IT WAS a rare moment of stable leadership for the Carlton Football Club, and it came unexpectedly amid yet another streak of bad losses.
In the SCG dressing rooms after a fourth straight loss on Friday May 26, Blues director Craig Mathieson vented loudly to president Luke Sayers. Three days later, Mathieson resigned as a board member, with Sayers saying the post-Swans match exchange was "below professional standards of what is expected".
In that parting, Sayers' effectively said to the football world that he supported his coach Michael Voss over the traditional power – and money which comes with that power - carried at Carlton by the Mathieson name. Craig's uncle, Bruce, had only two weeks earlier launched into one of his rambling critical rants of Blues' operations.
Sayers and Carlton CEO Brian Cook provided calmness when Voss needed it most. Two more losses followed the defeat by the Swans, which meant six losses had been recorded in succession. The only win in the nine matches of rounds five to 13 was against West Coast, which in 2023 almost doesn't count.
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Voss certainly appreciated the support. The stretch of losses was demoralising, and was potentially going to lead to a career-ending outcome given they came in a season which began with high-end finals expectations.
Then, out of nowhere, Voss' Blues clicked in the second quarter of round 14 against Gold Coast. That match was won by 59 points. Four wins have followed, by huge margins - 60 against Hawthorn, 53 (Fremantle), 50 (Port Adelaide) and 71 (West Coast, on Saturday at Marvel Stadium).
Carlton finished round 19 in ninth place, just five percentage points out of the top eight.
This most unlikely of Carlton resurgences will get clarity next Friday night at the MCG against tearaway ladder leader Collingwood.
They will be without at least two of their stars, the Blues, with Sam Walsh and Harry McKay unfortunately not available for selection with injury. Brownlow Medallist Patrick Cripps should return, and Adam Cerra will be hoping his hamstring issues disappear.
The Blues will be significant underdogs. But they will be a sneaky chance. And the Friday night lights for a match with massive stakes might just be the forum that Charlie Curnow was born for.
Cruel end to a Rising Star worthy season
ONE of the great debut seasons has come to a shattering end with the rupturing of Will Ashcroft's ACL on Saturday night.
When official news of the knee damage emerged late Sunday morning, the joy of the previous night's premiership credential-endorsing win against Geelong for everyone connected to Brisbane evaporated.
Ashcroft's story in 2023 had been glorious, arguably as grand as the debut 2022 season efforts of Collingwood's Nick Daicos. An instant success, and a weekly starter in the midfield of a team bound for the top four.
Ashcroft will be dreadfully missed by this club, not just for the remaining five home-and-away matches and subsequent finals, but for most of 2024 as well.
Votes for the 2023 NAB Rising Star will not be officially collated for another five weeks, but I believe Ashcroft has done enough to secure the gong, despite not having the chance to play again. Harry Sheezel, Mitch Owens, Jye Amiss and Finn Callaghan obviously have five more weeks to mount already impressive cases, but given the body of work of Ashcroft in 18 matches, in my eyes, they are coming from well behind.
For everyone at the Lions, first thoughts were for Ashcroft, the person. He has made an extraordinarily positive impact, on and off the field, on this outfit in his first season. But at some stage this week, those thoughts will inevitably swing to the need to replace him.
Jarryd Lyons had effectively been phased out of weekly requirements by Ashcroft, as well as the recruitment of Josh Dunkley, who has been very good all year and was probably best-afield in the win against the Cats.
Lyons was omitted for the Cats game, largely because of Dunkley's return from injury. He has played just five matches this year but looms as the player most likely to take Ashcroft's spot.
Only two seasons ago, in 2021, Lyons finished third in the Lions' best-and-fairest award, and placed second in 2020. Lyons turned 31 on the day Ashcroft ruptured his ACL. There's still some high-end footy responsibilities left for this three-club journeyman.