The 2017 Carlton Football Club season was the Carlton Football Club's 154th season of competition.
It was the club's men's team's 121st season as a member of the Australian Football League. The team finished sixteenth out of eighteen teams in the 2017 AFL season with a win–loss record of 6–16.
The season saw the inauguration of the club's women's team, which contested its first season as a member of the AFL Women's competition. The team finished fourth out of eight teams in the 2017 AFL Women's season with a 3–3–1 record from seven games.
Club summary The 2017 AFL season was the 121st season of the VFL/AFL competition since its inception in 1897; and, having competed in every season, it was also the 121st season contested by the Carlton Football Club. Carlton continued its 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. Carlton's primary home ground continued to be the Melbourne Cricket Ground, with the club playing six home matches there and five at Etihad Stadium; traditional home ground Ikon Park continued to serve as the training and administrative base.
The club also fielded its women's team in the inaugural season of the AFL Women's competition, running in February and March. Carlton was one of four Victorian clubs granted a license in June 2016 for the eight-team competition. Ikon Park served as the home ground for women's matches.
The club's membership was 50,326, a 0.3% increase on the 2016 season. Car manufacturer Hyundai continued as one of the club's two major sponsorship partners in 2017, having been a major sponsor continuously since 2008. The club's second major sponsorship partner at the beginning of the season was job seekers' services provider CareerOne, which was in the final year of a three-year deal; however, the company withdrew from the sponsorship during May after cash flow difficulties related to a federal government audit of one of its clients. In late May, the club signed airline Virgin Australia, which was already in a secondary level sponsorship deal with the club, as the replacement for CareerOne, with the Virgin logo replacing the CareerOne logo on the team's guernseys from Round 10 onwards. The club posted a $700,000 profit for the year, its first profit since the 2013 season.
Senior personnel Mark LoGiudice continued as club president, a role he had held since June 2014. Marc Murphy continued in the role of captain for the fifth season; Kade Simpson remained vice-captain. There was one change to the club's seven-man leadership group, with Dennis Armfield elevated to the group to fill the position left by the retirement of Andrew Walker, and Ed Curnow, Bryce Gibbs, Patrick Cripps and Sam Docherty holding their places. Former women's exhibition series senior coach Damien Keeping joined the club as the coach of the women's team.
Squad for 2017 The following is Carlton's squad for the 2017 season.
Statistics are correct as of end of 2017 season. Flags represent the state of origin, i.e. the state in which the player played his Under-18s football. Senior List No. State Player Age AFL Debut Recruited from Career (to end 2016) 2017 Player Statistics Gms Gls Gms Gls B D K HB M T HO 1 Jack Silvagni 19 2016 Oakleigh (U18) 8 7 20 19 17 201 144 57 90 51 0 3 Marc Murphy (c) 29 2006 Oakleigh (U18) 214 157 22 11 9 656 390 266 127 86 0 4 Bryce Gibbs (lg) 27 2007 Glenelg 209 120 22 17 13 590 362 228 114 129 0 5 Sam Petrevski-Seton 18 2017 Claremont – – 20 10 7 28 168 112 65 95 0 6 Kade Simpson (vc) 32 2003 Eastern (U18) 264 127 22 4 3 529 377 152 162 59 0 7 Dylan Buckley 23 2013 Northern (U18) 38 16 1 0 0 8 5 3 0 1 0 8 Matthew Kreuzer 27 2008 Northern (U18) 140 72 21 12 12 321 206 115 69 107 665 9 Patrick Cripps (lg) 21 2014 East Fremantle 44 16 15 7 4 374 168 206 65 90 0 10 Harry McKay 19 2017 Gippsland (U18) – – 2 3 2 15 11 4 7 1 0 11 Sam Kerridge 23 2012 Bendigo (U18), 48 29 11 2 2 238 120 118 55 48 0 12 Blaine Boekhorst 23 2015 Swan Districts 18 8 7 7 1 116 77 39 31 21 0 13 Jed Lamb 24 2013 Gippsland (U18), , GWS 37 30 11 6 10 141 110 31 51 28 0 14 Liam Jones 25 2010 North Hobart, 83 84 12 0 0 135 95 40 56 34 0 15 Sam Docherty (lg) 23 2013 Gippsland (U18), 70 11 22 3 3 613 460 153 199 7 0 16 Billie Smedts 24 2012 Geelong (U18), 38 19 9 1 3 91 44 47 20 32 0 17 Sam Rowe 29 2013 Murray (U18), Sydney, Norwood 73 15 9 1 0 80 44 36 24 13 0 18 Kristian Jaksch 22 2013 Oakleigh (U18), GWS 14 3 0 – – – – – – – – 19 Liam Sumner 23 2012 Sandringham (U18), GWS 28 17 4 2 1 27 17 10 7 6 0 20 Lachie Plowman 22 2013 Calder (U18), GWS 39 1 21 0 1 301 178 123 111 42 0 22 Caleb Marchbank 20 2015 Murray (U18), GWS 7 0 16 0 1 248 184 64 102 40 0 23 Jacob Weitering 19 2016 Dandenong (U18) 20 2 22 7 3 301 198 103 122 28 0 24 Rhys Palmer 27 2008 East Fremantle, , GWS 122 95 1 0 0 12 6 6 4 2 0 25 Zac Fisher 18 2017 Perth – – 17 4 4 197 93 104 22 50 0 26 Harrison Macreadie 18 2017 Henty – – 8 0 0 61 35 26 17 19 0 27 Dennis Armfield (lg) 30 2008 Swan Districts 140 73 5 2 1 55 37 18 25 11 0 28 David Cuningham 19 2016 Oakleigh (U18) 3 – 8 6 1 103 63 40 27 34 0 29 Cameron Polson 18 2017 Sandringham (U18) – – 1 0 1 11 3 8 0 2 0 30 Charlie Curnow 19 2016 Geelong (U18) 6 5 21 20 12 297 207 90 119 61 6 31 Tom Williamson 18 2017 North Ballarat (U18) – – 15 1 3 182 116 66 51 35 0 32 Nicholas Graham 22 2013 Gippsland (U18) 28 7 10 3 4 182 116 66 51 47 0 33 Jarrod Pickett 20 2017 South Fremantle, GWS – – 10 6 5 91 56 35 20 21 0 34 Andrew Phillips 25 2012 Lauderdale, GWS 30 11 1 0 0 5 3 2 1 3 29 35 Ed Curnow (lg) 27 2011 Geelong (U18), Adelaide, Box Hill 109 16 13 6 3 282 156 126 51 66 0 36 Pat Kerr 18 – Oakleigh (U18) – – 0 – – – – – – – – 37 Daniel Gorringe 24 2011 Norwood, 26 11 0 – – – – – – – – 38 Ciarán Byrne 22 2015 Louth GAA 12 – 3 0 0 39 21 18 13 2 0 39 Dale Thomas 29 2006 Gippsland (U18), 200 141 18 8 7 315 196 119 103 31 0 41 Levi Casboult 26 2012 Dandenong (U18) 72 71 22 34 18 220 144 76 120 39 157 43 Simon White 28 2010 Subiaco 76 12 11 0 0 142 97 45 56 21 0 46 Matthew Wright 27 2011 North Adelaide, 116 85 22 30 12 357 236 121 96 64 0 Rookie List No. State Player Age AFL Debut Recruited from Career (to end 2016) 2017 Player Statistics Gms Gls Gms Gls B D K HB M T HO 21 Ciarán Sheehan 26 2014 Cork GAA 4 – 2 0 0 19 11 8 5 2 0 40 Jesse Glass-McCasker 19 – Swan Districts – – 0 – – – – – – – – 42 Kym LeBois 18 – North Adelaide – – 0 – – – – – – – – 44 Alex Silvagni 29 2010 Casey, 53 10 7 0 0 73 45 28 31 33 0 45 Andrew Gallucci 22 – Calder (U18), Williamstown – – 0 – – – – – – – – 48 Matt Korcheck 25 – Arizona – – 0 – – – – – – – – Senior coaching panel State Coach Coaching position Carlton Coaching debut Former clubs as coach Brendon Bolton Senior Coach 2016 North Hobart (s), Tasmania (VFL) (s), Clarence (s), Box Hill (s), (a) John Barker Assistant coach (Stoppages) 2011 St Kilda (a), Hawthorn (a) Neil Craig Director of Coaching, Development and Performance 2016 Norwood (s), (s), (cs), (m) Tim Clarke Assistant coach (Midfield) 2016 (a), Coburg (s), Richmond reserves (s) Shane Watson Assistant coach (Forward-line) 2016 Lower Plenty (s), Sandringham (U18) (a), Eastern (U18) (s), (a) Dale Amos Assistant coach (Back-line) 2016 South Barwon (s), (a), Geelong reserves (s) Matthew Capuano Development coach 2009 Josh Fraser Development coach, Northern Blues senior coach 2016 Gold Coast reserves (s)
For players: (c) denotes captain, (vc) denotes vice-captain, (dvc) denotes deputy 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, (m) denotes managerial or administrative role in a football or coaching department
Playing list changes The following summarises all player changes which have occurred since the conclusion of the 2016 season. Unless otherwise noted, draft picks refer to selections in the 2016 AFL draft.
Two high-profile players requested trades away from Carlton in the lead-up to the trade period: Zach Tuohy and Bryce Gibbs. Gibbs was two years into a five-year contract, but sought a return to Adelaide for family reasons, nominating the Adelaide Crows as his preferred destination. Tuohy, out of contract but not a free agent, nominated as his preferred destination. Carlton was also linked to young out-of-contract defender Caleb Marchbank, who was seeking to return to his home state Victoria and nominated Carlton as his preferred destination. In the end, deals were secured for Tuohy and Marchbank, but Carlton and Adelaide could not come to an agreement on a trade for Gibbs and he remained on the Carlton list.
In Player Former Club League via Billie Smedts AFL AFL Trade Period, along with a fourth-round draft pick (provisionally No. 63) and 's first-round draft pick in the 2017 National Draft, in exchange for Zach Tuohy and Carlton's second-round draft pick in the 2017 National Draft. Caleb Marchbank AFL AFL Trade Period, along with GWS' second-round draft pick in the 2017 National Draft, in exchange for third- and fourth-round draft picks (provisionally No. 45 and 58) and 's first-round draft pick in the 2017 National Draft. Jarrod Pickett AFL Rhys Palmer AFL AFL Trade Period, in exchange for an eighth-round draft pick (provisionally No. 135). Sam Petrevski-Seton Claremont WAFL AFL National Draft, first round (No. 6 overall). Zac Fisher Perth WAFL AFL National Draft, second round (No. 27 overall). Harrison Macreadie Henty Hume FL AFL National Draft, third round (No. 47 overall). Eligible as a academy selection but Carlton's bid was not matched by GWS. Cameron Polson Sandringham Dragons TAC Cup AFL National Draft, fourth round (No. 59 overall). Tom Williamson North Ballarat Rebels TAC Cup AFL National Draft, fourth round (No. 61 overall). Pat Kerr Oakleigh Chargers TAC Cup AFL National Draft, fourth round (No. 65 overall). Kym LeBois North Adelaide SANFL AFL Rookie Draft, first round (No. 5 overall). Alex Silvagni AFL AFL Rookie Draft, second round (No. 23 overall).
Out Player New Club League via Andrew Walker West Preston Lakeside Northern FL Retired Michael Jamison Retired Cameron Wood Avondale Heights Essendon District FL Retired from the rookie list Matthew Dick Macedon Riddell District FL Delisted prior to the trade period Jayden Foster Footscray reserves VFL Delisted prior to the trade period Clem Smith Perth WAFL Delisted prior to the trade period Zach Tuohy AFL AFL Trade Period, along with the club's second-round draft pick in the 2017 National Draft, in exchange for Billie Smedts, a fourth-round draft pick (provisionally No. 63) and 's first-round draft pick in the 2017 National Draft. Andrejs Everitt Somerville MPNFL Delisted following the trade periodJason Tutt De La Salle VAFA Delisted following the trade period Dillon Viojo-Rainbow Port Melbourne VFL Delisted following the trade period Mark Whiley Yarrawonga O&MFL Delisted following the trade period Billy Gowers Footscray reserves VFL Delisted from the rookie list following the trade period
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