No warmth at Blues with Matthew Kreuzer’s injury, contract delays and a grumpy coach

THERE’S not a lot of warmth about Carlton heading into Round 3, writes Mark Robinson.

THERE’S not a lot of warmth about Carlton heading into Round 3.

They are 0-2, they find out in two days if ruckman Matthew Kreuzer will miss half the season, Chris Judd and Andrew Carrazzo are out, Bryce Gibbs is on the nose, Brock McLean is bewildered in the dug-out, the recruiting is lamentable and, of course, Mick Malthouse is grumpy.

And they play Essendon on Sunday.

The Kreuzer issue is the most pressing, the Gibbs scenario the most worrying and the Malthouse behaviour the most bemusing.

CARLTON REVEAL THEIR GREATEST BLUES

BRYCE GIBBS IN THE TWILIGHT ZONE

Kreuzer ran yesterday at training and reported no soreness. He will be given a full session on Thursday and, again, if there’s no soreness, he could play against the Bombers on Sunday night.

If he comes up lame, he’s straight in for a second operation on his foot, which would sideline him for up to 10 weeks.

‘’He’s going to have a proper, full-on hit on Thursday and if there’s any soreness he’ll go in a get it redone, ‘ chief executive Greg Swan said yesterday. ‘’Thursday’s D-day.’’

Mick Malthouse on the bench at the end of the third quarter. Picture Wayne Ludbey.

Gibbs’ D-day is looming.

Swan has admitted surprise at Gibbs’ management asking for an update on the club’s recruiting and list management strategies as Gibbs determines if he’ll stay at the club.

Yesterday Swan refused to comment further, but the popular theory floated at the weekend was the club won’t entertain Gibbs’ request, and instead offer him a deal and tell him to take it or leave it.

Perception is king in football and while the Blues remain confident, the Gibbs issue is unsettling the club.

On-field, Carlton has started the season as the competition’s jekyll and hyde.

For periods against Port Adelaide they looked devastating, as they were in the second half against Richmond at the weekend.

So, it isn’t all gloomy for the Blues, according to Swan.

‘’Everybody focuses on the missed shots, which were horrendous, but internally the bigger issue was our start against Richmond,’’ he said.

‘Then we started playing decent footy, but it’s our inconsistency which is killing us.’’

It is also haunting Malthouse.

Particularly aggravated in the box during the game, he was his usual prickly self in the post-game press conference.

In an era where AFL coaches are forthcoming with information, engage in discussion, and use the media as the conduit between the club and its fans, Malthouse’s churlishness tends to leave Carlton fans unfulfilled in that regard.

Some fans say there is a disconnect between the club and supporter, which begs the question: Does that reflect membership numbers?

The Blues have just 45,000 members, while Collingwood has 71,000, Hawthorn has 63,000, Richmond 62,000 and Essendon 53,000, and no-one can ignore the PR battle to wins fans over.

Swan says Malthouse is ‘’old school’’ and the openness of the likes of Ken Hinkley, the Scott brothers, Mark Thompson and Brenton Sanderson were part of the ‘’generational change’’.

‘’He’s tense, he hates doing it, and at the end of the day if he couldn’t do it, he wouldn’t do it,’’ Swan said of post-match pressers.

‘’But we haven’t addressed it internally.

‘’Yes, press conferences are there for information, but occasionally when you’ve lost, and not it’s long after the heat of the battle, and you’re not happy with it, you do and say things which may not be to everyone’s liking. But that’s how it is.

‘’We’re just focused on next Sunday. We’re not worried if Mick’s upsetting three young blokes at a press conference after a game, we’re concerning ourselves in how we beat the Bombers.’’