‘They know jack-s**t about footy’: Carlton’s ‘meddling’ blasted amid Blue’s post-game plea

AFL great Jimmy Bartel has unloaded on off-field Carlton powerbrokers who “know jack-s**t about footy” as the Blues flounder.

MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA - MAY 21: Patrick Cripps (left) and Jacob Weitering of the Blues look dejected after a loss during the 2023 AFL Round 10 match between the Carlton Blues and the Collingwood Magpies at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on May 21, 2023 in Melbourne, Australia. (Photo by Michael Willson/AFL Photos via Getty Images)

AFL great Jimmy Bartel has unloaded on off-field powerbrokers who “know jack-s**t about footy” for “meddling” with the club as it’s revealed a Carlton star made a post-game plea to the club’s president.

Long-time Blues board member Craig Mathieson, one of a number at the club who wanted Ross Lyon appointed as coach, had a heated incident with president Luke Sayers in the rooms following Friday night’s loss to Sydney.

Mathieson believed the club was too accepting of mediocrity and was heard yelling. Sayers considered the verbal altercation as “below professional standards of what is expected”, and it took place in front of fellow directors plus the family and friends of Carlton players.

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But after the incident, star defender Jacob Weitering approached Sayers and defended coach Michael Voss, reports SEN.

Weitering told the president any blame for the club’s current woes laid with him and his teammates rather than Voss.

Sayers also has other problems to deal with, as PricewaterhouseCoopers Australia - where he was previously CEO - is mired in a tax scandal.

Carlton’s on-field woes have extended off-field. (Photo by Michael Willson/AFL Photos via Getty Images)

The fresh details came as Brownlow medallist and Geelong great Bartel blamed off-field higher-ups for the ongoing woes of clubs, like in Carlton’s current case.

“The funny thing about these supposed men in the shadows, or powerbrokers as they love to be coined ... who sit in the shadows, and it’s often associated with the bigger Melbourne clubs. They actually know jack-shit about football,” Bartel said on his podcast Eddie and Jimmy.

“Because all their meddling and fiddling around has actually taken their club longer to get it right. And we’ve seen this with a couple of clubs.

“It’s very funny that a lot of these people who meddle and they put their money in - you know what you should do with them? You should go, come and look at our new facility. And there’s your plaque, and we’re so grateful.

“We’ll open some training sessions, we’ll open some access to players, we’ll take you over here, have a hallway chat with the coach, we might even have a dinner where he can give you some insights. Here’s the new auditorium. That’s where it ends.

“And if you want to be involved, put your hand up for the board.”

Former Collingwood president Eddie McGuire replied: “that has some merit, but I’ll also say this - there are a lot of people in football who are dumb-asses.”

Originally published as ‘They know jack-s**t about footy’: Carlton’s ‘meddling’ blasted amid Blue’s post-game plea