CARLTON'S backline has been stretched to the limit in 2018.

Arguably the strongest area of Brendon Bolton's system across the first two years of his tenure, the Blues' back six has been left tattered and torn throughout this season.

With injury taking a brutal toll on Carlton's campaign, the Blues have already used 16 players in 16 games down back this year.

But when you consider that Liam Jones has played every game this season – and that Kade Simpson and Dale Thomas have played all but one – in reality Carlton has virtually used 13 players to fill three spots in what has resembled a revolving door.

The injury toll began when 2016 best-and-fairest winner and reigning All Australian half-back Sam Docherty was ruled out for the year after suffering an ACL injury during pre-season training last November.

Since then, Carlton's medical team has been forced to work overtime, with the Club's disappointing spell of form compounded by a series of consistent injury problems.

In Docherty's absence, it had been tipped that young duo Caleb Marchbank and Lachie Plowman would be handed more responsibility in Carlton's backline. The former Giants, at 21 and 23 years of age respectively, had both impressed in key roles last season.

But Marchbank has featured just six times this year due to an ankle problem, failing to see out two of those games, while Plowman will miss the rest of the year with a knee injury.

The promising Ciaran Byrne had also been earmarked by the Blues as someone who could fill Docherty's void, and the 23-year-old was expected to feature far more prominently this year.

However, the Irishman has played just twice due to a quad problem.

The experienced Sam Rowe missed the start of the year as he recovered from an ACL injury, while Jacob Weitering's development was stunted earlier in the season by a quad setback.

It's meant Bolton has been forced to rejig on the run.

Aaron Mullett and Cam O'Shea were brought in as new recruits, with the Club hopeful they could provide depth in this area. Instead, they've been relied upon regularly.

Matt Shaw, another picked up off the AFL scrapheap, made his club debut on Friday night.

Carlton has also been forced to trial captain Marc Murphy, who himself has played just seven games for the year due to injury, in a new role across half-back.

Thomas, moved into a new role across half-back midway through last year, has been turned into a permanent fixture in that spot.

Jed Lamb, Jack Silvagni, David Cuningham and even Sam Petrevski-Seton have also been turned into makeshift defenders at times this season in an effort to plug gaps.

Lamb and Silvagni, in particular, have recently played a more noticeable role down back.

Making matters worse, the 16 players who have rotated through Carlton's backline this season don't include the four regulars from last year who haven't made a single appearance in 2018 due to injury.

They include Docherty, who, along with Patrick Cripps and Charlie Curnow, is among Carlton's most promising young talents. His absence has been particularly telling.

Experienced defender Alex Silvagni was elevated into the Club's leadership group in pre-season, having made a significant impact towards the back end of last year. However, like Docherty, he won't feature at any stage in 2018 due to an Achilles injury.

Tom Williamson had a standout maiden campaign across half-back last year, featuring 15 times, but won't play this year because of a back injury. Harrison Macreadie had also shown promise in his handful of senior games last season, but has been injured in 2018.

Most recently, Macreadie has dealt with a hamstring complaint.

Bolton stressed last Thursday that he didn't want to use Carlton's injury crisis as an excuse for the team's poor season. But speaking after the side's loss to St Kilda on Friday night, he highlighted the distinct lack of continuity as one of the reasons for his side's decline.

"There's been a lot of changes each week in our team line-up," Bolton said.

"Across the competition, it holds true. Teams with continuity build really good synergy. But every group over time will build the resilience to deal with that because they build more depth and they build more capacity. We're on our way to doing that."

Whether the Club will learn from the experience of this testing year remains to be seen. But for now, the end of the season couldn't come quick enough for Bolton's battered Blues. 

The 16 Blues used down back in 2018…

Jack Silvagni
Marc Murphy
Sam Petrevski-Seton
Jed Lamb
Kade Simpson
Liam Jones
Sam Rowe
Aaron Mullett
Lachie Plowman
Caleb Marchbank
Jacob Weitering
Cam O'Shea
David Cuningham
Ciaran Byrne
Dale Thomas
Matt Shaw 

…and the ones who haven’t played

Sam Docherty
Alex Silvagni
Tom Williamson
Harrison Macreadie