Mick Malthouse reveals what bottom 10 teams need to charge up the ladder in 2023
Carlton is not lacking in manpower or ability but there are crucial areas the Blues need to improve to be a serious contender in 2023, writes Mick Malthouse.
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It’s an exciting time to be involved in football ... if you have a team in the finals.
If not, then it’s time to ponder where improvement can come from.
The excuses have run out for Carlton and St Kilda. The Blues missed out on finals by 0.6 of a per cent. The Saints missed the final eight by one win and 9.6 per cent. The hierarchy at both clubs must be shaking their heads in disbelief.
We know what took place last week. Collingwood came from behind to dislodge Carlton from the finals and also cement itself a spot in the top four. Sam Walsh didn’t play, but neither did Taylor Adams. Yes, a hasty play-on by Charlie Curnow late in the last quarter resulted in a point, and another hurried kick was picked off by Jeremy Howe.
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But the facts remain: the Blues controlled a lot of that game, and let it slip, like they’ve done too often this year.
Carlton isn’t lacking in manpower or ability.
Michael Voss as a coach is a fighter. But all too often his Blues had very poor quarters, if not halves, of football, and that comes back to the group’s mental toughness and a reliance on too few to get them over the line.
All-Australian Patrick Cripps was outstanding again with 35 disposals against the Pies, and tried to carry his team over the line. Sam Docherty is always fantastic in the backline. Is it luck that Jamie Elliott doesn’t miss in these tense situations, when Harry McKay kicked 2.3, and Charlie Curnow 2.5? No. It takes concentration to remain unruffled when it counts most.
There were times throughout the year when Carlton players looked selfish, looking for a hero’s welcome at the end of the game instead of playing their role – that doesn’t win tight games.
Carlton needs to fix its ability to fight to the end, its focus for four quarters, and its team effort.
You don’t fluke making the final eight, but sometimes injuries and other factors can hamper your output and it becomes a missed opportunity. You need to learn from it.
St Kilda shot itself in the foot time and time again.
It effectively missed eighth position by one victory – the Cairns game against Port Adelaide will haunt the club. It’s too easy to blame young Max King, but he bafflingly kicks no goals and five behinds one week and five straight goals the next.
The Saints will be without Jarryn Geary, Paddy Ryder, and Dan Hannebery next year, and possibly Brad Hill, too, if Alastair Clarkson is chasing him. They’ll miss Geary’s toughness and Ryder’s flexibility, but I just hope they don’t chase big names for the sake of trying to fit them in.
St Kilda needs another backup ruckman as Rowan Marshall won’t be able to do it all himself. And it needs another tall defender and more pace through the midfield. It can’t have Seb Ross and Brad Crouch playing next to each other, handing the opposition a leg speed advantage.
Marcus Windhager has added value through the middle. Callum Wilkie has been an exceptional tall backman. Jack Steele always battles his heart out and Jack Sinclair is a revelation in defence.
If the Saints can get Jade Gresham and Hunter Clark up and keep them fit, and gain more consistency from King, they are a chance next season. They must learn how to win the big games. Their test will be to take a big scalp early and then maintain it through the year.
Essendon is chasing a new coach and a new CEO. It’s in a lot of pain which won’t cease until there is systematic change to unify the club.
The Bombers must get over thinking they are a big-time club that will naturally fall into the final eight. Disunity never helps players or a coaching panel, so new president David Barham’s biggest task is not to explain excuses, but to get rid of unnecessary noise. Take a leaf from Eddie McGuire at Collingwood and make sure the coterie groups and other influential people stand up and get on board or sit down and shut up. You don’t need infighting, it’s hard enough to win without it.
Essendon has a good list. Its younger players will improve. It desperately needs another tall defender, but without a coach it’s difficult to see it attracting a free agent.
Putting all its eggs into one basket with Jake Stringer in the forward line is a horrible mistake.
The Bombers’ game structure unfortunately leaked like a sieve. Too often they were left rudderless when the game got tight. They need to stiffen up both mentally and physically.
Ben Rutten needed time and didn’t get it. Hopefully the new coach will have the time to address these issues. If they can do it one piece at a time, get the side to play more defensive and harder football, bring the younger players through in peripheral positions rather than key roles, get the leaders to lead and not be rabbits in the spotlight, then the Bombers are good for more wins next season.
Sam Mitchell has done a stellar job in his first year as Hawthorn coach. He will no doubt try to make the moves he initiated last year without success, to open up the draft for the Hawks. So, Luke Breust, Jack Gunston, Liam Shiels, Jaeger O’Meara and Tom Mitchell will possibly all be up for trade.
The club is well run which helps Mitchell, who has made great strides as a coach through the year, evident with some strong wins. Although the Hawks are used to success, I hope they can hold their nerve because Mitchell will need support for the next two or three seasons to create a team to make the eight.
North Melbourne has the coach it craved. Alastair Clarkson made early indications that veterans like Brad Hill and Liam Shiels would be welcome. But what he must guard against is obtaining too many twilight players who can only get you so far. By finishing last, the draft plus a possible extra gift from the AFL should not be wasted. Prime draft picks should be invested into acquiring the best available young players to shore up North’s future.
They already have the bookends with Ben McKay back and Nick Larkey forward. At some stage, North will need to replace the magnificent Todd Goldstein, Jack Ziebell and Ben Cunnington, so they need to put some work into retaining Jason Horne-Francis, encouraging Luke Davies-Uniacke, and ensuring Tarryn Thomas remains focused and hungry to stay at the Roos.
North Melbourne must be very careful over the next two or three seasons that this year isn’t repeated, otherwise Clarkson may well get his wish to coach a Tasmanian side.
Of the five non-Victorian sides who missed the finals, West Coast needs the most
patience. It is far too top heavy with older/retiring players.
Excuses have run out for Gold Coast, too. It has a good list, but it gets ravaged every year – Izak Rankine the latest target – and the only way to stem that blood flow is by playing finals, which it has never done in its 12 seasons. Stuart Dew has done a great job but needs to do a greater job.
Greater Western Sydney has a new coach and a new game plan. It’s already played finals and a grand final, so with its list it should be extremely dangerous next year.
Adelaide and Port Adelaide are at opposite ends of the spectrum. The Crows are on the up, but Matthew Nicks must not accept any more mediocrity and start capitalising on potential. They can hit the draft hard, and Rankine could bring excitement and value to the team.
Ken Hinkley’s Port finished exactly where I thought it would. It won against the easybeats but couldn’t beat the big clubs. It will need a lot of luck and an injection of speed to fight for a position in the final eight next year.
It would be fair to say that none of the above non-Victorian teams were expected to make September action this year. It’s also fair to say that Hawthorn and North Melbourne were also in that category. But expectations will heat up on Carlton, St Kilda and Essendon in 2023. The Cinderella of the AFL, Gold Coast, should not tolerate being uncompetitive any longer.
One only has to look at what the Magpies have done from 17th position in 2021 as a template. Craig McRae coaches to his team’s strengths at a club that is well led on field. When one come-from-behind win becomes two, then three and four, an unbelievable belief follows.
Pre-season will start early for these 10 clubs, with the knowledge that the top eight has never stayed the same. It doesn’t matter where you end up at season’s end, it’s not an anchor to keep you out of the finals the following year.
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