Match Day Gallery
Click Here

DESPITE giving his side a pass at the half-way mark of the season Carlton captain Chris Judd says the Blues are still a “a long way off being a good side in the competition”.

The Blues are just two premiership points outside the top eight after 11 rounds but Judd wasn’t too fussed with finals talk when asked of his team’s chances at a recovery session at Princes Park on Monday morning.

A day earlier, he had helped lead a Carlton fightback as the Blues overcame a five-goal deficit in greasy conditions at AAMI Stadium to stun Port Adelaide by 12 points.

While that win might have turned many doubters into believers, Judd was typically forthright when asked for his report card on the Blues’ first half of 2008.

“I think there’s been some substantial improvements but we’re still a long way off being a good side in the competition,” he said.

“We know that [and] we know where we need to get to and it’s just a matter of now how quickly we can get there, I suppose.

“It’s on track … I suppose we haven’t over-achieved and we probably haven’t under-achieved.

“We’re reasonably satisfied with how it’s tracking.”

His side’s progress is heavily reliant on just how quickly the Blues’ young guns develop.

While Judd played a starring role in Sunday’s crucial win over the Power, many of those youngsters also had hands at significant stages – which thrilled the skipper.

“To see one of our young players like Matthew Kreuzer … for him to stand up and you know win the game off his own boot in the end says a lot about him and I think a lot about our young players as well,” Judd said.

The Brownlow Medallist said Kreuzer’s efforts this season had been outstanding, with Sunday’s effort confirming Judd’s thoughts that last year’s No.1 draft pick is “going to be a super player for us”.

“It’s very unfair to compare bigger-sized draftees to sort of midfielders in the impact they can have on the comp early on and I think Kreuze has done a fantastic job,” Judd said.

“Last night he showed why everyone is so excited about him because he was just superb up forward.”

While Judd praised the performances of Kreuzer’s fellow No.1 draft picks, Marc Murphy and Bryce Gibbs, he said others had also performed their roles.

“It was some of our really good young players that stood up,” he said.

“And not just those guys, but Shaun Grigg doing a good job on Peter Burgoyne, Jordan Russell in the second half.

“A lot of our younger players really stood up and … that’s what’s exciting about the future.”