The 2015 Carlton Football Club season was the Carlton Football Club's 152nd season of competition, and 119th as a member of the Australian Football League.
Competing in the 2015 AFL season, it was a very poor season for the club and was disrupted by the sacking after only eight rounds of third-year coach Mick Malthouse. Carlton finished last on the ladder with a record of 4–18.
Club summary The 2015 AFL season was the 119th season of the VFL/AFL competition since its inception in 1897; and, having competed in every season, it was also the 119th season contested by the Carlton Football Club. Carlton's primary home ground for games was the Melbourne Cricket Ground, with the club hosting six matches at the venue and five at Etihad Stadium – a small change from the previous season, when the club had played six games at Etihad Stadium and five at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. Traditional home ground at Princes Park (which was renamed from Visy Park to Ikon Park from the start of the year under a two-year naming rights deal with Ikon Services Australia) continued to serve as the training and administrative base. 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.
Following an online vote of members, the club changed the font of the CFC monogram on the front of its playing guernsey. The new monogram, more traditional in style, featured block-style letters and no gaps at the intersections between letters; it matched the design which had been used between 1927 and 1997, and which had thrice been worn as a heritage guernsey during the 2014 season.
The club's membership for the 2015 season was 47,305, a 0.4% reduction from the 2014 membership of 47,485; it was Carlton's second consecutive reduction in membership, and the club was one of only three clubs to suffer a drop in membership in the 2015 season. The club made a net operating loss of $2,700,000 for the season.
Senior Personnel Mark LoGiudice continued as club president, a role he has held since June 2014. Mick Malthouse began the season as senior coach, with his coaching panel unchanged from 2014; following Malthouse’s dismissal on 26 May, backline assistant coach John Barker stepped in as caretaker.
Marc Murphy continued into his third season as club captain, as part of a five-man leadership group, a reduction from the seven-man group which led the team in 2014. Bryce Gibbs, Lachlan Henderson and Michael Jamison remained in the group from 2014 – Gibbs and Jamison were named vice-captains – and Sam Rowe was elevated to the group. Leaving the group were Andrew Carrazzo and Kade Simpson, who both stepped down from the group after serving in it for many years, and Brock McLean, who was delisted.
Squad for 2015 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 2014) 2015 Player Statistics Gms Gls Gms Gls B D K HB M T HO 1 Andrew Walker 28 2004 Bendigo (U18) 179 118 12 12 6 163 106 57 48 22 1 2 Troy Menzel 20 2013 Central District 26 34 14 13 7 130 87 43 46 24 – 3 Marc Murphy (c) 27 2006 Oakleigh (U18) 185 143 19 7 6 510 291 219 79 65 1 4 Bryce Gibbs (vc) 25 2007 Glenelg 177 98 10 4 5 209 112 97 21 54 7 5 Chris Judd 31 2002 Sandringham (U18), West Coast 271 224 8 4 2 148 76 72 20 21 – 6 Kade Simpson 30 2003 Eastern (U18) 222 121 20 3 1 460 285 175 118 42 1 7 Dylan Buckley 21 2013 Northern (U18) 8 2 18 5 5 258 152 106 65 38 – 8 Matthew Kreuzer 25 2008 Northern (U18) 106 56 13 9 5 166 91 75 40 55 276 9 Patrick Cripps 19 2014 East Fremantle 3 – 20 6 13 471 158 313 64 98 39 10 Matthew Watson 22 2011 Calder (U18) 19 6 4 4 2 32 23 9 18 8 1 11 Robert Warnock 27 2007 Sandringham (U18), Fremantle 86 17 2 – – 18 8 10 1 3 56 12 Blaine Boekhorst 21 2015 Swan Districts – – 11 5 9 138 76 62 24 26 – 13 Chris Yarran 24 2009 Swan Districts 105 87 14 3 2 223 182 41 68 33 – 14 Liam Jones 23 2010 North Hobart, 66 68 9 7 9 65 46 19 31 18 – 15 Sam Docherty 21 2013 Gippsland (U18), 29 8 19 2 2 401 260 141 116 40 1 16 Dillon Viojo-Rainbow 18 – Western (U18) – – – – – – – – – – – 17 Sam Rowe (lg) 27 2013 Murray (U18), Sydney, Norwood 31 11 20 2 – 211 125 86 79 43 28 18 Kristian Jaksch 20 2013 Oakleigh (U18), GWS 7 2 6 1 2 62 39 23 26 8 – 19 Cameron Giles 19 – Woodville-West Torrens – – – – – – – – – – – 20 Nick Holman 19 2014 Murray (U18) 1 – 8 – – 75 31 44 15 31 – 22 Jason Tutt 23 2011 Ainslie, 26 22 13 4 5 218 128 90 55 35 – 23 Lachlan Henderson (lg) 26 2007 Geelong (U18), Brisbane 101 88 16 16 10 189 134 55 96 24 2 24 Mark Whiley 22 2012 Murray (U18), GWS 12 2 8 1 2 95 46 49 17 33 19 25 Clem Smith 18 2015 Perth – – 7 – – 55 24 31 11 9 – 26 Jayden Foster 19 – Calder (U18) – – – – – – – – – – – 27 Dennis Armfield 28 2008 Swan Districts 113 44 12 13 10 145 88 57 25 36 – 28 Tom Bell 23 2012 Morningside 29 19 22 17 14 465 295 170 97 87 16 31 Matthew Dick 20 2015 Calder (U18), – – 6 – 2 70 40 30 20 12 – 32 Nicholas Graham 20 2013 Gippsland (U18) 10 2 6 3 1 104 51 53 15 29 – 33 Andrejs Everitt 25 2007 Dandenong (U18), , 96 45 22 31 20 334 225 109 132 30 16 35 Ed Curnow 25 2011 Geelong (U18), Adelaide, Box Hill 66 11 22 – 3 478 216 262 75 98 – 39 Dale Thomas 27 2006 Gippsland (U18), 177 133 5 2 2 70 42 28 20 6 – 40 Michael Jamison (vc) 28 2007 North Ballarat (U18, VFL) 131 2 14 – – 132 74 58 56 15 3 41 Levi Casboult 24 2012 Dandenong (U18) 36 29 16 24 12 150 100 50 83 15 86 42 Zach Tuohy 25 2011 Laois GAA 76 25 22 9 3 414 239 175 107 24 – 43 Simon White 26 2010 Subiaco 45 9 14 1 1 156 93 63 42 26 7 44 Andrew Carrazzo 31 2004 Oakleigh (U18), Geelong 178 47 16 1 3 365 128 237 40 63 – 46 David Ellard 25 2008 Swan Districts 53 33 10 4 3 102 55 47 24 32 – Rookie List No. State Player Age AFL Debut Recruited from Career (to end 2014) 2015 Player Statistics Gms Gls Gms Gls B D K HB M T HO 21 Ciarán Sheehan 24 2014 Cork GAA 4 – – – – – – – – – – 29 Billy Gowers 18 – Oakleigh (U18) – – – – – – – – – – – 30 Blaine Johnson 19 2014 South Fremantle 5 1 2 – 1 15 5 10 3 5 – 34 Brad Walsh 18 2015 Peel Thunder – – 3 1 – 19 6 13 2 5 – 36 Cameron Wood 27 2005 West Adelaide, , , Williamstown 70 23 18 5 3 108 108 72 33 34 319 37 Tom Fields 22 2015 Labrador, South Adelaide – – 2 – – 21 16 5 5 8 – 38 Ciarán Byrne 20 2015 Louth GAA – – 1 – – 9 5 4 1 1 – 47 Fraser Russell 22 – Geelong (U18), Deakin (athletics) – – – – – – – – – – – Senior coaching panel State Coach Coaching position Carlton Coaching debut Former clubs as coach Mick Malthouse Senior Coach (Rounds 1–8) 2013 Footscray (s), (s), (s) John Barker Assistant coach (Back-line)Caretaker coach (Rounds 9–23) 2011 St Kilda (a), Hawthorn (a) Robert Wiley Director of Coaching and Development 2013 Perth (s), (a), Western Australia U16s (s) Dean Laidley Assistant coach (Midfield) 2014 (a), (s), (a), (a) Brad Green Assistant coach (Forward-line) 2013 Matthew Capuano Development coach 2009 Michael Osborne Development coach 2013 Luke Webster Development coach, Northern Blues senior coach 2011
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.
Playing list changes
The following summarises all player changes between the conclusion of the 2014 season and the conclusion of the 2015 season.
In Player Previous club League via Fraser Russell Deakin Athletic Club Athletics Victoria Signed as a Category B rookie late in the 2014 season; as a formality, he was drafted in the AFL Rookie Draft, fourth round (No. 58 overall) Kristian Jaksch AFL AFL Trade Period, with Mark Whiley and a second-round draft pick (No. 19 overall), in exchange for a first-round draft pick (No. 7 overall) Mark Whiley AFL AFL Trade Period, with Kristian Jaksch and a second-round draft pick (No. 19 overall), in exchange for a first-round draft pick (No. 7 overall) Liam Jones AFL AFL Trade Period, in exchange for a third-round draft pick (No. 46 overall) Matthew Dick AFL Signed as a delisted free agent Blaine Boekhorst Swan Districts WAFL AFL National Draft, first round (No. 19 overall) Dillon Viojo-Rainbow Western (U18) TAC Cup AFL National Draft, second round (No. 28 overall) Clem Smith Perth WAFL AFL National Draft, fourth round (No. 60 overall) Jayden Foster Calder (U18) TAC Cup AFL National Draft, fourth round (No. 63 overall)Jason Tutt AFL AFL Pre-season Draft, first round (No. 2 overall) Billy Gowers Oakleigh (U18) TAC Cup AFL Rookie Draft, first round (No. 6 overall) Brad Walsh Peel Thunder WAFL AFL Rookie Draft, second round (No. 24 overall) Tom Fields South Adelaide SANFL AFL Rookie Draft, third round (No. 41 overall)
Out Player New Club League via Nick Duigan Towns Greater Northern FL Removed from the list following his retirement in December 2013 Heath Scotland Doncaster Eastern FL Removed from the list following his retirement in May 2014 Josh Bootsma Peel Thunder WAFL Removed from the list following his sacking in June 2014 Andrew McInnes Norwood SANFL Delisted after the season Tom Temay Delisted after the season Jaryd Cachia Richmond reserves VFL Delisted from the rookie list after the season Luke Reynolds Port Adelaide reserves SANFL Delisted from the rookie list after the season Jarrad Waite AFL Signed as an unrestricted free agent Jeff Garlett AFL AFL Trade Period, with a fifth-round draft pick (No. 83 overall), in exchange for fourth-round and a higher fifth-round draft pick (No. 61 and 79 overall) Kane Lucas AFL Delisted after the Trade Period; later recruited by West Coast in the rookie draft. Brock McLean Aberfeldie EDFL Delisted after the Trade Period Mitch Robinson AFL Delisted after the Trade Period; signed by Brisbane Lions as a free agent
List management Player Change National draft Carlton received no free agency compensation draft picks, as the loss of Jarrad Waite was not deemed sufficient to justify oneJason Tutt Resigned from the on 7 November and received permission to train with Carlton. Guernsey number changes Patrick Cripps (No. 16 to No. 9)Ciarán Sheehan (No. 47 to No. 21)Blaine Johnson (No. 45 to No. 30)Ciarán Byrne (No. 48 to No. 38) Chris Judd Judd retired from playing on 9 June 2015, following an anterior cruciate ligament injury suffered in Round 10.
Season summary
Pre-season matches The club's three scheduled pre-season matches were played as part of the 2015 NAB Challenge series.
Rd Date and local time Opponent Scores (Carlton's scores indicated in bold) Venue Attendance Home Away Result 1 Friday, 27 February () 1.9.15 (78) 2.4.5 (47) Lost by 31 points Rushton Park, Mandurah (A) 10,000 (approx.) 2 Sunday, 15 March () 1.7.13 (64) 1.9.8 (71) Won by 7 points Queen Elizabeth Oval, Bendigo (A) 9,542 3 Sunday, 22 March () 2.10.14 (92) 0.17.9 (111) Lost by 19 points Docklands Stadium (H) 10,631 Source:
Home and away season