women's draft – which was a special over-19s only draft due to the shortened time between the two 2022 AFL Women's seasons[91] – adding Lulu Beatty (pick No. 5) and Madeline Hendrie (pick No. 9) in the first round, Marianna Anthony (pick No. 20) in the second round, and Chloe Wrigley (pick No. 28) in the third round. Carlton also added gaelic footballers Dayna Finn and Erone Fitzpatrick to the list.

The club's 2023 squad is given below. Numbers in parentheses represent games played and goals scored for the season.

Carlton Football Club (2023)
Senior list Coaching staff

Head coach

Assistant coaches

  • Tom Couch (midfield)
  • Christina Polatajko (forwards)
  • Glenn Strachan (backline)
  • Lachlan Swaney (development)
  • Ash Naulty (head of AFLW)
Legend:
  • (c) Captain(s)
  • (vc) Vice-captain(s)

Updated:
Source(s): Senior list, Coaching staff


Season

Carlton finished twelfth out of eighteen teams, with a 4–6 record, to miss the finals. Carlton's had been in sixth place with a 4–2 record after six rounds, but lost its last four matches despite only one of those matches coming against a finalist. Overall, Carlton was 2–2 in four matches against finalists, and 2–4 in six matches against non-finalists.

Rd Date and local time Opponent Scores (Carlton's scores indicated in bold) Venue Attendance Ladder
Home Away Result
1 Saturday, 2 September (1:05 pm) Gold Coast 5.4 (34) 4.8 (32) Won by 2 points[92] Ikon Park (H) 3,244 9th
2 Sunday, 10 September (3:05 pm) Kangaroos 10.6 (66) 1.0 (6) Lost by 60 points[93] Arden Street Oval (A) 2,788 13th
3 Sunday, 17 September (1:05 pm) West Coast 3.6 (24) 12.5 (77) Won by 53 points[94] Mineral Resources Park (A) 1,208 9th
4 Saturday, 23 September (3:05 pm) Richmond 6.4 (40) 7.5 (47) Lost by 7 points[95] Ikon Park (H) 2,304 9th
5 Friday, 29 September (4:05 pm) Sydney 6.8 (44) 6.3 (39) Won by 5 points[96] Ikon Park (H) 2,304 8th
6 Friday, 6 October (7:15 pm) Western Bulldogs 4.10 (34) 8.5 (53) Won by 19 points[97] VU Whitten Oval (A) 2,163 6th
7 Sunday, 15 October (3:05 pm) Collingwood 1.4 (10) 4.3 (27) Lost by 17 points[98] Ikon Park (H) 3,111 9th
8 Saturday, 21 October (3:05 pm) Greater Western Sydney 8.1 (49) 7.5 (47) Lost by 2 points[99] Henson Park (A) 1,574 9th
9 Saturday, 28 October (3:05 pm) Essendon 8.8 (56) 3.6 (24) Lost by 32 points[100] Windy Hill (A) 3,812 11th
10 Sunday, 5 November (1:05 pm) St Kilda 3.8 (26) 7.4 (46) Lost by 20 points[101] Ikon Park (H) 2,649 12th
League awards

Reserves

[edit]

Carlton fielded reserves teams in the men's and women's competitions during the 2023 season.

Men's

[edit]

Carlton's men's reserves team contested its sixth VFL season; and its 86th overall season of reserves and state level competition dating back to 1919.

Club Head of Development Luke Power took over as the reserves coach after 2021–22 coach Daniel O'Keefe departed.[103] VFL-listed players newly signed to the team included: former AFL senior players Luke Parks (Carlton), Liam McMahon (Collingwood) and Ben Ronke (Sydney); and Sam Grant, Blake Kuipers, Ethan Bentley, Jed Brereton, Charlie Brauer, Noah Barnes, Nathan Scollo, Ben Moyle, Will White, Jack Maruff, Jack Lefroy and Eli Pearce. Retained from the 2022 squad were Ben Crocker, Zavier Maher, Heath Ramshaw, Michael Lewis, Mitch Moschetti, Tyreece Lieu, Patrick Dozzi, Ned Cahill, Hayden Gill, Archie Stevens, Logan Prout, Aiden Mills, Darcy Porter, Hamish Sinnott, Lachlan Swaney. 2023 No. 1 draft pick Harley Reid also notably played two games as the underage 23rd man, zoned to Carlton from the Bendigo Pioneers, early in the year.[104] Ben Crocker, in his third season with the team, took over as captain following the departure of Matt Shannon.[105]

The reserves team finished 11th out of 21 clubs with a win-loss record of 10–8 and a percentage of 106.5%. The team narrowly missed the wildcard round, which was played by the teams ranked 7th through 10th, on percentage from the North Melbourne reserves whose percentage was 109.9%. Entering the final round, Carlton had been well placed to qualify even with a loss, but dropped to 11th place after losing more than 12%pts in a disastrous 127-point loss against eventual premiers Gold Coast.[106] First year senior listed player Jaxon Binns, who did not play a senior game through the year, won the reserves best and fairest.[107]

Women's

[edit]

The club fielded a team in the VFL Women's competition for the fifth time. Tom Stafford continued as the team's coach for the second season,[108] and Christina Bernardi took over as captain.[109]

The team finished 6th out of 12 in the home-and-away season with an 8–6 record and a league-high percentage of 150.7%, to finish in the last position in the final six; it was a close season overall, with minor premiers Collingwood finishing only one game ahead on 9–5 with a lower percentage. It was the first time Carlton had qualified for the VFL Women's finals,[110] which were played under the Second McIntyre Final Six System.

In the elimination final against third-placed Williamstown, Carlton recovered from a 0.0 (0) vs 1.5 (11) first quarter to win a wet weather game by four points.[111] Then in a close first semi-final against second-placed Port Melbourne, Carlton lost by one point, to finish the season in fourth place.[112]

Finals matches
Week Date and local time Opponent Scores (Carlton's scores indicated in bold) Venue
Home Away Result
Elimination Final Sunday, 9 July (4:30 pm) Williamstown 2.6 (18) 3.4 (22) Won by 4 points[111] DSV Stadium (A)
First Semi-final Sunday, 16 July (12:00 pm) Port Melbourne 5.7 (37) 5.6 (36) Lost by 1 point[112] ETU Stadium (A)

References

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