Brutal trade calls Blues must explore… because their top stars are ‘not taking you anywhere’

Dual premiership Kangaroo David King has implored Carlton to make a series of brutal trade calls on senior players, declaring an inevitable fresh set of eyes should come armed with a figurative “machine gun”.

King’s comments come off the back of the Blues’ 39-point loss to St Kilda on Saturday night – their sixth straight defeat – where Michael Voss’ men again threw away a promising first half.

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The Saints piled on eight consecutive goals in a third term in which the Blues laid just six tackles.

And it was the defensive efforts of Carlton leaders in the game-deciding quarter that left King flabbergasted.

King on Fox Footy’s First Crack highlighted seven third-quarter passages of play that highlighted “The Holy Trinity of Inept Performance”.

The Fox Footy analyst pointed to the separation Carlton players consistently gave to their Saints opponents. And once the ball had left congestion, King bemoaned the Blues’ lack of workrate to chase.

King also pointed to a missed groundball get by Ollie Florent, who was “not hard enough” in his attack on the ball.

King then hit out at a Carlton “cardinal sin” after a Mason Wood snap kick went wrong. Despite five Blues players positioned near the top of the goalsquare, Saints recruit Tom De Koning was able to take, essentially, an uncontested mark directly in front of goal.

“One of these guys needs to take responsibility to defuse this ball,” King told First Crack.

“That is embarrassing – and that right there is why Jacob Weitering is not a leader at this footy club. You can tell me he’s a vice-captain, tell me whatever you want – but I’m talking about seeing leadership.”

Finally, King showed behind the goals footage of Blues defender Adam Saad paying little attention to Cooper Sharman. As the Saints moved the ball down the field, Saad ran past Sharman, who slipped inside 50 and was left free to take an uncontested mark inside 50.

In an intense press conference, under-fire Carlton coach Voss said his side needs to be “far more defensively stronger”.

While some “liability” must rest with Voss, King turned the blowtorch on Carlton’s leaders, pointing out the Blues on Saturday night had 13 players with over 100 games of experience – “enough experience to shift a game”.

The dual All-Australian said the Blues should be looking at what they could get back from a club if they traded the likes of Jacob Weitering, Patrick Cripps and Harry McKay.

“I feel for Michael Voss with this – and I don’t blame him for everything, because in first halves they’ve been brilliant,” King said.

“In the end, he gets the bullet. But if you’re the new coach walking in, I’m coming in with a machine gun. I’m not dying on the vine with guys that are going to play selfish footy and not with the application that AFL footy demands.

“I’m Malcolm Blight-style walking into Carlton … Malcolm Blight came in at the Adelaide Crows (in 1997) and moved on about four players that were Hall of Fame-type stars and much-loved players. I’d be doing the same thing. I’d be seeing what I could get for Jacob Weitering.

“I’d be saying to Patty Cripps: ‘Mate, we feel like as a club, we’ve probably done the wrong thing by you here. If you want to go back to Western Australia, we can get that to happen.’ You might get a second-rounder for him, you might not.

“And then I’m looking at Harry McKay and I’m thinking: ‘OK, have we really still got you Harry? Are you really still invested in the game at Carlton?’

“I just don’t think they’re taking you anywhere right now. I’d love to get the truth serum into (Blues CEO) Graham Wright and find out what he’s really thinking. They did (trade) Charlie (Curnow) last year and I think (he might say): ‘Maybe we need to go again. Maybe we need to get more talent in.’ The talent is not there now.

“In the end, this group of leadership at Carlton are not going to take you anywhere.”

Herald Sun chief football reporter Jay Clark said Wright would likely be prepared to make big trade calls as he was happy to move Brodie Grundy on in 2023 when they were at Collingwood.

“I think he (Wright) would be open to all options,” Clark told First Crack. “It’d be (like) Paul Roos: ‘Everyone’s available for trade. What offers come in?’ I think it’d be an everyone-up-for-grabs sort of scenario at Ikon Park.”

Asked if some Blues players had “checked out”, King said: “Everyone wants to make excuses for them, ‘it’s just a little bit hard, they’re in a form trough’ – that’s just unrealistic.

“It’s the only time we make excuses for AFL players. They’re all there to perform their task, some are asked to do more, but they’re paid more and they’ve been around long enough.

“I know Vossy will cop it for this. But if I’m the new guy coming in, there is no way they’re coming with me.”