Brendon Bolton fell through the gap that formed on Carlton’s list
Carlton’s list underwent an aggressive overhaul when Brendon Bolton arrived but his final game highlighted where the rebuild went wrong and why the coach was vulnerable.
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The green shoots never sprouted
Brendon Bolton’s coaching epitaph at Carlton reads 16 wins from 77 games, with only four victories from his last 43.
In Bolton’s three and a half years in charge, the list wasn’t just pruned, it was chainsawed.
The savage list cuts started when Bolton walked through the doors before the 2016 season and didn’t stop.
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More than 50 players were moved on.
Fifteen went before his debut year, another dozen departed on the eve of his second season, 13 before his third and 12 more last summer.
SCROLL DOWN TO SEE ALL THE BLUES LIST CHANGES
In their place came a wave of teenage talent. Charlie Curnow, Jacob Weitering, Paddy Dow, Zac Fisher, Sam Walsh, Harry McKay, Sam Petrevski-Seton, Lochie O’Brien and Tom Williamson were among those to join Patrick Cripps and form the club’s next generation.
In all, there were nine first round draft picks under Bolton and as CEO Cain Liddle said, the landscaping has been done to reveal a bright future.
Yet the recycled players came in droves, too. One man’s trash is another man’s treasure was a philosophy the Blues adopted to buy time while the kids developed.
This was where things came unstuck for Bolton.
Consider some of the names. Daniel Gorringe, Liam Sumner, Billie Smedts, Rhys Palmer, Aaron Mullett, Cam O’Shea, Matt Shaw, Jed Lamb, Sam Kerridge, Tomas Bugg and on it goes.
With list manager Stephen Silvagni at the wheel, some 24 players were brought in from other clubs in Bolton’s time and while Caleb Marchbank and Lachie Plowman have proved worthy additions, this group has not been up to it.
It left a void the kids couldn’t fill and the gap between the promising youth and elder statesmen who couldn’t cut it was a sore that festered.
Bolton’s last game as coach came in charge of a side that contained 15 players with less than 60 games experience.
Too much was not only left to too few, but to too young.
This skewed list profile ensured Bolton departed with an ugly set of numbers.
This is a team that ranked 18th for points-for in 2017, 17th last year and sits 17th so far this season.
Disposal differential over the same period reads 16th, 17th and 18th.
Uncontested possession differential goes 17th, 17th and 18t and inside 50 differential is 16th, 17th and 17th.
Time in forward half rankings are 15th, 18th, 17th.
It’s ugly and it’s been ugly for a long time, which is why the club felt compelled to act.
President Mark LoGiudice and chief executive Cain Liddle yesterday insisted the plan had not changed.
The train left the station years ago. Now it needs a new driver.
CARLTON LIST CHANGES UNDER BOLTON
2015
IN: Jed Lamb (trade), Andrew Phillips (trade), Lachie Plowman (trade), Liam Sumner (trade), Sam Kerridge (trade), Daniel Gorringe (delisted free agent), Matthew Wright (delisted free agent), Jacob Weitering (pick 1), Harry McKay (pick 10), Charlie Curnow (pick 12), David Cuningham (pick 23), Jack Silvagni (pick 53), Andrew Galluci (rookie), Jesse Glass-McCasker (rookie), Matt Korcheck (international rookie)
OUT: Troy Menzel (trade), Chris Yarran (trade), Lachie Henderson (trade), Tom Bell (trade), Chris Judd (retired), Andrew Carrazzo (retired), David Ellard (retired), Matthew Watson, Robert Warnock, Cameron Giles, Nick Holman, Blaine Johnson, Bradley Walsh, Tom Fields, Fraser Russell
2016
IN: Billie Smedts (trade), Caleb Marchbank (trade), Jarrod Pickett (trade), Rhys Palmer (trade), Sam Petrevski-Seton (pick 6), Zac Fisher (pick 27), Harrison Macreadie (pick 47), Cam Polson (pick 59), Tom Williamson (pick 61), Patrick Kerr (pick 65), Kym LeBois (rookie), Alex Silvagni (rookie)
OUT: Andrew Walker (retired), Michael Jamison (retired), Cameron Wood (retired), Zach Tuohy (trade), Matthew Dick, Jayden Foster, Clem Smith, Andrejs Everitt, Dillon Viojo-Rainbow, Jason Tutt, Mark Whiley, Andrew Galluci, Billy Gowers
2017
IN: Matthew Lobbe (trade), Matt Kennedy (trade), Darcy Lang (trade), Aaron Mullett (trade), Paddy Dow (pick 3), Lochie O’Brien (pick 10), Tom de Koning (pick 30), Jarrod Garlett (pick 78), Cam O’Shea (pre-season draft), Matt Shaw (rookie), Cilliam McDaid (international rookie)
OUT: Dennis Armfield (retired), Daniel Gorringe (retired), Bryce Gibbs (trade), Matt Korcheck, Kristian Jaksch, Liam Sumner, Andrew Gallucci, Dylan Buckley, Ciaran Sheehan, Rhys Palmer, Blaine Boekhorst, Billie Smedts, Simon White
2018
I N: Mitch McGovern (trade), Will Setterfield (trade), Nic Newman (trade), Alex Fasolo (trade), Sam Walsh (pick 1), Liam Stocker (pick 19), Finbar O’Dwyer (pick 66), Ben Silvagni (pick 70)
OUT: Alex Silvagni (retired), Cillian McDaid (retired), Aaron Mullett, Cam O’Shea, Matthew Shaw, Jesse Glass-McCasker, Matthew Wright, Ciaran Byrne, Sam Rowe, Jed Lamb, Nick Graham, Sam Kerridge
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