2016 Carlton Football Club season

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Player	Previous club	League	via
Matt Korcheck[17]	University of Arizona	Pac-12 Basketball	Signed as a Category B International rookie late in the 2015 season.
Sam Kerridge[18]	Adelaide	AFL	AFL Trade Period, with Geelong's second-round draft pick (provisionally No. 28, obtained in the trade for Patrick Dangerfield), in exchange for Troy Menzel.
Jed Lamb[18]	GWS	AFL	AFL Trade Period, with a first-round draft pick (provisionally No. 8), in exchange for Carlton's fifth- and sixth-round draft picks (provisionally No. 77 and 95), Geelong's second-round draft pick (provisionally No. 28, obtained from Adelaide in the trade for Troy Menzel) and Geelong's first-round draft pick in the 2016 National Draft (obtained in exchange for Lachie Henderson).
Andrew Phillips[18]	GWS	AFL
Lachie Plowman[18]	GWS	AFL
Liam Sumner[18]	GWS	AFL
Daniel Gorringe[19]	Gold Coast	AFL	Signed as a delisted free agent prior to the National Draft.
Jacob Weitering[20]	Dandenong	TAC Cup	AFL National Draft, first round (No. 1 overall)
Harry McKay[21]	Gippsland	TAC Cup	AFL National Draft, first round (No. 10 overall)
Charlie Curnow[22]	Geelong	TAC Cup	AFL National Draft, first round (No. 12 overall)
David Cuningham[23]	Oakleigh	TAC Cup	AFL National Draft, first round (No. 23 overall)
Jack Silvagni[23]	Oakleigh	TAC Cup	AFL National Draft, third round (No. 53 overall) under the father–son rule, after demoting a fourth round selection (from No. 55 to No. 58) to match the bid made by Essendon
Matthew Wright[24]	Adelaide	AFL	Signed as a delisted free agent after the National Draft.
Jesse Glass-McCasker[25]	Swan Districts	WAFL	AFL Rookie Draft, first round (No. 1 overall)
Andrew Gallucci[26]	Williamstown	VFL	AFL Rookie Draft, second round (No. 19 overall)

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Player	New Club	League	via
Chris Judd[27]			Removed from the list following his retirement in June 2015
Andrew Carrazzo[28]	Field umpiring[29]	VAFA	Retired from playing
David Ellard[30]	Greensborough[31]	Northern FL	Retired
Matthew Watson[32]	East Fremantle[33]	WAFL	Delisted prior to the trade period
Cameron Giles[32]	Woodville-West Torrens[34]	SANFL	Delisted prior to the trade period
Blaine Johnson[32]	South Fremantle[35]	WAFL	Delisted from the rookie list prior to the trade period
Fraser Russell	Northern Blues[36]	VFL	Delisted from the rookie list (category B) prior to the trade period
Lachlan Henderson[37]	Geelong	AFL	AFL Trade Period, in exchange for a first-round draft pick in the 2016 National Draft.
Tom Bell[38]	Brisbane Lions	AFL	AFL Trade Period, with a third-round draft pick (provisionally No. 41), in exchange for a second-round draft pick (provisionally No. 21) and a fourth-round draft pick (provisionally No. 60).
Troy Menzel[18]	Adelaide	AFL	AFL Trade Period, in exchange for Sam Kerridge and Geelong's second-round draft pick (provisionally No. 28, obtained in a trade for Patrick Dangerfield).
Chris Yarran[39]	Richmond	AFL	AFL Trade Period, in exchange for Gold Coast's end-of-first-round compensation draft pick (provisionally No. 19, obtained in a three-way trade involving Port Adelaide).
Robert Warnock[40]			Delisted prior to the national draft
Nick Holman[40]	Central District[41]	SANFL	Delisted prior to the national draft
Brad Walsh[40]	Peel[42]	WAFL	Delisted from the rookie list prior to the national draft
Tom Fields[40]	South Adelaide[43]	SANFL	Delisted from the rookie list prior to the national draft

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More information Player, Change ...

Player	Change
National draft	Carlton applied for a priority draft pick in the national draft,[44] but the request was rejected by the AFL.[45]
National draft	Carlton traded its second-round draft pick (provisionally No. 20), Brisbane's second-round draft pick (provisionally No. 21, obtained in the trade for Tom Bell) and its fourth-round draft pick in the 2016 National Draft in exchange for Western Bulldogs' first-round draft pick (provisionally No. 11) and its third-round draft pick in the 2016 National Draft.
Nick Holman	Received permission to train with Carlton from the beginning of pre-season training in November 2015,[19] but he was not redrafted.
Andrew Walker	Retired from playing following the Round 20 match against St Kilda.[46]
Michael Jamison	Retired from playing following the Round 20 match against St Kilda.[47]

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Pre-season matches

The club's three scheduled pre-season matches were played as part of the 2016 NAB Challenge series.

Home and away season

Following its 2015 wooden spoon and the loss of some senior players to trades and free agency over the offseason, expectations on the club's 2016 performance were low – with some pundits even predicting that Carlton would perform worse than an Essendon team missing twelve of its best twenty-two players due to suspensions for using illicit substances during the 2012 season.^[51][52] Nevertheless, the club improved significantly on its 2015 performances to finish with seven wins, three more than the previous season.

The highlight of the club's season was the seven-round stretch between Rounds 5 and 11, in which it won six of seven games, including an upset win against eventual third-placed team Geelong,^[53] which had the team sitting in a season-high tenth place with a 6–5 record. However, the club had the worst record in the league in the second half of the year, winning only one of eleven games; and although it impressed with narrow losses against eventual finalists West Coast, Sydney and Hawthorn, it also unexpectedly lost matches against the bottom two Brisbane Lions and Essendon. Overall across the season, the club was:

• 1–4 against the top four
• 0–4 against teams ranked fifth to eighth
• 3–4 against teams from ninth to thirteenth
• 3–3 against the bottom four

Altogether, the club's ability to defend and prevent its opponents from scoring improved greatly, conceding 376 points fewer than it had in 2015; but its lack of options in the forward-line was a continuing problem, and the club was the second-lowest scoring team in the league below only the suspension-affected Essendon.^[54]

John Nicholls Medal

The Carlton Football Club Best and Fairest awards night took place on 9 September. The John Nicholls Medal, for the best and fairest player of the club, as well as several other awards, were presented on the night.^[77]

John Nicholls Medal

The winner of the John Nicholls Medal was Sam Docherty, who polled 179 votes to beat vice-captain Kade Simpson (169 votes) and 2015 winner Patrick Cripps (168 votes). It was Docherty's first John Nicholls Medal.

Other awards

The following other awards were presented on John Nicholls Medal night:-^[77]

• Best First-Year Player – Jacob Weitering
• Best Clubman – Ed Curnow
• Spirit of Carlton Award – Kade Simpson
• Bill Lanyon Inner Blue Ruthless Award – Kade Simpson
• Carltonians Achievement Award – Kade Simpson
• Blues Coterie Most Improved Player – Sam Docherty
• Hyundai MVP Award (the most valuable player as voted by fans in an online poll) – Patrick Cripps

Milestones and game records

• Round 8 – Kade Simpson played his 250th senior game for the club, the first player to reach the milestone since Anthony Koutoufides in 2006.^[78]
• Round 11 – Tom Rockliff (Brisbane Lions) recorded 48 disposals, setting a new record for the most disposals ever recorded by a single player in a match against Carlton. (Statistics recorded since 1965).^[79]
• Round 15 – Jack Silvagni, son of Stephen and grandson of Sergio, made his debut for Carlton. The Silvagnis became the first paternal grandfather–father–son trio to represent Carlton; and, with their collective 552nd game, usurped the record of Hawthorn's Kennedy family (John Sr, John Jr and Josh) for most games by a paternal grandfather–father–son trio at a single VFL/AFL club.^[80]

Season records

• Patrick Cripps led the AFL in clearances for the home-and-away season with a total of 185 – the second-highest on record for a home-and-away season behind only Brett Ratten's 1999 season.^[81] For the full season including finals, Cripps was second behind Josh Kennedy (Sydney), who had 191 clearances.^[82]
• Sam Rowe led the AFL in one-percenters for the home-and-away season with a total of 215.^[82]

Leading Goalkickers

Matthew Wright was Carlton's leading goalkicker for the season in his first season for the club after crossing from Adelaide. His tally of 22 goals was the fewest to lead Carlton's goalkicking since Ian Nankervis' leading tally of 18 goals in 1964.^[83]

Other awards

NAB AFL Rising Star

Jacob Weitering finished third for the 2016 NAB AFL Rising Star, polling 26 votes to finish behind Callum Mills (Sydney) and Caleb Daniel (Western Bulldogs).^[84] Weitering was nominated for the award after his Round 3 performance against Gold Coast.^[85] He was the only Carlton player nominated for the season.

Honorific teams

• All-Australian Team – Kade Simpson and Sam Docherty were both named in the 40-man squad for the All-Australian Team,^[86] but neither was selected in the final team.
• 22under22 Team – Jacob Weitering (full back), Sam Docherty (back pocket) and Patrick Cripps (follower) were all named in the 22under22 Team, an All-Australian team with selection limited to players under the age of 22.^[87]

AFLPA Awards

For each of the AFLPA awards, one or three Carlton players were nominated by an internal vote of Carlton players; Marc Murphy was also nominated for the Best Captain award by default.^[88] Weitering placed third for the best first-year player award.^[87]

Leigh Matthews Trophy (Most Valuable Player)

• Sam Docherty (nominated)
• Bryce Gibbs (nominated)
• Kade Simpson (nominated)

Robert Rose Award (Most Courageous Player)

• Kade Simpson (nominated)

Best First Year Player

• Jacob Weitering (third place, 108 votes)

Carlton Football Club Hall of Fame

At the 2016 Carlton Football Club Hall of Fame dinner on 29 April, four players were inducted into the Hall of Fame and one was elevated to Legend Status:^[89]

• Sergio Silvagni, who played 239 games for and won two premierships and two best-and-fairests with Carlton between 1958 and 1971, became the thirteenth player elevated to Legend Status;
• Scott Camporeale, who played 233 games for and won one premiership and one best-and-fairest for the club between 1995 and 2005, was inducted;
• Mil Hanna, who played 190 games for and won one premiership with the club between 1986 and 1997, was inducted;
• Ian Robertson, who played 125 games for and won three premierships with the club between 1966 and 1974, was inducted;
• Jack Wrout, who played 130 games for the club between 1936 and 1944 and later served as chairman of selectors, was inducted.

Other

• Senior coach Brendon Bolton was inducted into the Tasmanian Football Hall of Fame for his playing and coaching career at North Launceston, North Hobart, Clarence and the VFL Tasmanian Devils.^[90]