FORMER Blues player David Teague is "pumped" to be back at the Club, with the newly appointed assistant coach excited to be working with Carlton’s young forwards.
Having identified some areas he’d like to have impact on, the inaugural John Nicholls medallist believes there’s much for Blues fans to look forward to in season 2018.
“As a group, I know the Club has had a plan and this year we’re probably looking a little bit more at the offence. We want to maintain that pressure and the defensive side of the game, which we’ve probably been pretty solid at. Now we want to take the next level in our offence and that’s probably the area that excites me at the moment – trying to educate the younger guys," Teague said.
“They’re really willing to learn and that’s one of the great things. They bring vision, they cut vision and they want to learn, which is really good as a coach. It keeps you busy, but keeps you energised and I’m looking forward to that aspect. I’m trying to help them try and move the ball from one end of the field to the other better.”
With Teague joining the Carlton coaching panel late this year, he credits the values-led culture of the Blues that enticed him to return to Ikon Park.
“The other coaches have been outstanding in welcoming us as a coaching group. It’s clearly the culture that Brendon Bolton has created here and is one that enticed me to come here and now that I’m in here and working here, it’s really good," he said.
“It’s a great learning environment, they’re willing to challenge and discuss different ideas, but then as a coaching group they all get behind it and support it, so it’s really good.”
With the Blues on the Sunshine Coast for their pre-season camp this week, Teague has welcomed the opportunity to spend some quality time with the Carlton team.
“It’s been good to get away and for me as a new coach, it’s a great opportunity to spend some time with the players and create relationships," he said.
"The way the guys have attacked it so far, two sessions down, they’ve really cracked in, so it’s been good.”
Having played 50 games with the Blues between 2004-06, Teague considers the diversity of the Carlton forwards to be most impressive.
“We’ve got a lot of guys, some really good big guys and obviously Levi (Casboult) has held the fort down there, but there’s Charlie (Curnow), Harry McKay is exciting – he had his first training session today, which was really good.
Big H #BoundByBlue pic.twitter.com/PRvLciEDlC
— Carlton FC (@CarltonFC) December 14, 2017
“And then you’ve got quite a few small guys going through there – Polson, Fisher, Pickett, Lebois. Wright is probably a really good mentor to those guys. Right now I couldn’t tell you who the six or seven guys are that are going to play forward, which I think is great for the footy club – they can work really hard and win that spot.”
Rookie Kym Lebois wasn't giving up on this chase.#BoundByBlue pic.twitter.com/M0CoePJPym
— Carlton FC (@CarltonFC) December 17, 2017