Carlton young gun Troy Menzel says he’s hoping to push into the midfield in 2015 and have more influence on games.

The 20-year-old, who earned a Rising Star nomination this year, is embarking on his third season with the Blues. After recovering from a shoulder injury and taking a well-earned break, Menzel says he is looking forward to putting in the hard yards for a full pre-season.

“I’m doing everything at the moment, which is good for me because the last couple of years I haven’t really had much of a pre-season, so it’s definitely good to come back and be straight into it,” Menzel said.

“It will give me a lot of confidence going into round one if I can get through this full pre-season – it will give me a really good fitness base to work on from there.”

Building that fitness base is a focus for Menzel this pre-season. Having played in Carlton’s forward line in his first 26 AFL games, his goal next year is to push into the middle. He’s well placed to do it too, having played as a midfielder in his junior football days in South Australia, and this year being mentored by John Nicholls Medalist Bryce Gibbs, who cemented his own role in the midfield this season.

Menzel remains unsure who his mentor will be in 2015, but his own leadership qualities have come to the fore since he returned to Visy Park with Carlton’s youngest players on November 5. The Blues’ No. 2 says he’s enjoying the injection of youth.

“Obviously having a lot of new guys come in, a lot of youth on our list, is really good for us and the enthusiasm that we have seen just in the last week has been amazing,” Menzel said.

“I think we’ve got a very strong list at the moment – we’ve got that good mix of experienced players and a lot of young talented players coming through as well, so I think we can definitely push top teams.”