I want to start by going back to a Sunday afternoon at the MCG at the start of May before a crowd of almost 60,000 … that in itself tells you that things were a little different then.
Carlton beat Essendon in a rollicking shootout 19 goals to 16. It was an adrenalin rush, a heap of fun.
David Teague declared in the aftermath the Blues’ best was good enough to beat anyone.
There was a cautionary tale in that game that was identified externally, but it was either missed or ignored by those that needed to understand it.
The lack of defensive system or intent threatened to sabotage whatever Carlton thought it was building.
Since that game in Round 7 Carlton has gone 1 and 5 to fall to 14th with a percentage of 90.1.
Essendon has won 4 of 6 – the losses by 2 points to the Giants and after hitting the front in the last quarter against Richmond in the Dreamtime.
The Bombers are 6 and 7 sitting 10th with a percentage of 103.
They have revealed the players and method that will define the Ben Rutten era.
They have created a surging optimism missing for many a year and are a sneaky chance of making the finals.
Who would you rather be … well that’s a rhetorical question.
Carlton’s mid-season review has many questions to answer.
There was a risk its presence in the middle of the season would prove unsettling. It’s hard to be unified when you’re looking over your shoulder wonder if you’ll have a job at season’s end.
The lack of commitment to set a tone at the outset on Saturday night suggested that might have been the case.
The rhetoric now is more in keeping with the reality.
The Blues are in the pit. Is it the Well of Souls from Raiders of the Lost Ark or The Pit from The Dark Knight Rises?