2022 Carlton Football Club season

The 2022 AFL season will be the 126th season of the VFL/AFL competition since its inception in 1897; and, having competed in every season, it will also be the 126th season contested by the Carlton Football Club. The club will also field its women's team in the sixth season of the AFL Women's competition, its men's reserves team in its fifth Victorian Football League season, and its women's reserves team in its fourth VFL Women's season.

In a change from the previous seven seasons, Carlton's primary home ground will be Marvel Stadium and secondary home ground will be the Melbourne Cricket Ground, with the team playing six home games at the former and five at the latter.[1] Traditional home ground Ikon Park will continue to serve as the training and administrative base, and as the home ground for AFL Women's and the men's reserves matches.

Car manufacturer Hyundai, which had been a major sponsor of the club continuously since 2008,[2] and Great Southern Bank which became a major sponsor during the 2021 season, continued as the club's major sponsors through the 2022 season.[3]

Early in the 2021 season, a change in the presidency was announced, with club director and former PriceWaterhouseCoopers CEO Luke Sayers taking over from eight-year president Mark Lo Giudice immediately after the end of the 2021 season.[4] As part of the transition, and in response to the club's weaker than expected start to the 2021 season, a comprehensive review of the club's football department was undertaken in the second half of 2021, which was conducted by Sayers, CEO Cain Liddle, and external panel members Matthew Pavlich, Geoff Walsh and Graham Lowe.[5] Following the report, a wide range of senior personnel changes changes were made at the club. Sayers officially became president on August 17, 2021, one round before the 2021 season's end.[6]

Chief among the changes was the sacking of senior coach David Teague, after two seasons of his initial three year contract. Although his 21–29 win–loss record bettered those of his two predecessors (Mick Malthouse's 19–32–1 and Brendon Bolton's 16–61), interviews conducted during the review found Teague's coaching methods and gameplan were supported by only 30% of the club's players and staff, with that support heavily slanted towards the younger players.[7] The review found that the gameplan focussed too heavily on attack at the expense of defense, was confusing for the players to execute, and that he was frequently outcoached by opposing coaches.[8]

Teague was replaced with Michael Voss, who was signed to a three-year contract. Voss had previously served as senior coach at Brisbane Lions (2009–2013) and assistant coach at Port Adelaide (2014–2021),[9] and had been a front-runner for the vacant Carlton senior coaching role in both 2008 and 2019, when Brett Ratten and Teague were appointed respectively.[10] The club made well publicised overtures to long-time senior coaches Alastair Clarkson (Hawthorn 2005–2021) and Ross Lyon (St Kilda 2007–2011 and Fremantle 2012–2019) as part of its search, with both declining the role.[11]

The review also identified deficiencies in the leadership, experience and development capabilities of the coaching staff. The assistant and development coaching panels underwent substantial changes, with ten-year assistant coach John Barker departing early in the review process,[12] six-year assistant Dale Amos and four-year development coach Brent Stanton sacked at the end of the season,[7] four-year assistant Cameron Bruce departing for a role at Brisbane Lions.[13] Joining the panel was: St Kilda assistant coach and former Carlton player of the 1990s Aaron Hamill as backline assistant coach;[14] Tim Clarke, for his second stint as Carlton's midfield assistant coach after three seasons at Gold Coast;[15] and Western Bulldogs assistant coach Ashley Hansen, who served as forwards assistant coach[16] and as step-up game day senior coach in Round 2 when Voss was absent under Covid-19 protocols.[17]

There were also several changes at the club's administrative level. Liddle was sacked after four years as CEO in the role, and replaced with Brian Cook, who had served 32 seasons in CEO roles with West Coast (1990–1998) and Geelong (1999–2021), overseeing five premierships at those clubs.[18] Four new additions were made to the club's board of directors: former player Greg Williams (as football director), Lincoln Indicators co-founder Tim Lincoln, communications strategist Lahra Carey and JPMorgan Australia and New Zealand chairman Robert Priestly; Jeanne Pratt, Chris Townshend and football director Chris Judd all departed.[8][7]

Onfield, Sam Docherty stepped aside from the co-captaincy and leadership group, doing so to focus on his recovery from treatment for testicular cancer with which he was diagnosed in August 2021. Docherty had served as co-captain with Patrick Cripps for the previous three seasons.[19] Cripps will continue as co-captain, with Sam Walsh and Jacob Weitering serving as vice-captains and no broader leadership group named.[20]

The following is Carlton's squad for the 2022 season.

Statistics are correct as of end of 2021 season. Flags represent the state of origin, i.e. the state in which the player played his Under-18s football.

Senior List[21]
No.	State	Player	Hgt (cm)	Wgt (kg)	Date of Birth	Age (end 2021)	AFL Debut	Recruited from	Games (end 2021)	Goals (end 2021)
1		Jack Silvagni	194	89	17 December 1997	24	2016	Oakleigh (U18)	78	56
2		Paddy Dow	187	83	16 October 1999	22	2018	Bendigo (U18)	59	19
3		Jesse Motlop	180	79	23 November 2003	18	–	South Fremantle	–	–
5		Adam Cerra	187	86	7 October 1999	22	2018	Eastern (U18), Fremantle	76	16
6		Zac Williams	185	84	20 September 1994	27	2013	GWS Academy, GWS	127	32
7		Matthew Kennedy	190	88	6 April 1997	24	2016	Collingullie-Glenfield Park, GWS	61	29
8		Lachie Fogarty	180	76	1 April 1999	22	2018	Western (U18), Geelong	40	12
9		Patrick Cripps (c)	195	92	18 March 1995	26	2014	East Fremantle	138	67
10		Harry McKay	204	99	24 December 1997	24	2017	Gippsland (U18)	67	129
11		Mitch McGovern	191	93	11 October 1994	27	2016	Claremont, Adelaide	81	104
12		Tom de Koning	203	97	16 July 1999	22	2018	Dandenong (U18)	22	8
13		Liam Stocker	184	83	23 January 2000	21	2019	Sandringham (U18)	22	2
15		Sam Docherty	187	87	18 October 1993	28	2013	Gippsland (U18), Brisbane Lions	122	14
16		Jack Carroll	187	79	20 December 2002	19	–	East Fremantle	–	–
17		Brodie Kemp	192	89	1 May 2001	20	2021	Bendigo (U18)	2	0
18		Sam Walsh (vc)	184	80	2 July 2000	21	2019	Geelong (U18)	61	26
19		Corey Durdin	173	72	14 February 2002	19	2021	Central District	2	1
20		Lachie Plowman	193	90	11 September 1994	27	2013	Calder (U18), GWS	129	2
21		Jack Martin	186	82	29 January 1995	26	2014	Claremont, Gold Coast	123	101
22		Caleb Marchbank	193	93	7 December 1996	25	2015	Murray (U18), GWS	48	0
23		Jacob Weitering (vc)	196	98	24 November 1997	23	2016	Dandenong (U18)	115	10
24		Nic Newman	187	83	15 January 1993	28	2017	Frankston, Sydney	67	14
25		Zac Fisher	177	75	15 June 1998	23	2017	Perth	73	31
27		Marc Pittonet	202	105	3 June 1996	25	2016	Oakleigh (U18), Hawthorn	33	5
28		David Cuningham	185	85	30 March 1997	24	2016	Oakleigh (U18)	41	23
29		George Hewett	185	83	29 December 1995	26	2016	North Adelaide, Sydney	120	32
30		Charlie Curnow	192	96	3 February 1997	24	2016	Geelong (U18)	62	79
31		Tom Williamson	190	85	12 December 1998	24	2017	North Ballarat (U18)	43	4
32		Jack Newnes	186	82	24 February 1993	28	2012	Northern (U18)	191	72
33		Lewis Young	201	88	20 December 1998	23	2017	Sturt, Western Bulldogs	24	1
34		Sam Philp	185	80	4 August 2001	20	2020	Northern (U18)	2	1
35		Ed Curnow	180	85	7 November 1989	32	2011	Geelong (U18), Adelaide, Box Hill	204	50
36		Josh Honey	184	79	17 October 2001	20	2020	Western (U18)	6	6
42		Adam Saad	178	78	23 July 1994	27	2015	Calder (U18), Coburg, Gold Coast, Essendon	131	10
43		Will Setterfield	192	87	5 February 1998	23	2017	Sandringham (U18), GWS	44	11
Rookie List[21]
No.	State	Player	Hgt	Wgt	Date of Birth	Age	Debut	Recruited from	Games	Goals
4		Lochie O'Brien	185	78	18 September 1999	22	2018	Bendigo (U18)	41	11
26		Luke Parks	189	93	18 April 2001	20	2021	Sydney Academy, Glenelg	6	0
37		Jordan Boyd	182	81	22 September 1998	23	2022	Western (U18), Footscray reserves	–	–
39		Oscar McDonald	196	100	18 March 1996	25	2015	North Ballarat (U18), Melbourne	84	3
41		Domanic Akuei	194	76	12 May 2002	19	–	Carlton academy	–	–
44		Matthew Owies	179	84	19 March 1997	24	2020	St Kevin's, Seattle Redhawks	14	15
45		Alex Mirkov	210	104	17 November 1999	22	–	Carlton reserves	–	–
46		Matthew Cottrell	181	72	29 February 2000	21	2020	Dandenong (U18)	19	5
Senior coaching panel[22]
	State	Coach	Coaching position				Carlton Coaching debut	Former clubs as coach
		Michael Voss	Senior coach				2022	Brisbane Lions (s), Port Adelaide (a)
		Luke Power	Head of development				2020	GWS (a), AFL Academy Manager
		Tim Clarke	Assistant Coach (Midfield)				2016	Richmond (a), Coburg (s), Richmond reserves (s), Gold Coast (a)
		Aaron Hamill	Assistant coach (backline)				2022	St Kilda (a), Sandringham (s)
		Ashley Hansen	Assistant coach (forwards)				2022	Western Bulldogs (a), Footscray reserves (s)
		Daniel O'Keefe	Development coach (midfield), Reserves coach				2020	Geelong Falcons (s), Geelong reserves (a)
		Torin Baker	Carlton College of Sport and Academy coach				2021	Western Jets (s), Hawthorn (d)

• For players: (c) denotes captain, (vc) denotes vice-captain.
• 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

Additionally, under the league's 2022 Covid-19 policies, twenty players from the club's reserves list were nominated as top-up players, who may become eligible to play senior football in the event that the club's primary list is reduced below 28 players due to isolation requirements for Covid-19 positive players. These top-up players were: Ned Cahill, Alex Cincotta, Josh Cripps, Ben Crocker, Jesse Glass-McCasker, Luke Goetz, Hugh Hamilton, David Handley, Will Hayes, Cody Hirst, Tyreece Leiu, Michael Lewis, Zavier Maher, Tom North, Stefan Radovanovic, Oliver Sanders, Matt Shannon, Cooper Stephens, Joel Trudgeon and Toby Wooller.[23]

The following summarises all player changes which occurred after the 2021 season. Unless otherwise noted, draft picks refer to selections in the 2021 National Draft.

For the second consecutive season, the club lost two of its four most experienced players to retirement at the end of the previous season: Marc Murphy retired after 300 games, and Eddie Betts retired after 350 games (218 for Carlton). The club also unexpectedly lost full back Liam Jones to early retirement in November, after he declined comply with the league mandates related to the COVID-19 vaccine for all players; he was the first AFL men's player to retire over the vaccine.[24]

The club was almost inactive during the draft, bringing in only one new player through the drafts and making its other additions through trades and other channels.

In

Player	Former Club	League	via
George Hewett	Sydney	AFL	Signed as a restricted free agent; Sydney received an end-of-second-round compensatory draft selection.[25]
Adam Cerra	Fremantle	AFL	Trade period, in exchange for a first-round selection (provisionally No. 6) and a third-round selection in the 2022 National Draft.[26]
Lewis Young	Western Bulldogs	AFL	Trade period, in a three-way trade which saw the Western Bulldogs receive a third round selection (provisionally No. 52) from West Coast, and saw West Coast gain Sam Petrevski-Seton from Carlton.[27]
Jesse Motlop	South Fremantle	WAFL	2021 National Draft, second round selection (No. 27 overall).[28]
Domanic Akuei	Carlton academy/Northern (U18)	NAB League	Listed as a Category B rookie, academy selection.[29]

Out

Player	New Club	League	via
Eddie Betts			Retired[30]
Marc Murphy			Retired[30]
Levi Casboult	Gold Coast	AFL	Delisted after the season[30] He was then drafted by Gold Coast in the rookie draft with its first round selection (No. 3 overall).[31]
Sam Petrevski-Seton	West Coast	Australian Football League	Trade period, in a three-way trade which saw Carlton gain Lewis Young from the Western Bulldogs, and the Western Bulldogs receive a third round selection (provisionally No. 52) from West Coast.[27]
Michael Gibbons	Yarrawonga[32]	O&MFL	Delisted after the season[33]
Sam Ramsay	South Adelaide[34]	SANFL	Delisted after the season[33]
Liam Jones	Palm Beach Currumbin[35]	QAFL	Retired after the trade period[24]

List management

Player	Change
Matthew Kennedy	Elevated from the rookie list to the senior list.[36]
Josh Honey	Elevated from the rookie list to the senior list.[36]
Lochie O'Brien	Demoted from the senior list to the rookie list. Formally, he was delisted and then redrafted in the rookie draft with a first round selection (No. 6 overall).[37]
Matt Cottrell	Retained on the rookie list. Formally, he was delisted and then redrafted in the rookie draft with a second round selection (No. 19 overall).[37]
Corey Durdin	Changed guernsey number from 29 to 19.[38]
Josh Cripps Tyreece Leiu	Invited to train with the club during the preseason ahead of the supplemental selection period.[39]

Squad

The club's women's squad saw four prominent departures between seasons. Co-captain Katie Loynes and equal club games record holder Alison Downie (39 games) were both delisted,[50] joining Greater Western Sydney and Collingwood respectively. Tayla Harris, the club's most marketable player, was traded to Melbourne as part of a multi-club trade after she and Carlton were unable to reach terms on a new contract.[51] Inaugural player Jess Hosking also departed for Richmond, where her twin sister Sarah had moved in 2021.[52]

Carlton gained inaugural GWS player Jessica Dal Pos as part of the Harris trade, the club's only experienced recruit for the season.[53] Annie Lee, Keeley Sharar, Brooke Vickers and Imogen Milford joined the club through the draft.

The club's 2022 squad is given below. Numbers in parentheses represent games played and goals kicked in 2022.

Season

Carlton finished eighth out of fourteen for the 2022 AFL Women's season, with a 4–6 win-loss record, to miss the finals. The club's form was overall consistent with its finishing position, with an 0–6 record against the top six teams – its best result in those games being a one point loss against second-placed Melbourne – and a 4–0 record in the four matches played against other bottom eight teams.

Notable events

• Round 2: Carlton's originally fixtured match against Brisbane in Maroochydore was cancelled at two days notice, as Brisbane had too many players isolating for COVID-19 field a team. Carlton was redrawn to play Geelong, whose original opponent Western Bulldogs was unable to play for the same reason.[64]
• Round 3: Carlton's originally fixtured match against Western Bulldogs at VU Whitten Oval was cancelled at three days notice, the Bulldogs still unable to field a team. Carlton was redrawn to play Brisbane at Metricon Stadium on the following Tuesday night, which was now available to field a team and whose opponent original Gold Coast was unable to play.[65]
• Round 7: St Kilda's score of 0.2 (2) set a new record as the lowest score conceded by Carlton in an AFLW game,[66] and tied the lowest score by any team in AFLW history.[60]
• Round 8: Darcy Vescio became the first player to kick 50 career AFLW goals.[61]

League awards

• Mimi Hill was the winner of the AFL Women's Rising Star award.[67]
• One Carlton players was selected in the All-Australian team: Kerryn Harrington, who was selected on the interchange bench.[68] Two other players were named in the 40-woman squad: Mimi Hill and Breann Moody.[69]

Club Awards

• Madison Prespakis won the club's best and fairest award, polling 60 votes to finish ahead of Kerryn Harrington (57 votes) and Mimi Hill (54 votes).[70]
• Kerryn Harrington won the Most Valuable Bluebagger award.[70]
• Daisy Walker won the coaches' award.[70]
• Paige Trudgeon won the Rookie of the Year award.[70]