NEXT MONDAY will be the day that clubs will start welcoming in their first crop of draftees for the 2023 pre-season. 

With the first-to-fourth-year players already in training, the newcomers will come straight into the program after being selected at the 2022 NAB AFL Draft, which runs across Monday, Tuesday (both national) and Wednesday (pre-season and rookie drafts) next week. 

Senior Coach Michael Voss says that it’s an exciting time for the Club, noting that they will be looking to round out what the list already boasts.

Referencing the plethora of inside midfield talent that already resides at Carlton, Voss - speaking on AFL.com.au's Draft Night Countdown - said the Blues would look to complement a list which has been focused on retention this off-season.

“I think the type is more what we’re talking about, we’re comfortable that that type of player will be around when it comes to that early pick and we’ll make adjustments based on how the draft unfolds ahead of us,” Voss said. 

“We still want to get the best player, that’s our priority... we need something to be able to balance [the list profile] out and I’m comfortable with the players around there and the traits that they have.” 

Attending the national draft combine, Voss said he couldn’t imagine anything more daunting than the interview process that the 17 and 18-year-olds have to go through. 

However, Voss had a few specific traits he was looking to identify as he partook in the interview rounds to see who would be the best fit at the Blues.

“I look at their competitiveness: we’re in a very highly competitive environment, high performance is a very taxing environment so how you thrive in that is really important but also the resilience,” he said.  

“It’s fine to be a competitor, but how do you handle it when you’re losing and show a little bit of grit? That doesn’t mean they have to be a resilient person, but they have to have traits of showing resilience previously before. 

“Not everyone is a wordsmith that can come in and explain where they are – I can’t imagine sitting there as an 18-year old and having to roll through 17 interviews.

“It's extremely intimidating, but at the same time, they handle it so well: it’s almost just normal for them now.”

Head of Football Brad Lloyd - who has an extensive recruiting background in his own right - shared the sentiment that the players come in much more prepared for the AFL than ever before, with the elite talent pathway more involved than ever before.

While daunting to be on the draft circuit, Lloyd noted that a lot of players are well-placed and ready to take that next step almost immediately. 

“They develop so well: you can see they're more ready to go these days with all the different systems they come through and the state academies,” Lloyd said. 

Lloyd said that the main task for them once they have selected a player is to get a good grasp on that player's history, receiving the full run down from the list management team. 

Knowing where the player is at allows the Club to then tailor their training and see how they will best fit into the training load and pre-season moving forward, with a big focus on their high-performance training experience. 

“We get a really good rundown with the handover period from our recruiting staff, they take us through where the players have been,” he said.  

“A big focus is on our performance team, the player’s training history and training age, getting to know their bodies so you don’t break them down early. 

“Some have been training professionally for a while and some a bit more raw so it’s about knowing that.”