SINCE Sam Docherty has returned to playing AFL, he has been proud of how the Carlton Football Club has progressed.
Speaking to Triple M yesterday, Docherty noted that the maturity he has noticed in the group has been overwhelming in the 2020 season.
With the 2015 draftees starting to look dangerous, Docherty noted they were the biggest growth in the season so far.
“Inevitably the talls take a bit of time to get the body to play at AFL level and that’s sort of been one of the biggest growths,” Docherty said.
“If you bookend your team with Weitering at one end and McKay down the other, it does help a lot to strengthen your team up.”
Alongside the tall pillars of the side, the depth from younger players has impressed Docherty, each playing their role for the Club.
“[Will] Setterfield, [Sam] Walsh, [Lachie] Plowman, he’s a bit older, but [Tom] Williamson has come back after time off as well,” he said.
“We’ve got a lot of good guys playing good roles for the team and having more contributors than not which has been a welcome change.”
Docherty was full of praise for Senior Coach David Teague, who has brought a different playing style to the side.
“He [Teague] has a vision of how he wants to play the game and how he wants us playing the game and he’s very strong on that,” he said.
“He’s really got us playing a brand of footy that he believes in and we believe that can take us into finals and play well in there so whenever that comes, we’ll be ready.”
With Carlton facing old enemy Collingwood this weekend, Docherty and the Club are excited to participate in a game with such a rich history.
“There’s a lot on the line this weekend and it’s a really important game for both groups and it's always a bit of fun playing against the arch enemies,” he said.
“I love that I’m at a footy club that has a rich history and play other teams that have a rich history: there’s a lot of people who have played in these games before us and a lot of people we get to follow and a lot that will follow us, so it’s exciting to be part of.”
