PLENTY to discuss.
Carlton GM of Football Chris Davies spoke to SEN on the morning of the Blues' 2026 AFL Carlton Respects Game against Geelong, speaking not only on the Club's flagship community initiative, but also the key questions facing the Club heading into a busy end to 2026.
With confirmation of the Blues' coaching selection process coming on Thursday night, Davies said the Blues would approach the process with open minds, ensuring that come the end of it, the next coach of the football club would be "the best person for Carlton".
Here's what Davies had to say.
On Adam Simpson’s involvement in the AFL Senior Coach selection process, and where things currently sit:
“Adam comes onto our panel giving the group a whole heap of experience. He’s a guy who missed a few jobs before he got the West Coast job, he did a very good job at West Coast. It didn’t end the way he wanted it to. He can provide us a whole heap of experience with what he went through. He’s a contemporary person who has his finger on the pulse, we’re really pleased to have Adam part of the group.
“We’re in the position where people are interested in the job and we haven’t had too many people who have suggested that they’re not going to be willing to put their hand up. I sit here really comfortable that Carlton is going to get the best person for the job with whatever skills they may be.
“The initial part will be for the Club to make sure we’re aware of what skills we want the person to have, and then we’ll go through a process of looking through the potential candidates. We’ll whittle that down from there. I’m not entirely sure right now how many people we’ll actually interview, we’re not going to rush the process.
“This is the most important hire the Club is going to make in the next period of time: they set the tone for the entire Club. It’s a really important person to bring in, and we need to get the right person. We’ll take the amount of time that we need to.”
On recent conversations with Michael Voss:
“He’s going fantastically. I’m pleased that some of the pressure is off him: he did an amazing job for us under some real pressure this year. The front of the Club, it’s not an easy job, but Michael did it as well as he possibly could.”
On Josh Fraser applying for the AFL Senior Coach role:
“Josh has been really clear that he doesn’t think he’s entirely ready right now. He’s got 12 more weeks in the seat, so it’ll be interesting to see how he feels down the track. Josh is doing a fantastic job - the Interim Coach come in and lift the pressure off the group, he’s certainly done that. He’s clear on his philosophy and that’s been helpful for us.
“We started playing some better footy at the end of Michael’s reign at the Club, and Josh has been able to capitalise on some of that. I think he’s a future senior coach, but I accept that right now he’s in a position where he doesn’t think he’s quite ready.”
On blooding more young players in recent weeks:
“I understand when a coach is under pressure in his last year, he’s thinking about the players he’s got some confidence in to do the job. When a coach goes, you get a bit more of a say on who you want to see - I think that’s what has happened in reality.
“To see Jack Ison has made a difference in our team. I like some of the stuff Talor Byrne has done - even though he hasn’t been a high-possession player, he’s adding some pressure up forward. Billy Wilson has added something in defence. Those younger players will get a bit of a crack this year, and that’ll be fantastic for the Club leading into 2027.”
On the scope of the list in the coming seasons:
“What you don’t want to do is put a ceiling on anyone’s potential. As much as I think our list is more balanced than what it was last year, I still don’t think the list is good enough to compete at the top level. We’re going to have to do some work on that over the next period of time. We started that last year, trading out the players that we did or letting them go from a free agency perspective.
“We’re well placed from a draft capital standpoint to get Cody Walker in and do some other things into the future. I want to make sure we’re bringing in some young talent which is going to be required for us to be a sustainable force at the upper end of the ladder.”
On whether ‘everyone’s up for grabs’:
“I don’t think you have to read into everyone’s available. I firmly believe that your club has got to have good senior players who are mentoring the younger blokes, showing the way to go about their footy. I don’t subscribe to the theory that everyone is up for grabs: I certainly think you need a strong nucleus of people that will be good people at the Club and show the young players how to go about it.”
On Patrick Cripps and Jacob Weitering:
“I don’t think I need to go into it any deeper other than it’s really important that we’ve got quality senior players at our Club. The people you’ve mentioned in Patrick and Jacob, you wouldn’t meet two more committed Carlton people.
“In fairness to Patrick in the last couple of weeks, he’s been the one who has really got us going. ‘Weiters’ has had an injury-interrupted year but is a clear leader amongst our group and a person who our young players are wanting to learn from. Harry Dean, Jacob has been fantastic for him so far and ‘Deany’ looks like he’s going to be a great player.
“We’ve got to think about how we balance our team: Cerra goes to a wing last week and plays well, which gives us a point of difference. The transition game is something the Club needs to be good at into the future, and part of that is a personnel discussion no doubt.”
On the Club’s search for a new list manager:
“We got through the mid-season draft okay, we had Flynn Riley under our noses in the VFL program so that wasn’t too hard. We’ll definitely be looking to bring a list manager in before the end of the year, that’s the role that’s going to take a bit of pressure off me.
“We do still have a number of recruiters I have great faith in to do the job: we have people who have been list managers, someone who’s been a national recruiter who is part of our staff. I don’t want it to seem like I’m doing every job, I’m certainly ably supported by those people.
“It’s an interesting space: most list management people come from the recruiting space. Ultimately, that’s always fascinated me because it’s a totally different skillset. You’ve got some people who are really good at picking players, and then you go to the list management role which is far more strategic and needs to be able to deal with managers and negotiate contracts. I don’t necessarily think it’s just ‘go and find the next best recruiting person’ and whack them in the list management role.
“I’m trying to step back and see what skills that person needs: it’s not just promoting the next recruiting guy into that position when it’s largely about negotiation.”
On whether the Club will focus on a AFL Senior Coach with a development background:
“We’re going to have the view that we want the best person for Carlton. No doubt that person is going to have to have the ability to develop players: we’re not the finished product as a list, and on that basis they’re going to have to be able to develop players and educate. We want them to have tactical nous. When you get to the end of the process, you’re going to be looking at each individual candidate and see that they have a strong skillset in one or two of those things.
“Ultimately, we’re going to have to make the decision on what is best for Carlton - and then after that, what that person needs around them. This is not just about putting a Senior Coach in and thinking the world is going to be different: you then need to think about what they need around them, that’s something we’ll need to work on as well.”
On the aftermath of the Elijah Hollands situation:
“First and foremost, the care for the Club throughout was with Elijah: we had a whole heap of people through that situation who showed great care to Elijah through a period of time to get him to be able to play. I don’t think there’s much positivity around going into the depth of it, we tried to move on after it - it was a very big period of time for the Club and for Elijah. I’m glad he’s come through the other side. At the same time, we accept what the AFL’s penalty was and we move on.”
On the Club’s involvement with Carlton Respects:
“I’ve been so pleased to come in and see the Club’s commitment to this particular program. It’s our flagship community program, I went to a dinner the other night where there were some horrifying stats - one in three women face violence in their life. When you start to think about that in your context, I’ve got a daughter, I’ve got four nieces. It’s a very good thing for us to be involved in, and I’m glad our players and Club show that commitment.”
