[6] Shortly after the season, Ratten was replaced in the role by experienced coach Mick Malthouse, who was signed to a three-year contract.
The 2012/13 offseason was the first in league history to allow players to switch clubs as free agents.
Two players who qualified for unrestricted free agency – Jordan Russell and Bret Thornton – announced their intentions to seek other clubs following the 2012 season.
[8] Russell moved to Collingwood in the club's only transaction during the initial free agency and trade period; Thornton was delisted,[20] and ultimately recruited by Greater Western Sydney in the preseason draft.
[37] Carlton won three of its four preliminary matches; due to its strong percentage, the club finished second on the NAB Cup ladder to qualify for the Grand Final, to play against Brisbane Lions, the only undefeated team in the preliminary rounds.
[44] However, during the season, Essendon was investigated over irregularities in its supplements and sports science program, and three days after the Round 22 match, the AFL excluded Essendon from the 2013 finals series (relegating it to ninth) as part of the penalties handed down over the scandal, promoting Carlton to eighth place.
[45] Carlton then needed to win or draw, or lose and see other results fall favourably, in the final round to hold onto eighth place – and succeeded, overcoming a 39-point third quarter deficit to record a one-point victory against Port Adelaide.
[68][69] Sydney was a comfortable winner in the semi-final, leading by 54 points at three-quarter time before finishing with a 24-point win.
The John Nicholls Medal, for the best and fairest player of the club, as well as several other awards, were presented on the night.
[78] The Carlton Football Club had a full affiliation with the Northern Blues during the 2011 season.
The Northern Blues finished 9th out of 14 in the VFL, missing the final eight by four premiership points and percentage;[85] there had been speculation that the Northern Blues could have been promoted to the eighth if the AFL and AFL Victoria had decided to exclude the eighth-placed Essendon reserves team from the VFL finals as part of the punishments for the club's supplements scandal, but the league did not apply this punishment.