HE MAY be a much-loved son of the Carlton Football Club, but that didn’t stop Eddie Betts from having some nerves when returning to the Blues late last year. 

The 33-year-old walked back into Ikon Park after a trade was successfully negotiated between Adelaide and Carlton, which would allow Betts to once again pull on the Navy Blue jumper. 

However, alongside the familiar faces that he played alongside earlier in his career - the likes of Marc Murphy, Levi Casboult, Matthew Kreuzer and Kade Simpson - were a whole group of ‘new’ Blues which Betts would have to meet.

While Betts may have initially been nervous about his new teammates, the dust didn’t take long to settle and he has since been extremely impressed by their approach to football.

“Walking back into (the Club), I was a little bit nervous,” Betts told the team from RSN.

“What really surprised me is that this team is willing to learn and get better. I’ve got a lot of young kids coming up to me wanting to do vision, wanting to know how you get to the front of the contest, asking ‘how do you crumb like that?'.

“They want to take this Club forward and that really surprised me in a way.

“They’re willing to learn.” 

It’s hard to blame the young Blues for tapping into the knowledge of Betts, who boasts over 300 games worth of experience, three All Australians and four Goal of the Year awards in a career which has gained him supporters from across all teams in the competition.

The knowledge Betts is able to pass on is all from a journey which began many years ago in Kalgoorlie – where he spent his junior years rarely seen without a footy in his hand.

“Growing up, I loved kicking a footy,” he said.

“I grew up most of my junior life in Kalgoorlie with all of my older cousins and all we did was kick the footy.

“We’d walk around with a footy, make goals with shoes or clothes – put two clothes there and try and kick into the ‘goals’.”

It was from here that Betts began developing his ability to kick the freakish goals, the one’s that even sometimes he doesn’t know how they ended up going through.

The excitement from kicking these goals, as well as getting out onto the field and just playing with his teammates is what sparks the greatest joy for the veteran and what he is looking forward to when football returns this year.

“I just want to go out and have fun,” he said.

“If I’m having fun, I’m enjoying it and I’m kicking goals and I’m bringing my teammates into it, that’s just the way that I play.”