As the first month of fixtures drew to a close last Sunday evening, a belief morphed into empirical truth - 2021 is already rivalling last year in terms of unpredictability.
If you don't believe me, just take a look at the current ladder.
With the second month of the marathon season set to commence tonight, another set of questions remain ahead of both the men in the hot seat and their disciples in studded boots.
Whether flying high or having to continually dig deep for no reward, here are the latest set of quandaries facing each of the AFL's 18 teams.
Carlton
How do they handle the rise in opposition class?
As previously mentioned, the internal and external mission for Carlton in 2021 is a simple one โ make a return to September.
Currently sitting at 2-2, the Blues have proven adept at beating teams they were tipped to (Fremantle and Gold Coast), but have proven unable to topple those that finished above them last season (Richmond and Collingwood).
For a relatively youthful team that is still finding their rhythm, a .500 start to any season is nothing to sniff at, but with contests against Port Adelaide, Brisbane and the Western Bulldogs within the next month, can Carlton rise from also ran to contender?
โWe want to be in these games more often and you need to play wellโฆ these are the games we need to step up in."
— Carlton FC (@CarltonFC) April 15, 2021
Despite a third of the competition holding an identical win/loss record to the Princes Park club, the Blues currently sit inside the eight with a percentage of 103. Of the six sides that currently stand at 2-2, only the Eagles have proven more adept at scoring than they have at conceding.
In Carlton's pair of losses, they have finished behind on the scoreboard by an average of 23-points, and have conceded a mean of 105.5 points whilst scoring just 82.5 in reply.
Sure, these aforementioned losses were to 2020 finalists, but if this four-goal margin isn't eaten into and centuries continue to be posted against them, the Blues' tentative foothold in the eight is likely to erode beneath them swiftly.
Due to the far-seeing nature of the question at hand, and the fact that I don't own a crystal ball to aid with prescience, it cannot be answered without David Teague's men actually playing the games ahead of them. But should a squared ledger or better be in the tea leaves ahead of mid-May, you can be sure that long suffering Carlton fans will no longer be singing the blues.
