SINCE his time at the Blues and the AFL system itself, Will Setterfield has struggled with injury.
But with a solid, uninterrupted pre-season under his belt in 2020, Setterfield is showing what he can do in the midfield and he has bigger goals in mind.
Playing predominantly on the wing under David Teague in 2019 Setterfield showed a keen interest in assisting co-captain Patrick Cripps in the clinches.
"It's been well documented Patty Cripps has had to shoulder all the load for a long time," Setterfield told The Age.
“It's a bit different to a winger because when you're inside you do a lot more wrestling at the stoppage but you go from that to transition running.”
With the tutelage from midfielders Patrick Cripps and Ed Curnow, Setterfield has been able to come out of his shell and emerge as a strong-bodied inside midfielder.
His recent shift to the inside has seen him rank No.2 at Carlton for tackles (behind Curnow) and No.3 for clearances (behind Cripps and Curnow) in the last five weeks.
“It's a real mix of being able to run both ways but then have the strength to wrestle into the stoppage against your opponent and do the tackling and grunt work,” he said.
“A lot of it [pre-season learning] was craft at stoppages, so body work, how you move your opponent, then transition from stoppages so getting forward hard or running defensively.”
While crediting his teammates for his on-field development, Setterfield was quick to highlight the work of Director of High Performance Andrew Russell with his physical condition.
Arriving at Carlton on the back of an ACL injury and just two AFL games in two years, Setterfield said Russell’s impact on him couldn’t be understated.
"He [Russell] has been huge," Setterfield said.
"We have worked really hard on developing my body and putting on size. I'm still not at the size I want to get to, I am trying to put on another couple of kilos of muscle.
"He has helped me get power and strength out of my body."
Setterfield and Russell have also been working on his endurance to help him maintain consistency over four quarters.
