CARLTON CEO Cain Liddle says the mix of young and experienced talent at the Blues will hold the side in good stead in season 2019.
Carlton's recruiting team targeted talent aged between 23-to-26 over the 2018 trade period, securing the talents of Nic Newman (age 25), Alex Fasolo (26) and Mitch McGovern (24) along with Will Setterfield (20).
They added further depth to the list with four selections at the 2018 NAB AFL Draft - Sam Walsh (pick No.1), Liam Stocker (pick No.19), Finbar O'Dwyer (pick No.66) and Ben Silvagni (pick No.70), as well as mature recruits Hugh Goddard (pick No.1) and Tomas Bugg (pick No.18) in the rookie draft.
Speaking to SEN Mornings, Liddle said the combination of new draftees with third-and-fourth-year players created an opportunity for improvement for Carlton going forward.
One more week of training in 2018 - and making the most of it. #BoundByBlue
— Carlton FC (@CarltonFC) December 17, 2018
“We obviously see improvement coming. There are new players that we’ve brought in,” Liddle said.
“I think the real opportunity for Carlton and Carlton supporters is from looking in that category of second-year players becoming third-year and third-year becoming fourth-year. There are the likes of Weitering, Petrevski-Seton, Fisher, Harry McKay, David Cuningham. There’s some elite talent in that group.
“They’ve all now got two, three and four pre-seasons behind them, so we see the biggest opportunity coming from that group in terms of growth.”
Liddle said the stability offered by the third-year and fourth-year players would bolster the young talent brought in through the draft period.
Within this array of fresh talent, Liddle said one player in particular had impressed him – Carlton’s No.1 pick, Sam Walsh.
“My first impressions are I can see why he was taken at pick No.1. He’s an exciting player,” Liddle said.
“We’ve got to temper our enthusiasm both as a club and a supporter group; Sam is 18 years old. He’s going to take a while to develop but from everything I’ve seen so far, I’d hope he’s got a long and successful career at the Blues."
Supporting the Blues' newest first-year players will be the likes of Paddy Dow and Lochie O'Brien, who - entering their second seasons - showed what they are capable of across their 20 and 18 AFL games respectively.
“When you add in the likes of Paddy Dow and Lochie O’Brien, Liam Stocker and then some of the boys I mentioned, there’s a really good core young group. You forget about Cripps and Curnow – they’re only [23 and 21] themselves," Liddle said.
"It’s an exciting young group that we’ve got, and we’ve just got to continue to develop and that’s what we’re intending on doing.”
