I think that's a good structure but I'd retain a senior assistant. Having a football director with experience in the modern game is a definite. The Diesel appointment is old school Carlton and tells me as much as we've progressed, we still make stupid decisions.

My one addition would be an innovation coach who sits outside the coaching group. It's been a bugbear of mine for years that we're missing an opportunity in this field. We need someone who follows the game holisticallyl, assesses the analytics in a holistic manner and determines/predicts where the game is heading (or where it could be exploited in the future). The coaches are too concerned with the day to day performance of CFC where we need someone external to that.

The recent Richmond premiership style of play was created by necessity. If it wasn't for injury, it may never have seen the light of day in its current form. We need someone a bit eccentric who can present to the football department monthly (including recruiting) with ideas, suggestions, projections on where the game could be in the 3 years or where it could be exploited today. Random, out of the box ideas where we may take 1 gem out of 10 suggestions. That is where the future is assessed and created, not followed.
AFL clubs tend to live in the present. Innovation doesn't flourish in that space.

It’s fairly clear the club didn’t see the coaching as the issue in how we finished in 2024
Laying largely the blame on Russell and keeping the same coaching structure
Another oversight by the club

It’s fairly clear the club didn’t see the coaching as the issue in how we finished in 2024
Laying largely the blame on Russell and keeping the same coaching structure
Another oversight by the club

The club didn't see the playing group as an issue and we got rid of 3 experienced players and only added 1 in return.
How we ended our 24 season, it was obvious we needed more reliable experience if we were going to stay in the hunt.
But the club (and a lot of supporters) overvalued the list and we went all in on a 'super draft' and this is where we are at.
Changing coaches would not have changed a thing, even the assistants IMO.
The game has moved on and we haven't as a list, first and foremost.

Sliding doors.

It’s not impossible that Jagga Smith could have had a Judd-like first year which may have invigorated our midfield and potentially changed the way we play.

Is that messiah complex? Maybe. But he was ripping it up preseason and making some of our more senior players look flat footed.

Unfortunately he got injured and missed the season.

But had it worked out we may well be in the 8 right now.

And I’m not putting that purely on him but I think we all regularly forget the power of momentum.

We are going nowhere at the moment because there is zero momentum.

There’s clearly a breakdown in confidence within the playing group and that’s affecting everything.

It’s not an excuse and we’ve made plenty of mistakes but we also haven’t had a lot of luck.

Football Director - someone with experience in the modern game.

GM of Football - Abolished
Coaching & Performance Manager - Abolished
Development & Talent Manager - Abolished
Senior Assistant Coach - Abolished

GM of Football Performance - New

Head Coach - AFL
- Assistant Coach (Backs)
- Assistant Coach (Midfielders)
- Assistant Coach (Forwards)
- VFL Coach

Head of High Performance
- Medical
- Physio
- Psych
- Etc

Head Coach - AFLW
- Assistant Coach (Backs)
- Assistant Coach (Midfielders)
- Assistant Coach (Forwards)
- VFLW Coach

GM of Football Talent - New

Head of Development
- Development Coach (Skills - AFL)
- Development Coach (Strategy - AFL)
- Development Coach (Skills - AFLW)
- Development Coach (Strategy - AFLW)

Head of The Carlton Academy
- Academy Staff

Head of List Management
- List Management Strategy (AFL)
- List Management Strategy (AFLW)
- Recruitment Manager
-> Recruiting Operations (AFL & VFL)
-> Recruiting Operations (AFLW & VFLW)