“ONCE you get that clarity, it reignites your motivation and your excitement.”
The boys are back on Monday, and the enthusiasm amongst the playing group is palpable.
That’s the outlook of AFL Senior Coach David Teague, who spoke to Carlton Media shortly after the AFL’s announcement on Friday.
Gillon McLachlan announced that non-contact training will resume on Monday 18 May, before full-contact training begins a week after. Games will then return on Thursday 11 June, with a fixture still to be determined.
Having spoken to the players on a group call following confirmation of the details, Teague said all at Carlton couldn’t wait to get stuck in.
“They’re really excited to get back out there and do what they love,” Teague said.
“We start off in groups of eight, but even with that the players are pretty excited to get back to the Club, walk through those doors and to train together again.
“What we’ve loved is the way our players have attacked training away from the Club. It’ll give them a great chance to hit the track hard and get into full training once we’re allowed.”
In unprecedented circumstances, there’s still so much to work through: including the matter of which team Carlton will be preparing for in Round 2.
With the program put in place over the last seven weeks, Teague said the approach taken at Ikon Park would be one centred around being ready for anyone at anytime
“We don’t even know who that [opponent] is at this stage: we’re just excited to be back training and have the chance to prepare for whoever that may be,” he said.
“We’ll train as hard as we can and try to improve as much as we can so whoever that opponent will be in Round 2, we’ll be ready.”
Having watched and analysed Round 1 countless times, Teague is looking forward to doing just that — looking forward.
Aside from three long-term injuries (Charlie Curnow, Brodie Kemp and Matthew Kreuzer), he’s hopeful a sizeable contingent of players will be available on the track.
“I’m really excited to get into training, reviewing training and looking for ways to get better as a group,” he said.
“From what we’ve heard, the bodies have handled the program pretty well and I think we’ll have a fair list to pick from when Round 2 happens.”
