FORWARDS one week, then the mids - you probably know where this one is going.

Carlton's pre-season report cards continue for another week, with Aaron Hamill looking at the backline as the Blues prepare for their first clash with external opposition this week.

With a new-look defence in store for Carlton in 2025, here's what Hamill had to say about a number of his players.

Jack Silvagni

"It’s been great to see him there. We’ve had four weeks of evidence of him down there in full training, obviously coming off his ACL. We really like what we’re seeing from Jack: he’s a competitive beast which we know, and that certainly helps.

"His understanding of team defence and the cohesion that we want there in terms of working with the deep-tier defenders, the continuity has been really big for him. We like what we’re seeing there.

"I remember his dad saying ‘don’t worry about the ball, just hit arms’ - we educate them a bit differently nowadays! He’s got really good footy nous and an understanding of when to cut angles and when to get the job done as a defender. He’s really embraced his role."

Lachie Cowan

"We’ve been really impressed with his pre-season. He went away in the off-season and had a really good break physically and mentally. He clearly did the work, and he’s a product of hard work Lachie. We really like what he’s been able to do with the ball and he’s become a lot more dynamic and powerful over this pre-season. It’s really exciting for him and us, to see where he can take his game.

"We like his intercept possession game, but we also like when he gets going by foot as well. We think he can play a number of roles in the backline, we’ve seen him play against Darling last year but also against the smalls. We’re excited to see where he can go: he’s developed physically and mentally."

Ollie Hollands

"We’re really happy with Ollie’s progress there, it’s only early days for him. Particularly with Nic going down, Ollie has stepped up along with Adam Saad, Jordan Boyd and Billy Wilson in that high-tier role. We really like where he’s taken his footy from a defensive point of view, learning the detail in the defence while also being productive by foot at the right time.

"He’s got capacity to run and create overlap for us to get the ball moving. We like where he’s going with his footy: it’s early stages for him, but the detail in his game is unfolding really well."

Nick Haynes

"You never say no to those type of guys coming in. We couldn’t have asked for more from him so far, how he’s been able to prepare his body. We know he’s been in the AFL system for a long time and come out of a really good program.

"We certainly knew what we were getting with his understanding of the game and where to position himself at the right time, it’s been on show for a number of months now. We know he’s elite by foot and his positioning to help and support others is one of his greatest strengths, we’ve seen a lot of that over pre-season."

Matthew Carroll

"It’s exciting times really, because ‘Jeff’ commits to the contest. Aggressive at the footy, aggressive at the body at the right time and aggressive with ball in hand. We’ve only seen a couple of months of it, he’s early on in the stage of his career but for what he’s showing so far it’s quite pleasing.

"He’s in really good hands with the leaders we have there. Nic Newman has had a lot to do there with his development, he’s learning the game but we certainly like what we see because of his characteristics around the want and the will to defend."

Lewis Young

"‘Youngy’ has had an outstanding pre-season, he has showed up time and time again. He’s got to work on the contest quite strongly around his positioning and the detail around the one-on-one positioning. I feel he’s improved a lot over this pre-season even though he’s been in the system for 10 years.

"He’s played on Harry for most of the pre-season, and overall done a pretty good job. His focus has been the contest and getting to work."

Billy Wilson

"He’s still building his body, his connection with his teammates and the game plan. He’s second year in, he’s developing quite well and learning off the higher run and receive types about when to defend and when to get involved.

"His body has been sound most of the pre-season, he’s had a good look at it but he’s someone who we value his rebounding and overlap - we’re always looking at the balance of when to defend and when to attack."

The experience heads: Weitering, Saad, McGovern

"It’s a nice collective to have, you’ve got a range of expertise. Adam with his ball use and ability to cut opposition apart, he’s one of the better users we have and the more we can get it in his hands the better - but he’s really improved his defensive output for the past number of years.

"‘Gov’ is another one like ‘Haynesy’, we feel we’ve got a powerful duo there.. Jacob, Mr. Happy - it’s amazing what a wedding does. He’s led that backline really well, and compared to last year where he had under eight per cent of preparation time, he’s done the bulk of pre-season and feels in really good shape."

On the team's focus on defence

"It’s like a lot of teams in the comp, we want to defend as close to our attacking goal as possible where we can. We’ve gone to work on our ball use from back to front and you can expose yourself a little bit when you’re moving it quickly, so it’s been really good for our team defence to get on the same page with that again and chase our front-half game.

"We know the forwards play a clear part in that, and the mids in terms of how well we stay connected to the backs, who manage the depth and width of the ground. An 18-man connected team is what we’re chasing, but there are so many moving parts to it. But like all good team defences, you’re only as good as your pressure. We expect our pressure to be elite."