# 2017 Carlton Football Club season

The 2017 Carlton Football Club season was the Carlton Football Club's 154th season of competition.
It was the club's men's team's 121st season as a member of the Australian Football League. The team finished sixteenth out of eighteen teams in the 2017 AFL season with a win–loss record of 6–16.
The season saw the inauguration of the club's women's team, which contested its first season as a member of the AFL Women's competition. The team finished fourth out of eight teams in the 2017 AFL Women's season with a 3–3–1 record from seven games.

## Club summary

The 2017 AFL season was the 121st season of the VFL/AFL competition since its inception in 1897; and, having competed in every season, it was also the 121st season contested by the Carlton Football Club. Carlton continued its alignment with the Northern Blues in the Victorian Football League, allowing Carlton-listed players to play with the Northern Blues when not selected in AFL matches. Carlton's primary home ground continued to be the Melbourne Cricket Ground, with the club playing six home matches there and five at Etihad Stadium; traditional home ground Ikon Park continued to serve as the training and administrative base.
The club also fielded its women's team in the inaugural season of the AFL Women's competition, running in February and March. Carlton was one of four Victorian clubs granted a license in June 2016 for the eight-team competition. Ikon Park served as the home ground for women's matches.
The club's membership was 50,326, a 0.3% increase on the 2016 season. Car manufacturer Hyundai continued as one of the club's two major sponsorship partners in 2017, having been a major sponsor continuously since 2008. The club's second major sponsorship partner at the beginning of the season was job seekers' services provider CareerOne, which was in the final year of a three-year deal; however, the company withdrew from the sponsorship during May after cash flow difficulties related to a federal government audit of one of its clients. In late May, the club signed airline Virgin Australia, which was already in a secondary level sponsorship deal with the club, as the replacement for CareerOne, with the Virgin logo replacing the CareerOne logo on the team's guernseys from Round 10 onwards. The club posted a $700,000 profit for the year, its first profit since the 2013 season.

## Senior personnel

Mark LoGiudice continued as club president, a role he had held since June 2014. Marc Murphy continued in the role of captain for the fifth season; Kade Simpson remained vice-captain. There was one change to the club's seven-man leadership group, with Dennis Armfield elevated to the group to fill the position left by the retirement of Andrew Walker, and Ed Curnow, Bryce Gibbs, Patrick Cripps and Sam Docherty holding their places. Former Western Bulldogs women's exhibition series senior coach Damien Keeping joined the club as the coach of the women's team.

## Squad for 2017

The following is Carlton's squad for the 2017 season.
Statistics are correct as of end of 2017 season. Flags represent the state of origin, i.e. the state in which the player played his Under-18s football.
Senior List :
| No. | State | Player | Age | AFL Debut | Recruited from | Career (to end 2016) | Career (to end 2016) | 2017 Player Statistics | 2017 Player Statistics | 2017 Player Statistics | 2017 Player Statistics | 2017 Player Statistics | 2017 Player Statistics | 2017 Player Statistics | 2017 Player Statistics | 2017 Player Statistics |
| No. | State | Player | Age | AFL Debut | Recruited from | Gms | Gls | Gms | Gls | B | D | K | HB | M | T | HO |
| 1 | | Jack Silvagni | 19 | 2016 | Oakleigh (U18) | 8 | 7 | 20 | 19 | 17 | 201 | 144 | 57 | 90 | 51 | 0 |
| 3 | | Marc Murphy (c) | 29 | 2006 | Oakleigh (U18) | 214 | 157 | 22 | 11 | 9 | 656 | 390 | 266 | 127 | 86 | 0 |
| 4 | | Bryce Gibbs (lg) | 27 | 2007 | Glenelg | 209 | 120 | 22 | 17 | 13 | 590 | 362 | 228 | 114 | 129 | 0 |
| 5 | | Sam Petrevski-Seton | 18 | 2017 | Claremont | – | – | 20 | 10 | 7 | 28 | 168 | 112 | 65 | 95 | 0 |
| 6 | | Kade Simpson (vc) | 32 | 2003 | Eastern (U18) | 264 | 127 | 22 | 4 | 3 | 529 | 377 | 152 | 162 | 59 | 0 |
| 7 | | Dylan Buckley | 23 | 2013 | Northern (U18) | 38 | 16 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 8 | | Matthew Kreuzer | 27 | 2008 | Northern (U18) | 140 | 72 | 21 | 12 | 12 | 321 | 206 | 115 | 69 | 107 | 665 |
| 9 | | Patrick Cripps (lg) | 21 | 2014 | East Fremantle | 44 | 16 | 15 | 7 | 4 | 374 | 168 | 206 | 65 | 90 | 0 |
| 10 | | Harry McKay | 19 | 2017 | Gippsland (U18) | – | – | 2 | 3 | 2 | 15 | 11 | 4 | 7 | 1 | 0 |
| 11 | | Sam Kerridge | 23 | 2012 | Bendigo (U18), Adelaide | 48 | 29 | 11 | 2 | 2 | 238 | 120 | 118 | 55 | 48 | 0 |
| 12 | | Blaine Boekhorst | 23 | 2015 | Swan Districts | 18 | 8 | 7 | 7 | 1 | 116 | 77 | 39 | 31 | 21 | 0 |
| 13 | | Jed Lamb | 24 | 2013 | Gippsland (U18), Sydney, GWS | 37 | 30 | 11 | 6 | 10 | 141 | 110 | 31 | 51 | 28 | 0 |
| 14 | | Liam Jones | 25 | 2010 | North Hobart, Western Bulldogs | 83 | 84 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 135 | 95 | 40 | 56 | 34 | 0 |
| 15 | | Sam Docherty (lg) | 23 | 2013 | Gippsland (U18), Brisbane Lions | 70 | 11 | 22 | 3 | 3 | 613 | 460 | 153 | 199 | 7 | 0 |
| 16 | | Billie Smedts | 24 | 2012 | Geelong (U18), Geelong | 38 | 19 | 9 | 1 | 3 | 91 | 44 | 47 | 20 | 32 | 0 |
| 17 | | Sam Rowe | 29 | 2013 | Murray (U18), Sydney, Norwood | 73 | 15 | 9 | 1 | 0 | 80 | 44 | 36 | 24 | 13 | 0 |
| 18 | | Kristian Jaksch | 22 | 2013 | Oakleigh (U18), GWS | 14 | 3 | 0 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 19 | | Liam Sumner | 23 | 2012 | Sandringham (U18), GWS | 28 | 17 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 27 | 17 | 10 | 7 | 6 | 0 |
| 20 | | Lachie Plowman | 22 | 2013 | Calder (U18), GWS | 39 | 1 | 21 | 0 | 1 | 301 | 178 | 123 | 111 | 42 | 0 |
| 22 | | Caleb Marchbank | 20 | 2015 | Murray (U18), GWS | 7 | 0 | 16 | 0 | 1 | 248 | 184 | 64 | 102 | 40 | 0 |
| 23 | | Jacob Weitering | 19 | 2016 | Dandenong (U18) | 20 | 2 | 22 | 7 | 3 | 301 | 198 | 103 | 122 | 28 | 0 |
| 24 | | Rhys Palmer | 27 | 2008 | East Fremantle, Fremantle, GWS | 122 | 95 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 6 | 6 | 4 | 2 | 0 |
| 25 | | Zac Fisher | 18 | 2017 | Perth | – | – | 17 | 4 | 4 | 197 | 93 | 104 | 22 | 50 | 0 |
| 26 | | Harrison Macreadie | 18 | 2017 | Henty | – | – | 8 | 0 | 0 | 61 | 35 | 26 | 17 | 19 | 0 |
| 27 | | Dennis Armfield (lg) | 30 | 2008 | Swan Districts | 140 | 73 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 55 | 37 | 18 | 25 | 11 | 0 |
| 28 | | David Cuningham | 19 | 2016 | Oakleigh (U18) | 3 | – | 8 | 6 | 1 | 103 | 63 | 40 | 27 | 34 | 0 |
| 29 | | Cameron Polson | 18 | 2017 | Sandringham (U18) | – | – | 1 | 0 | 1 | 11 | 3 | 8 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 30 | | Charlie Curnow | 19 | 2016 | Geelong (U18) | 6 | 5 | 21 | 20 | 12 | 297 | 207 | 90 | 119 | 61 | 6 |
| 31 | | Tom Williamson | 18 | 2017 | North Ballarat (U18) | – | – | 15 | 1 | 3 | 182 | 116 | 66 | 51 | 35 | 0 |
| 32 | | Nicholas Graham | 22 | 2013 | Gippsland (U18) | 28 | 7 | 10 | 3 | 4 | 182 | 116 | 66 | 51 | 47 | 0 |
| 33 | | Jarrod Pickett | 20 | 2017 | South Fremantle, GWS | – | – | 10 | 6 | 5 | 91 | 56 | 35 | 20 | 21 | 0 |
| 34 | | Andrew Phillips | 25 | 2012 | Lauderdale, GWS | 30 | 11 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 29 |
| 35 | | Ed Curnow (lg) | 27 | 2011 | Geelong (U18), Adelaide, Box Hill | 109 | 16 | 13 | 6 | 3 | 282 | 156 | 126 | 51 | 66 | 0 |
| 36 | | Pat Kerr | 18 | – | Oakleigh (U18) | – | – | 0 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 37 | | Daniel Gorringe | 24 | 2011 | Norwood, Gold Coast | 26 | 11 | 0 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 38 | | Ciarán Byrne | 22 | 2015 | Louth GAA | 12 | – | 3 | 0 | 0 | 39 | 21 | 18 | 13 | 2 | 0 |
| 39 | | Dale Thomas | 29 | 2006 | Gippsland (U18), Collingwood | 200 | 141 | 18 | 8 | 7 | 315 | 196 | 119 | 103 | 31 | 0 |
| 41 | | Levi Casboult | 26 | 2012 | Dandenong (U18) | 72 | 71 | 22 | 34 | 18 | 220 | 144 | 76 | 120 | 39 | 157 |
| 43 | | Simon White | 28 | 2010 | Subiaco | 76 | 12 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 142 | 97 | 45 | 56 | 21 | 0 |
| 46 | | Matthew Wright | 27 | 2011 | North Adelaide, Adelaide | 116 | 85 | 22 | 30 | 12 | 357 | 236 | 121 | 96 | 64 | 0 |
| Rookie List |||||||||||||||||
| No. | State | Player | Age | AFL Debut | Recruited from | Career (to end 2016) | Career (to end 2016) | 2017 Player Statistics | 2017 Player Statistics | 2017 Player Statistics | 2017 Player Statistics | 2017 Player Statistics | 2017 Player Statistics | 2017 Player Statistics | 2017 Player Statistics | 2017 Player Statistics |
| No. | State | Player | Age | AFL Debut | Recruited from | Gms | Gls | Gms | Gls | B | D | K | HB | M | T | HO |
| 21 | | Ciarán Sheehan | 26 | 2014 | Cork GAA | 4 | – | 2 | 0 | 0 | 19 | 11 | 8 | 5 | 2 | 0 |
| 40 | | Jesse Glass-McCasker | 19 | – | Swan Districts | – | – | 0 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 42 | | Kym LeBois | 18 | – | North Adelaide | – | – | 0 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 44 | | Alex Silvagni | 29 | 2010 | Casey, Fremantle | 53 | 10 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 73 | 45 | 28 | 31 | 33 | 0 |
| 45 | | Andrew Gallucci | 22 | – | Calder (U18), Williamstown | – | – | 0 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 48 | | Matt Korcheck | 25 | – | Arizona | – | – | 0 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| Senior coaching panel |||||||||||||||||
| | State | Coach | Coaching position | Coaching position | Coaching position | Coaching position | Carlton Coaching debut | Carlton Coaching debut | Former clubs as coach | Former clubs as coach | Former clubs as coach | Former clubs as coach | Former clubs as coach | Former clubs as coach | Former clubs as coach | Former clubs as coach |
| | | Brendon Bolton | Senior Coach | Senior Coach | Senior Coach | Senior Coach | 2016 | 2016 | North Hobart (s), Tasmania (VFL) (s), Clarence (s), Box Hill (s), Hawthorn (a) | North Hobart (s), Tasmania (VFL) (s), Clarence (s), Box Hill (s), Hawthorn (a) | North Hobart (s), Tasmania (VFL) (s), Clarence (s), Box Hill (s), Hawthorn (a) | North Hobart (s), Tasmania (VFL) (s), Clarence (s), Box Hill (s), Hawthorn (a) | North Hobart (s), Tasmania (VFL) (s), Clarence (s), Box Hill (s), Hawthorn (a) | North Hobart (s), Tasmania (VFL) (s), Clarence (s), Box Hill (s), Hawthorn (a) | North Hobart (s), Tasmania (VFL) (s), Clarence (s), Box Hill (s), Hawthorn (a) | North Hobart (s), Tasmania (VFL) (s), Clarence (s), Box Hill (s), Hawthorn (a) |
| | | John Barker | Assistant coach (Stoppages) | Assistant coach (Stoppages) | Assistant coach (Stoppages) | Assistant coach (Stoppages) | 2011 | 2011 | St Kilda (a), Hawthorn (a) | St Kilda (a), Hawthorn (a) | St Kilda (a), Hawthorn (a) | St Kilda (a), Hawthorn (a) | St Kilda (a), Hawthorn (a) | St Kilda (a), Hawthorn (a) | St Kilda (a), Hawthorn (a) | St Kilda (a), Hawthorn (a) |
| | | Neil Craig | Director of Coaching, Development and Performance | Director of Coaching, Development and Performance | Director of Coaching, Development and Performance | Director of Coaching, Development and Performance | 2016 | 2016 | Norwood (s), Adelaide (s), Melbourne (cs), Essendon (m) | Norwood (s), Adelaide (s), Melbourne (cs), Essendon (m) | Norwood (s), Adelaide (s), Melbourne (cs), Essendon (m) | Norwood (s), Adelaide (s), Melbourne (cs), Essendon (m) | Norwood (s), Adelaide (s), Melbourne (cs), Essendon (m) | Norwood (s), Adelaide (s), Melbourne (cs), Essendon (m) | Norwood (s), Adelaide (s), Melbourne (cs), Essendon (m) | Norwood (s), Adelaide (s), Melbourne (cs), Essendon (m) |
| | | Tim Clarke | Assistant coach (Midfield) | Assistant coach (Midfield) | Assistant coach (Midfield) | Assistant coach (Midfield) | 2016 | 2016 | Richmond (a), Coburg (s), Richmond reserves (s) | Richmond (a), Coburg (s), Richmond reserves (s) | Richmond (a), Coburg (s), Richmond reserves (s) | Richmond (a), Coburg (s), Richmond reserves (s) | Richmond (a), Coburg (s), Richmond reserves (s) | Richmond (a), Coburg (s), Richmond reserves (s) | Richmond (a), Coburg (s), Richmond reserves (s) | Richmond (a), Coburg (s), Richmond reserves (s) |
| | | Shane Watson | Assistant coach (Forward-line) | Assistant coach (Forward-line) | Assistant coach (Forward-line) | Assistant coach (Forward-line) | 2016 | 2016 | Lower Plenty (s), Sandringham (U18) (a), Eastern (U18) (s), North Melbourne (a) | Lower Plenty (s), Sandringham (U18) (a), Eastern (U18) (s), North Melbourne (a) | Lower Plenty (s), Sandringham (U18) (a), Eastern (U18) (s), North Melbourne (a) | Lower Plenty (s), Sandringham (U18) (a), Eastern (U18) (s), North Melbourne (a) | Lower Plenty (s), Sandringham (U18) (a), Eastern (U18) (s), North Melbourne (a) | Lower Plenty (s), Sandringham (U18) (a), Eastern (U18) (s), North Melbourne (a) | Lower Plenty (s), Sandringham (U18) (a), Eastern (U18) (s), North Melbourne (a) | Lower Plenty (s), Sandringham (U18) (a), Eastern (U18) (s), North Melbourne (a) |
| | | Dale Amos | Assistant coach (Back-line) | Assistant coach (Back-line) | Assistant coach (Back-line) | Assistant coach (Back-line) | 2016 | 2016 | South Barwon (s), Geelong (a), Geelong reserves (s) | South Barwon (s), Geelong (a), Geelong reserves (s) | South Barwon (s), Geelong (a), Geelong reserves (s) | South Barwon (s), Geelong (a), Geelong reserves (s) | South Barwon (s), Geelong (a), Geelong reserves (s) | South Barwon (s), Geelong (a), Geelong reserves (s) | South Barwon (s), Geelong (a), Geelong reserves (s) | South Barwon (s), Geelong (a), Geelong reserves (s) |
| | | Matthew Capuano | Development coach | Development coach | Development coach | Development coach | 2009 | 2009 | | | | | | | | |
| | | Josh Fraser | Development coach, Northern Blues senior coach | Development coach, Northern Blues senior coach | Development coach, Northern Blues senior coach | Development coach, Northern Blues senior coach | 2016 | 2016 | Gold Coast reserves (s) | Gold Coast reserves (s) | Gold Coast reserves (s) | Gold Coast reserves (s) | Gold Coast reserves (s) | Gold Coast reserves (s) | Gold Coast reserves (s) | Gold Coast reserves (s) |
* For players: (c) denotes captain, (vc) denotes vice-captain, (dvc) denotes deputy vice-captain, (lg) denotes leadership group.
* For coaches: (s) denotes senior coach, (cs) denotes caretaker senior coach, (a) denotes assistant coach, (d) denotes development coach, (m) denotes managerial or administrative role in a football or coaching department

## Playing list changes

The following summarises all player changes which have occurred since the conclusion of the 2016 season. Unless otherwise noted, draft picks refer to selections in the 2016 AFL draft.
Two high-profile players requested trades away from Carlton in the lead-up to the trade period: Zach Tuohy and Bryce Gibbs. Gibbs was two years into a five-year contract, but sought a return to Adelaide for family reasons, nominating the Adelaide Crows as his preferred destination. Tuohy, out of contract but not a free agent, nominated Geelong as his preferred destination. Carlton was also linked to young out-of-contract Greater Western Sydney defender Caleb Marchbank, who was seeking to return to his home state Victoria and nominated Carlton as his preferred destination. In the end, deals were secured for Tuohy and Marchbank, but Carlton and Adelaide could not come to an agreement on a trade for Gibbs and he remained on the Carlton list.

### In

| Player | Former Club | League | via |
| Billie Smedts | Geelong | AFL | AFL Trade Period, along with a fourth-round draft pick (provisionally No. 63) and Geelong's first-round draft pick in the 2017 National Draft, in exchange for Zach Tuohy and Carlton's second-round draft pick in the 2017 National Draft. |
| Caleb Marchbank | Greater Western Sydney | AFL | AFL Trade Period, along with GWS' second-round draft pick in the 2017 National Draft, in exchange for third- and fourth-round draft picks (provisionally No. 45 and 58) and Geelong's first-round draft pick in the 2017 National Draft. |
| Jarrod Pickett | Greater Western Sydney | AFL | AFL Trade Period, along with GWS' second-round draft pick in the 2017 National Draft, in exchange for third- and fourth-round draft picks (provisionally No. 45 and 58) and Geelong's first-round draft pick in the 2017 National Draft. |
| Rhys Palmer | Greater Western Sydney | AFL | AFL Trade Period, in exchange for an eighth-round draft pick (provisionally No. 135). |
| Sam Petrevski-Seton | Claremont | WAFL | AFL National Draft, first round (No. 6 overall). |
| Zac Fisher | Perth | WAFL | AFL National Draft, second round (No. 27 overall). |
| Harrison Macreadie | Henty | Hume FL | AFL National Draft, third round (No. 47 overall). Eligible as a Greater Western Sydney academy selection but Carlton's bid was not matched by GWS. |
| Cameron Polson | Sandringham Dragons | TAC Cup | AFL National Draft, fourth round (No. 59 overall). |
| Tom Williamson | North Ballarat Rebels | TAC Cup | AFL National Draft, fourth round (No. 61 overall). |
| Pat Kerr | Oakleigh Chargers | TAC Cup | AFL National Draft, fourth round (No. 65 overall). |
| Kym LeBois | North Adelaide | SANFL | AFL Rookie Draft, first round (No. 5 overall). |
| Alex Silvagni | Fremantle | AFL | AFL Rookie Draft, second round (No. 23 overall). |

### Out

| Player | New Club | League | via |
| Andrew Walker | West Preston Lakeside | Northern FL | Retired |
| Michael Jamison | | | Retired |
| Cameron Wood | Avondale Heights | Essendon District FL | Retired from the rookie list |
| Matthew Dick | Macedon | Riddell District FL | Delisted prior to the trade period |
| Jayden Foster | Footscray reserves | VFL | Delisted prior to the trade period |
| Clem Smith | Perth | WAFL | Delisted prior to the trade period |
| Zach Tuohy | Geelong | AFL | AFL Trade Period, along with the club's second-round draft pick in the 2017 National Draft, in exchange for Billie Smedts, a fourth-round draft pick (provisionally No. 63) and Geelong's first-round draft pick in the 2017 National Draft. |
| Andrejs Everitt | Somerville | MPNFL | Delisted following the trade period |
| Jason Tutt | De La Salle | VAFA | Delisted following the trade period |
| Dillon Viojo-Rainbow | Port Melbourne | VFL | Delisted following the trade period |
| Mark Whiley | Yarrawonga | O&MFL | Delisted following the trade period |
| Billy Gowers | Footscray reserves | VFL | Delisted from the rookie list following the trade period |

### List management

| Player | Change |
| National draft | Carlton traded Greater Western Sydney's second-round pick in the 2017 National Draft (which was obtained in the trade for Caleb Marchbank and Jarrod Pickett) to Hawthorn in exchange for a third-round draft pick and two fourth-round draft picks (provisionally No. 48, 66 and 70). |
| Ciarán Byrne | Elevated from the rookie list to the senior list. |
| Andrew Gallucci | Initially delisted from the rookie list following the trade period, but received permission to continue training with the club after being delisted, and was redrafted in the third round of the rookie draft (No. 39 overall). |
| Ciarán Sheehan | Initially delisted from the rookie list following the trade period, but received permission to continue training with the club after being delisted, and was then re-added to the rookie list as an out-of-draft selection. |
| Billy Gowers | Received permission to continue training with the club after being delisted, but was not re-drafted. |
| Will Setterfield | Greater Western Sydney Academy Player. Carlton bid on Setterfield in the AFL National Draft in the first round (pick No. 5 overall); GWS then matched Carlton's bid and recruited Setterfield with its next two selections (No. 15 and 37). |
| Guernsey number changes | Jack Silvagni (No. 2 to No. 1) Jesse Glass-McCasker (No. 47 to No. 40) |

## Season summary
### Practice matches

The club played three practice matches as part of the JLT Community Series.
| Date and local time | Opponent | Scores (Carlton's scores indicated in bold) | Scores (Carlton's scores indicated in bold) | Scores (Carlton's scores indicated in bold) | Venue | Attendance |
| Date and local time | Opponent | Home | Away | Result | Venue | Attendance |
| Saturday, 25 February (2:05 pm) | Melbourne | 0.17.14 (116) | 0.9.8 (62) | Lost by 54 points | Casey Fields (A) | 7,256 |
| Saturday, 4 March (2:05 pm) | St Kilda | 0.4.6 (30) | 0.18.14 (122) | Lost by 92 points | Ikon Park (H) | 15,485 |
| Friday, 10 March (5:40 pm) | Fremantle | 2.12.14 (104) | 0.12.11 (83) | Lost by 21 points | Domain Stadium (A) | 6,639 |

### Home and away season

The club entered the season continuing to rebuild its playing list under a youth policy, and thus despite having won seven games in 2016, the club was expected to fare poorly, with about half of all pundits across the major newspapers and media outlets predicting the club would finish last. The club eventually finished with a 6–16 record, one fewer win than in 2016, to finish sixteenth, one win and percentage ahead of wooden spooners Brisbane Lions.
As in 2016, the club was stronger in the first half of the year than the second, sitting with win–loss records of 3–4 after Round 7 and 4–7 after Round 13, before winning only one of its final ten games. The club's win–loss formline when compared to its opponents' finishing position was unusually erratic, with the club finishing:
* 2–6 against the top six. This included upset wins against Greater Western Sydney and Sydney and a 12-point loss to minor premiers Adelaide, as well as its four heaviest losses
* 3–6 against teams ranked seventh to thirteenth, with no losing margin heavier than four goals against those teams
* 1–4 against the other four teams in the bottom five, with three of the four losses heavier than four goals and the only win coming against Gold Coast
Carlton was usually able to keep close in its games, and led at least ten minutes into the final quarter in eight of its sixteen losses.
As in 2016, the team's strength was built on its defence, with the club continuing to build its backline with the recruitment of Caleb Marchbank from Greater Western Sydney, the conversion of Liam Jones from a fringe key forward to a dominant key defender, and the continued growth of rebounder Sam Docherty, who was selected in the All-Australian team. Its biggest weakness was its inability to score, and the club was the lowest-scoring in the league (having been second-lowest in 2016 behind suspension-affected Essendon) and failed to score 100 points in any game for the first time since 1917.
| Rd | Date and local time | Opponent | Scores (Carlton's scores indicated in bold) | Scores (Carlton's scores indicated in bold) | Scores (Carlton's scores indicated in bold) | Venue | Attendance | Ladder position |
| Rd | Date and local time | Opponent | Home | Away | Result | Venue | Attendance | Ladder position |
| 1 | Thursday, 23 March (7:25 pm) | Richmond | 14.5 (89) | 20.12 (132) | Lost by 43 points | Melbourne Cricket Ground (H) | 73,137 | 16th |
| 2 | Sunday, 2 April (3:20 pm) | Melbourne | 13.8 (86) | 9.10 (64) | Lost by 22 points | Melbourne Cricket Ground (A) | 46,727 | 16th |
| 3 | Sunday, 9 April (3:20 pm) | Essendon | 7.15 (57) | 6.6 (42) | Won by 15 points | Melbourne Cricket Ground (H) | 48,022 | 14th |
| 4 | Saturday, 15 April (7:25 pm) | Gold Coast | 12.10 (82) | 17.6 (108) | Lost by 26 points | Etihad Stadium (H) | 24,968 | 14th |
| 5 | Friday, 21 April (7:20 pm) | Port Adelaide | 20.17 (137) | 6.11 (47) | Lost by 90 points | Adelaide Oval (A) | 43,120 | 16th |
| 6 | Saturday, 29 April (2:10 pm) | Sydney | 15.7 (97) | 11.12 (78) | Won by 19 points | Melbourne Cricket Ground (H) | 32,678 | 14th |
| 7 | Saturday, 6 May (2:10 pm) | Collingwood | 8.8 (56) | 12.7 (79) | Won by 23 points | Melbourne Cricket Ground (A) | 70,279 | 13th |
| 8 | Saturday, 13 May (2:10 pm) | St Kilda | 12.13 (85) | 10.6 (66) | Lost by 19 points | Etihad Stadium (A) | 38,014 | 13th |
| 9 | Sunday, 21 May (2:40 pm) | Fremantle | 13.8 (86) | 7.9 (51) | Lost by 35 points | Domain Stadium (A) | 30,313 | 16th |
| 10 | Sunday, 28 May (3:20 pm) | North Melbourne | 15.6 (96) | 17.11 (113) | Lost by 17 points | Etihad Stadium (H) | 32,802 | 17th |
| 11 | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | 17th |
| 12 | Sunday, 11 June (3:20 pm) | GWS | 10.11 (71) | 9.16 (70) | Won by 1 point | Etihad Stadium (H) | 23,194 | 16th |
| 13 | Saturday, 17 June (7:25 pm) | Gold Coast | 11.7 (73) | 12.11 (83) | Won by 10 points | Metricon Stadium (A) | 11,936 | 15th |
| 14 | Sunday, 25 June (3:20 pm) | Richmond | 11.18 (84) | 8.10 (58) | Lost by 26 points | Melbourne Cricket Ground (A) | 64,448 | 15th |
| 15 | Saturday, 1 June (2:10 pm) | Adelaide | 12.5 (77) | 13.11 (89) | Lost by 12 points | Melbourne Cricket Ground (H) | 33,433 | 16th |
| 16 | Sunday, 9 July (3:20 pm) | Melbourne | 12.10 (82) | 14.6 (90) | Lost by 8 points | Melbourne Cricket Ground (H) | 47,266 | 16th |
| 17 | Sunday, 16 July (3:20 pm) | Western Bulldogs | 9.8 (62) | 12.10 (82) | Lost by 20 points | Melbourne Cricket Ground (H) | 35,157 | 16th |
| 18 | Sunday, 23 July (4:40 pm) | Brisbane Lions | 17.10 (112) | 11.16 (82) | Lost by 30 points | The Gabba (A) | 18,847 | 16th |
| 19 | Saturday, 29 July (7:25 pm) | Geelong | 8.10 (58) | 18.15 (123) | Lost by 65 points | Etihad Stadium (H) | 35,460 | 17th |
| 20 | Saturday, 5 August (2:10 pm) | Essendon | 11.18 (84) | 11.10 (76) | Lost by 8 points | Melbourne Cricket Ground (A) | 58,562 | 17th |
| 21 | Saturday, 12 August (5:40 pm) | West Coast | 15.10 (100) | 12.11 (83) | Lost by 17 points | Domain Stadium (A) | 30,491 | 17th |
| 22 | Saturday, 19 August (7:25 pm) | Hawthorn | 12.5 (77) | 10.10 (70) | Won by 7 points | Etihad Stadium (H) | 35,799 | 15th |
| 23 | Saturday, 26 August (4:35 pm) | Sydney | 21.12 (138) | 8.9 (57) | Lost by 81 points | Sydney Cricket Ground (A) | 38,965 | 16th |

## Team awards and records
### Game records and awards

* Round 3 – Carlton laid a total of 111 tackles against Essendon, the most tackles ever laid by the club in a single game; the record was aided by the wet weather, with such conditions always conducive to high tackling games.
* Round 3 – with scoring affected by heavy rain which fell throughout the game, Carlton's score of 7.15 (57) was its lowest winning score since Round 12, 1989, and Essendon's score of 6.6 (42) was the lowest score Carlton had conceded since Round 22, 2001.
* Round 3 – the club won the Madden Cup as winners of its rivalry game against Essendon.
* Round 7 – the club won the Peter Mac Cup as winners of its rivalry game against Collingwood.
* Round 22 – the club defeated Hawthorn for the first time since Round 6, 2005, ending a fourteen-game losing streak. It was the club's equal-longest VFL/AFL losing streak against a single opponent, matching the fourteen game losing streak against Essendon in 1897–1902.
* The club failed to record a score of 100 or higher in any match in 2017, the first such season since the 1917 season.

### Other notes

* Round 3 – the club used a once-off alternative guernsey known as the "Blueout Guernsey" against Essendon. Intended as a tribute to the suburb of Carlton, the guernsey design matched the home guernsey, except that the monogram and numbers were navy blue with a white outline, and the guernsey was finished with a subtle pattern representing bluestone.
* Round 7 – the away match against Collingwood was staged to celebrate the 125th anniversary of Collingwood's inaugural senior premiership game, played against Carlton in the 1892 VFA season.

## Individual awards and records
### John Nicholls Medal

The Carlton Football Club Best and Fairest awards night took place on 22 September. The John Nicholls Medal, for the best and fairest player of the club, as well as several other awards, were presented on the night.

#### John Nicholls Medal

The winner of the John Nicholls Medal was Marc Murphy, who polled 174 votes to beat 2016 winner Sam Docherty (169 votes) and Matthew Kreuzer (164 votes). It was Murphy's second John Nicholls Medal, having first won the medal six years earlier in 2011. Matthew Kreuzer's third placing was the best performance of this career, and he also swept the coterie group awards. Also notable was the ninth-placing of Liam Jones, who in his first season as a defender polled 84 votes from only twelve games – a votes-per-game average which would have been high enough for fourth place had been played the entire season – and the seventh- and tenth-placings of Lachie Plowman and Charlie Curnow, who reached the count's top ten for the first times in their careers.
| Pos. | Player | Votes |
| 1st | Marc Murphy | 174 |
| 2nd | Sam Docherty | 169 |
| 3rd | Matthew Kreuzer | 164 |
| 4th | Bryce Gibbs | 130 |
| 5th | Kade Simpson | 103 |
| 6th | Matthew Wright | 103 |
| 7th | Lachie Plowman | 95 |
| 8th | Patrick Cripps | 92 |
| 9th | Liam Jones | 84 |
| 10th | Charlie Curnow | 81 |

#### Other awards

The following other awards were presented on John Nicholls Medal night:-
* Best First-Year Player – Sam Petrevski-Seton
* Best Clubman – Dennis Armfield
* Spirit of Carlton Award – Matthew Kreuzer
* Bill Lanyon Inner Blue Ruthless Award – Matthew Kreuzer
* Carltonians William A. Cook Award – Matthew Kreuzer
* Hyundai MVP Award (the most valuable player as voted by fans in an online poll) – Sam Docherty and Marc Murphy

### Records

* Round 13 – in the match against Gold Coast, Bryce Gibbs accumulated 43 disposals, the most by a Carlton player since Gibbs' 45 disposals against West Coast in Round 10, 2010; including 31 kicks, the most by a Carlton player since Scott Camporeale's 31 kicks against Port Adelaide in Round 6, 2000.
* Season – Sam Docherty led all players in the AFL in both kicks (460) and marks (199) across the home-and-away season.

### Leading goalkickers

Levi Casboult was Carlton's leading goalkicker for the season with 34 goals. It was Casboult's only time finishing as the club's leading goalkicker, after having been the second highest goalkicker in 2015 and 2016. 2016 leading goalkicker Matthew Wright was second.
| Player | Goals | Behinds |
| Levi Casboult | 34 | 18 |
| Matthew Wright | 30 | 12 |
| Charlie Curnow | 20 | 12 |
| Jack Silvagni | 19 | 17 |
| Bryce Gibbs | 17 | 13 |

### Other awards
#### NAB AFL Rising Star

Five Carlton players were nominated for the 2017 AFL Rising Star award. This was the most ever nominated in a single season in the club, exceeding the three players nominated in 2003. Two of those players polled votes in the final count: Charlie Curnow, who was fourth with 27 votes, and Sam Petrevski-Seton, who was sixth with 3 votes. The nominees were:
* Round 6 – Caleb Marchbank (nominated)
* Round 7 – Sam Petrevski-Seton – 3 votes (sixth place)
* Round 12 – David Cuningham (nominated)
* Round 13 – Jack Silvagni (nominated)
* Round 16 – Charlie Curnow – 27 votes (fourth place)

#### Representative honours

The following Carlton players were selected for representative teams during the 2017 season.
* In the 2017 International Rules Series, for Australia: Kade Simpson

#### Honorific teams

* All-Australian team – Sam Docherty was named on the half-back flank in the All-Australian team. It was Docherty's first All-Australian team selection, having also been nominated in the 40-man squad in 2016, and he was the first Carlton player since 2011 to be selected in the final 22. Matthew Kreuzer was also nominated in the 40-man squad.
* 22under22 team – Charlie Curnow was named at centre half-forward in the 2017 22under22 team. Patrick Cripps was also nominated in the 40-man squad but was not voted into the final team.

#### AFLPA Awards

For each of the AFLPA awards, one or three Carlton players were nominated by an internal vote of Carlton players; Marc Murphy was also nominated for the Best Captain award by default. Sam Petrevski-Seton placed third for the best first-year player award.

#### Leigh Matthews Trophy (Most Valuable Player)

* Sam Docherty (nominated)
* Marc Murphy (nominated)
* Kade Simpson (nominated)

#### Robert Rose Award (Most Courageous Player)

* Matthew Kreuzer (nominated)

#### Best First Year Player

* Sam Petrevski-Seton (third place, 48 votes)

#### Other awards

* Round 22 – Sam Docherty won the Parkin Medal as best on ground in the match against Hawthorn.

## Women's team
### Squad

Under the competition's player recruitment regulations, each of the eight clubs was entitled to sign two marquee players. In July 2016, Carlton recruited St Kilda Sharks key position/midfielder and former Australian international soccer goalkeeper Brianna Davey and Darebin Falcons full forward Darcy Vescio as its marquee players. Darebin midfielder Lauren Arnell also signed with the club as a priority signing due to her pre-existing relationship with the club as its Female Football Ambassador. The club drew most of its remaining recruits from the inaugural AFL Women's draft, with Cranbourne forward Bianca Jakobsson taken with Carlton's first round selection at No. 3 overall. Arnell was made the inaugural captain of the team, with Davey and Madeline Keryk serving as vice-captains.
The following is the final senior squad as announced at the start of the season. Numbers in parentheses represent games played and goals kicked for Carlton in the season. Only supplementary players who played a senior match during the season are listed.

### Season

The club played each of the other seven clubs once in the home-and-away series of the inaugural AFL Women's fixture over February and March. The main highlight of the fixture was the Round 1 match against Collingwood, which saw the two traditional men's rivals play the first match in the new competition's history. The match, for which admission was free, drew a lockout crowd of 24,568 at Ikon Park, after having originally been scheduled for Collingwood's 5,000-capacity Olympic Park training oval then being transferred due to the expected crowd. The team's Round 4, 5 and 6 matches against Melbourne, Fremantle and the Western Bulldogs served as curtain-raisers to the senior team's pre-season practice matches against the same clubs.
The club finished fourth out of eight on the ladder, with a final record of 3–3–1.
| Rd | Date and local time | Opponent | Scores (Carlton's scores indicated in bold) | Scores (Carlton's scores indicated in bold) | Scores (Carlton's scores indicated in bold) | Venue | Attendance | Ladder position |
| Rd | Date and local time | Opponent | Home | Away | Result | Venue | Attendance | Ladder position |
| 1 | Friday, 3 February (7:40 pm) | Collingwood | 7.4 (46) | 1.5 (11) | Won by 35 points | Ikon Park (H) | 24,568 | 1st |
| 2 | Saturday, 11 February (3:35 pm) | GWS | 7.5 (47) | 5.4 (34) | Won by 13 points | Ikon Park (H) | 8,000 | 2nd |
| 3 | Sunday, 19 February (11:35 am) | Adelaide | 2.5 (17) | 2.2 (14) | Lost by 3 points | Thebarton Oval (A) | 9,006 | 3rd |
| 4 | Saturday, 25 February (11:35 am) | Melbourne | 6.6 (42) | 5.6 (36) | Lost by 6 points | Casey Fields (A) | 3,965 | 4th |
| 5 | Saturday, 4 March (11:35 am) | Western Bulldogs | 8.6 (54) | 7.6 (48) | Won by 6 points | Ikon Park (H) | 6,833 | 3rd |
| 6 | Friday, 10 March (3:05 pm) | Fremantle | 6.7 (43) | 4.3 (27) | Lost by 16 points | Domain Stadium (A) | 1,200 | 4th |
| 7 | Sunday, 19 March (3:35 pm) | Brisbane Lions | 6.1 (37) | 5.7 (37) | Match drawn | Ikon Park (H) | 5,801 | 4th |
The following individual awards were won by Carlton players:
* Brianna Davey won the club's inaugural AFLW best and fairest award with 53 votes. Davey finished ahead of Danielle Hardiman (31 votes) and Alison Downie (28 votes).
* Darcy Vescio was the league's leading goalkicker, kicking 14 goals to finish three goals ahead of Sarah Perkins (Adelaide)
* Brianna Davey and Darcy Vescio were the only two Carlton players named in the All-Australian Team.
* Darcy Vescio won the league's Mark of the Year award.

## Northern Blues

The Carlton Football Club had a full affiliation with the Northern Blues during the 2017 season. It was the fifteenth season of the clubs' affiliation, which had been in place since 2003. Carlton senior- and rookie-listed players who were not selected to play in the Carlton team were eligible to play for either the Northern Blues seniors or reserves team in the Victorian Football League. The club's nine home matches were split with six matches at the VFL club's traditional home ground Preston City Oval, and three matches at Carlton's traditional home ground Ikon Park. The Northern Blues finished 9th out of 15 in the VFL with a record of 8–10 to miss the finals on percentage by 8.1%pts.