A HUNGER to improve.

Speaking at THE LUME Melbourne for Carlton's Co-Major partnership extension with Hyundai, captain Patrick Cripps addressed where the group was at as it enters the final phase of pre-season.

Acknowledging the body of work that the group has put in throughout recent months, Cripps feels as though his side are ready to test themselves against some quality opposition.

The Blues' practice match schedule kicks off later this month, taking on 2022 top-four sides in the Magpies and Swans over successive weeks.

“There’s always a hunger – this time of year is the time to get better and practise certain elements of your game and build on the foundations we set last year,” Cripps said. 

“The guys came back day one and were ready to go, we feel like we made some strides but until we actually test it against some opposition, you never really know. 

“We feel like we’re in a good spot, we’re confident in the work that we’ve done, but we don’t want to get too far ahead of ourselves.”

One of the biggest things Cripps has noticed in the pre-season is how the group has grown in terms of maturity. 

Still fielding a relatively young side, the Blues have had a consistent focus on building cohesion, trust and understanding around their game plan, which comes with more time spent playing alongside each other.

“Our list is maturing - I’m one of the oldest at 27 - so these guys are getting more experience under their belt, playing more footy together, building those connections together: the chemistry is going up another level,” he said. 

“The continuity of that and the foundation we built last year, having a lot of stability at the Club and building off that: we’ll see some growth from that."

The competition for spots is alive and well within the squad, with players across the board posting career-best numbers in pre-season testing.

Cripps admitted he can’t imagine a better way to motivate players than fighting for their spot, hoping that it continues to provide some natural competition on the track.

“We’ve got a squad mentality: we’ve got a lot of depth in our squad and when there’s depth, there’s competition for spots, so I think that sort of raises the bar in training standards,” he said.  

“We had a high training standard last year, but we had to go up to another level which is what you want.”

Though it was tough to identify just one area of improvement for the Blues that has been evident, Cripps did single out the forward line as a group who were jelling in training.

With the likes of Jesse Motlop, Corey Durdin and Matt Owies already being lauded for their impressive pressure work from coaches and teammates alike, Cripps referenced the tall forwards' desire to build more chemistry after a stellar season together in 2022. 

“Guys like Harry [McKay] and Charlie [Curnow] doing a full pre-season, you see them working together, they haven’t played a lot of footy together so they’re building chemistry,” he said. 

“I think our forward line is starting to mix really well and have some continuity together – we’ve just got to get in there as midfielders and let them kick the goals.”