BRAD Lloyd is looking forward to maintaining the stability of the Carlton Football Club now that all the pieces have fallen into place.
Having a strong list, coaching group and wider staff, Lloyd believes the program will benefit most from maintaining the positives that the group already has.
Here's what he had to say on the current state of the Club and a few returning players.
On the preparation for West Coast:
"We’re certainly aware that the Eagles are building and a very different setup to what was happening earlier in the year.
"They’re becoming quite formidable and obviously Nic Naitanui is a powerful player. With some others into the side, it’s going to be a big challenge, particularly in WA.
"It’s been a bit of a longer week, so we’ve been able to work our way through it and everyone's been pretty good. We’re just happy to be in these games and the challenge ahead of trying to be at the pointy end of the season.
"It’s a great experience for the team, we’re growing every week and we’re looking forward to it."
On the age profile of the list:
"It’s a bit odd because we’re building the list, but with a few older guys leaving, we’re younger than we were. Our core group has got a bit older, so Weitering, Harry [McKay], they’re starting to mature and hitting 23, 24, 25. Sam Walsh is only 22, [so] they’re starting to mature.
"The group coming in underneath, I think the recruiters have done a good job with Corey Durdin, Motlop, a few of these types coming through. We haven’t actually gone to the draft a lot of the last couple of years, we’ve brought in a few free agents and a few trades but we’ll probably go to the draft this year.
"We’ve got a young group but our core is starting to mature, we’ve had old players and younger players, but now we’ve got a good middle group."
On Brian Cook and Michael Voss:
"They’ve been great. Brian [Cook] coming across so experienced. His wisdom is wonderful for me personally to learn off him for the time he’s at the Club, he’s been a real steadying influence.
"'Vossy', we wanted a leader as a senior coach and he’s certainly brought that. He’s got that relationship with the players, technically he’s very good and he’s just a great person, he’s been sensational coming in.
"It’s a pretty steady place, it’s a big Club, it’s amazing the supporter base we have all over the country, it’s a great place to be.
"[Voss and I] have a really good relationship, we’re talking all the time. There are so many areas of footy: list management, who we’re contacting, who we’re recruiting, even the high performance side, making sure we’re on the same page from the medical point of few.
"We haven’t been together a long time, but we’ve got a whole new assistant coaching group as well, so the weeks go pretty quick but we’re still forming as a group. It’s been a pretty successful year so far."
On his goals for the future:
"I look at clubs like Geelong and Sydney and Hawthorn that have been around the mark for a long time, they’re really steady across the board. I watch pretty closely, our list management team and I guess who we’re bringing in and who we’re re-contracting.
"We want to get a bit more durability through the playing list: we’ve had some injuries this year, making sure we have a durable list so we can have all our players on the park. It’s a real forming stage for the coaches, it’s only fairly new for them working with the players so that’s going to evolve.
"We’ve got an evolving list, still reasonably young but developing. The main thing is keeping that really steady across the board.
"We’ve got great resources as a Club and we’ve got pretty good people with the playing group and the leaders we have: the main thing for me is keeping it pretty steady and all those areas, making them perform efficiently."
On Mitch McGovern:
"Mitch is getting pretty close, he’s only a week or two away. We’ll see how he goes, he’s back into full training.
"He’s moving really well so if we can get him back into the backline with Lewis Young and Weitering, it becomes a pretty good backline with our smalls.
"He’s an important player for us, he’s showed what he can do before he got injured but we’re looking forward to getting him back on the park."
On Tom De Koning:
"He’s got a huge job this week against Naitanui, up against the best in the business. He’s developed well, unfortunately big Marc Pittonet went down during the year, so it probably gave Tom a bit more responsibility and he’s really grown each week.
"He’s around the 22 mark now, so ruckmen take a while, but he’s a special talent with the way he can mark and jump. He’s enjoyed the responsibility and he’s going to have a long career, I think."
