Would you call 2023 a success for the Carlton Football Club? 2024 certainly wasn’t, but 12 months earlier, the Blues were a game out of the Grand Final, and I heard many long-suffering supporters state they thought it was a successful season.
It is interesting to note that several of those supporters also believed that the ‘success’ they found that season was going to be built on in 2024. Now, with the season in the rearview mirror, we are all aware that the Blues bombed in 2024, crashing out of contention in the first week of September.
After an excellent first half of the season where they appeared to be genuine contenders, the Blues reverted to being pretenders, as a mix of injuries, poor form, and what has becoming a little too customary – shitting the bed – saw them bundled out of the finals in the first week. They played one of the worst halves of footy of the season in the Elimination Final, as the Lions slammed on nine goals before Carlton bothered the goal umpire. Not one of their own worst halves, but one of the overall worst halves of the season from any team.
They went on to be beaten by 28 points – a respectable margin… had the Lions not put the cue in the rack and started their preparation for the Semi-Final by that stage.
It was an anaemic effort from a club that appeared to be ready to challenge at one stage. Instead, they lay down and were mauled by the Lion Pride.
Pride… yes, there’s a word that was once associated with the Blues. I’ll get to that in a little while. But for now, we’ll head back to the word “success”.
The remainder of this article is for our members. They support me, and I provide for them. It’s a good deal.
Oh… you thought the Mongrel coverage ended with the final siren of the GF? No, no, no… HB works year-round, and he works for our members. He believes work such as this is worth a mere pittance per day. If you don’t, that’s fine. You’re welcome to join and keep reading if you do.
