There is a heightened sense of urgency in the air at Princes Park after a disastrous 2025 campaign on the field has worsened off it, with a number of key players exiting the club, or hoping to secure a trade elsewhere in the upcoming trade period.
Incoming General Manager of Football Chris Davies is keenly aware of this impatience for the Blues to rebound, but is looking toward 2026 with optimism as Carlton looks to regain a fully healthy list for Round 1 next year.
However, he did flag the need for some upheaval at the club, noting the trade period as an "important" element for Carlton's 2026 preparations.
"I think injuries play a significant part in performance in many respects. Injuries to your better players has become a key driver in teams' performances," Davies told Carlton Media.
"You don't have to look too deeply into the players that we had out this year to think about where our performances could have been better and can be better into the future.
"I think the list is better than where it performed in 2025... Everything that I do will be about how we can do things from a day-to-day perspective to get to where we ultimately want to go. The trade period will be important to that as well."
Davies, who officially begins his tenure with Carlton in November, has left Port Adelaide after a period of sustainable success as the Power's football boss, where the club featured in five Finals campaigns and two preliminary finals over 11 seasons.
He's hoping that level of success can be seen in his latest venture at Carlton, whose record of nine wins and 14 losses in 2025 was their poorest showing since the 2021 season.
"High standards is the first [thing to expect next season]. We have to make sure that we're lifting standards across the board," Davies said.
"Our people want us to be better than what we are; we should be expecting ourselves to be better than what we have been. Importantly for next year, it's going to be about reestablishing some sustainability in our performances, and that's something that's really important to me.
"I haven't come over here just for 2026; this is about putting a program in place that is going to lead to sustainable performance over time. You need a bit of luck when the time comes, and you're playing in big games, but equally, we've got to make sure that we're putting together a program that is going to be working at a high level in order for the team to perform better than what it did this year.
"What I do know is that you can't fast forward to the end of the year in November. You've got to be ready to go, the players have got to have good off-seasons, look after themselves where they need to... but come back ready to go so that we're not wasting any time.
"Premierships can't be won in November, but they can certainly be lost, and I think that's one of the things that is going to be really important. We've got to be well planned, players have got to come back in good nick, coaches have got to be ready for when the players come back so that we don't waste any time, because time is of the essence."
