Dennis Armfield
The first half of Dennis' year was a little bit inconsistent, but a bit after the halfway mark of the year he sat down with the coach to have a good look at where he was at and from that moment on he was terrific. His consistency went through the roof and he had some standout games, so he really turned his season around after that chat, which is a credit to him.
 
Ten things we learnt about Carlton in 2012

Tom Bell
Tommy was a real success story for the footy club. He was a rookie who probably, in our minds, wasn't even on the radar right up until a couple of weeks before his first AFL game. Like a lot of players, because we were injury-ravaged, his opportunity came up and he certainly took the bull by the horns even though we thought he might not have been ready. He's a terrific size for an inside midfielder, he's an elite runner - I think he came third in our park time trial - and he's hard at it. He showed that he's going to be a serious AFL player.

Eddie Betts
I don't know who's going to win our best and fairest, but I'd put him in our top two or three. His consistency for a small forward was fantastic and he had some excellent games against really good opponents. He kicked a bag of five goals against Harry O'Brien there at one stage and Harry usually controls Eddie reasonably well. His pressure in the forward line, as well his goalkicking, was just exceptional.

Josh Bootsma
He's going to have a fantastic footy career ahead of him. He was another of the boys who were probably fast-tracked a little bit with our injury concerns, but found himself down back and had a real knack of finding the footy. He's got a cult following with that mop of hair. He's a really calm character, which serves him really well on the footy field, he's got an enormous amount of courage, is a beautiful kick of the footy and he's probably the club's best spoiler already. He's got a lot of upside.

Paul Bower
To his credit he got on top of his injury concerns this year and broke into the senior side for a number of weeks and did really well, but then found himself out of the side. He was in contention every week, but unfortunately he didn't break back into the senior side. He needs to continue to get better with the ball in hand and continue to work on his spoiling and his defensive mindset.

Blake Bray
Delisted

Dylan Buckley
Dylan probably struggled to find lots of the footy this year and that's an area he'll need to get better at, but the real upside for him is that once he gets the footy he's a beautiful user. He's a beautiful long kick, has lots of courage and is just a nice player. He'll just need to keep working on his tank.
 
Andrew Carrazzo
He broke his shoulder blade, which really threw a spanner in the works for Carrots. It really put a dampener on his season because before that he was a real barometer for our side - it seemed that when he was going well, we were going well. He got some big jobs and still found plenty of the footy. We certainly missed him, but when he came back he played some really solid footy.

Mitch Carter
Mitch improved out of sight this year. He's a beautiful kick of the footy, but he just needs to work on his tank so that he can run games out. He found himself playing down back in the second half of the VFL year and had some terrific games where he'd beat his opponent and also run off with the footy. 

Levi Casboult
Big Levi was a great story after he had that knee injury early in the year then, on the back of one-and-a-half games in the VFL, he found himself in the senior side so credit to him to be able to play some really good footy on the back of that preparation. I liken him a little bit to Stewie Loewe in terms of his marking - he's got vice-like hands and a beautiful big jump on him. It's well documented that he's just got to work on his goalkicking.

Andrew Collins
Collo made real inroads this year. He played nine games and had a really good patch in the seniors. He's a goalkicker, he finds a lot of the footy and he's a really good reader of the game. He's got a beautiful kicking action, but probably a little bit inconsistent with his disposal. He's got a massive tank and has the ability to play wing and forward - he's pretty versatile.

Ed Curnow
Ed's great strengths are his hardness and his running ability. He had some run-with roles this year, which he did really well, but was also able at times to go and find plenty of the ball himself. He'll be working on his disposal and his decision-making so that he can potentially become an elite midfielder.

Frazer Dale
He's going to be a beauty, Fraze. He's got everything going for him. He did really well in our park run, is a beautiful mark and has a really good jump at the football. He's a smart forward-type player, so we're absolutely expecting big things in the future from Frazer Dale.

Marcus Davies
Marcus had an injury-interrupted season, but came into the AFL side against Richmond which was probably a bit unfair on him on the back of his preparation. He had a few goals kicked on him and went back to the VFL where he was really solid. He got a bit sore toward the end of the year as well, which inhibited his chances of playing senior footy.

Nick Duigan
He didn't quite have the year that he had last year, but he finished off really strongly. He went back to the VFL for two weeks, played really strongly there, and came back for the last two games of the season where he played strong footy off half-back. He gives great leadership, he's a strong athlete and will be keen to have a good pre-season to get his knee right.

David Ellard
He didn't do a lot wrong to be honest - he just at times didn't find himself in the senior side. He was one of those players that was always in contention, but when Murph came back into the side and with Brock McLean having such a strong second half of the year, he found himself in the VFL where he continued to rack up possessions. He's as hard as they come and a great competitor.

Jeff Garlett
Jeffy definitely didn't have the season he had last year in terms of goals. He was a bit up and down, but when he's up and going his forward pressure is very highly ranked in the AFL. His great value to the side is he's got to kick goals and put pressure on, but he scored a lot of points this year. I'd imagine he'll be very keen to make amends next year.

Bryce Gibbs
Gibber is another one who probably wouldn't have been happy with his season. He was a little bit up and down. He played some fantastic games and then probably waned a couple of times, so he would be really keen to have a strong pre-season. He's a quality player and a quality individual, he's very important for us, and he'll be working very hard in the pre-season.

Shaun Hampson
Shaun was going really well, he's really progressed each year he's been with us. His marking and ability to compete in the air up forward was a real standout early when we were going well and he was important in the ruck too. Then he got injured, unfortunately, and that was the end of the year for him. He's been rehabbing his knee and he'll get stuck back into it next season.

Lachie Henderson
Hendo was down back for most of the season, but did go forward at times and looked really damaging. He was our key defender this year and did some outstanding jobs, but he missed a lot of footy in the second half of the season through injury. He was a Rock of Gibraltar down back early days. We were lucky that he was in really good form. I thought he had a really strong season until he got injured. 

Nick Heyne
Delisted

Michael Jamison
Jamo just had a horrific year with injury, he just really battled his way through then had a hamstring late in the season. He just couldn't get any continuity in his performances whatsoever and couldn't really get out on the training track a hell of a lot to be honest. He had a year that he'll want to forget from an injury point of view, but I think he'll be fine to hook right into it from day one of the pre-season.

Aaron Joseph
AJ did a terrific job against Cyril Rioli when we played Hawthorn - he shut him right out of the game - but he was a bit up and down. He's going to be working really hard on trying to even that out. He'll work on his endurance because he's going to play on those types of endurance players off half-back as well as potentially going in the middle to sit on someone.

Chris Judd
He got suspended and missed four and then he got injured as well. It wasn't his greatest year, his standards are so high and we all expect him to be getting 30 touches every week and that didn't quite happen for various reasons. With Murphy and Carrazzo being out at times, that probably loaded Chris up a lot and made it even more difficult for him. With those guys out he attracts a lot of attention from the opposition, but he'll bounce back.

Rohan Kerr
Delisted

Matthew Kreuzer
Kreuze was a bit inhibited by his knee this year, but he should go into the pre-season with a clean bill of health, which is just what he needs because he really struggled toward the end of the year. He had to hold up the ruck division because we didn't have any other options really, so it was a tough year for him. But he had some good performances along the way.

Jeremy Laidler
It was disappointing for him to have that knee injury so early in the piece then come back and do it again. It was shattering for him and that pretty much finished off his season. He's keen as mustard, he's very competitive and we really missed him in the back half, so we're looking forward to seeing him back next year.

Matthew Lodge
Delisted

Kane Lucas
He's a beautiful runner with a big tank who is quick as well. He uses the ball reasonably well, but needs to work on that. When he went back to the VFL he ended up finding a lot of the footy, which was terrific, but we'll be working with him on the contested side of his footy.

Pat McCarthy
He played the last game and he didn't look out of place I thought. He played off half-back and on a wing in the VFL and he played a bit forward and back in the AFL and he did all right. He's a beautiful long kick, but he needs to put some weight on his frame to enable him to cut it at the next level.

Andrew McInnes
Andy Mac was a great story this year. He actually struggled a bit earlier in the season at VFL level, but he really worked hard on his game and found himself in the seniors on that back of opportunities through injury. I thought he was exceptional before he unfortunately did his ACL. He's a beauty. He's got great size, is a beautiful kick, a good decision maker and he'll work as hard as he can to get back as soon as he can.

Brock McLean
He was an incredible story really. He didn't really get a look in last year and in the first half of this year he wasn't really in consideration even though he'd been playing really good footy in the VFL. His attitude was super, he was a great leader in the VFL, but he got his opportunity in the second half of the season and just ran with it. He became one of our premier midfielders. He was really hard at it, spread really well as well as winning the inside ball and was really a revelation.

Luke Mitchell
He'd been hampered by that shoulder injury, but he played the last game for us and kicked a goal. He couldn't get a run at it for a long while, but it was great he played that last game because it will really spike his enthusiasm and his want to be a senior player. He knows what's expected of him, so he'll be working hard on his shoulder because he hasn't been able to get into the gym much. He's an exciting proposition.

Marc Murphy
That shoulder injury really threw a spanner in the works of his season, but he was going really well early days. He missed about seven weeks with that injury and we know what an important player he is for us. He did a terrific job when Juddy was out and grew as a leader. He's a consummate professional and he'll be as keen as mustard to hook back into it. He's an A-grade midfielder, but injury just ravaged him this year.

Rhys O'Keeffe
Rhys has been dogged by injury all of his career really, but he was able to play about 12 games in a row this year, which was great. He was getting really strong numbers in the VFL and played the last game for us and was quite solid.

Mitch Robinson
Robbo's as hard as nails and we certainly missed him when he was out this year. The hardness he generates is fantastic - his ability to win the hard ball sets the scene for the boys in the middle. His influence can't be underestimated, but once again he was interrupted by injury, which affected his ability to be a bit more consistent. He had some fantastic games, but did drop away at times.

Sam Rowe
What a great character - that was one thing that really stood out after his cancer diagnosis. He came back really strongly and ended up training with the group over the last month of the season. He would have played senior footy had he been fit and well, but he's an outstanding person and we're really looking forward to seeing him on the field next year.

Jordan Russell
It was an interesting year for Jordie. He didn't get many opportunities, but when he went back to the VFL his attitude was fantastic and his leadership was really strong. He probably took a little while to get going, but he worked really hard on his spoiling and his bodywork. He did pretty well at VFL level, but just didn't find himself back in the senior side.

Heath Scotland
He just gets better with age - he was one of our most consistent performers this year whether it was off a wing or half-back. He filled some holes down back and did a brilliant job. He uses the footy beautifully off the left or right, has great courage and is very smart. His ability to shore us up wherever we put him was fantastic.
 
Kade Simpson
Simmo was probably affected by the midfielders that we had out because he ended up getting sat on by opposition teams, which he probably isn't used to as much as he did this year. That had an impact on his output in games, which is something that he'll be working on so that it doesn't affect him as much. But he's got everything Simmo - pound for pound he's as good a one-on-one player as you'll see.

Bret Thornton
Bret had a really good patch in the VFL and his ability to kick a goal for us at senior level can't be underestimated. He's an excellent mark and a beautiful kick and he had a good patch in the first half of the season.

Zach Tuohy
He progressed again this year, probably more so in the first half of the season when he was a running, goalkicking half-back flanker, but that probably dried up a bit in the second half of the year. Certainly from a defensive point of view he was doing his job week in, week out, but he'll grow his game to the point where he can find a really good balance between those two aspects of his game.

Jarrad Waite
He started the season really well and finished the season really strongly, but unfortunately for Jarrad he had that back injury that just didn't allow him to play footy for about 11 weeks. He's a key player for the Carlton footy club and when you miss that sort of talent, that sort of X-factor, it's pretty hard to replace - in fact we couldn't replace it. He'll really be looking forward to an uninterrupted pre-season.

Andrew Walker
He had that quad injury that put him out for four or five weeks and that certainly affected his season. He was flying in the pre-season, it was as good as he felt, but then that quad really plagued him. He ended up going back in the last couple of weeks and was really good. He played on Stephen Milne in the last game and shut him right out - he did an exceptional job. He's a professional - he'll get himself right and ready to go.

Robert Warnock
He missed a stack of footy with a shoulder injury and he was hanging on to hopefully get up again towards the end of the season, but didn't get there unfortunately. He was going OK in the middle of the season there, but the big fella just had some rotten luck this year.

Matthew Watson
Watto played three games last year and eight this year, so the natural progression for him was on track. He'll be looking to play more games next year or even become a permanent fixture as a key defender. He's an elite kick, a good decision maker and he's working really hard on his bodywork and his spoiling.

Simon White
Whitey had that knee operation halfway through the season and to his credit he came back and finished the year strongly. He was our No.1 key defender in the absence of Jamison and Henderson. He played a little bit out of his weight division, but did a fantastic job. He's going to be really important to the team next year without a doubt.

Chris Yarran
He certainly didn't have the year that he had last year off half-back. He was used a little bit up forward as well, but his run off half-back, as everyone knows, is very important to our footy club. He was sat on a fair bit and I thought he handled it really well most times, but he carried that toe injury for most of the season, which limited his ability to train. Still, some of his use off half-back was sublime.

The views in this article are those of the author and not necessarily those of the AFL or its clubs