Carlton coach Brett Ratten said he was very pleased with where the players are at, both individually and as a group and singled out Bryce Gibbs as a player he believes will take a further step in 2012.
“Bryce has had an outstanding pre-season, he has done all the work and I think he is the one that will jump up and challenge Murphy and Judd for the title of best player at the club.”
Ratten said with others coming into the team, such as Zac Tuohy in the final against West Coast, it will allow Bryce to run more through the midfield in 2012.
Ratten confirmed Chris Judd was on track and would be a definite starter in round one but would not play the first round of the NAB Cup.
“Chris was never in our plans for the first round of the NAB Cup, he and some of the other players returning from injuries such as Murphy, Jamison and Waite will not play early on in the pre-season series.
“We haven’t finalised how many games these guys will play prior to round one but it will probably be two to two and a half games during the NAB Cup series,” Ratten confirmed.
Of the new players at Carlton for 2012 the senior coach said Sam Rowe has had a similar impact to Nick Duigan in his first pre-season with the use of his voice and his maturity. He said Josh Bootsma had also been very impressive and would not be surprised if he played senior football in 2012.
“He (Bootsma) ran down Chris Yarran at training the other day and not many people do that. He is only slight but he has been very impressive and I would not be surprised to see him play next year,” Ratten said as the players completed their final session for 2011.
Bryce Gibbs in action at the final training session for 2011
