Rohan Connolly considers every AFL team bar Brisbane a possibility of finishing inside the top eight next season, including Carlton.
The football writer for The Age says that the Blues’ promising 2016 campaign, where they won a surprising seven games, combined with the lessons garnered from the Western Bulldogs’ remarkable premiership only two years after finishing 14th means that most sides can make a claim to play finals next year.
“Can anyone definitely say that Carlton cannot make the eight? I beg to differ if someone says they can’t because a lot can change quickly,” Connolly said on SEN’s Sunday SportSENtral.
“Surely what the Bulldogs have done over a two year period gives us some good lessons. If you have the right coach and you develop the right sort of ethos, you can get everyone on board with what you’re trying to do.”
“I think if you say Carlton can’t, you’re selling them pretty short.”
Speaking more particularly on the Blues chances in coach Brendon Bolton’s second season, Connolly believes that the winning mentality of the players gained from GWS and the return of captain Marc Murphy from an ankle injury hold them in good stead.
“They have turned over nearly 30 players over two pre-seasons, there’s a lot of new players in there, but the big but for me with their influx is that so many of those players - you’re talking about eight I think from GWS - are young and improving but they’ve already got experience under their belts through GWS,” he said.
“I think Marc Murphy coming back makes a huge difference to them and you also have young key position types now who might have scope for really quick improvement.
“I think quick improvement is not what people are taking under consideration.”
Connolly also believes that the gap between the top and bottom of the AFL has been significantly reduced, meaning teams from just outside the eight this year have a high probability of taking a step forward next year.
“I think the jump from lower down the ladder to the periphery is in some ways a bit easier than it used to be,” he said.
“The evenness of the contenders… see a bit of luck and you’re halfway there. A good draw can do a lot – and I think Carlton have got a pretty reasonable draw.”
Connolly also sees the same potential in Bolton that he believes have driven the Luke Beveridge-led Bulldogs to success earlier than anyone predicted.
“The capacity of a good teaching coach to elicit improvement quickly in players…I think that is what Luke Beveridge did at the Bulldogs and I think Brendon Bolton can do that at Carlton, I really do,” he said.
“They won seven games, you only need to win another four and you’re right in there.”
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