The AFL has officially rejected Carlton’s bid for a priority pick in a move that can only be described as the correct call.
As the Blues’ season started to quickly trend downwards, they made it clear they weren’t going to ask for any kind of special assistance.
From there, members of the general media took it upon themselves to criticise the club for not accepting the dire situation before them.
Carlton, eventually, decided they would ask for a priority pick, and why wouldn’t they? What do they have to lose? They either get a priority pick – massive win – or the AFL says no, and they move on.
The very same people then criticised the club for changing their mind and asking the question.
The AFL rejecting Carlton’s bid came as a surprise to many, but AFL Football Operations boss Steve Hocking laid the groundwork for this call on SEN a month ago.
“There’s that option (for the priority pick to be at the start of the first round) and an option around mature age players as well. Do you need to go to a priority pick scenario or can you potentially give them access to mature age talent?” Hocking told SEN’s Crunch Time in August.
“If you have a look at (Carlton and Gold Coast), that’s actually what they’re lacking. I’m not sure they need more (young) talent.
“I personally think it’s broader than just pushing a priority pick towards them.”
Those saying the AFL goaded Carlton into begging for help before rejecting them are, well, wrong.
The AFL has reportedly followed through with the above, with the Blues and Suns set to gain priority access to state level players, according to AFL.com.au
The two clubs will supposedly be able to recruit, or on-trade, one state-league player of their choosing. Don’t be surprised if they're given two or three players.
Carlton getting this assistance is more than sufficient for the predicament they find themselves in.
Why Carlton doesn’t need a priority pick
During the 2017 AFL trade period, Carlton chose to trade veteran Bryce Gibbs to Adelaide in exchange for top-end picks.
Gibbs wanted to get to the Crows, but would've happily remained with the Blues had a deal not been reached.
The trade was a win-win for both clubs, but a clear indication Carlton was willing to take a half step back in 2018 to, hopefully, leap forward in future years.
The Blues used Adelaide’s pick 10 to draft Lochie O'Brien, who had a good first season, but obviously was not going to match the output of the 29-year-old Gibbs.
BLUES BID FOR PRIORITY PICK REJECTED
STATE LEAGUE PLAYERS CARLTON SHOULD CONSIDER
Carlton then lost vice-captain Sam Docherty for the season. It would be the first in a series of injury dominos to fall that would essentially derail the club from Round 1 to Round 23 without respite.
Anyone expecting the Blues to finish with more wins in 2018 than they had in 2017 wasn’t paying close enough attention.
Clearly, the AFL was paying attention.
Carlton only won the two games and had some dismal performances, but the pieces are there long-term.
SEN analyst David King liked what he saw from Carlton’s young core in 2018.
“(You’ve) got to get a minimum of four stars before you can build, before you can really start to fill around the edges (and) purpose pick some players,” King told SEN’s Whateley in August.
“We know about Patrick Cripps, we know about Charlie Curnow, but Paddy Dow, he made some statement on the weekend.
“Sam Petrevski-Seton, this kid had a breakout game, he hasn’t even done a preseason yet.
“Jacob Weitering showed some signs, Harry McKay, I know he is a big lumbering lad, and he is always sort of around the area and not always involving himself, but he showed he is going to be a player."
Carlton, as Hocking said, has more than enough young talent – especially when you throw number one draft prospect Sam Walsh into the mix.
If they can't make this crop of players work going forward, it's a failure of development and coaching, not of personnel.
Given the Blues were always going to regress in 2018 and given their abundance of young talent simply needing time to grow, it’s fair to come to the conclusion the club doesn’t need an extra draft pick. At least not to the extent where the AFL can afford to hurt the integrity of the draft by handing one out to them.
What the club needs is mature bodies to help set standards and carry the club forward.
Carlton isn’t the youngest team in the competition, but you could argue their best 22 for 2019 currently contains four players over the age of 25 (Kade Simpson, Matthew Kreuzer, Marc Murphy and Ed Curnow).
You can take veteran forward Matthew Wright out of the mix given he announced his retirement today.
Giving the club assistance by allowing them to pick the best state league player(s) in the land is more than fair given what we’ve seen some of these players do in 2018.
Tim Kelly, Liam Ryan, Billy Gowers, Bayley Fritsch and Brody Mihocek emerged via the 2017 draft, among others, and the Blues will get their choice of the 2018 crop.
Carlton fans are understandably disgruntled by the decision, but the AFL made the right call in not handing the Blues a priority pick.
The AFL may want to have a second think about not giving Gold Coast a helping hand, though.