Blues’ contracts on hold amid salary cap squeeze

2 days ago 2

Carlton person not yet offered contracts to tiny guardant Matt Owies and midfielder Jack Carroll, mostly due to the fact that of a choky wage cap.

The Blues person been successful discussions with the absorption of Owies and Carroll and privation to clasp that pair, but person been reluctant to enactment offers connected the array until they person a clearer representation of their full subordinate payments (TPP) for 2025, according to a nine root speaking connected information of anonymity.

Matt Owies has booted 21 goals done his archetypal 15 games of 2024.

The Blues besides person not offered a woody to out-of-contract guardant Jack Martin, whose aboriginal astatine the nine is undecided, arsenic the talented Martin struggles with wounded successful the past twelvemonth of a heavy front-ended five-year deal.

Carlton’s wage headdress is already choky and shapes arsenic highly restricted connected the backmost of their surge to the apical four, with the Blues besides mindful of the hefty woody that weapon cardinal defender Jacob Weitering volition bid from 2025, erstwhile helium volition beryllium a restricted escaped agent. Star midfielder Sam Walsh is coming retired of declaration astatine the extremity of 2026, erstwhile he, too, is slated for escaped agency.

Carlton had a program to make immoderate country successful their wage headdress if Sydney escaped cause Will Hayward had chosen to permission the Swans, but the talented guardant signed a five-year woody to stay with Sydney.

Owies has performed good this year, booting 21 goals successful 15 games arsenic a tiny forward. Following Carlton’s comfy triumph implicit Richmond, Owies told this masthead that helium was keen to enactment with the Blues and that helium had to beryllium patient.

Owies was a astonishment omission for the preliminary last astatine the Gabba past twelvemonth and is connected the radar of different clubs. Other tiny forwards specified arsenic Tyson Stengle (Geelong) and Cody Weightman (Bulldogs) person conscionable signed oregon extended their contracts.

Carroll, who is successful his 4th twelvemonth astatine the Blues and a erstwhile West Australian, has played 11 elder games this year, respective arsenic the substitute, but is not yet an automatic enactment successful a beardown midfield led by Patrick Cripps and Walsh.

While the Blues person the decorated cardinal guardant operation of Coleman medallists Charlie Curnow and Harry McKay, determination is beardown contention for positions among their tiny guardant contingent, which includes Lachie Fogarty, Matt Cottrell, Corey Durdin, Orazio Fantasia, Martin and Owies. All of that radical person contracts for 2025, too Owies and Martin – the second making a important quality to Carlton’s scoring prowess successful second stages of the 2023 play and the finals.

Zac Williams, recruited arsenic a moving half-back and midfielder, has been successfully redeployed arsenic a guardant with limb velocity and antiaircraft capacity.

The Blues mean to absorption connected the draught and to bring successful young endowment this post-season, erstwhile they expect to unafraid the Camporeale twins, Ben and Lucas, arsenic father-sons via a bidding process. Carlton person been annoyed that the AFL mightiness alteration the draught points strategy – making it little favourable to clubs gaining father-sons oregon academy recruits – erstwhile they had made proviso for the Camporeale twins successful 2023 by trading successful a raft of fourth-round choices to screen the bids.

Most Victorian clubs have, oregon volition have, important abstraction successful their wage caps, making Carlton an exception. The Blues person had to unafraid stars Cripps, Curnow, McKay, Walsh and Weitering, portion landing midfielder Adam Cerra from Fremantle and Williams and Saad from the Giants and Essendon connected multi-year deals.

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