“From 12 months ago to where we are now, would you take it?”

The situation facing the Carlton playing group just 12 months ago was that they had no idea of what the future held.

In what has been a well-documented ‘transformational’ year for the developing Carlton list, there were a lot of successes and just as many lessons from the 2022 season in the Blues' first season under AFL Senior Coach Michael Voss. 

The abrupt end to the season wasn’t how any player, coach, staff member or supporter wanted the year to finish for the Blues, but looking back on the season as a whole, progression was instantly identifiable.

For Jacob Weitering personally, he believed the inroads made meant the Club was in the best position since he arrived at IKON Park, watching a developing group break droughts interstate, at home and within the four walls of IKON Park. 

Saying it was far too simple to either label 2022 as a success or a fail, Weitering said he could see both sides of the coin.

“It was a year of ups and downs towards the backend but we came back early - all the boys came back with the younger boys in pre-season - and we had a really strong pre-season. The culture piece, the game plan, the new coaches: it was a different environment to 12 months ago, when we were sitting here and probably didn’t have any of those in place,” Weitering said.

“If you look at it in that light, it was a positive outcome for us. It was disappointing the way we finished, coming up against Brisbane, Melbourne and Collingwood in pretty devastating fashion: we’ll learn from it and hopefully go again next year.” 

Rewinding the clock 12 months, Weitering can remember how he was feeling at the end of the 2021 season for the Blues, with nothing but uncertainty when he looked to the future. 

In a new facility with key people settled in key roles, Weitering feels as though the Club has a sense of direction to a level he hadn't experienced previously in his seven years at Carlton.

“Twelve months ago we didn’t have a coach, a CEO, a game plan, assistant coaches, we didn’t have a whole lot of depth in our midfield,” he said. 

“It was a transformational year for sure, for many, not just for individuals: as a team, the way we went about ourselves, the way we defended, the way we scored. We sort of created an identity for the first time that I’ve been at the Club and that’s a really exciting piece to keep building on in the coming years.” 

Weitering had a hiccup in the middle of his campaign, when he had the first surgery of his football career after a shoulder injury in the Round 10 clash with Collingwood.

For Weitering, it was a bitter disappointment to interrupt his season, knowing he had a mountain of work in front of him to not just get back on the park, but to play to the level he left at: he was one of Carlton's best just one week prior for the role he performed on Lance Franklin.

Looking back now, Weitering believes he’s better off having faced this adversity, knowing how to respond and behave in the future should the situation arise. 

“I think when I did my shoulder, it was my 50th game straight. I think I missed 14 or 15 games previously to that in seven years and when you go through an injury mid-season and surgery, there’s just an expectation that you rehab and come back,” he said. 

“You look at guys who come back from injury like Sam Docherty and ‘Walshy’. They just come back in, get their 34 touches and make it look easy: I certainly didn’t feel that way. 

“The support that I had was great and it provides me with learnings of how to deal with injury and adversity throughout a season.”

The change Weitering experienced was both whole of Club and also much closer to home, given the differences in personnel across a backline where he has been a mainstay for years.

Late in the season, the defence was bolstered by the additions of Mitch McGovern and Caleb Marchbank, who shone in the final games of the season. There was also Lewis Young, who flourished throughout his first year at the Club and stood up when it mattered, as well as an inspirational campaign from Sam Docherty plus an All-Australian season for Adam Saad.

Weitering felt that the end of the year was even more bittersweet given the teammates who had returned, and performed, in those final weeks.

“It was good to have [McGovern and Marchbank] back. You look at the back six or seven in Round 1 to what it was at the end of the season and throughout, we cycled through a lot of guys and it was the next-man-up mentality and we were able to get some wins throughout the season with some pretty significant injuries,” he said. 

“You look at players like Lewis Young and his development, Jordan Boyd when he was out there and then 'Marchy' and 'Gov' with their injury history. To have them out there and just playing football was a great story, you saw their potential – you can see what they do for us and it’s pretty exciting if we can get everyone out on the park performing at a consistent level and doing their jobs for the teams.

“You can look at those [Melbourne and Collingwood games] and say ‘what could of been’, or we can learn from them and they’re going to hold us in good stead when we’re playing in front of 90 000 in the future.”

In the immediate aftermath, it was no surprise that Weitering and his teammates were shattered with the outcome of the season. However, he wasn't going to allow himself to dwell on the result for too long.

While there had been no shortage of rousing speeches from the Senior Coach throughout the year, Weitering spoke of a "level-headed" Voss and the conversations with teammates which he believes will see the team better off in the long run.

“[Voss] understood the situation and how devastated we felt on Sunday,” he said. 

“He’s been through it. He’s been there four times in a row, won three and lost one so he’s certainly ridden the emotion of AFL... it’s all about how you get back up, how you go again and that’s what we’ll do. 

“The group has got a higher motivation now. We didn’t finish the year off the way we wanted to, some individuals probably didn’t either but the boys will get working and it will be a long 12 months, but we’ll get it done.” 

It will be a long year for the Carlton group and the Carlton faithful, but Weitering knows he's able to enter the off-season with the knowledge the Club is in a better position than it has been in recent seasons.

From a burgeoning culture to another membership record, he cast an eye forward to the future.

“The positives from a team point of view is the culture piece, the game plan, the selfless nature of the team now. It is purely about the higher purpose and I think we’ve been able to develop that over the last 12 months from top down, from Brian Cook down,” he said. 

“The Club seems to be in a really good place, we’ve got some great people within the Club as well supporting us. 

“Whether it’s a positive or negative, the experiences that we had this year, moments that will hold us in good stead in the future... they’re all experiences that are going to help us hopefully win the big one in years to come. 

"With Vossy at the helm, with the coaches we’ve got and 'Crippa' leading the way, it’s pretty exciting times."