Brad Lloyd under ‘incredible pressure’ to keep job, players whack ‘tough’ ban and everything you missed on TV Tuesday night

A Carlton star says the club is the ‘most stable’ it has been in a decade, yet key figures are facing mounting pressure to keep their jobs. See what you missed on Tuesday night’s footy TV shows.

Carlton footy boss Brad Lloyd is coming under scrutiny, but one of his players has called for calm.

Plus, is a premiership Lion coming out of retirement?

The talking points from Tuesday’s footy shows here.

BLAKEY NOT WORRIED DESPITE LACK OF SCG SPECTACLE

Sydney defender Nick Blakey said players did not notice the under-fire SCG surface during the contest, but admitted on reflection it wasn’t the “greatest of spectacles”.

The Paddington End came under scrutiny after substandard turf caused players, including Blakey, to lose their footing in the Sydney v Western Bulldogs game.

Blakey said on AFL 360 there were “a million things” in his head during the contest, and the ground quality was not one of them.

“It’s not really something when we were playing I even acknowledged,” he said.

Too much to think about to think about whether the grass is greener. Picture: Phil Hillyard

“It’s only when you look back on it now and think ‘everyone was slipping over a bit’ but everyone’s playing on the same surface, it might not have been the greatest of spectacles but I think both teams had the same problem and it is what it is.

“You’ve got a million things in your head on game day; what we’re trying to do, you’re playing some of the best players in the comp, it’s honestly not something that was in my head at the time, going into contests I wasn’t thinking I’ve got to slow down a bit because I might slip over.

“Sometimes you might lose your footing if it is a bit unsteady underneath.

“I haven’t been told that it’s been moved, so I assume it’ll be at the SCG.”

‘TOUGH’ RULE TO STOP BASKETBALL MOVE

Carlton forward Harry McKay has suggested players are using umpires as screens to lose defenders, and criticised the AFL’s decision to potentially hand out suspensions for umpire contact.

The AFL announced on Tuesday that players would be sent straight to the tribunal, and potentially cop a suspension, for four or more instances of umpire contact across a two-year rolling period.

McKay said it “seems tough” to miss games considering the tactics players used to get free.

Curtis Deboy and Rhylee West come into contact … suspension? Picture: Michael Willson

“It seems tough … some of the contact is so hard to avoid … it’s nearly half a tactic to run around the umpire as a screen in basketball,” he said on AFL 360.

“In cases like that it’s pretty tough that you ultimately might miss weeks of football when I think sometimes in footy it can be unavoidable.”

Retired umpire Ray Chamberlain appeared on AFL 360 as well and said the “avoidable contact” was the major focus.

“We’re talking about primarily centre bounce, where it’s not fluid, the game’s not in motion, the umpire’s going to bounce the ball, they need 5° and they’ll give the other 355° to the players,” he said.

"The dialogue has been going on for 2.5 years."

'Razor' Ray on the umpire contact crackdown.

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— Fox Footy (@FOXFOOTY) July 1, 2025

“What they don’t want to see in the game is players setting up behind the umpire, because that increases the risk of contact, and using the umpire as an opportunity to create separation at the stoppage.

“All they’re really mainly worried about is this stuff at stoppage, and particularly at centre bounce.”

‘INCREDIBLE PRESSURE’ ON BLUES FOOTY BOSS

Brad Lloyd’s days as Carlton’s footy boss could be numbered, according to Caroline Wilson and Mitch Cleary.

But key forward Harry McKay has thrown his support behind the current hierarchy, saying this season is “the most stable the footy club” has been in his tenure.

The Channel 7 reporters said on Agenda Setters the decision to bring forward Graham Wright’s start date at the club was to focus on the footy department.

Wright will take over from Brian Cook as the chief executive from August 15, but won’t focus on “anything but football” before then.

“They want to keep Graham Wright overseeing footy,” Wilson said.

“I think there has been a real lack of leadership.”

McKay appeared on AFL 360 and said the 2025 campaign had been “really disappointing”, but the club was in a stable position in important roles.

“This is the most stable the footy club has been in my 10-11 years in terms of key position roles and the element of stability that brings has been really strong,” he said on Fox Footy.

Harry McKay during training. Picture: David Caird

“That’s probably why, as a senior player, this year has been really disappointing because that has been in a really good spot versus my 10 that’s probably been a little up and down

“I reckon the club’s in a really good spot, the disappointing part is it hasn’t translated into on-field performance and we’re sitting here and not going amazing which is always a tough pill to swallow.”

Despite McKay’s belief the club is stable at the management level, Cleary said on Agenda Setters the Blues could clean house under Wright.

Head of Football Brad Lloyd could be in trouble. Picture: Ian Currie

“Speaking to the new president Rob Priestley (on Monday), he’s essentially saying Graham Wright is coming in as the head of football for the next eight weeks,” Cleary said. “I think this puts incredible pressure on Brad Lloyd.

“We’ve all spoken about Michael Voss and his tenure, Brad Lloyd was under pressure two or three years ago, he kept his job at that point, but Brad Lloyd is well and truly in the gun in the next eight weeks.”

JOE COMEBACK A NO-GO

Rumours of a Joe Daniher comeback have been quashed by the Midweek Tackle.

There had been talk the premiership Lion, who retired after the flag last year, was potentially returning to footy.

Jon Ralph said on Midweek Tackle that Sydney was keen on the key forward, but he was a “0% chance”.

“He’s not making a shock comeback,” Ralph said.

“The market is so thin that clubs are asking about him.

“He’s been linked to Sydney in the last week or two, they were the club that was really interested in him initially and then he found his way to Brisbane.

“Sydney’s asking everyone including Jamarra Ugle-Hagan, but Daniher is really well set up financially, he’s not interested in the money.

“I think if he was 1% chance he’d come back to Brisbane anyway, people close to him say he’s 0% chance, he’s got businesses to interest him as well.”

CORNES UNLOADS ON ‘DUMBEST RULE’ IN FOOTY

Kane Cornes has cracked it at the stand rule, calling it the “dumbest rule” in the AFL.

“I’m so sick of it, I’ve given it a chance, it’s been four or five years, it is just not working,” he said.

“They haven’t done anything to scoring, the reason it was brought in was to fix ball movement and scoring, well it’s not.”

Originally published as Brad Lloyd under ‘incredible pressure’ to keep job, players whack ‘tough’ ban and everything you missed on TV Tuesday night