The Carlton trap door: Behind the Blues’ brutal list cull

September 15, 2026 — 3:05pm

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Carlton will not offer Adam Saad a contract for 2027, which means that the Blues have culled 11 players from their 2026 playing list of 45.

Saad and the once-prized free agent Zac Williams are the headline casualties in a quietly brutal post-season at Royal Parade, where the Camporeale brothers Ben and Lucas were cut after just two seasons, Elijah Hollands did not return after his round six mental health episode and ex-Geelong small forward Lachie Fogarty, too, was discarded.

Lewis Young, who played 14 games this season mainly as a tall defender, was another of the departed, alongside backman Jordan Boyd, forward Flynn Young, Irishman Matt Duffy and rookie Harry Charleson, who did not play at senior level.

To put Carlton’s list surgery in perspective, the removal of 11 players is significantly greater than Collingwood’s eight, counting Scott Pendlebury’s move to Gold Coast and Steele Sidebottom’s retirement; it is the kind of turnover one would normally see at bottom four teams, or those in the throes of savage rebuilds.

West Coast have made just four changes to their senior list thus far, with the possibility of a few........

© The Sydney Morning Herald