The Carlton trap door: Behind the Blues’ brutal list cull

Carlton will not offer Adam Saad a contract for 2027, which means that the Blues have culled 11 players from their 2026 playing list of 45.

Saad and the once-prized free agent Zac Williams are the headline casualties in a quietly brutal post-season at Royal Parade, where the Camporeale brothers Ben and Lucas were cut after just two seasons, Elijah Hollands did not return after his round six mental health episode and ex-Geelong small forward Lachie Fogarty, too, was discarded.

Lewis Young, who played 14 games this season mainly as a tall defender, was another of the departed, alongside backman Jordan Boyd, forward Flynn Young, Irishman Matt Duffy and rookie Harry Charleson, who did not play at senior level.

To put Carlton’s list surgery in perspective, the removal of 11 players is significantly greater than Collingwood’s eight, counting Scott Pendlebury’s move to Gold Coast and Steele Sidebottom’s retirement; it is the kind of turnover one would normally see at bottom four teams, or those in the throes of savage rebuilds.

West Coast have made just four changes to their senior list thus far, with the possibility of a few more removals. Their mass exodus was over 2024 and 2025, when half of the list went.

Essendon, who had exit interviews on Tuesday, have made just five changes to their list to date.

What the Carlton trap door demonstrates is that despite winning 12 out of 15 under Josh Fraser, the Blues were not enamoured with the back end of their list, nor with their depth of talent. They are unlikely to appoint a replacement for departed list manager Nick Austin and/or a recruiting boss until after the drafts.

The high turnover has multiple causes.

One is that the Blues gave up top 10 picks for Saad (2020) and Adam Cerra (2021) and also spent multiple picks to trade up for Jagga Smith and acquire Harry Dean. While these decisions are wholly justified given the exceptional performances of that young pair, there is a cost in depth.

Another is that under Michael Voss they imported fringe players, such as Lewis Young and Fogarty, to plug short-term holes and have since found replacements – Harry O’Farrell, who can play either end as a tall, is an upgrade on Young.

Further turnover was caused by recruiting ex-Greater Western Sydney tall Wade Derkson in pre-season and giant ruckman Flynn Riley from the VFL in the mid-year draft.

The volume of list changes is even more dramatic considering that Carlton traded out Charlie Curnow last year and gained Sydney pair Will Hayward and Ollie Florent, Ben Ainsworth from the Suns, plus Campbell Chesser from the Eagles and Liam Reidy via the Dockers.

The large swathe of vacancies poses the question of how the Blues will fill so many spots?

Some positions will be swallowed by the elevation of at least two and up to four rookies.

Frankie Evans, who improved markedly late in the 2026 and became a fixture in attack, can be promoted to the senior list. Ditto for Matt Carroll, who was showing his wares before a season-ending knee injury, and an improving Cooper Lord.

The Blues have the opportunity to fill the remaining several list vacancies – and they don’t necessarily need 45 – with a mix of the national draft and mature players via free agency and/or trades.

Joel Amartey has been offered a five-year deal, and it would be surprising if he didn’t join the Fraser party.

But it does not take a PhD in list management to project that Carlton will likely bring in a couple of players from other clubs, in the manner of their 2025 post-season.

The drafting of prized father-son Cody Walker will cost them their first pick (11), plus the first-round choice they received from the Swans for Curnow and potentially one of their second rounders, depending on where the bid for Walker lands.

The Blues, having planned for Walker’s arrival 12 months or more in advance, have North Melbourne and Gold Coast’s second-round picks.

When the dealing’s done, Carlton should have at least one second-round pick. Whatever remains can be deployed in the national draft – the last before the Tasmania Devils plunder the 2027 talent pool – or traded for a mature player.

There will be plenty of delisted free agents on the block, if they do not wish to pick from the boondocks of the drafts this year. The Blues have shown some interest in Collingwood’s delisted half-back Wil Parker.

The Camporeale brothers have been offered the opportunity to train on and compete for a list spot in pre-season, which suggests the club will hold at least one list berth into 2027.

Carlton’s willingness to make hard calls on their list is a measure of how Fraser, chief executive Graham Wright and football boss Chris Davies view their list.

Fraser’s success from round 10 did not shift the internal stance on the holes that existed. No one has marked Carlton’s list harder than the Blues.

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Jake Niall is a Walkley award-winning sports journalist and chief AFL writer for The Age.Connect via X or email.