At the mid-season break, after 13 rounds, the Blues are sitting at 7 wins and 6 losses, in 7th position on the AFL ladder.

Prior to the season the Club (President, CEO, Coach and players) said our objective for 2010 was to continue to improve and ensure that finals become part of our culture. That means once again playing finals football (as Carlton did last year) and of course improving on last year’s 7th finish.

After a big win in round one against Richmond the Blues had a tough couple of weeks but there was no change to the objective. Indeed just think back to post round three and the criticism that was being aimed at Carlton and in particular the coach and players. However amid this criticism there was no change from the Club on the on-field objectives for 2010.

After a tough loss to Brisbane at the Gabba in round two the Blues lost to Essendon, after going into the game as hot favourites, in round three. If that wasn’t tough enough to take, a look at the draw ahead had many critics, and some Carlton supporters, suggesting the finals objective was unrealistic. An away game to Adelaide, followed by Geelong, Collingwood, St Kilda, Port Adelaide (away) and then Hawthorn had some suggesting a start of 2 and 7 may be on the cards.

No doubt many of these critics were also the ones who said Carlton will not be able to score in 2010 with the departure of the team’s leading goalkicker!

It is history now that of those six matches the Blues won four and set up a possible top four spot at the mid-season break. It wasn’t to be. Two losses leading into the break pushed Carlton back to seventh on the ladder.

Perhaps it was the excitement of some of these wins that has led to greater disappointment at the losses, particularly the last two games. Maybe we all got a little carried away with the emotion of the big victories and didn’t really look at what was happening. Did we forget about the injuries? Did we just expect other players to step straight in, or the injured players to resume ‘normal duties’ immediately they returned? Did we even take such things into account?

Let’s look at the facts; the Blues are ahead of the ledger and indeed of last year’s results after round 13. In 2009 Carlton had won 6 and lost 7 matches after round 13. Instead of just looking at the last two games, the mid-season break is a time to look at the season to date. Sure consistency is an issue but after great victories against Geelong and St Kilda and two interstate victories, there is certainly plenty to be pleased and confident about.

The optimist will look at the return of players from injury (Robinson, Yarran, Houlihan, Bower, Walker, Lucas), players who had an interrupted start to the season having played a number of games (Grigg, Hampson and Austin) and of course the imminent return of Murphy, White and Johnson.

Injuries are a part of the game and the knee injuries to Kreuzer and McLean certainly put a dent in the optimism, along with the suspension of Waite. We can be thankful we have Hampson and Warnock ready to step into the big shoes that belong to Matthew Kreuzer.

We are thirteen games into our season and have won more games that we have lost. I for one am looking with optimism at the remaining nine games and of course another finals campaign.

Starting with a win against Brisbane in round 14 and this time our finals campaign will start with a win and from there who knows how far the Blues can go. Just ask last year’s Grand Final teams if, when things go right, the Blues can play!