2020 Carlton Football Club season

The 2020 AFL season was the 124th season of the VFL/AFL competition since its inception in 1897; and, having competed in every season, it was also the 124rd season contested by the Carlton Football Club. Contractually, Carlton's primary home ground continued to be the Melbourne Cricket Ground, with many games also to have been played at Marvel Stadium, and traditional home ground Ikon Park continued to serve as the training and administrative base; however, due to the coronavirus pandemic forcing games to be moved out of Victoria, the club hosted games at Metricon Stadium and the Gabba in Queensland and Optus Stadium in Perth, hosted no games at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, and used the Mercure Gold Coast as a training base for much of the season.[1]

The club fielded its women's team in the fourth season of the AFL Women's competition, running in February and March, and Ikon Park served as the home ground for AFL Women's matches. Carlton continued its alignment with the Northern Blues in the Victorian Football League through the pre-season; but terminated the alignment on 26 March as a cost-saving measure during the coronavirus pandemic; as with all AFL clubs, Carlton had no reserves team or affiliation during the season, and reserves players were restricted to playing scratch matches against other AFL clubs.[2] The VFL Women's season was cancelled due to the pandemic, so the club's VFL Women's team did not compete.[3]

Car manufacturer Hyundai, which had been a major sponsor of the club continuously since 2008,[4] and airline Virgin Australia, which had upgraded from a secondary sponsor to a major sponsor during the 2017 season,[5] continued as the club's two major sponsors, under deals in place until 2022;[6] the latter sponsorship remained in place, despite the airline going into administration during the coronavirus pandemic.[7] The club's long term on- and off-field apparel deal with Nike, which had been in place since 1998,[8][9] came to an end in October 2019,[10] and the club signed a new 10-year apparel deal with PUMA.[11]

The club again achieved a record membership in 2020, finishing with 67,035 members for the year.[12] The club passed the full-year 2019 record in early March, before the season had even begun – as well as before the curtailment of the season was announced.[13] This was the club's third consecutive huge increase in membership numbers, having increased from 50,130 to a then-record 56,005 members in 2018, then to another record of 64,269 in 2019.[14]

The 2020 season was disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic, which was formally declared a pandemic on 11 March 2020, eight days prior to the scheduled start of the men's premiership season and prior to Round 6 of the women's season.

Carlton's season endured the following disruptions and special arrangements:

• The men's season was suspended after Round 1, and was shortened from the originally scheduled 22 matches to 17 matches.[15] The season did not restart until 11 June.[16]
• The team was forced to temporarily relocate away from Victoria after Round 5, due to interstate travel restrictions placed on Victorians during the state's second wave of the virus in July.[17] The club set up a base at the Mercure Gold Coast hub in south-east Queensland starting from Round 6, and travelled to Perth for a one-month hub from Round 9 to 12.[1]
• The women's home-and-away season was shortened from eight matches to six. Three weeks of finals were to follow, but only one was played before the season was cancelled.[18]
• Matches in Victoria were played in empty stadiums, and those played interstate in front of restricted-sized crowds, in response to government-imposed restrictions imposed on public gatherings.[19][20]
• The start of the 2020 VFL season was delayed,[21] before AFL-listed players were excluded from competing in state league competitions altogether, to keep players in the fully professional environment for tighter medical and quarantine controls.[22] As a result, Carlton reserves players were restricted only to training, or playing scratch matches against other AFL clubs.[2]

Carlton, along with all AFL clubs, were forced to find significant cost savings to cover the loss of revenue, which in Carlton's case included gate and broadcast revenue from closed and cancelled games, as well as gaming revenue as a result of non-essential venue closures across the country;[23] the club also suffered financially as a result of joint major sponsor Virgin Australia being placed into administration, itself severely affected by travel restrictions imposed during the pandemic, although the club's partnership with Virgin continued.[7]

Among the cost saving decisions, Carlton ended its 18-year association with its VFL-affiliate, the Northern Blues, in late March; the club had been investing significant money in building up the club as a development ground for its reserves and a senior development pathway for the northern suburbs; but with money tight, opted to end the affiliation and adopt a lower-cost strategy of re-establishing a stand-alone reserves team, which would contest the VFL at the next opportunity. The Northern Blues club, which was heavily dependent on Carlton's financial support to remain viable as an entity, initially announced that it would be wound up as a result,[24] and it was not included in the ultimately cancelled plans for a shortened 2020 VFL season; but, the club regrouped and will remain in the VFL under as a stand-alone senior Northern Bullants from 2021. As with all other AFL clubs, most of the club's workforce was stood down during the height of the pandemic.[25]

During July, while based interstate, the club was fined $45,000 for an inadvertent breach of COVID-19 protocols when one member of the travelling party sought childcare services outside the league's quarantine bubble.[26]

Mark LoGiudice continued as club president, a role he has held since June 2014.[27]

David Teague entered his first full season as the appointed senior coach of the club, having served as caretaker during the second half of 2019 after Brendon Bolton was sacked.[28] Teague was appointed senior coach on a three-year contract with two rounds remaining in the 2019 season.[29] To the coaching panel over the preseason were added: Sydney assistant coach Henry Playfair, who became head of coaching performance; AFL Academy manager Luke Power, who became head of development; and Geelong Falcons coach Daniel O'Keefe in a development coaching role.[30] Power replaced Shane Watson, who departed after four years with the club.[31] Following the trade and draft periods, general manager of List Management and Strategy Stephen Silvagni departed the club after five years in the role.[32] The financial pressure of the coronavirus pandemic, as well as the termination of the affiliation with the Northern Blues, resulted in Northern coach Josh Fraser being terminated.

Patrick Cripps and Sam Docherty continued in their roles as joint captains for the second consecutive season – with Docherty playing his first games as captain after having missed the 2019 season (as well as the 2018 season) due to injury.[33] Liam Jones, Jacob Weitering and Sam Walsh were added to the club's expanded seven-man leadership group, with Ed Curnow and Marc Murphy holding their places. Veteran Kade Simpson stepped aside from the group.[34]

Statistics are correct as of end of 2019 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 2019)		2020 Player Statistics
						Gms	Gls	Gms	Gls	B	D	K	HB	M	T	HO
1		Jack Silvagni	22	2016	Oakleigh (U18)	60	45	3	2	2	16	12	4	5	2	0
2		Paddy Dow	20	2018	Bendigo (U18)	39	14	3	1	2	27	12	15	6	3	0
3		Marc Murphy (lg)	32	2006	Oakleigh (U18)	268	185	17	4	7	313	178	135	63	37	0
4		Lochie O'Brien	20	2018	Bendigo (U18)	35	9	1	1	0	7	5	2	2	2	0
5		Sam Petrevski-Seton	21	2017	Claremont	64	19	16	0	0	217	155	62	49	36	0
6		Kade Simpson	35	2003	Eastern (U18)	325	138	17	1	0	264	201	63	66	19	0
7		Matthew Kennedy	22	2016	Collingullie-Glenfield Park, GWS	41	21	7	2	1	113	63	50	26	20	0
8		Matthew Kreuzer	30	2008	Northern (U18)	188	94	1	0	0	1	0	1	1	1	7
9		Patrick Cripps (c)	24	2014	East Fremantle	101	47	17	7	11	334	152	182	40	81	0
10		Harry McKay	22	2017	Gippsland (U18)	35	50	13	21	15	97	76	21	57	20	0
11		Mitch McGovern	25	2016	Claremont, Adelaide	64	89	12	9	2	88	70	18	39	22	3
12		Tom De Koning	20	2018	Dandenong (U18)	2	1	7	0	2	54	26	28	10	16	87
13		Liam Stocker	19	2019	Sandringham (U18)	5	0	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
14		Liam Jones (lg)	28	2010	North Hobart, Western Bulldogs	125	84	17	0	2	135	111	24	72	24	0
15		Sam Docherty (c)	26	2013	Gippsland (U18), Brisbane Lions	92	14	16	0	1	298	216	82	83	19	0
16		Darcy Lang	24	2014	Geelong (U18), Geelong	63	42	1	1	1	4	2	2	0	2	0
17		Brodie Kemp	18	–	Bendigo (U18)	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
18		Sam Walsh (lg)	19	2019	Geelong (U18)	22	6	17	8	4	349	193	156	73	47	0
19		Eddie Betts	33	2005	Calder (U18), Adelaide	316	600	15	13	13	133	89	44	24	41	0
20		Lachie Plowman	25	2013	Calder (U18), GWS	94	1	16	0	2	163	116	47	54	30	0
21		Jack Martin	24	2014	Claremont, Gold Coast	97	81	15	12	11	203	115	88	64	48	0
22		Caleb Marchbank	23	2015	Murray (U18), GWS	48	0	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
23		Jacob Weitering (lg)	22	2016	Dandenong (U18)	76	10	17	0	1	188	146	42	74	17	0
24		Nic Newman	26	2017	Frankston, Sydney	54	18	2	0	0	15	13	2	4	2	0
25		Zac Fisher	21	2017	Perth	55	21	8	6	2	107	57	50	13	20	0
26		Harrison Macreadie	21	2017	Henty	9	0	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
27		Marc Pittonet	23	2016	Oakleigh (U18), Hawthorn	7	0	13	0	3	109	59	50	23	25	292
28		David Cuningham	22	2016	Oakleigh (U18)	25	14	12	6	6	138	72	66	32	33	0
29		Cameron Polson	21	2017	Sandringham (U18)	16	4	3	0	1	24	16	8	3	3	0
30		Charlie Curnow	22	2016	Geelong (U18)	58	77	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
31		Tom Williamson	22	2017	North Ballarat (U18)	17	1	15	1	1	158	103	55	48	28	0
32		Jack Newnes	26	2012	Northern (U18)	155	55	17	13	4	222	139	83	53	44	0
33		Sam Ramsay	18	—	Calder (U18)	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
34		Sam Philp	18	2020	Northern (U18)	–	–	2	1	1	14	8	6	1	3	0
35		Ed Curnow (lg)	30	2011	Geelong (U18), Adelaide, Box Hill	165	36	17	4	3	320	212	108	42	88	0
37		Ben Silvagni	19	–	Oakleigh (U18)	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
38		Finbar O'Dwyer	19	–	Murray (U18)	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
41		Levi Casboult	29	2012	Dandenong (U18)	124	132	17	16	8	152	112	40	80	31	86
43		Will Setterfield	21	2017	Sandringham (U18), GWS	20	6	16	4	1	243	146	97	29	83	0
Rookie List[35]
No.	State	Player	Age	AFL Debut	Recruited from	Career (to end 2019)		2020 Player Statistics
						Gms	Gls	Gms	Gls	B	D	K	HB	M	T	HO
36		Josh Honey	18	2020	Western (U18)	–	–	1	0	1	4	3	1	2	1	0
39		Fraser Phillips	18	–	Gippsland (U18)	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
40		Michael Gibbons	24	2019	Williamstown	21	16	15	11	6	207	144	63	51	42	0
44		Matthew Owies	22	2020	St Kevin's, Seattle Redhawks	–	–	1	0	0	5	3	2	1	1	0
45		Hugh Goddard	23	2015	Geelong (U18), St Kilda	12	1	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
46		Matthew Cottrell	19	2020	Dandenong (U18)	–	–	5	2	0	53	44	9	8	4	0
47		Callum Moore	23	2016	Calder (U18), Richmond	8	5	2	0	0	6	4	2	2	4	0
Senior coaching panel[36]
	State	Coach	Coaching position				Carlton Coaching debut		Former clubs as coach
		David Teague	Senior coach				2008		Carlton (d), Northern Bullants (s), West Coast (a), St Kilda (a), Adelaide (a)
		Henry Playfair	Head of coaching performance				2020		Sydney (a), St Kilda (a)
		Luke Power	Head of development				2020		GWS (a), AFL Academy Manager
		John Barker	Assistant coach (stoppages)				2011		St Kilda (a), Hawthorn (a)
		Cameron Bruce	Assistant coach (forward)				2018		Hawthorn (a)
		Dale Amos	Assistant coach (defence)				2016		South Barwon (s), Geelong (a), Geelong reserves (s)
		Josh Fraser	Northern Blues senior coach (Until March)				2016		Gold Coast reserves (s)
		Jason Davenport	Development coach (Forwards)				2018		North Shore (s)
		Daniel O'Keefe	Development coach (Midfield)				2020		Geelong Falcons (s), Geelong reserves (a)
		Brent Stanton	Development coach (Midfield and transition)				2018
		Saverio Rocca	Specialist coach (goalkicking)				2017
		Hamish McIntosh	Specialist coach (ruck)				2019

• 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, (m) denotes managerial or administrative role in a football or coaching department

The following summarises all player changes which occurred after the 2019 season. Unless otherwise noted, draft picks refer to selections in the 2019 National Draft.

The club was active in negotiations during the trading period, although ultimately executed only three trades for low picks, which included the return of life member Eddie Betts, returning to the club after six years with Adelaide. The club was involved in negotiations to secure Tom Papley from Sydney, but the deal was partly contingent on Sydney securing Essendon's Joe Daniher in a separate trade which ultimately fell through.[37] Carlton also negotiated actively with Gold Coast to trade for uncontracted Jack Martin, offering a second-round draft pick and unable to meet Gold Coast's demands of a first round draft pick;[38] Martin then walked out on the Suns, and Carlton signed him on a five-year $3m contract through the pre-season draft – with the contract heavily front-ended in such a way that Gold Coast, who had an earlier selection in the draft but insufficient salary cap space, couldn't redraft him.[39]

In

Player	Former Club	League	via
Eddie Betts	Adelaide	AFL	AFL trade period, in exchange for a fourth-round draft selection in the 2019 National Draft.[40]
Marc Pittonet	Hawthorn	AFL	AFL trade period, gained along with a fourth round draft pick (provisionally No. 61), in exchange for a third round draft pick and a later fourth round draft (provisionally No. 54 and 63).[41]
Jack Newnes	St Kilda	AFL	Delisted free agent signing.[42]
Brodie Kemp	Bendigo (U18)	NAB League	AFL National Draft, first round selection (No. 17 overall)[43]
Sam Philp	Northern (U18)	NAB League	AFL National Draft, second round selection (No. 20 overall)[43]
Sam Ramsay	Calder (U18)	NAB League	AFL National Draft, third round selection (No. 47 overall)[43]
Jack Martin	Gold Coast	AFL	AFL Pre-season Draft, first round selection (No. 1 overall).[44]
Josh Honey	Western (U18)	NAB League	AFL Rookie Draft, first round selection (No. 3 overall).[45]
Fraser Phillips	Gippsland (U18)	NAB League	AFL Rookie Draft, second round selection (No. 18 overall).[46]
Callum Moore	Richmond	AFL	Recruited to the rookie list during the supplemental selection period.[47]

Out

Player	New Club	League	via
Alex Fasolo	Montmorency[48]	Northern FL	Retired[49]
Matthew Lobbe	Werribee[50]	VFL	Delisted at the end of the season[51]
Jarrod Garlett			Delisted at the end of the season[51]
Pat Kerr	St Kevin's Old Boys[52]	VAFA	Delisted at the end of the season[51]
Angus Schumacher	East Perth[53]	WAFL	Delisted at the end of the season[51]
Kym Lebois	North Adelaide[54]	SANFL	Delisted from the rookie list at the end of the season[51]
Andrew Phillips	Essendon	AFL	AFL trade period, traded along with two fourth round draft picks (provisionally No. 61 and 72), in exchange for two higher fourth-round draft picks (provisionally No. 57 and 70)
Josh Deluca	Box Hill[55]	VFL	Delisted after the trade period.[56]

List management

Player	Change
AFL Trade Period	Received a third round draft pick (provisionally No. 48) from Sydney in exchange for a later third round draft pick and a fourth round draft pick (provisionally No. 54 and 63).[57]
National Draft	Bid for Fremantle Academy player Liam Henry with the No. 9 draft selection; the bid was matched by Fremantle.[43]
National Draft	Bid for GWS Academy player Tom Green with the No. 10 draft selection; the bid was matched by GWS.[43]
2019 National Draft live trading	Gained a first round draft selection (No. 17) and a second round draft selection (No. 22) from Gold Coast in exchange for a higher first round draft selection (No. 11).[58] Pick 22 was then on-traded to Port Adelaide along with a fourth-round draft selection (No. 55) in exchange for a higher second-round selection (No. 20).[59]
Jordan Cunico Callum Moore Ryan Sturgess Lukas Webb	All four players received permission to train with Carlton during the 2020 pre-season ahead of the supplemental selection period;[60] Moore was ultimately added to the club's rookie list.

Game records and awards

Several marks in low scoring were set across the AFL during the season, in large part due to matches being played with 16 minute quarters instead of 20 minute quarters.

• Round 4 – Carlton's score of 7.10 (52) against Essendon was its lowest winning score since Round 12, 1989.[82]
• Round 4 – the club won the Madden Cup as winners of its rivalry game against Essendon.[83]
• Round 12 – Carlton's score of 5.10 (40) in wet conditions against Fremantle was its lowest winning score since Round 12, 1977.[82]
• Round 12 - Fremantle's score of 5.6 (36) was Carlton's lowest score conceded since Round 22, 2001.[82]
• Round 12 – The aggregate score of 76 points in the match against Fremantle was the lowest in any Carlton game since Round 11, 1991.[82]
• Round 13 - Gold Coast's score of 4.3 (27) was, for the second consecutive week, Carlton's lowest score conceded since Round 22, 2001.[82]
• Round 13 – Gold Coast's seven scoring shots was the fewest conceded by Carlton in a game since Round 13, 1987.[82]
• Rounds 12–13 – The combined 63 points scored by Fremantle and Gold Coast was the fewest total points conceded in consecutive games by Carlton since Rounds 4–5, 1919.[82]
• Round 15 – GWS' score of 6.12 (48) was the lowest score against which Carlton had lost a game since Round 15, 1965.[82]

Game events

• Round 7 – Carlton lost by three points against Port Adelaide after Robbie Gray (Port Adelaide) kicked a goal after the final siren, from a 45m set shot near the boundary line. It was the first time Carlton had lost on an after-the-siren kick since Round 10, 2002.[70]
• Round 12 – Carlton won by four points against Fremantle after Jack Newnes kicked a goal after the final siren, from a 45m set shot outside the boundary line. It was the first time Carlton had won on an after-the-siren kick since Round 22, 1987.[71]

Season records

• The club's win–loss record of 7–10, finishing position of 11th, and percentage of 94.3 were all the best the club had achieved since 2013.[84]
• The club's heaviest defeat of the year of 31 points was its narrowest heaviest defeat since 1988.