Written by Megan Taylor, sports reporter covering international sports since 2020

Carlton wildcard finals talk has been put on hold by the club’s leadership group, with senior players choosing to focus on weekly performance rather than publicly targeting a late-season push.

Patrick Cripps, Jacob Weitering, Sam Walsh, Adam Cerra and Ollie Florent were among those involved in a Tuesday meeting at Carlton headquarters, where players were asked what they wanted from the back half of the Australian Football League season.

The move comes during another major Australian Football League discussion after Western Bulldogs Push for India AFL Match as League Eyes Global Growth, with clubs making key calls on and off the field. Fans can follow official updates through the Australian Football League website.

Carlton Choose Weekly Focus

Tom Morris said on Channel 7’s The Agenda Setters that Carlton’s players know the newly created Wildcard Round is available, but do not want it driving their messaging.

“The message from the players back to the officials at the club is we know the Wildcard is there but we don’t want to talk about it,” Morris said on The Agenda Setters.

“This is about winning week by week and doing the best we can on a weekly basis.”

Morris also said Carlton were not planning to play younger players ahead of senior options for draft reasons, despite their mixed form earlier in the year.

“They understand — and this was said in the meeting today as well — that they were pretty poor against Essendon. They got the job done but they were pretty poor and they don’t want to get ahead of themselves at all,” Morris said.

Hodge and Thomas Question Mindset

Dale Thomas questioned whether Carlton should be more open about chasing the Wildcard Round.

“Is it not slightly strange that they wouldn’t openly say we want to go after the Wildcard?” Thomas said.

Luke Hodge was stronger in his view, saying the stance raised questions about the leadership group.

“So that’s saying that the players are scared to actually aim for something.” he said on Channel 7’s The Agenda Setters.

Josh Fraser remains interim coach, and Morris said his position on the permanent role may be softening after four straight wins.