‘There’s failures’: Blues urged to consider radical trade shake-up as season spirals out of control

Questions are being asked of Carlton’s direction — including a potential Harry McKay trade — as the club’s season continues to spiral despite being once touted as a flag contender.

The Blues’ loss to the GWS Giants saw Michael Voss’ side fall to 4-7 in a campaign fast getting away from the club, if it hasn’t already, sitting two games and percentage outside the top eight.

This is a list in the sweet spot built to win now and loaded with stars on every line, yet looks a ways of flag contention as pressure will build on all facets of the club. It’s a group officially on the clock.

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Voss even admitted finals were “probably the furthest thing from my mind” after the team’s most recent defeat ... so where has it all gone wrong?

Well, since the 2023 preliminary final, the Blues now have a 17-17 record after being 25-1-19 under Voss prior to that, so they’re trending in the wrong direction.

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It comes despite Carlton, who gets a chance to reset with a bye next weekend, getting handed a friendly fixture this season — including playing both North Melbourne and West Coast for a second time in the next three weeks. Therefore the Blues should be able to regain some form again and pull their record back to something respectable.

But there’s clearly concerns for what the rest of this season holds and the bigger picture at Ikon Park of this current iteration, which fans had genuine optimism could bring them more silverware — or at least a proper chance at it.

PERSONNEL, STYLE ISSUES

Starting with the way the Blues are paying, they simply don’t have the same polish or outside run as some of the elite teams in the competition.

This is a team largely built around prioritising contest, stacked in the midfield and through the spine. That was a particularly valuable asset several years ago, but the game has moved towards more transition and punishing on turnover with breakneck speed and finesse.

While questions on the game pan and style should largely fall on Michael Voss, this is his lot and the team he has right now.

“They’re all contest players — Patrick Cripps, Harry McKay, Charlie Curnow, Jacob Weitering, Sam Walsh and Tom De Koning,” Tigers legend Jack Riewoldt said on Fox Footy.

“They play with what they’ve got and they play contest footy. They don’t have the outside run or the luxury a lot of other sides do.

“They are playing the way they think is the best way for them to win. But contest wears thin sometimes and becomes hard to do week in, week out. They’re not doing it for long enough at the moment.”

MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA - MAY 24: Michael Voss, Senior Coach of the Blues during the 2025 AFL Round 11 match between the Carlton Blues and the GWS Giants at Marvel Stadium on May 24, 2025 in Melbourne, Australia. (Photo by James Wiltshire/AFL Photos via Getty Images) Source: Getty Images

The Blues shed some of their depth last off-season following the departures of the likes of Matt Kennedy, Matt Owies, Jack Martin, Caleb Marchbank and David Cunningham.

As good as Kennedy in particular has been for the Western Bulldogs, it’s hard to say any of those names would’ve helped the Blues play a faster style or helped them shift their brand in a meaningful way.

They brought in Nick Haynes as a free agent to shore them up defensively and Pick 3 draftee Jagga Smith, who cruelly suffered a season-ending ACL injury before a ball was bounced in 2025.

Though only a first year player, Smith’s setback was a significant blow given he could’ve added the run and ball carry they desperately need. Similarly, a knee injury to Nic Newman, their premier half back and best ball user coming out of defence, has left them thin a position they lack class and poise.

For dual premiership Kangaroo David King, the two positions the club most needs to beef up moving forward are small forwards and half backs.

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“You look at their top half a dozen players and they’re generally in the spine. You say: ‘Gee we’re stacked, we’re right in this season’,” King said.

“I think their two main issues is they lack a small forward with speed and tackle pressure who can create something from nothing. The Giants have about five of them. This list doesn’t have any.

“Then you go to half back, which has become the most aggressive position in the game in 2025. If you don’t have two or three, you’re falling behind. Carlton don’t. They have Adam Saad, but he plays on the best opposition small forward, he doesn’t free wheel.

“I think they’re missing a couple of tricks in the make up of their 23, let alone their list. There’s some failures there.

“How deep you want this to go and how long you want this to run is up to Michael Voss and his troops.”

SO HOW DO THEY RETOOL THE LIST?

A worrying thing for Carlton is that it doesn’t have its first-round pick this year after combining draft assets to get Jagga Smith.

It’s a pick that suddenly looks valuable too given the Blues currently sit 11th on the ladder.

They could yet add a first rounder, however, pending Tom De Koning’s looming free agency call.

If the star ruckman leaves for St Kilda on a lucrative $1.7 million salary, it would net Carlton band one compensation — or a first-round pick directly after its original first rounder.

Herald Sun’s Jay Clark believes it will provide the club an ideal opportunity to reset its list, highlighting incoming CEO and former Collingwood footy boss Graham Wright has a proven track record in doing so.

MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA - MAY 09: Rowan Marshall of the Saints and Tom De Koning of the Blues compete in the ruck during the round nine AFL match between St Kilda Saints and Carlton Blues at Melbourne Cricket Ground, on May 09, 2025, in Melbourne, Australia. (Photo by Josh Chadwick/AFL Photos/Getty Images) Source: Getty Images

“Whatever happens for the rest of this season, they’ve got to re-tool this list. The Tom De Koning departure gives them that opportunity. That’s $1 million off their books,” Clark said.

“Graham Wright was at Collingwood when Brodie Grundy left (at the end of 2021), they brought in four players and won a flag in 12 months time.

“Graham Wright will be looking at this situation, this imperfect list and imperfect style, and looking at how they recalibrate. There’s an opportunity in every crisis.

“The modern game is requiring different things Carlton isn’t up to that moment.”

So assuming De Koning leaves, how much more bold do they get?

Debate around whether they should explore Harry McKay trades has long raged, and they might just be considering it now more than ever.

Yes, McKay is a Coleman medallist, but that was back in 2021 before Charlie Curnow hit the peak of his powers. Since then, the star forward duo have at times struggled to co-exist at their optimum.

McKay has kicked 45 goals, 29, and 49 in the last three seasons respectively, while he has nine goals from seven games this season. The 27-year old’s value might’ve also plummeted to a point where the Blues are better served keeping him.

Still, there would be rival clubs queuing up to get a key forward of McKay’s ilk. So if it were to be a bidding war, getting something valuable in return and clearing his lucrative salary is something Carlton would at least need to consider.

NCA. MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA. 12th April, 2025 . Gather Round. Carlton vs West Coast Eagles at the Adelaide Oval. Harry McKay of the Blues chats with Charlie Curnow in the rooms after the game . Picture: Michael Klein Source: News Corp Australia

King highlighted it’s rare that Curnow and McKay have fired together, suggesting Carlton’s forward make-up could be better served with only one of the two Coleman medallists.

“They need aggressive half backs and small forwards with class and speed, rather than two key targets forward of the ball,” the Kangaroos great said.

“Harry McKay is someone they can probably look at, that player, that magnet and that position, to trade.

“The game has sort of gone away from (multiple key forwards) a little bit. Is it really an absolute area of strength for them? How many times do you say those two playing like this today is the reason they won? I don’t think we say it often enough about those two players.

“They’re the sorts of aggressive decisions they’re going to have to make.”

Riewoldt, who was the sole tall of Richmond’s forward line during the beggining of its golden era at the end of last decade, also believes Carlton might be better served with just one of the key forwards.

“There’s certain times this year they’ve only had one (of Curnow and McKay) through injury, they have looked a bit better. They’ve looked fleet of foot and probably looked a bit more modern,” Riewoldt said.

The Tigers champ highlighted that if Carlton does indeed want to get aggressive in reshaping the list and adding talent, it’d need “give something up” of value.

“You can’t just go and find good players and pick them up at Pick 70 and Pick 40 and stuff like that. If you want an established good player, you’ve got to give something up. That’s the reality of the game,” he added.

“He’s a commodity they would love to keep, obviously. But they’ve got to give up something if they want to get that speed in, because they don’t have it at the moment.”

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