CURNOW, McKay, Cripps.

It’s not a bad collection of names that Ashton Moir rattles off when he mentions who he’s been working closely with in his first pre-season at IKON Park.

The smile couldn’t be wiped off of Moir’s face when he arrived on Royal Parade in the days after the 2023 AFL Draft, when he was selected by the Blues with the final pick of the first round. That excitement is still very much palpable for the young South Australian who couldn’t be happier to call Melbourne home.

Speaking to SEN SA, Moir provided an insight into what life has been like since making the big move.

“I’m loving every minute of it. The boys have been unbelievable to me, making the transition really easy in training and off the field with moving house and getting settled in,” Moir said.

“I absolutely love it here. It’s been my dream to come interstate and live the professional life, I’m living it now. There’s no turning back.

“It’s a lot different: everyone is at 100 per cent, 24/7. There’s no going less than 100 per cent, which is unbelievable. It’s really good to step into such an elite club where training standards are so high, learning from the best.”

He’s been shadowing Curnow and McKay up forward, while he’s even rubbed shoulders with the captain with short stints in the midfield. He also looks at co-vice captain Sam Walsh’s training standards — “it drives me personally to want to train so much harder and get the best out of myself”.

Assistant coach Jordan Russell spoke to Carlton Media earlier this week, highlighting Moir’s instinctual forward craft and the energy he provides as key strengths to go with his dual-sidedness that was so highly touted pre-draft.

His meetings with AFL Senior Coach Michael Voss haven’t been about looking at a potential debut, but rather what will allow him to get to that position: training habits, standards, structure and language are the key things Moir rattles off as key discussion topics.

He’s not putting any expectations on himself of when he’ll be pulling on the Navy Blue No.43 - previously worn by Carlton Legend David McKay and Hall of Famer Anthony Koutoufides - other than leaving no stone unturned to make it happen as quickly as possible.

“My focus is just to take it day by day, training session by training session, and see what happens.

“If I’m fortunate enough to debut in Opening Round, that’s great. it doesn’t come until later in the year or even next year, all I know is I’m putting my best foot forward and training as hard as I can.”