There’s been a lot of patience shown by those close to Carlton as they wait for the much-talked about rebuild to start paying dividends, but goodwill is starting to wear thin.
Carlton great Mark Maclure has come out and said he is glad the players were booed by Blues fans as they left the ground at half-time of the round 13 thrashing by Fremantle.
The home team was goalless through the first two quarters against another poorly performing team from the other side of the country.
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“I was glad they booed them off at half-time,” Maclure told Fox Footy’s AFL 360 on Wednesday night.
“Actually happy to see it - they need to wear the criticism, they need to understand what it means to people.
“They pay their dollars to go and watch their side, and I tell you that’s a powerful message from the crowd.”
“If you watch Kade Simpson play, nobody runs harder than him in the Blues side.
“He’s 33. That annoys me. You’ve got kids there real quick, who are strong and who are smart and they don’t run as hard as Kade Simpson.
“Why?
“There’s a chance for you to secure a contract with a football club and play games of football that hundreds of thousands of kids would want to be at, and you put up that.
“You don’t chase, you don’t tackle. You don’t work hard.”
Earlier in the week former Brisbane Lion Jonathan Brown highlighted some of the Blues players’ poor efforts against the Dockers on Fox’s On the Couch.
“If you were sitting up in the coaches’ box and you were Brendon Bolton watching some of their efforts, they were so uncompetitive in this first half against Fremantle - and it was experienced players,” Brown said before turning attention to a passage of play that highlighted a lack of chase from Sam Kerridge.
“If he gets a game next week, I don’t know what vision Brendon Bolton’s watching.”
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Paul Roos agreed.
“I sat there thinking Carlton mightn’t be too far from 10th, 11th, 12th,” Roos said.
“Maybe even, clutching at straws, eighth, but gee they’re a long, long way from what Richmond are capable of doing.
“That’s really the concern at the moment.”