It’s been an incredibly busy period at Carlton since the end of the 2015 season so I thought I’d provide a quick update. There’s been more change and there are a number of real positives emerging – and without doubt there are some sure signs of growth.

The changes?

We’re rapt with the coaching team that we’ve appointed to support Brendon. All of our assistants have experience in coaching their own team(s), and all of them bring a track record of developing players. It’s just three weeks into pre-season, but all of that is on show already and they’ve also brought a real energy to the program.

We’re also rapt with the appointment of Anthony Klarica who assumes responsibilities within the ‘leadership, culture and performance’ area. Anthony comes to us from Hawthorn. He’s a qualified and experienced psyche, and he’s run successful systems at an elite level – so reuniting him with Brendon is a real positive, as we work on developing our own leadership and development programs.

There have obviously been significant changes to our playing listtoo – 15 in total. We were deliberately very aggressive in the trade period, in particular aiming to get those four draft selections inside 20. We are delighted to have been able to secure four talls (key position types), including of course our father-son selection, Jack Silvagni.

Our detailed plan(s) to grow the list included trading for early picks, and then using them on the back of as much research and planning as we could muster. Time will tell, but our ability to build a regularly successful team around a strong ‘spine’ may just have taken shape!

What else has changed? A lot in the membership area. We’ve focused strongly on improving the process(es) of renewal and ease of renewal for our members, and in improving the whole experience. So far, the feedback has been very positive – but it is an area that we will most definitely keep working on. In the meantime, please know that your Carlton membership is vital – and greatly appreciated. The fact that we recently passed through 25,000 members in record time is really encouraging, as is the amazing likelihood of reaching 30,000 by Christmas.

The positives?

While the 2016 fixture looms as being tough financially, it’s genuinely a bonus in terms of more Sunday gamesand the appeal to families and young Bluebaggers. We intend to run ‘after-matches’ on all of those Sunday games, and to have our players actively involved in a series of ‘Blues Parties’ as we aim to make a trip to the football even more of a family occasion.

It’s also a positive that two of our fixture requests were met! One was the desire to play a signature game in Multicultural Roundat the MCG amongst the Multicultural Festival. As ‘Multicultural Carlton’, we’re very keen to make this a big event against the Crows later in the season.

We’re also really pleased that we have a NAB Challenge gameat our home base at Ikon Park on 28 February 2016 against Essendon. We will use that game as a celebration of all the great times at Princes Park (with more details in the new year), so it’d be great to have a big crowd in for that match.

The ‘growth’?

I say this confidently – that despite a tough 2015 there is growth everywhere. This includes:

  • Our efforts to support the AFL in developing women’s football.We’re running six training sessions over the summer for nearly 100 young women, using our facilities and our own coaches’ expertise.

Diverse Carlton has always been the real Carlton, and our efforts and initiative in developing the women’s game (and hopefully, in time, field our own team) – is important as we now build on our gender diversity right across the Club.

  • As you know our bottom line in 2015 was a sizeable disappointment, largely due to a downturn in our venues and crowds. But we have worked very hard to reset our expense and revenue targets, and are realistically targeting a significant turnaround in 2016 (all of which is helped, of course, by strong membership and attendances!)
  • Our corporate supporthas been strong and is now growing again with the renewal of Acquire Learning, the recent appointment of CareerOne as our new co-major partner alongside the wonderful Hyundai, and the increased support from ZTE (telecommunications). In turn, if you have the opportunity to support these great companies, who are supporting Carlton, please do.

  • It’s only early in the pre-season, but you can definitely see (and measure) the growth in our young list already. They’re working very hard, they’re striving to lift their standards and they’ll be given every opportunity to develop quickly.

It’s exciting to see that development and the energy that’s presently around the Club. And I expect that’s how we’ll present in 2016 – as a young group that brings enormous energy, enthusiasm and passion, as well as a group that’s thoroughly united.

For those who can make it, don’t forget the Member Information Session at Ikon Park (6:30pm on Tuesday 22 December), which will be preceded by the AGM at 6pm.

In the meantime, our sincere thanks for supporting us and being Bound By Blue. On behalf of everyone at the Club, we extend our best wishes for a very safe and happy festive season to you and your family.

Regards,

Steven Trigg
CEO, Carlton FC
Member ID: 3738773