As a passionate Carlton member, like me, you would be bitterly disappointed with the result of the game against Brisbane on Saturday night, and the uncomfortable position our football club now finds itself in.

There is no question that it has been a tough season, and earlier this year, we communicated with you about the Club’s position and where it wants to be.

There are no excuses – the reality is our playing list lacks sufficient depth. That was abundantly clear on the weekend when, due to an extensive injury toll, we fielded a team in which half of the players had less than 50 games experience.

Getting games into our young players is important and a positive step in our long-term development, but it has also left us in a vulnerable position in the short-term. While the remaining three games of this season will be challenging, our team will continue to learn and grow.

What I promise is that we will be bold and we will continue to make the tough decisions necessary to ensure that we have the right players and people in place to ensure sustainable success.

We have undertaken a comprehensive process to appoint a new coach and we remain on track to make an appointment by the end of the month. It has been a thorough and exhaustive process and ultimately, our new coach will be the very best person to develop and lead our team.

But returning Carlton to the upper echelon of the competition is going to take more than a new coach and list changes. Ultimately football clubs are about people, and right now, we need every Carlton person to remain with us and continue on this journey forward.

Together we can, and will, rebuild Carlton.

This Sunday we play Melbourne at the MCG. It is our last home game for the season, and it will be a chance to farewell one of our game’s greatest players, Chris Judd. I urge you to join us in giving Chris a sendoff fit for a champion, and to get behind our team as they take on the Demons.

In closing, I was deeply saddened to hear of the tragic passing of Cooper Ratten, the 16 year old son of our former champion player and coach Brett.

I would like to extend the Club’s deepest condolences to the Ratten family, their friends and the Yarra Glen football community, where Cooper played. Our thoughts are with them at this extremely difficult time.