The 2012 Carlton Football Club season was the Carlton Football Club's 149th season of competition, and 116th as a member of the Australian Football League.
After a strong start to the season which had Carlton sitting as premiership favourites after six weeks, performances declined and the team finished tenth out of eighteen teams in the 2012 AFL season, missing the finals for the first time since 2008 and resulting in the dismissal of senior coach Brett Ratten.
Club summary The 2012 AFL season was the 116th season of the VFL/AFL competition since its inception in 1897; and, having competed in every season, it was also the 116th season contested by the Carlton Football Club.
As in previous years, the club's primary home ground was Etihad Stadium, with home games expecting to draw larger crowds played at the M.C.G., and with traditional home ground Visy Park serving as the training and administrative base. The club's two joint major sponsors, car manufacturer Hyundai and confectionery company Mars, were unchanged from 2011. Carlton had a full alignment with the Northern Blues in the Victorian Football League, allowing Carlton-listed players to play with the Northern Blues when not selected in AFL matches; the VFL club, known as the Northern Bullants until 2011, changed its name and colours to match Carlton's this season.
The club's membership campaign slogan for 2012 was "I am Carlton"; the slogan was launched in Round 24, 2011. The club set a new membership record of 45,800, passing the 2011 record of 44,136 in May; the club had expected to reach 50,000 members after the strength of early season sales, but fell short of this target.
Senior Personnel Brett Ratten continued in his role as senior coach of the club, entering his fifth and final season appointed to the job. Ratten's contract was to have expired after the 2011 season, but after that season he was awarded a two-year extension which was to have seen him coach the club until 2013; this contract was ultimately terminated early at the end of the 2012 season, because the club failed to meet onfield expectations during the year.
Ratten's coaching panel for 2012 was joined by Western Bulldogs assistant coach Paul Williams, who had also served as the Bulldogs' caretaker coach for three matches at the end of the 2011 season. Williams was appointed to the new role of assistant coach in charge of midfield stoppages. Ruck assistant coach Matthew Capuano was given additional responsibilities in player development. Vic Country Under-18s coach Robert Hyde was appointed the Northern Blues senior coach on a part-time basis, however, he left the club at midseason, and development coach Darren Harris), who had been Northern Bullants coach in 2011, stepped back into the role for the remainder of the season.
Former club champion Stephen Kernahan continued as club president in the 2012 season, a position he has held since August 2008. General manager of football operations Steven Icke left the club at the end of the 2011, after serving in the role for five seasons. It has been speculated that Icke and Ratten did not enjoy a strong working relationship, and that Ratten's reappointment was in part responsible for Icke's departure. Icke was replaced by former club captain and premiership player Andrew McKay.
Chris Judd served as club captain for the fifth season, with Kade Simpson continuing as vice-captain. The leadership group was expanded from seven to eight players, with Jarrad Waite elevated into the group; the rest of the leadership group – Judd, Simpson, Andrew Carrazzo, Jordan Russell, Marc Murphy, Bryce Gibbs and Michael Jamison – was unchanged from 2011.
Financial position Carlton posted an operating loss of around $680,000 in the 2012 season. It was the club's first loss for six seasons. This was attributed to a drop in crowds caused by poorer-than-expected onfield form, and severance payments to Brett Ratten and several of his assistant coaches when they were sacked with time remaining on their contracts following the season.
Squad for 2012 Flags represent the state of origin, i.e. the state in which the player played his Under-18s football. Senior ListCarlton Football Club, Player List , Retrieved 29 Nov 2011. No. State Player Age AFL Debut Recruited from Career (to end 2011) 2012 Player Statistics Gms Gls Gms Gls B D K HB M T HO 1 Andrew Walker 25 2004 Bendigo (U18) 127 931516112751691065636– 2 Jordan Russell (lg) 25 2005 West Adelaide 109 18 7 – 1 85 39 46 32 26 – 3 Marc Murphy (lg) 24 2006 Oakleigh (U18) 126 104 16 11 10 420 236 184 69 63 – 4 Bryce Gibbs (lg) 22 2007 Glenelg 112 6122 8 9 481 317 164 114 91 5 5 Chris Judd (c) 28 2002 Sandringham (U18), West Coast 222 19317 13 9 426 206 217 55 62 – 6 Kade Simpson (vc)Anderson, J., Herald Sun, "Kade Simpson says it's time for Blues to stand up", 16 February 2011, Retrieved 26 March 2011. 27 2003 Eastern (U18) 157 9619 15 13 426 267 159 106 62 3 7 Dylan Buckley 18 — Northern (U18) – –––––––––– 8 Matthew Kreuzer 22 2008 Northern (U18) 68 3820108243146976066450 9 Kane Lucas 20 2010 East Fremantle 10 08557746312322– 10 Matthew Watson 19 2011 Calder (U18) 3 08––9573223493 11 Robert Warnock 24 2007 Sandringham (U18), Fremantle 53 125–1351916812158 12 Mitch Robinson 22 2009 Tasmania (U18/VFL) 49 29181210379213166949317 13 Chris Yarran 21 2009 Swan Districts 45 311898264197677331– 14 Brock McLean 25 2004 Calder (U18), Melbourne 104 421510838817920978782 15 Jeremy Laidler 22 2009 Geelong (U18, AFL) 21 24––472720165– 16 Andrew Collins 23 2009 Bendigo (U18), Richmond 27 2396614588573030– 17 Sam Rowe 24 — Murray (U18), Sydney, Norwood – –––––––––– 18 Paul Bower 23 2006 Peel 60 3102–146104426022– 19 Eddie Betts 25 2005 Calder (U18) 144 2152248302851821037262– 21 Josh Bootsma 18 2012 South Fremantle – –5–14930191213– 22 Shaun Hampson 23 2007 Mount Gravatt 44 141315412061595124240 23 Lachlan Henderson 22 2007 Geelong (U18), Brisbane 49 311134133973659191 24 Pat McCarthy 19 2012 Glenelg – –1––10645–– 25 Luke Mitchell 19 2012 Calder (U18) – –1128713–2 26 Andrew McInnes 19 2012 Dandenong (U18) – –8––8662243619– 27 Dennis Armfield 25 2008 Swan Districts 60 9211662991861137358– 29 Heath Scotland 31 1999 Western (U18), Collingwood 223 72212655328327011672– 30 Jarrad Waite (lg) 28 2003 Murray (U18) 143 169112714165116498430– 31 Marcus Davies 20 2010 North Hobart 13 12––1110132– 32 Bret Thornton 28 2002 Oakleigh (U18) 181 2179685562942810 34 Nick Duigan 27 2011 Norwood 22 1 1651198105934947– 36 Rohan Kerr 20 – Dandenong (U18) – –––––––––– 38 Jeff Garlett 22 2009 Swan Districts 54 99222927264195697872– 40 Michael Jamison (lg) 25 2007 North Ballarat (U18, VFL) 71 116–2202131717528– 43 Simon White 23 2010 Subiaco 12 25––533122249– 44 Andrew Carrazzo (lg) 28 2004 Oakleigh (U18), Geelong 140 4114513451551905366– 45 Aaron Joseph 22 2009 Tasmania (U18) 56 9131–15795624329– 46 David Ellard 22 2008 Swan Districts 27 1810481861147234561 Rookie ListCarlton Football Club, Carlton Blues Rookie player list , Retrieved 30 April 2011. No. State Player Age AFL Debut Recruited from Career (to end 2011) 2012 Player Statistics Gms Gls Gms Gls B D K HB M T HO 20 Rhys O'Keeffe 21 2011 North Adelaide 1 02––2181364– 28 Tom Bell 20 2012 Morningside – –741104673719301 35 Ed Curnow 22 2011 Geelong (U18), Adelaide, Box Hill 12 318–23181281905889– 37 Nicholas Heyne 21 2010 Gippsland (U18), 3 0––––––––– 39 Frazer Dale 18 2012 Calder (U18) – –21–752231 41 Levi Casboult 21 2012 Dandenong (U18) – –6712543717311243 42 Zach Tuohy 22 2011 Laois GAA 11 31951208129793960– 47 Mitchell Carter 20 – South Fremantle – –––––––––– 48 Blake Bray 19 – Western Suburbs – –––––––––– 49 Matthew Lodge 18 – Riverview – –––––––––– Senior coaching panelCarlton Football Club, 2011 Coaching Panel, Retrieved 30 April 2011. Born Coach Coaching position Carlton Coaching debut Former clubs as coach Brett Ratten Senior Coach 2007 Melbourne (a), Norwood (EFL) (s) Alan Richardson Senior Assistant Coach 2011 East Burwood (s), Coburg (s), Western Bulldogs (a), Collingwood (a), Essendon (a) John Barker Assistant coach (Forward) 2011 St Kilda (a), Hawthorn (a) Gavin Brown Assistant coach (Defense) 2011 Collingwood (a), Collingwood (VFL) (s) Matthew Capuano Assistant coach (Ruck) and Development Coach 2009 Mark Riley Assistant coach (Midfield) 2008 Claremont (s), Fremantle (d, a), Melbourne (a, cs) Paul Williams Assistant coach (Midfield Stoppages) 2012 Melbourne (a), Western Bulldogs (a, cs) Darren Harris Development coach, Northern Blues senior coach (from 28 June) 2009 Wodonga Raiders (O&MFL) (s), NSW/ACT Rams (d), West Perth (s), West Coast (a), Northern Bullants (s) Luke Webster Development coach 2011 Source:
For players: (c) denotes captain, (vc) denotes vice-captain, (lg) denotes leadership group. For coaches: (s) denotes senior coach, (cs) denotes caretaker senior coach, (a) denotes assistant coach, (d) denotes development coach.
Playing list changes
The following summarises all player changes between the conclusion of the 2010 season and the conclusion of the 2011 season.
During trade week, both Setanta Ó hAilpín and Paul Bower requested to be traded, seeking more playing time than they had been receiving at Carlton, but ultimately Carlton did not engage in any trades. Bower was retained on the list, while Ó hAilpín was delisted; Carlton had not wanted to delist Ó hAilpín, but was forced to delist somebody due to AFL rules specifying that each club must make a minimum of three list changes after each season.
In Player Previous club League via Dylan Buckley Northern Knights TAC Cup Selected under the Father–son rule without contest, using Carlton's last pick in the AFL National Draft (a third round pick, No. 62 overall) Josh Bootsma South Fremantle WAFL AFL National Draft, first round (pick No. 22) Sam Rowe Norwood SANFL AFL National Draft, second round (pick No. 44) Tom Bell Morningside NEAFL AFL Rookie Draft, first round (pick No. 14) Nicholas Heyne St Kilda AFL AFL Rookie Draft, second round (pick No. 32) Frazer Dale Calder Cannons TAC Cup AFL Rookie Draft, third round (pick No. 50) Matthew Lodge Riverview AFL Sydney Elevated from NSW/ACT Scholarship during AFL Rookie Draft, fourth round (pick No. 67)
Out Player New Club League via Ryan Houlihan Sydney Hills NEAFL Retired from the AFL Jaryd Cachia Norwood SANFL Delisted from the rookie list Joe Dare Cobden Hampden FNL Delisted from the rookie list Wayde Twomey Swan Districts WAFL Delisted from the rookie list Mark Austin Western Bulldogs AFL Delisted Setanta Ó hAilpín GWS AFL Delisted
List management Player Change Nicholas Heyne Received permission to join Carlton's 2012 pre-season training in November (before ultimately being drafted in December's rookie draft) Ed Curnow Prior to Round 1, elevated from the rookie list to the senior list as a nominated rookie Zach Tuohy Prior to Round 1, elevated from the rookie list to the senior list as a nominated rookie Sam Rowe Frazer Dale Prior to Round 11, Rowe was moved to the long term injury list (testicular cancer), and Dale was elevated from the rookie list in his place Jeremy Laidler Tom Bell Prior to Round 17, Laidler was moved to the long term injury list (knee), and Bell was elevated from the rookie list in his place Shaun Hampson Levi Casboult Prior to Round 17, Hampson was moved to the long term injury list (knee), and Casboult was elevated from the rookie list in his place
Season summary The club ran a two-week preseason training camp for much of its playing list in Doha, Qatar, and a further week in Abu Dhabi, UAE, during October and November 2011. The camp was designed for high performance training: high ambient temperatures in the Middle East, and artificial high-altitude training facilities in Doha, were key reasons for the camp's location.
Pre-season matches