Carlton's stunning turnaround in 2022 has been a sight for sore eyes for many Carlton fans, with Michael Voss thriving in his new role at Princes Park.
After a disappointing stint at Brisbane, Voss has surrounded himself with a brilliant team of lieutenants, led by senior assistant Ashley Hansen. The changes in Carlton's game plan in just one pre-season has seen the perennially dour Blues primed for its first finals campaign since 2013 and its first top-eight finish since 2011.
After the external review that saw sweeping change at Princes Park, the Blues have been turning the tide of what had become a culture built off little to no success at all. Eight years without finals and having not gone past a semi-final since the first year of the millennium, Carlton have had to overcome some hoodoos of sorts.
Such is the trend when a team isn't very good for a sustained period of time, their records against opposition clubs can make for uncomfortable reading. Since Carlton's last finals appearance, they only have a winning record against two teams.
The Blues have six wins, one draw and five losses against the Bombers since the start of the 2014 season. However, they are 89 points behind on accumulative score in those matches. Carlton also have the wood over the Gold Coast, boasting a 7-6 record and are +21 in those 13 matches.
Those losses spanning over the last eight and a half years have seen some trends be born, grow and develop into full-blown hoodoos.
It's not uncommon for a team to have a 'bunny' or opposition or stadium that can get the better of them for a sustained period of time. No matter the level of team. We need only to look at Geelong's dominance of Hawthorn after the 2008 Grand Final.
But Carlton stepped into 2022 with much more than just one of these hurdles to jump. Not to mention the obstacles they had to overcome inside the four walls after a disappointing 2021.
Much was made of the Blues' Round 1 win over Richmond with the usual season opener always bringing with it the debate of whether Carlton should even be in the game given their poor record in it over recent years.
They hadn't beaten Richmond since the 2013 Elimination Final, and hadn't won their opening contest of the season since 2012. They managed to overcome that challenge in emphatic style with a 25-point win in front of a manic Carlton crowd.
Their record against the Giants is dire considering GWS were only two years old in 2014. They had played at Giants Stadium five times before their win on the road this year. Losing all five of those games is one thing but the margins of those losses haven't been kind either with an average losing margin of 44 points. With 81, 62 and 93-point losses in half of those contests.
Since Carlton last finished at the bottom of the ladder in 2018, they have not been able to defeat the team who would ultimately hold up the rest of the competition in each of the following three seasons before this year.
In 2019 they were defeated by the Suns, before a loss to Adelaide the season after up in the hub. They then suffered a loss that all-but ended David Teague's tenure as coach last year to North Melbourne.
Come time for a gut-check of sorts again, Blues fans held real fears of an all too familiar tale coming to fruition yet again when they battled the Kangaroos this year. Carlton came out 50-point winners this time around.
They beat 17th-placed West Coast by 63 points in Perth recently which was their first win over the Eagles since 2014. It was also Carlton's first win over ten goals since they beat St Kilda by 85-points in that same season.
After the win at Optus Stadium Voss said that he was aware of history being against his team.
"I was reading some statistics about the last time we beat West Coast, and the last time we beat West Coast over in Perth," Voss said.
"There are some stats there that haven't been kind to us, but we have to accept that at the same time.
"That's been part of the story, part of the narrative, and it's up to us to change it. We get the chance to do that, and we are pretty determined to go about it that way."
With a finals berth seemingly on the horizon for the 'Baggers, there are still some hoodoos they will need to face before they secure their September date.
Carlton take on the Crows this weekend at Adelaide Oval. A ground they have never won at. Not only have they failed to win at the famous ground, they haven't been overly competitive there on their visits.
In five games there (one against the Crows and four against Port Adelaide), Carlton have lost all five by an average of just under 12 goals (71.8 points to be exact).
Voss said that despite the poor record of the Blues in the City of Churches, there wasn't any mention of it in the lead-up to the game.
"I haven't (made mention of the record)," Voss said.
"What we have focussed a lot on is what we want to create. We've been really invested in having that conversation around the identity we are after.
"Part of that identity is being the same no matter where you play. That's really important to us. I think we've taken that mentality to Melbourne with us to games we have played here but I also think we have taken that on the road with us as well.
"That's probably more the bigger agenda for us than the venue we are playing at."
Lockdown defender Lachie Plowman said these challenges throughout the season were something the group was aware of.
Plowman toldย Zero Hanger that the group was embracing these games when they arrived, saying that while the Adelaide Oval hasn't held many good memories for the club thy felt they can turn the tide.
Carlton haven't beaten Melbourne since 2015 and they haven't beaten Brisbane at the Gabba in six attempts with an average losing margin of just over five goals. Their last win over the Lions on enemy territory came back in 2013.
They did beat North Melbourne at the Gabba in 2020, but that is hardly relative to the test they face against the Lions in Round 22.
Coached by a man who is no stranger to winning at Brisbane's home ground, Carlton will go into the last month of the season willing and able to take on the challenges that lie ahead. Challenges that previously may have overawed a lesser Carlton.
For as much as 2022 has been about winning games and pushing for a finals position and at times pressing the top four, Voss' first season in charge has been about eroding some of the ghosts of Princes Park - of which there are plenty.
A seeming changing of the narrative of a club that has seen five wooden spoons., six number one draft picks and an array of first-round draft picks come through the door since their last premiership.
