Denis Pagan calls for Carlton to attack more as the Blues face fifth spoon in 16 years
EVERYONE knows Carlton is rebuilding, but could they do it with a bit more flair and goal power? Denis Pagan believes the natives at Carlton are getting restless.
Carlton
Don't miss out on the headlines from Carlton. Followed categories will be added to My News.
DENIS Pagan still shudders when you mention the phrase “wooden spoon”.
To the dual premiership coach, last-placed finishes were to be avoided all costs rather than embraced to maximise draft picks.
“I thought it was a real stigma. It was a mark against your name and I hated it,” Pagan said of those 2005-06 16th-placed finishes when he coached Carlton.
KEY FORWARD: NO DECISION ON CASBOULT FUTURE ... YET
TRADE TALK: WHICH FREE AGENTS SHOULD YOUR CLUB TARGET?
“Winning games is a way to sell hope. If you are trying to lose games or manufacture losses you are mad. You destroy the culture of your club.”
His view was reflected by every Carlton fan as the Blues went 106 years - winning 16 flags - without a single wooden spoon.
And yet the once-proud Blues might be about to win their fifth wooden spoon in 16 years — worse than Fitzroy and the Brisbane Bears combined in the AFL era.
If the Blues lose against West Coast (Subiaco), Hawthorn and Sydney (SCG), the Brisbane Lions need only to make up a single win and 8.7 percentage points — or beat two of Gold Coast and North Melbourne at home and Melbourne (MCG).
Thank goodness for the Rising Star nominations, because as Pagan said, Carlton’s early-season gains have evaporated.
The Blues have gone 30 games without kicking 100 points and have never kicked more than 16 goals in the Brendon Bolton era.
Carlton went 19 games without a 100-point score until Round 9 last year, kicked two century scores in a row, then started the current streak of 30.
The Blues are approaching the record of 34 in Gold Coast’s formative years and have gone past Essendon’s 27-match streak built mostly by a club without 12 banned players in 2016.
Carlton fans know all about those green shoots, but right now their patience is wearing thin.
“I will say this — Carlton won seven games last year and only five this year and people are sympathetic for a while, but once the natives become restless they start looking at Ws and Ls again. You have got to sell hope,’’ Pagan said.
“Are Carlton selling hope? They play well defensively, but people come to the footy to see goals kicked. It’s all very well to be defensive but you have got to try to play an exciting brand of footy.
“You have to be aiming to kick 16 goals a week and Carlton don’t do that.”
The Blues have nailed their last two drafts with the likes of Charlie Curnow, Harry McKay and Sam Petrevski-Seton but Pagan said if they had kept their stars they could be finals contenders.
“They have kicked a couple of goals. Josh Kennedy could have set them up for a decade, Eddie Betts is as good as any small forward out there, Sam Jacobs is an excellent ruckman,” Pagan said.
“They have lost Jeff Garlett, Jarrad Waite, Mitch Robinson. I reckon if they had kept all them they would be pushing for top four, not where they are now.
“You could pick a full side of the players they have let go.”
Bolton kept up his message, saying the Blues had won more quarters than last year, been in contention in games longer and pumped matches into youngsters.
“We don’t get too sidetracked by the external noise,” Bolton said.
Yet a murmur has become something louder and an upset win — with a 100-point score — would surely help quieten those restless fans.
TEAMS WITH STREAKS WITHOUT SCORING 100 POINTS SINCE 2000
34 games: Gold Coast 2011-12
31 games: Melbourne 2013-14
30 games: Carlton 2016-17
27 games: Essendon 2015-16
20 games: Brisbane 2010-11
19 games: Carlton 2015-16
Originally published as Denis Pagan calls for Carlton to attack more as the Blues face fifth spoon in 16 years
Scott responds to Cats’ trade link to Curnow
Charlie Curnow has been linked to several clubs, including Geelong, where the star forward grew up. And Cats coach Chris Scott has responded.
No Coleman? No worries: Hawks leave Voss with forward line Blues
If anything was made clear on Thursday night, it was that you don’t need a fat check forward line to make an impact. The Hawks are running hot, but where to for Charlie and Harry?