AN INDICATION of the player's commitment and the Club's culture.
On the first day of the 2022 trade period, Carlton Head of List Management Nick Austin was able to address the long-term deal signed by Carlton forward Harry McKay.
It was announced on Monday morning that McKay signed on for an additional seven years, seeing him stay in the Navy Blue until at least the end of 2030.
Speaking to media at Marvel Stadium, Austin noted that McKay’s faith in the Club highlights the investment of the playing group and connection that’s continuing to build at IKON Park.
“It speaks volumes of the environment that has been created,” Austin said.
“We’ve got our major players wanting to play together for the long term.”
McKay joined Sam Walsh (2026), Patrick Cripps (2027) and Charlie Curnow (2029) in re-committing his long-term future to the Club over the last 18 months.
Locking away the key pillars of the Club, Austin said it will hold Carlton in good stead for years to come, with the Blues' top-end talent all confident in the direction of the group.
“To lock Harry away, with Charlie and ‘Walshy’ in recent times, it’s really exciting and sets us up for the future,” he said.
“To have our senior players on board with that and align themselves with that, it’s really important for us.
“It’s great for them and great for us: it’s a big commitment, but one we’re really comfortable with.”
When re-signing Charlie Curnow, Austin said that Curnow came to him expressing his desire to play out his career in Navy Blue, creating the basis for a long-term deal a year before the Coleman Medallist came out of contract, while Walsh also acknowledged that the decision to re-sign ‘couldn’t have been easier’ for the young leader.
Austin said that all the necessary work has been done behind the scenes to decide the length of the contract based on an agreement that suits both McKay and the Club.
He said there was unanimous agreement inside the four walls of IKON Park to sign McKay for the deal that the 2021 Coleman Medallist just signed.
“We do a lot of work behind the scenes medically, so we’ve got to have full tick off from our medical team to even consider a contract of that length,” Austin said.
“We’re really comfortable.”
