Summary
THE BLUES produced an underwhelmingseason for the most part, but afterbeing gifted a finals berth following Essendon's ejection from the top eight, theyenjoyed an exhilarating ride. They could have made the finals in their ownright had they managed to scrounge more wins in tight games. Alas, they lost sevengames by no more than 17 points. There were teething problems in executing theplans of new coach Mick Malthouse, while extended absences of Andrew Carrazzo,Jarrad Waite and Matthew Kreuzer cost them.
What worked
TransformingAndrew Walker from a high-flying forward into theclub's chief ball-carrier from half-back; moving Lachie Henderson from key backto key forward and turning him into a valuable swingman; redeploying wingman KadeSimpson to half-back; recalling Rob Warnock for the pivotal late-season return;Jeff Garlett averaging two goals a game; Zach Tuohy becoming a more accountable,consistent small defender in a settled back six; Bryce Gibbs becominginfluential at times in the midfield; and Ed Curnow turning into a quality tagger.
What failed
The forward line,particularly when Jarrad Waite wasn't there (he played only 14 games) or whenLachie Henderson was forced to play in defence. The forward structure changedregularly, especially in the first half of the season when the likes of SamRowe, Shaun Hampson and Levi Casboult alternated through the key posts. And itdidn't help that Eddie Betts and Chris Yarran struggled.
Surprisepacket
With Carrazzo sidelinedfor the majority of the season, Curnow stepped up to become the Blues' chieftagger, and made a great fist of it. The club's best endurance athlete – hebroke Adrian Gleeson's longstanding record around Princes Park – Curnow wasrarely beaten and claimed big scalps including Trent Cotchin, Gary Ablett andTravis Boak. The third-year rookie received coaches' votes in five games. He hurthis knee early in the semi-final against the Swans, just when they needed him most.
Disappointment
Dropping two games toarch rival Essendon after holding significant leads. In round 11, the Blues hadrestricted the Bombers to just three goals and were 31 points clear midwaythrough the third quarter, but conceded eight of the next 10 goals to go down byfive points. In their round 22 rematch, the Blues were 19 points up early inthe last quarter and would have been further in front if not for inaccuracy,before Essendon kicked the last four goals to consign the Blues to adevastating six-point defeat.
MVP Andrew Walker
Best rookie/firstyear player Jaryd Cachia
Best win v Port Adelaide, round 23.
Low point
Their 28-point loss to the Western Bulldogs in round 20 when they desperately needed to win to be achance of making the finals in the traditional manner.
What needs toimprove
Aftertheir semi-final loss to the Swans, Malthouse bemoanedhis team's "extraordinary" inability to generate run this season,saying he had tried virtually every combination of midfielders at his disposalwithout finding a formula that could consistently deliver. They also need morerunners to spread the load more and take some heat off captain Marc Murphy andveteran superstar Chris Judd. They also need to develop their fringe forwardtargets and try to eradicate the lapses that cost them several games.
Who's done To be confirmed
What theyneed
Forstarters, a new fitness chief,following the departure of Justin Cordy. The obvious candidate is DavidButtifant, who worked with close friend Malthouse for all but one of thecoach's 12 seasons at Collingwood. The Blues are also believed to be close to signingMagpies free agent Dale Thomas, and could also enter the running for Richmond star Dustin Martin. Landing both would solve the Blues' lack of running power. Tradingto get Greater Western Sydney's No.1 pick and using it on forward prodigy Tom Boyd would complete the jigsaw.
Luke Darcy says
"Yarran, Betts andGarlett. I don't think you'll see those three names at Carlton nextyear."
