| Club: | Carlton Football Club |
| Season: | 2009 |
| President: | Stephen Kernahan |
| Coach: | Brett Ratten |
| Captain: | Chris Judd |
| Home Ground: | Etihad Stadium (Training and administrative: Visy Park) |
| Regularseason Comp: | AFL season |
| Regularseason Result: | 7th (13–9) |
| Finals Series: | Finals series |
| Finals Result: | 7th |
| Club B&Amp;F: | Best and Fairest |
| Best And Fairest: | Chris Judd |
| Leading Goalscorer: | Brendan Fevola (89) |
| Club Membership: | 43,294 |
| Prevseason: | 2008 |
| Nextseason: | 2010 |
The 2009 Carlton Football Club season was the Carlton Football Club's 146th season, and 113th as a member of the Australian Football League.
Carlton finished 7th out of 16 teams in the 2009 AFL season. The season marked the first time that Carlton had played finals since 2001, ending what at that time was a club record drought of seven consecutive VFL/AFL seasons without a finals appearance. Full forward Brendan Fevola won the Coleman Medal as the league's leading goalkicker.
The 2009 AFL season was the 113th season of the VFL/AFL competition since its inception in 1897; and, having competed in every season, it was also the 113th season contested by the Carlton Football Club.
Former club champion Stephen Kernahan continued as club president in the 2009 season, a position he had held since August 2008. Brett Ratten and Chris Judd continued in their respective roles as senior coach and captain of the club, each entering his second season appointed to the job. The club's joint major sponsors were car manufacturer Hyundai, unchanged from 2008,[1] and national tourism promoter Tourism Malaysia, newly signed for the 2009 season.[2] As in previous years, the club's primary home ground was Etihad Stadium – which was known until 1 March 2009 as Telstra Dome[3] – with home games expecting to draw larger crowds played at the M.C.G.; the traditional home ground Princes Park was renamed from MC Labour Park to Visy Park in the offseason,[4] and it continued to serve as the training and administrative base. As had been the case every year since 2003, Carlton had a full alignment with the Northern Bullants in the Victorian Football League, allowing Carlton-listed players to play with the Bullants when not selected in AFL matches.[5]
The club marketed its 2009 membership campaign on what became one of the most well-remembered slogans in league history: "They Know We're Coming". CEO Greg Swann described the slogan as an irreverent way to rebuild the "Carlton arrogance" which the club was known for during its successful period, but which had been missing since the club's first wooden spoon in 2002 and in the aftermath of the salary cap breach that followed.[6] The provocative slogan was immediately successful in generating discussion and interest, drawing scorn from many opposition fans, and notably drawing a response from traditional rivals, who published a "They Know We're Waiting" poster on its website.[7] Carlton went on to sell 42,408 memberships for the 2009 season, a new record membership for the club, breaking the record of 40,764 set the previous season.
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 2008) | 2009 Player Statistics | ||||||||||
| Gms | Gls | Gms | Gls | B | D | K | HB | M | T | HO | |||||||
| 1 | 22 | 81 | 30 | 6 | 2 | 3 | 112 | 63 | 49 | 33 | 7 | – | |||||
| 2 | 22 | 50 | 9 | 20 | 6 | 4 | 334 | 160 | 174 | 101 | 77 | – | |||||
| 3 | 21 | 57 | 32 | 23 | 31 | 17 | 588 | 286 | 302 | 107 | 89 | – | |||||
| 4 | 19 | 43 | 19 | 23 | 15 | 8 | 615 | 321 | 294 | 141 | 92 | 2 | |||||
| 5 | Chris Judd (c) | 25 | 155 | 153 | 23 | 12 | 19 | 609 | 319 | 290 | 54 | 102 | – | ||||
| 6 | 24 | 87 | 47 | 23 | 15 | 12 | 489 | 287 | 202 | 129 | 82 | – | |||||
| 7 | 22 | 68 | 13 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | |||||
| 8 | 19 | 20 | 13 | 23 | 13 | 11 | 320 | 123 | 197 | 73 | 71 | 394 | |||||
| 9 | 22 | East Fremantle, | 31 | 2 | 10 | 1 | 1 | 145 | 97 | 48 | 40 | 26 | – | ||||
| 10 | 25 | East Fremantle, | 47 | 12 | 11 | 3 | 2 | 207 | 79 | 128 | 45 | 45 | – | ||||
| 11 | 21 | 21 | 4 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | |||||
| 12 | 19 | Tasmania (U18/VFL) | – | – | 10 | 5 | 5 | 125 | 71 | 54 | 41 | 28 | 2 | ||||
| 13 | 18 | – | – | 6 | 4 | 4 | 57 | 37 | 20 | 18 | 17 | – | |||||
| 14 | 24 | 91 | 118 | 7 | 8 | 2 | 91 | 51 | 40 | 46 | 11 | – | |||||
| 15 | 19 | 13 | 4 | 7 | 1 | – | 113 | 51 | 62 | 34 | 19 | – | |||||
| 16 | 20 | 25 | 4 | 10 | 3 | 5 | 196 | 94 | 102 | 32 | 29 | 3 | |||||
| 17 |  | 25 | 46 | 18 | 12 | 12 | 8 | 129 | 56 | 73 | 39 | 13 | 7 | ||||
| 18 | 20 | 24 | 2 | 21 | – | – | 409 | 183 | 226 | 122 | 39 | – | |||||
| 19 | 22 | 75 | 85 | 22 | 38 | 21 | 265 | 156 | 109 | 55 | 78 | – | |||||
| 20 | 18 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | ||||
| 21 | 19 | 5 | – | 9 | 1 | 1 | 86 | 34 | 52 | 24 | 20 | 1 | |||||
| 22 | 20 | 12 | 2 | 15 | 3 | 4 | 124 | 35 | 89 | 34 | 31 | 278 | |||||
| 23 | 22 | 8 | 2 | 3 | – | – | 30 | 18 | 12 | 7 | 7 | 4 | |||||
| 24 | 28 | Northern (U18), | 214 | 127 | 17 | 12 | 6 | 387 | 215 | 172 | 73 | 53 | – | ||||
| 25 | 27 | 164 | 486 | 23 | 89 | 57 | 297 | 251 | 46 | 148 | 50 | 6 | |||||
| 26 | 20 | 9 | – | 3 | – | – | 40 | 12 | 28 | 5 | 7 | – | |||||
| 27 | 22 | 9 | 2 | 17 | – | 1 | 230 | 91 | 139 | 42 | 46 | – | |||||
| 28 | 24 | Eastern (U18), | 47 | 28 | 10 | 8 | 6 | 123 | 78 | 45 | 66 | 20 | 64 | ||||
| 29 | Heath Scotland (lg) | 28 | 159 | 52 | 17 | 5 | 1 | 408 | 185 | 223 | 83 | 50 | – | ||||
| 30 | 25 | 106 | 107 | 9 | 10 | 2 | 178 | 132 | 46 | 66 | 10 | – | |||||
| 31 | 26 | Calder (U18), | 65 | 15 | 2 | 2 | – | 19 | 14 | 5 | 6 | 4 | – | ||||
| 32 | 25 | 128 | 2 | 21 | 2 | – | 406 | 244 | 162 | 167 | 25 | 1 | |||||
| 33 | 26 | 162 | 99 | 20 | 13 | 5 | 402 | 206 | 196 | 74 | 51 | – | |||||
| 34 | Simon Wiggins | 26 | 103 | 32 | 13 | 4 | 8 | 194 | 80 | 114 | 76 | 41 | – | ||||
| 35 | Caleb Tiller | 17 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | |||
| 37 | 20 | 5 | 4 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | |||||
| 40 | Michael Jamison | 22 | North Ballarat (U18, VFL) | 21 | – | 13 | – | – | 113 | 67 | 46 | 49 | 20 | – | |||
| 44 | Andrew Carrazzo | 25 | 84 | 20 | 15 | 12 | 8 | 354 | 180 | 174 | 58 | 47 | – | ||||
| Rookie List | |||||||||||||||||
| No. | State | Player | Age | AFL Debut | Recruited from | Career (to end 2008) | 2009 Player Statistics | ||||||||||
| Gms | Gls | Gms | Gls | B | D | K | HB | M | T | HO | |||||||
| 36 | 21 | 7 | 4 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | |||||
| 38 | 19 | – | – | 10 | 12 | 9 | 94 | 72 | 22 | 34 | 23 | – | |||||
| 39 | 20 | – | – | 4 | 1 | – | 33 | 9 | 24 | 12 | 4 | 58 | |||||
| 41 | Lachie Hill | 19 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | |||
| 42 | Luke Stanton | 18 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | |||
| 45 | 19 | – | – | 23 | 3 | 6 | 257 | 117 | 140 | 55 | 92 | – | |||||
| 46 | 19 | 1 | 1 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | |||||
| 47 | Greg Bentley | 21 | Dandenong (U18), | 21 | 6 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 57 | 30 | 27 | 15 | 16 | – | |||
| For players: (c) denotes captain, (vc) denotes vice-captain, (lg) denotes leadership group. Players' ages are given for 31 December 2008. Statistics for AFL matches: Gms – Games played, Gls – Goals, B – Behinds, D – Disposals, K – Kicks, HB – Handballs, M – Marks, T – Tackles, HO – Hitouts. Source for statistics: AFL Tables.[8] | |||||||||||||||||
The following summarises all player changes between the conclusion of the 2008 season and the conclusion of the 2009 season.
| Player | Previous Club | League | via | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Robert Warnock[9] | AFL Trade Week, with pick No. 69, in exchange for picks No. 24, 56 and 72. | |||
| Chris Yarran[10] | AFL National Draft, first round (pick No. 6) | |||
| AFL National Draft, third round (pick No. 40) | ||||
| AFL National Draft, fifth round (pick No. 65) | ||||
| Caleb Tiller | AFL National Draft, sixth round (pick No. 80) | |||
| AFL Pre-season Draft, first round (pick No. 4) | ||||
| AFL Rookie Draft, first round (pick No. 6) | ||||
| Luke Stanton | AFL Rookie Draft, second round (pick No. 22) | |||
| AFL Rookie Draft, third round (pick No. 37) |
| Player | New Club | League | via | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Northern Bullants[11] | Retired from the AFL | |||
| North Adelaide[12] | Delisted | |||
| Clinton Benjamin | North Ballarat[13] | Delisted | ||
| Claremont[14] | Delisted | |||
| Claremont[15] | Delisted | |||
| Cork GAA[16] | Delisted |
| Player | Change | |
|---|---|---|
| Promoted from the rookie list to the senior list for the 2009 season.[17] | ||
| Darren Pfeiffer[18] | Delisted, then redrafted as a rookie during the AFL Rookie Draft, fourth round (pick No. 51) | |
| Lachie Hill | Delisted from the rookie list, then redrafted as a rookie during the AFL Rookie Draft, fifth round (pick No. 65) | |
| Delisted from the rookie list, then redrafted as a rookie during the AFL Rookie Draft, sixth round (pick No. 76) |
| Round | Date and local time | Opponent | Scores (Carlton's scores indicated in bold) | Venue | Attendance | |||
| Home | Away | Result | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Friday, 20 February | 1.17.12 (123) | 0.11.4 (70) | Won by 53 points Report | Telstra Dome (H) | 24,711 | ||
| 2 | Sunday, 1 March | 2.13.16 (112) | 2.10.10 (88) | Won by 24 points Report | Etihad Stadium (H) | 19,111 | ||
| 3 | Saturday, 7 March | 2.9.12 (84) | 0.9.13 (67) | Lost by 17 points Report | Etihad Stadium (A) | 15,305 | ||
| Week | Date and local time | Opponent | Scores (Carlton's scores indicated in bold) | Venue | Attendance | |||||
| Home | Away | Result | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4 | align=left | Saturday, 14 March | align=left | 20.6 (126) | 12.11 (83) | Lost by 43 points Report | Hands Oval, Bunbury (A) | 10,000 (approx.) | ||
Carlton had a strong season. Although its win–loss record was only 6–6 after twelve rounds, four of its six losses came by less than ten points. After falling to eighth place with a 69-point loss to in Round 13, Carlton won seven of its following eight games to cement a place in the finals for the first time since 2001. In the final round match against, both teams were fighting for 5th place and a home elimination final; the result was Carlton's heaviest loss of the season, 72 points, which saw Carlton finish 7th, and required them to travel to Brisbane for the first week of the finals.
Carlton's full season win–loss record was 13–9, a notable improvement on its record of 10–12 from the 2008 season. The club's form throughout the season unpredictable; Carlton returned a 3–2 record against the top four teams, including an impressive Round 19 upset victory against eventual premiers, but only 2–4 against the next four teams on the ladder; Carlton's record against the bottom eight was 8–3, with all three of those losses coming inside the first seven rounds of the season.
| Round | Date and local time | Opponent | Scores (Carlton's scores indicated in bold) | Venue | Attendance | Ladder position | |||||
| Home | Away | Result | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | align=left | Thursday, 26 March | align=left | 9.13 (67) | 23.12 (150) | Won by 83 points Report | M.C.G. (A) | 87,043 | 1st | ||
| 2 | align=left | Saturday, 4 April | align=left | 18.11 (119) | 15.10 (100) | Won by 19 points Report | Etihad Stadium (H) | 42,496 | 1st | ||
| 3 | align=left | Saturday, 11 April | align=left | 16.16 (112) | 17.14 (116) | Lost by 4 points Report | M.C.G. (H) | 70,370 | 4th | ||
| 4 | align=left | Saturday, 18 April | align=left | 12.12 (84) | 9.13 (67) | Lost by 17 points Report | S.C.G. (A) | 30,824 | 5th | ||
| 5 | align=left | Sunday, 26 April | align=left | 13.12 (90) | 21.7 (133) | Won by 43 points Report | Etihad Stadium (A) | 44,268 | 3rd | ||
| 6 | align=left | Saturday, 2 May | align=left | 16.10 (106) | 15.12 (102) | Lost by 4 points Report | M.C.G. (A) | 69,814 | 4th | ||
| 7 | align=left | Saturday, 9 May | align=left | 11.15 (81) | 13.10 (88) | Lost by 7 points Report | Gold Coast Stadium (H) | 10,294 | 7th | ||
| 8 | align=left | Sunday, 17 May | align=left | 7.11 (53) | 16.8 (104) | Won by 51 points Report | M.C.G. (A) | 82,834 | 6th | ||
| 9 | align=left | Saturday, 23 May | align=left | 15.14 (104) | 8.12 (60) | Lost by 44 points Report | AAMI Stadium (A) | 41,107 | 9th | ||
| 10 | align=left | Friday, 29 May | align=left | 16.15 (111) | 10.10 (70) | Won by 41 points Report | Etihad Stadium (H) | 39,611 | 5th | ||
| 11 | align=left | Saturday, 6 June | align=left | 16.10 (106) | 16.16 (112) | Won by 6 points Report | The Gabba (A) | 33,790 | 4th | ||
| 12 | align=left | Friday, 12 June | align=left | 14.11 (95) | 16.8 (104) | Lost by 9 points Report | Etihad Stadium (H) | 50,820 | 7th | ||
| 13 | align=left | Friday, 26 June | align=left | 21.10 (136) | 9.13 (67) | Lost by 69 points Report | M.C.G. (A) | 83,407 | 8th | ||
| 14 | align=left | Sunday, 5 July | align=left | 15.10 (100) | 16.19 (115) | Won by 15 points Report | Subiaco Oval | 34,720 | 7th | ||
| 15 | align=left | Saturday, 11 July | align=left | 16.13 (109) | 12.17 (89) | Won by 20 points Report | M.C.G. (H) | 50,784 | 7th | ||
| 16 | align=left | Saturday, 18 July | align=left | 19.10 (124) | 9.9 (63) | Won by 61 points Report | Etihad Stadium (H) | 42,018 | 7th | ||
| 17 | align=left | Friday, 24 July | align=left | 4.16 (40) | 14.10 (94) | Lost by 54 points Report | M.C.G. (H) | 84,938 | 7th | ||
| 18 | align=left | Friday, 31 July | align=left | 11.18 (84) | 14.10 (94) | Won by 10 points Report | Etihad Stadium (A) | 38,554 | 7th | ||
| 19 | align=left | Friday, 7 August | align=left | 14.13 (97) | 8.14 (62) | Won by 35 points Report | M.C.G. (H) | 55,057 | 6th | ||
| 20 | align=left | Sunday, 16 August | align=left | 9.13 (67) | 18.13 (121) | Won by 54 points Report | AAMI Stadium (A) | 27,221 | 5th | ||
| 21 | align=left | Saturday, 22 August | align=left | 24.9 (153) | 15.6 (96) | Won by 57 points Report | Etihad Stadium (H) | 37,433 | 5th | ||
| 22 | align=left | Saturday, 29 August | align=left | 16.8 (104) | 27.14 (176) | Lost by 72 points Report | Etihad Stadium (H) | 42,356 | 7th | ||
Playing its first final since 2001, Carlton and Brisbane fought an evenly contested first half, and Brisbane took a one-point lead into half time. Carlton dominated the third quarter, kicking six goals to two; and, after a goal in the first minute of the final quarter, led by 30 points. But from there, Brisbane kicked the final six goals of the match, to overrun the Blues and win the match by seven points.[19]
| Week | Date and local time | Opponent | Scores (Carlton's scores indicated in bold) | Venue | Attendance | |||||
| Home | Away | Result | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Second Elimination Final | align=left | Saturday, 5 September | align=left | 16.15 (111) | 15.14 (104) | Lost by 7 points Report | The Gabba (A) | 32,702 | ||
Brendan Fevola was Carlton's leading goalkicker for 2009, kicking 89 goals for the season. It was the seventh consecutive and final time that Fevola won the club goalkicking. The 89 goal tally was the second-highest of Fevola's career, second to his 99 goals in the 2008 season. Fevola also won the Coleman Medal, as his tally of 86 goals in the home-and-away season was the highest in the league.
Small forward Eddie Betts was second with 38 goals, the highest in his career at that point, and Marc Murphy was third, kicking 31 goals from the midfield.
| width=30% | Player | width=5% | Goals | width=5% | Behinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 89 | 57 | ||||
| 38 | 21 | ||||
| 31 | 17 | ||||
| 15 | 12 | ||||
| 15 | 8 |
Following Pratt's death, the Carlton and Collingwood Football Clubs established the Richard Pratt Cup, a new trophy to presented in perpetuity to the winner of Carlton's annual home match against Collingwood, accompanying an event to raise money for the Pratt Foundation. The trophy was first contested in Round 17, and was won by Collingwood. The Richard Pratt Cup became a companion to the Peter Mac Cup, which had been contested annually between Carlton and Collingwood since 1993, and accompanied an event to raise money for the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre. The teams had previously shared hosting duties, but with the establishment of the Richard Pratt Cup, Collingwood became the host of all Peter Mac Cup matches.[27]
The Carlton Football Club Best and Fairest awards night took place on 28 September. The John Nicholls Medal, for the best and fairest player of the club, as well as several other awards, were presented on the night. Brendan Fevola, after his behaviour at the Brownlow Medal, did not attend the event.[31]
The winner of the John Nicholls Medal was Chris Judd, who polled 558 votes. It was Judd's second consecutive John Nicholls Medal, in only his second season at the club, and was the second of three John Nicholls Medals that Judd would win consecutively from 2008 to 2010. Judd won comfortably ahead of Marc Murphy (451 votes) and Bryce Gibbs (415 votes). The top ten is given below.
| Pos. | Player | Votes | |||
| 1st | Chris Judd | 558 | |||
| 2nd | Marc Murphy | 451 | |||
| 3rd | Bryce Gibbs | 415 | |||
| 4th | Brendan Fevola | 390 | |||
| 5th | Matthew Kreuzer | 311 | |||
| 6th | Jordan Russell | 281 | |||
| 7th | Paul Bower | 279 | |||
| 8th | Kade Simpson | 254 | |||
| 9th | Bret Thornton | 225 | |||
| 10th | Aaron Joseph | 201 | |||
Brendan Fevola was the winner of the Coleman Medal as the league's leading goalkicker, kicking 86 goals in the home-and-away season to finish ahead of Brisbane's Jonathan Brown (78 goals) and 's Nick Riewoldt (68 goals).[32] It was Fevola's second career Coleman Medal, after winning the award in 2006; in doing so, Fevola became the first Carlton player since George Coulthard in the 1878, 1879 and 1880 VFA seasons to win the league goalkicking more than once in his career, and the first Carlton player ever to achieve the feat in the VFL/AFL.
Chris Judd finished second for the 2009 Brownlow Medal, polling 22 votes; he finished eight votes behind runaway winner Gary Ablett Jr. . Marc Murphy and Bryce Gibbs each polled 15 votes to finish equal-ninth.[33]
For each of the AFLPA awards, one or three Carlton players were nominated following internal vote of Carlton players (except for Best Captain, where captain Chris Judd was nominated by default).[34] Chris Judd went on to finish third for the Leigh Matthews Trophy; none of Carlton's other nominees placed.[35]
The Carlton Football Club had a full affiliation with the Northern Bullants during the 2009 season. It was the seventh season of the clubs' affiliation, which had been in place since 2003. Carlton senior- and rookie-listed players who were not selected to play in the Carlton team were eligible to play for either the Northern Bullants seniors or reserves team, including both Victorian Football League matches. Home games were shared between the Bullants' traditional home ground, Preston City Oval, and Carlton's traditional home ground, Visy Park. Carlton development coach David Teague served also as the senior coach for the Bullants during the season.[43]
The Bullants finished second out of fourteen in the VFL, after being defeated in the Grand Final by North Ballarat by 23 points. It was the Bullants' first Grand Final appearance since 1984. The Bullants had finished third on the ladder after the home-and-away season. Carlton rookie-listed player David Ellard, who did not play at AFL level during the season, won the Laurie Hill Trophy as the Bullants' best and fairest.[44]
1. Ratten also served as head coach in the final six rounds of 2007 as caretaker, before being officially appointed as head coach for 2008.