Kane Cornes believes Carlton’s wild form fluctuations during games mean they can’t play finals in 2020.
David Teague’s side has shown plenty of positive signs this year but let slip a 31-point lead to Hawthorn on Friday to lose their fifth match of the season.
Cornes declared Carlton “are not ready to go to the next step” following their defeat at the hands of the Hawks.
“I can’t get a read on them,” Cornes said on SEN’s Crunch Time.
“They were 42-points up against Geelong and they hang on to just win, they are 30 points up against North Melbourne and win by a goal, they were 31 (points) up against Hawthorn and lose by 31.
“The fluctuations within games of what they’re delivering is not reflective of a side that is ready to go to the next step.
“Whatever hope that Carlton fans had that they thought they would sneak into the finals and experience that again this year, that form line and the inconsistencies in game speaks of a side that is not ready to go to that step.”
Luke Hodge believes Carlton’s troubles during matches will only be able to be corrected in the longer term.
“It can’t be fitness so it’s got to be mindset or a change of tactics,” he said.
“You can’t go and dominate a team so easily and then drop so away so much. It’s got to be either the history of what the players have gone through…where they automatically go back to shutdown mode.
“I guess that builds up over years of doing the right thing but that’s surely crept into the mindset of a lot of Carlton players.”