Brett Ratten will be joined by eight players and a number of assistant coaches for a visit to Malaysia next week. The visit has been arranged by Tourism Malaysia and will provide the Carlton team with first hand experience of Malaysia as well as providing our new joint major sponsor with a greater understanding of the Carlton Football Club and the AFL.

“This is a great opportunity and we are looking forward to our visit and the chance to see some of the attractions that are helping to make Malaysia an increasingly popular tourist attraction for Australians. Importantly we will be ambassadors for our Club in Malaysia and look forward to improving their knowledge of the game and importantly of the Carlton Football Club,” said Ratten.

Chris Judd will be one of eight players traveling to Malaysia on Sunday for the five-day visit to Penang. Nick Stevens, Kade Simpson, Brad Fisher, Brendan Fevola, Andrew Carrazzo, Marc Murphy and Bryce Gibbs will be a part of the Carlton ‘tour party’.

While it is a promotional visit, the players will have training sessions every day in Penang with High Performance Manager, Justin Cordy, joining the group in Malaysia to ensure the players continue their pre-season conditioning.

“The trip has been planned for next week as it is a light training week in our preparation for the upcoming season. As well as training and the promotional program with Tourism Malaysia this trip is also about assisting the development of our leadership team,” added Ratten.

Carlton CEO Greg Swann said the visit to Malaysia was an important part of the new sponsorship with Malaysia.

“I have no doubt the players will become ambassadors for Malaysia following the visit to Penang and this will further enhance our relationship with Tourism Malaysia. We also believe this will provide Tourism Malaysia with an even greater understanding of the tremendous exposure and impact within the community such an association with Carlton will provide,” said Swann.

The Carlton group visiting Malaysia will leave Melbourne on Sunday and return next Thursday. While this group is in Malaysia the other players will also have a light training week with both Monday and Thursday being days off.

Look out for the player’s diary and photos on carltonfc.com.au when the players return from Malaysia in the week commencing February 2nd.