A STIRRING second half of the season will have Carlton full of confidence with 2019 coming to a close.

Familiar faces fired in Navy Blue while the Club’s emerging youngsters owned the future in a campaign which saw the Blues record seven wins for the year.

With the home-and-away season now over, we’re going through every player who featured for Carlton at senior level in 2019. 

Here’s the year that was for Carlton’s No. 23, Jacob Weitering.

GAMES

2019: 20

Career: 76

KEY AFL STATISTICS (averages in brackets):

Disposals: 264 (13.2) Marks: 115 (5.8) Rebound 50s: 74 (3.7) Intercept marks: 57 (2.9) One percenters: 139 (7) Tackles 29 (1.5) 

OVERVIEW

2019 will go down as a year where Jacob Weitering bounced back, in the most emphatic fashion. 

After a difficult third season, Weitering shone from the word go in Navy Blue, showing his poise and class in Carlton’s back six. 

Taking the scalps of the likes of Josh Kennedy and Tom Lynch, it was Weitering’s ability to not only curtail his opponent but also get the Blues going from defensive 50 which was the hallmark of his 2019. 

Forming a strong partnership with Liam Jones, it was the kind of season which provides just a snapshot of what’s to come in Navy Blue for the next decade.

Come season’s end, Weitering had earned a place in the 22under22 team, joining teammates Harry McKay and Sam Walsh. 

BEST PERFORMANCE

With Liam Jones and Caleb Marchbank unavailable, Weitering had the unenviable task of coming up against a red-hot Josh Kennedy when the Blues hosted the reigning premiers in Round 20. 

Kennedy was coming into the game on the back of a seven-goal performance the week prior: however, he would be held to just five disposals for the match. 

In opposition, Weitering collected 15 disposals and nine marks while producing five spoils in a polished all-round performance. 

SEASON HIGHLIGHT

Not many people would expect Charlie Cameron to be stopped with no-one between him and the goal square. 

You can probably count Weitering as one of those people: however, he did exactly that in Round 12. 

In what would turn out to be a memorable Marvel Stadium win, Weitering kept up with his opposite No.23, before out-bodying him on the line and rushing through a behind. 

THEY SAID IT

Looking back on his year that was, Weitering credited the work of Andrew Russell and a full pre-season as the driving force behind his strong 2019.

“Obviously last year was a very challenging year for me. There was a fair bit of adversity and there were a lot of individuals that helped me both on and off the field,” Weitering said.

“I guess I took as much advice as I could on board and trained as well as I could.

“I guess if you put it down to one, it’s probably the pre-season I had. [It was] strong, consistent and I did just about every session so that’s probably the main one.”