The final standings reveal that the push is well and truly on from the club's talented core of kids, with Marc Murphy (at age 22), Bryce Gibbs (20) and Matthew Kreuzer (20) all challenging captain Chris Judd for the mantle as club champion.
Reflecting the club's canny investment in youth, it's worth noting that other than dual Medal winner Chris Judd - who was traded for Josh Kennedy and selections three and 20 - Murphy, Gibbs and Kreuzer were all No.1 national draft selections, with Russell a first round selection at nine, Bower a second rounder at 20, Simpson a fourth rounder at 45, and Thornton and Joseph the rookies.
While much has been made of Murphy and Gibbs’ second and third placing in the John Nicholls Medal, and their Top 10 finish in the Brownlow Medal, it is the performance of second year ruckman Matthew Kreuzer that has plenty of football pundits talking.
Kreuzer at just 20 years of age has now played 43 games of senior football. He was placed fifth in the Nicholls Medal, and just maybe, the big man from Melbourne’s northern suburbs will be Carlton’s brightest star.
His progress and development at Carlton has not gone unnoticed, but it has been with little fanfare. The No. 1 draft pick arrived at Carlton just a month after skipper Chris Judd and compared to fellow No. 1 selections in Murphy and Gibbs, Kreuzer went well and truly under the radar.
Another players development that clearly didn’t go unnoticed by Carlton’s match committee was Jordan Russell. Russell came storming home in the Best and Fairest count following a number of impressive performance, in particular in the second half of the year.
Aaron Joseph's recognition as his club's best first year player - on top of his ranking in the count's top ten, warrants special acknowledgment. Having turned 20 in July, the kid from Glenorchy strung together all 23 possible matches, claiming Geelong's Gary Ablett, North Melbourne's Brent Harvey, Adelaide's Andrew McLeod, Richmond's Ben Cousins and Hawthorn's Cyril Rioli amongst his prized scalps, and justifiably earning AFL acclaim as the NAB Rising Star for his round 12 showing against St Kilda, in which he earned him 19 disposals and laid five tackles.
