2011 Carlton Football Club season

Carlton Football Club
2011 season
President Stephen Kernahan
Coach Brett Ratten
Captain(s) Chris Judd
Home ground Etihad Stadium
(Training and administrative: Visy Park)
AFL season 5th (14-7-1)
Finals series 5th
Best and Fairest Marc Murphy
Leading goalkicker Andrew Walker (56)[1]
Highest home attendance 85,936 vs. Collingwood (Round 17)
Lowest home attendance 37,607 vs. Adelaide (Round 5)
Club membership 43,791[2]

The 2011 AFL season is the 115th season in the AFL to be contested by the Carlton Football Club. It was Carlton's most successful AFL season for more than a decade, finishing 5th out of 17 teams.

Club summary

The 2011 AFL season was the 115th season of the VFL/AFL competition since its inception in 1897; and, having competed in every season, it was also the 115th season contested by the Carlton Football Club.

Former club champion Stephen Kernahan continued as club president in the 2011 season, a position he has held since August 2008.[3] The club's two joint major sponsors, car manufacturer Hyundai and confectionery company Mars, were unchanged from 2010.[4] As in previous years, the club's primary home ground was Etihad Stadium, with home games expecting to draw larger crowds played at the M.C.G., and with traditional home ground Visy Park serving as the training and administrative base. As has been the case every year since 2003, Carlton has a full alignment with the Northern Bullants in the Victorian Football League, allowing Carlton-listed players to play with the Bullants when not selected in AFL matches.[5]

Carlton set a new club record by selling 43,791 memberships for the 2011 season.[2] The previous high of 42,408 members, set in 2009, was surpassed on 9 June.[6] The club had the fourth-highest membership in the league, and the second-highest of clubs who play home games only in Victoria, behind only Collingwood.Note 1, [2] The club's membership campaign slogan for 2011 was "No passengers."[7]

Brett Ratten and Chris Judd continued in their respective roles as senior coach and captain of the club, each entering his fourth season appointed to the job.Note 2 Kade Simpson continued in the role of vice-captain, and Michael Jamison and Andrew Carrazzo retained their places in the club's leadership group from 2010. Bryce Gibbs, Marc Murphy and Jordan Russell were elevated into the expanded leadership group for 2011, replacing Heath Scotland, who stepped down, and Simon Wiggins, who retired from the AFL at the end of 2010.[8]

There was a substantial number of changes to Brett Ratten's senior coaching panel between 2010 and 2011. The contracts of forward-line assistant coach Matthew Lappin and defensive assistant coach Brett Montgomery were not renewed, with the pair taking assistant coaching roles at Collingwood[9] and the Western Bulldogs[10] respectively. Midfield assistant coach Robert Harvey, and development coach/VFL senior coach David Teague also left to pursue assistant coaching roles at St Kilda[11] and West Coast[12] respectively. The three vacant assistant coaching positions were filled by Alan Richardson from Essendon, John Barker from Hawthorn, and Gavin Brown from Collingwood. Darren Harris, who had been serving as development manager since 2009, stepped into Teague's role as development coach and VFL senior coach, and Luke Webster also joined the club as a development coach.[13]

Carlton adopted a new 'clash guernsey' design for the 2011 season. The new design was predominantly sky blue, with navy blue CFC monogram, numbers, trimming and side-panels. The sky blue guernsey replaced a predominantly white clash guernsey which had been in use since 2007. The guernsey was worn with new sky blue shorts, and the traditional navy blue socks (with a white hoop added in the event of clashing socks).[14] The clash guernsey was first worn in Round 7 against St Kilda.[15]

Squad and player statistics for 2011

Flags represent the state of origin, i.e. the state in which the player played his Under-18s football.

Senior List[16]
No. State Player Age AFL Debut Recruited from Career (to end 2010) 2011 Player Statistics
Gms Gls Gms Gls B D K HB M T HO
1 Victoria (Australia) Andrew Walker 24 2004 Bendigo (U18) 10337 24 5627349238111111621
2 South Australia Jordan Russell (lg)[8] 24 2005 West Adelaide 9315 16 322671641037355
3 Victoria (Australia) Marc Murphy (lg)[8] 23 2006 Oakleigh (U18) 10282 24 22136993913081091081
4 South Australia Bryce Gibbs (lg)[8] 21 2007 Glenelg 8940 23 2118548381167174823
5 Victoria (Australia) Chris Judd (c) 27 2002 Sandringham (U18), West Coast 198179 24 141663330133269148
6 Victoria (Australia) Kade Simpson (vc)[17] 26 2003 Eastern (U18) 13379 24 1718536361175147795
8 Victoria (Australia) Matthew Kreuzer 21 2008 Northern (U18) 5631 12 7714066742744148
9 Western Australia Kane Lucas 19 2010 East Fremantle80 2 281711104
10 Victoria (Australia) Matthew Watson 18 2011 Calder (U18) 3 3829992
11 Victoria (Australia) Robert Warnock 23 2007 Sandringham (U18), Fremantle 338 20 48229861434251591
12 Tasmania Mitch Robinson 21 2009 Tasmania (U18/VFL) 2619 23 10215173042131219715
13 Western Australia Chris Yarran 20 2009 Swan Districts 2223 23 884092961137776
14 Victoria (Australia) Brock McLean 24 2004 Calder (U18), Melbourne 10041 4 126223391323
15 Victoria (Australia) Jeremy Laidler 21 2009 Geelong (U18, AFL) 20 19 2130019510511042
16 Victoria (Australia) Andrew Collins 22 2009 Bendigo (U18), Richmond 2523 2 318117115
17 Republic of Ireland Setanta Ó hAilpín 27 2005 Cork GAA 7256 8 11101047232331059
18 Western Australia Paul Bower 22 2006 Peel 573 3 2013783
19 Victoria (Australia) Eddie Betts 24 2005 Calder (U18) 120165 24 50222971761219084
21 South Australia Mark Austin 21 2007 Glenelg 141 1 84424
22 Queensland Shaun Hampson 22 2007 Mount Gravatt 3511 9 357429452117185
23 Victoria (Australia) Lachlan Henderson 21 2007 Geelong (U18), Brisbane 3428 15 321731037070341
24 South Australia Pat McCarthy 18 Glenelg
25 Victoria (Australia) Luke Mitchell 18 Calder (U18)
26 Victoria (Australia) Andrew McInnes 18 Dandenong (U18)
27 Western Australia Dennis Armfield 24 2008 Swan Districts 452 15 71189122674130
29 Victoria (Australia) Heath Scotland 30 1999 Western (U18), Collingwood 19967 24 55617346271163732
30 Victoria (Australia) Jarrad Waite 27 2003 Murray (U18) 131153 12 1619174116588324
31 Tasmania Marcus Davies 19 2010 North Hobart 50 8 126738291921
32 Victoria (Australia) Bret Thornton 27 2002 Oakleigh (U18) 1618 20 138317215102146271
33 Victoria (Australia) Ryan Houlihan 28 2000 Murray (U18) 195127 6 36930391013
34 South Australia Nick Duigan 26 2011 Norwood 22 1235419515913150
36 Victoria (Australia) Rohan Kerr 19 Dandenong (U18)
38 Western Australia Jeff Garlett 21 2009 Swan Districts 3051 24 4832294216788496
40 Victoria (Australia) Michael Jamison (lg)[8] 24 2007 North Ballarat (U18, VFL) 570 14 14176114627126
43 Western Australia Simon White 22 2010 Subiaco 61 6 116938311711
44 Victoria (Australia) Andrew Carrazzo (lg)[8]27 2004 Oakleigh (U18), Geelong 12236 18 5342420521975952
45 Tasmania Aaron Joseph 21 2009 Tasmania (U18) 455 11 4113079514428
46 Western Australia David Ellard 21 2008 Swan Districts 83 19 15727816211659115
Rookie List[18]
No. State Player Age AFL Debut Recruited from Career (to end 2010) 2011 Player Statistics
Gms Gls Gms Gls B D K HB M T HO
20 South Australia Rhys O'Keeffe 20 2011 North Adelaide 1 83511
28 Victoria (Australia) Jaryd Cachia 19 Northern (U18)
35 Victoria (Australia) Ed Curnow 21 2011 Geelong (U18), Adelaide, Box Hill 12 31215117984755
37 Victoria (Australia) Joseph Dare 19 Geelong (U18)
39 Victoria (Australia) Wayde Twomey 24 2011 Western (U18), Werribee, Swan Districts 2 11310378
41 Victoria (Australia) Levi Casboult 20 Dandenong (U18)
42 Republic of Ireland Zach Tuohy 21 2011 Laois GAA 11 311387464319
47 Western Australia Mitchell Carter 19 South Fremantle
48 New South Wales Blake Bray 18 Western Suburbs
Senior coaching panel[19]
Born Coach Coaching position Carlton Coaching debut Former clubs as coach
Victoria (Australia) Brett Ratten Senior Coach 2007 Melbourne (a), Norwood (EFL) (s)
Victoria (Australia) Alan Richardson Senior Assistant Coach 2011 East Burwood (s), Coburg (s), Western Bulldogs (a), Collingwood (a), Essendon (a)
Victoria (Australia) John Barker Assistant Coach 2011 St Kilda (a), Hawthorn (a)
Victoria (Australia) Gavin Brown Assistant Coach 2011 Collingwood (a), Collingwood (VFL) (s)
Victoria (Australia) Matthew Capuano Assistant Coach 2009
Western Australia Mark Riley Assistant Coach 2008 Claremont (s), Fremantle (d, a), Melbourne (a, cs)
Victoria (Australia) Darren Harris Development & Academy Manager, and VFL Senior Coach 2009 Wodonga Raiders (O&MFL) (s), NSW/ACT Rams (d), West Perth (s), West Coast (a)
Victoria (Australia) Luke Webster Development Coach 2011
For players: (c) denotes captain, (vc) denotes 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. Players' ages are given for 1 January 2011. Statistics for AFL matches: Gms – Games played, Gls – Goals, B – Behinds, D – Disposals, K – Kicks, HB – Handballs, M – Marks, T – Tackles, HO – Hitouts. Source for statistics: AFL Tables.[1]

Playing list changes

The following summarises all player changes between the conclusion of the 2010 season and the conclusion of the 2011 season.

In

Player Previous Club League via
Victoria (Australia) Andrew Collins[20] Richmond AFL AFL Trade Week, in exchange for Shaun Grigg
Victoria (Australia) Jeremy Laidler[21] Geelong AFL AFL Trade Week, with pick No. 41, in exchange for picks No. 36 and 53Note 3
Victoria (Australia) Matthew Watson[22] Calder TAC Cup AFL National Draft, first round (pick No. 18)
South Australia Patrick McCarthy[22] Glenelg SANFL AFL National Draft, second round (pick No. 34)
Victoria (Australia) Luke Mitchell[22] Calder TAC Cup AFL National Draft, second round (pick No. 42)
Victoria (Australia) Andrew McInnes[22] Dandenong TAC Cup AFL National Draft, fourth round (pick No. 67)
South Australia Nick Duigan[22] Norwood SANFL AFL National Draft, fourth round (pick No. 70)
Victoria (Australia) Ed Curnow[23] Box Hill VFL AFL Rookie Draft, first round (pick No. 18)
Victoria (Australia) Wayde Twomey[23] Swan Districts WAFL AFL Rookie Draft, third round (pick No. 51)
Western Australia Mitchell Carter[23] South Fremantle WAFL AFL Rookie Draft, fourth round (pick No. 66)
New South Wales Blake Bray[23] Western Suburbs Sydney AFL Elevated from NSW/ACT Scholarship during AFL Rookie Draft, fifth round (pick No. 78)

Out

Player New Club League via
Tasmania Simon Wiggins[24] Sunshine[25] WRFL Retired from AFL
Victoria (Australia) Shaun Grigg[20] Richmond AFL AFL Trade Week, in exchange for Andrew Collins
South Australia Sam Jacobs[26] Adelaide AFL AFL Trade Week, in exchange for picks No. 33 and 67Note 3
Western Australia Richard Hadley[24] East Fremantle[27] WAFL Retired from AFL
Victoria (Australia) Brad Fisher[24] West Adelaide[28] SANFL Delisted
Western Australia Chris Johnson[24] Greenvale[29] EDFL Delisted
Northern Territory Joe Anderson[24] Sturt[30] SANFL Delisted
Western Australia Steven Browne[24] West Perth[31] WAFL Delisted
Victoria (Australia) Caleb Tiller[24] Cranbourne[32] MPNFL Delisted
Victoria (Australia) Josh Donaldson[24] West Perth[33] WAFL Delisted from rookie list

List management

Player Change
Western Australia Jeff Garlett[22] Promoted from the rookie list to the senior list during AFL National Draft, fifth round (pick No. 85)
Western Australia David Ellard[22] Promoted from the rookie list to the senior list during AFL National Draft, sixth round (pick No. 99)
Western Australia Simon White[22] Promoted from the rookie list to the senior list during AFL National Draft, seventh round (pick No. 108)
Western Australia Kane Lucas[34] Changed guernsey number from No. 24 to No. 9
Victoria (Australia) Brock McLean[34] Changed guernsey number from No. 7 to No. 14
South Australia Rhys O'Keeffe[23] Delisted, then re-drafted as a rookie during AFL Rookie Draft, second round (pick No. 35)
Victoria (Australia) Ed Curnow[35] Prior to Round 1, Curnow was made a nominated rookie for 2011.
Victoria (Australia) Luke Mitchell[36]
Victoria (Australia) Levi Casboult
Prior to Round 1, Mitchell was moved to the long term injury list (shoulder), and Casboult was elevated from the rookie list in his place.
Victoria (Australia) Levi Casboult[37]
Republic of Ireland Zach Tuohy
Prior to Round 6, Casboult was moved to the long term injury list (knee), and Tuohy was elevated from the rookie list in his place.
Republic of Ireland Zach Tuohy[38]
Victoria (Australia) Luke Mitchell
Prior to Round 9, Mitchell returned to the senior list from the long-term injury list, and Tuohy returned to the rookie list.
Victoria (Australia) Luke Mitchell[38]
Republic of Ireland Zach Tuohy
Prior to Round 11, Mitchell was again moved to the long term injury list (shoulder), and Tuohy was again elevated from the rookie list in his place.
Victoria (Australia) Levi Casboult Prior to Round 13, Casboult returned to the rookie list from the long-term injury list.
Victoria (Australia) Andrew Collins[39]
South Australia Rhys O'Keeffe
Prior to Round 14, Collins was moved to the long term injury list (shoulder), and O'Keeffe was elevated from the rookie list in his place.
Victoria (Australia) Andrew McInnes[40]
Victoria (Australia) Wayde Twomey
Prior to Round 17, McInnes was moved to the long term injury list (shoulder), and Twomey was elevated from the rookie list in his place.
Victoria (Australia) Ryan Houlihan[41] Prior to the Elimination Final, Houlihan announced his retirement, effective immediately for Carlton matches, and effective at the end of the season for Northern Bullants matches.

Season summary

Pre-season matches

NAB Cup

Round Date and local time Opponent Scores (Carlton's scores indicated in bold) Venue Attendance
Home Away Result
Pool matches
1 Saturday, 12 February (7:15 pm) Richmond 0.6.5 (41) 0.3.5 (23) Won by 18 points Report Etihad Stadium [H] 40,300
Saturday, 12 February (9:35 pm) Collingwood 0.3.8 (26) 0.5.3 (33) Lost by 7 points Report
Finished second out of three in the group; eliminated from NAB Cup

NAB Challenge

Week Date and local time Opponent Scores (Carlton's scores indicated in bold) Venue Attendance
Home Away Result
1 Saturday, 26 February (4:00 pm) GWS 4.2 (26) 29.9 (183) Won by 157 points Report Manuka Oval [A] 5,991
2 Friday, 4 March (4:00 pm) Adelaide 15.10 (100) 11.10 (76) Won by 24 points Report Visy Park [H] 3,000 (approx.)
3 Saturday, 12 March (1:00 pm) Geelong 11.15 (81) 14.8 (92) Lost by 11 points Report Visy Park [H] 8,000 (approx.)

Regular season

2011 was Carlton's best regular season performance for more than a decade.[42] The team finished in fifth place with a record of 14–7–1, two wins above St Kilda in sixth, and two-and-a-half wins below West Coast in fourth. Carlton spent the entire season between second and fifth on the ladder. Performances were consistent throughout the year based on finishing position, including:

Through the latter half of the season, Carlton was mostly in a fight with Hawthorn and West Coast to claim third and fourth positions. Although Carlton held fourth place for much of the latter half of the year, West Coast was always in a strong position to overtake Carlton in the final rounds due to having a game in hand and more games against non-finalists. West Coast ultimately moved into the top four in Round 22, after Carlton's loss against Hawthorn.

Round Date and local time Opponent Scores (Carlton's scores indicated in bold) Venue Attendance Ladder
position
Home Away Result
1 Thursday, 24 March (7:40 pm) Richmond 14.20 (104) 13.6 (84) Won by 20 points Report M.C.G. [H] 60,654 3rd
2 Saturday, 2 April (6:50 pm) Gold Coast 7.10 (52) 26.15 (171) Won by 119 points Report The Gabba [A] 27,914 2nd
3 Friday, 8 April (7:40 pm) Collingwood 15.12 (102) 11.8 (74) Lost by 28 points Report M.C.G. [A] 88,181 4th
4 Saturday, 16 April (2:10 pm) Essendon 11.13 (79) 11.13 (79) Match drawn Report M.C.G. [H] 78,065 5th
5 Saturday, 23 April (2:10 pm) Adelaide 11.19 (85) 12.7 (79) Won by 6 points Report Etihad Stadium [H] 37,607 4th
6 Friday, 29 April (7:40 pm) Sydney 10.11 (71) 12.15 (87) Won by 16 points Report S.C.G. [A] 28,081 3rd
7 Monday, 9 May (7:20 pm) St Kilda 12.9 (81) 11.18 (84) Won by 3 points Report Etihad Stadium [A] 41,576 3rd
8 Bye 4th
9 Friday, 20 May (7:40 pm) Geelong 14.16 (100) 15.12 (102) Lost by 2 points Report Etihad Stadium [H] 48,429 5th
10 Friday, 27 May (7:40 pm) Melbourne 6.10 (46) 13.15 (93) Won by 47 points Report M.C.G. [A] 47,464 4th
11 Sunday, 5 June (4:10 pm) Port Adelaide 7.7 (49) 16.15 (111) Won by 62 points Report AAMI Stadium [A] 23,192 4th
12 Sunday, 12 June (1:10 pm) Brisbane Lions 19.10 (124) 9.9 (63) Won by 61 points Report Etihad Stadium [H] 43,617 3rd
13 Sunday, 19 June (2:10 pm) Sydney 15.10 (100) 10.6 (66) Won by 34 points Report Etihad Stadium [H] 42,788 3rd
14 Sunday, 26 June (2:10 pm) West Coast 10.7 (67) 15.13 (103) Lost by 36 points Report Etihad Stadium [H] 38,241 4th
15 Saturday, 2 July (2:10 pm) Richmond 12.9 (81) 28.16 (184) Won by 103 points Report M.C.G. [A] 59,650 3rd
16 Sunday, 10 July (4:40 pm) Western Bulldogs 14.12 (96) 9.15 (69) Lost by 27 points Report Etihad Stadium [A] 38,582 4th
17 Saturday, 16 July (2:10 pm) Collingwood 11.13 (79) 13.20 (98) Lost by 19 points Report M.C.G. [H] 85,936 4th
18 Saturday, 23 July (7:10 pm) Essendon 12.7 (79) 24.9 (153) Won by 74 points Report M.C.G. [A] 74,123 4th
19 Friday, 29 July (7:40 pm) North Melbourne 9.8 (62) 11.14 (80) Won by 18 points Report Etihad Stadium [A] 41,332 4th
20 Saturday, 6 August (2:10 pm) Melbourne 21.8 (134) 7.16 (58) Won by 76 points Report M.C.G. [H] 42,342 4th
21 Saturday, 13 August (1:10 pm) Fremantle 12.13 (85) 16.19 (115) Won by 30 points Report Patersons Stadium [A] 34,737 4th
22 Friday, 19 August (7:40 pm) Hawthorn 8.18 (66) 10.18 (78) Lost by 12 points Report Etihad Stadium [H] 52,052 5th
23 Bye 5th
24[43] Saturday, 3 September (7:10 pm) St Kilda 13.8 (86) 9.12 (66) Lost by 20 points Report MCG [H] 55,606 5th

Finals

In the elimination final against Essendon, Carlton fell fourteen points behind during the first quarter, after kicking five early behinds to Essendon's three goals; the Blues then kicked the next ten goals of the game before half time to set up an unbeatable lead, and finished with a comfortable 62-point win.[44]

In the semi-final against West Coast, Carlton kicked the first four goals of the match, before conceding eight goals to three in the second quarter to trail by 11 points at half-time. The second half was closely fought, with West Coast maintaining a one-to-three goal lead for most of the half. After the Eagles opened the lead to 21 points during time-on in the final quarter, Carlton kicked the last three goals of the game to narrow the margin to less than a goal; but, time expired, and West Coast won by three points.[45]

Week Date and local time Opponent Scores (Carlton's scores indicated in bold) Venue Attendance
Home Away Result
First Elimination Final Sunday, 11 September (2:40 pm) Essendon 21.23 (149) 13.9 (87) Won by 62 points Report MCG [H] 90,161
First Semi-Final Saturday, 17 September (5:50 pm) West Coast 15.11 (101) 15.8 (98) Lost by 3 points Report Patersons Stadium [A] 42,803
  • H ^ Home match.
  • A ^ Away match.

Ladder

2011 AFL Ladder
Team P W L D PF PA % Pts
1 Collingwood 22 20 2 0 2592 1546 167.66 80
2 Geelong (P) 22 19 3 0 2548 1619 157.38 76
3 Hawthorn 22 18 4 0 2355 1634 144.12 72
4 West Coast 22 17 5 0 2235 1715 130.32 68
5 Carlton 22 14 7 1 2225 1700 130.88 58
6 St Kilda 22 12 9 1 1891 1677 112.76 50
7 Sydney 22 12 9 1 1897 1735 109.34 50
8 Essendon 22 11 10 1 2217 2217 100.00 46
9 North Melbourne 22 10 12 0 2106 2082 101.15 40
10 Western Bulldogs 22 9 13 0 2060 2155 95.59 36
11 Fremantle 22 9 13 0 1791 2155 83.11 36
12 Richmond 22 8 13 1 2069 2396 86.35 34
13 Melbourne 22 8 13 1 1974 2315 85.27 34
14 Adelaide 22 7 15 0 1742 2193 79.43 28
15 Brisbane Lions 22 4 18 0 1814 2240 80.98 16
16 Port Adelaide 22 3 19 0 1718 2663 64.51 12
17 Gold Coast 22 3 19 0 1534 2726 56.27 12
Key: P = Played, W = Won, L = Lost, D = Drawn, PF = Points for, PA = Points against

Leading Goalkickers

Andrew Walker was Carlton's leading goalkicker for 2011. It was the first time Walker had won the club goalkicking. He had kicked only 37 goals in his first seven seasons,[46] but after struggling to hold his place in the team in 2010 as a midfielder, he became a permanent forward in 2011, where he kicked 56 goals in 24 games.[47]

In addition to Walker's 56 goals, Eddie Betts kicked 50 goals and Jeff Garlett kicked 48 goals; all three players finished inside the top twenty for the Coleman Medal. Carlton was the only club to have three players kick more than 40 goals in the home and away season.[48]

Player Goals Behinds Coleman[48]
Andrew Walker 56 27 7th
Eddie Betts 50 22 10th
Jeff Garlett 48 32 13th
Marc Murphy 22 13
Bryce Gibbs 21 18
Kade Simpson 17 18
Jarrad Waite 16 19
David Ellard 15 7
Chris Judd 14 16
Bret Thornton 13 8
*The table reflects goals kicked in both home-and-away season and finals. However, the player's position in the Coleman Medal standings is based upon home-and-away season goals only.

Team awards and records

Game records
Season records[42]
Other

Individual awards and records

John Nicholls Medal

The Carlton Football Club Best and Fairest awards night took place on 4 October. The John Nicholls Medal, for the best and fairest player of the club, as well as several other awards, were presented on the night..

John Nicholls Medal

The voting system for the John Nicholls Medal remained the same as in 2010. In each match, the five members of the Match Committee awarded votes. Each committee member could award votes to up to eight players, and each player could receive up to ten votes from each judge. A "perfect score" for a round is 50 votes. The player with the most total votes across all premiership season matches (including home and away matches and finals) wins the award.

The winner of the John Nicholls Medal was Marc Murphy, who polled 678 votes. It was the first John Nicholls Medal of Murphy's career. Murphy won comfortably ahead of Chris Judd (469 votes) and Bryce Gibbs (448 votes). The top ten is given below.[58]

Pos.
Player
Votes
1st Marc Murphy 678
2nd Chris Judd 469
3rd Bryce Gibbs 448
4th Heath Scotland 408
5th Kade Simpson 376
6th Andrew Walker 319
7th Mitch Robinson 301
8th Eddie Betts 285
9th Michael Jamison 257
10th Chris Yarran 237
Other awards

The following other awards were presented on John Nicholls Medal night:-

Brownlow Medal

The lead-up to the 2011 Brownlow Medal focussed heavily on Carlton. Chris Judd entered the night as a strong favourite to win; a series of eye-catching performances meant he became the outright favourite early in the season; after Round 20, major betting agency Sportsbet was offering odds shorter than $2 for Judd to win, and decided to pay out early to all punters who had already backed Judd for the win.[59] Murphy also figured prominently in Brownlow markets during the season, fuelled by his career-best season, and very strong polling in other MVP awards, most notably the AFL Coaches Association Player of the Year Award. Bookmakers were offering odds as short as $5.50 in Round 18, when Murphy was second-favourite behind Judd.[60] By the end of the season, Murphy was fifth-favourite behind Judd, Sydney's Adam Goodes and Collingwood's Scott Pendlebury and Dane Swan.[61]

In the end, neither player won the medal. Judd polled 23 votes to finish equal 5th, and Murphy polled 19 votes to finish equal 7th, out of eligible players. Bryce Gibbs was the only other Carlton player with double figures, polling 12 votes.[62]

AFLPA Awards

For each of the AFLPA awards, one or three Carlton players were nominated following internal vote of Carlton players (except for Best Captain, where captain Chris Judd was nominated by default). A vote of all players in the league, selecting from a ballot of all club nominees, was then used to determine the final placings.[63]

Chris Judd won the Leigh Matthews Trophy for the second time in his career, the first being in 2006 when he was playing for the West Coast Eagles. He became the fifth player to win the award more than once. He polled 1,347 votes, almost three times as many as second-place finisher Scott Pendlebury (Collingwood). He also won the Best Captain Award for the first time in his career.[64]

Leigh Matthews Trophy (Most Valuable Player)
Robert Rose Award (Most Courageous Player)
Best First Year Player
Best Captain

Other awards

All-Australian Team[65][66]

The 40-man squad for the All-Australian Team was announced on 6 September 2011, and the final team of 22 was announced on 19 September 2011, with Judd and Murphy both nominated in the team. It was the sixth All-Australian guernsey for Judd, who was made vice-captain for the second time (having also served once as captain), and it was Murphy's first time as an All-Australian.

Most Valuable Player awards

Judd and Murphy both featured prominently in most valuable player awards, voted on by various broadcasters, commentators and professional associations of the AFL (only appearances in the top five of each award are shown):

Representative honours
Mark of the Year[77]

Andrew Walker's Round 18 mark was one of the three finalists in the Mark of the Year. It had been the favourite to win, with many football observers, including The Age's Rohan Connolly,[78] and both match-day coaches, Brett Ratten and James Hird,[79] stating that it was one of the greatest marks of all-time; however, it was beaten for the season's Mark of the Year award by Andrew Krakouer's Round 9 mark.[80]

Overall, five Carlton marks were nominated throughout the season, and all five won their individual Mark of the Week votes.

Goal of the Year[81]

Eddie Betts' Round 18 goal was nominated amongst the three finalists for Goal of the Year. Overall, three Carlton goals were nominated throughout the season, and all three won their individual Goal of the Week votes.

Rising Star

No Carlton players were nominated for the NAB AFL Rising Star Award during 2011.[82]

Other

The Deadly Award for Outstanding Achievement in AFL was won by Andrew Walker. The Deadly Awards are awarded annually across a variety of fields, not only sport, to Aboriginal Australians and Torres Strait Islanders.[83]

Former premiership player and coach Robert Walls was elevated to Legend status in the Carlton Football Club Hall of Fame.[84]

Andrew Walker, Heath Scotland and Andrew Carrazzo were all awarded life membership of the club at the AGM in December, as recognition for eight years of senior service.[85]

Player records

Milestones

Player Milestone Round
Ed Curnow AFL debut[88] Round 1
Nick Duigan AFL debut[88] Round 1
Heath Scotland 200 AFL Games[89] Round 1
Matthew Watson AFL debut[90] Round 2
Chris Judd 200 AFL Games[91] Round 2
Heath Scotland 150 Carlton Games[92] Round 3
Jordan Russell 100 AFL Games[93] Round 7
Dennis Armfield 50 AFL Games[94] Round 9
Zach Tuohy AFL debut[95] Round 11
Bryce Gibbs 100 AFL games[96] Round 12
Rhys O'Keeffe AFL debut[97] Round 14
Aaron Joseph 50 AFL games[98] Round 17
Wayde Twomey AFL debut[40] Round 17
Kade Simpson 150 AFL games[99] Round 18
Ryan Houlihan 200 AFL games[100] Round 19
Jeff Garlett 50 AFL games[101] Round 21
Robert Warnock 50 AFL Games[102] Round 22

Northern Bullants

The Carlton Football Club had a full affiliation with the Northern Bullants during the 2011 season. It was the ninth season of the clubs' affiliation, which had been in place since 2003. Carlton senior- and rookie-listed players who were not selected to play in the Carlton team were eligible to play for either the Northern Bullants seniors or reserves team, including both Victorian Football League matches and Foxtel Cup matches. As in 2010, home games were shared between the Bullants' traditional home ground, Preston City Oval, and Carlton's traditional home ground, Visy Park.

The Bullants finished 4th out of 13 in the VFL, after being defeated in the preliminary final by Port Melbourne.[103] The Bullants had finished sixth on the ladder after the home-and-away season with a record of 10–8.[104] Additionally, in the inaugural season of the Foxtel Cup, the Bullants reached the second round (quarter finals) before being eliminated by eventual runners-up Claremont.[105] Carlton's Brock McLean, who played nineteen matches for the Bullants through the year, won the Laurie Hill Trophy as the Bullants' best and fairest.[106]

Notes

:1.^ Although Hawthorn had a higher overall membership, that Victorian-based club additionally plays several home games in Tasmania each year.
:2.^ Ratten also served as head coach in the final six rounds of 2007 as caretaker, before being officially appointed as head coach for 2008.
:3.^ Many draft picks involved in trades changed their position slightly on draft day (e.g Carlton acquired pick No. 33 in the trade for Sam Jacobs, then used pick No. 34 to draft Pat McCarthy), because the use of compensatory draft picks in the early rounds of the draft or passing in later rounds of the draft led to the draft picks being re-numbered.

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