1. Brett, congratulations on getting an extension to your contract as the Club recently announced. Does having additional tenure confirmed mean you can plan longer term? Or is that just a furphy?
I think when you look at it, instead of trying to speed the process up you can let it evolve more. It is not easier but it takes a bit of pressure off player development. If you take a high draft pick and if he doesn’t come off and make a big impact straight away, you don’t go into panic mode.
A good example is that this year we had big plans for Robbie Warnock and now we can be careful with him and not rush him too early.
2. Who is burning up the track this preseason? Has anyone surprised you with their improvement?
I would have to say Walker is really burning it up, and also Kade Simpson. He played in the International Rules Series which might have helped him keep up his fitness too.
Others are doing really well on the track such as Kreuzer, and Mitch Robinson has also stepped in and done really well. He is a Tasmanian boy, a bit older than the others and played as a top age player for the Tassie Devils. He is hard at it, uncompromising, and has good speed. He has also got a real appetite to compete and that has stood out. He has jumped in and has been fighting the fight which is great to see.
3. What is your view of the new kids? Who do you have high hopes for and who do you think will have the most impact this year?
From draftees this year, that’s probably a tough question. We really want to be patient with the kids this year. Through past couple of seasons, we’ve got games into them but this year we will settle the team down and get experience into them.
The youngsters will need to earn a game. Yarran is going to be a good player and he has silky smooth skills. Robinson, Rhys O’Keefe and Caleb Tiller will also be around the mark.
4. What is the induction process like for the new recruits? How sophisticated is it compared to when you joined the club in the late 80s?
It is a lot different because of full time aspect of the game nowadays. Previously you were just thrown in as a young kid to do the full training, but now we set programs to 70-75 percent in their first year. We try to look after their fatigue levels and don’t want them to break down.
They also have resources around for both inside footy and outside of footy to help them. It is a great opportunity for young men to get themselves in and set themselves up after their careers are over, because as we know the average career only lasts four years.
At the moment we’ve got about 98 percent of players doing something outside of footy. Some of the boys are going to Uni, some are buying franchises, and it is a credit to them that they will have a career when their footy finishes.
5. Did you participate in all or most of the activities on the recent training camp, and which activities did you find most difficult? Have you noticed a greater level of group bonding since the camp?
Some the coaches did, but early on the training camp Stealth Development who were running it told us that they wanted to keep our contact with the players minimal. We could be around them but we couldn’t speak to them, which increased the level of intensity as they had no support around them. But the coaching staff did some of the activities, about 30%.
We have seen a lot of benefits coming out of the camp in regards to the standards required at the football club, and the players have a lot more understanding about themselves and a greater appreciation for their mates. In one activity the players talked about strengths and weaknesses, and this helped them to have empathy for mates and the ability to help and support them.
6. How is Robert Harvey going & can you tell us a bit about what sort of work you do together?
Harvs works in development area with the younger players. He works under Darren Harris and is also Mark Riley’s assistant in midfield.
He works with about the youngest 25 players on our list, and mostly the first to third year players. He is going fantastically well, his knowledge is outstanding and some of the players are in awe of him. You can see that at the training sessions.
7. Chris Judd had a great season last year but still got his own ball at a lot of stoppages. What do you have in mind for freeing up the great man a bit in 2009?
The big thing with Chris is to get balance into his game, so that instead of being the first possession player, other players need to rotate around the role. He only missed a couple of games last year, and in one of those games he missed against Richmond, we saw Gibbs, Murphy and others doing really well in that role.
8. What would your ideal spine be from Full Back to Full Forward from our current list and why are they best suited to those positions.
My ideal spine is a winning spine! I’ll give you three names: Fev at Full Forward, Jamison at Full Back, and Judd in the middle.
9. Reportedly you were always an eager coach and often took plays and ideas to David Parkin. Who on the current list plays that role?
Nick Stevens has a very good footy brain and plays that role well. I’d say Fevola is the main one, his understanding of the game even straight after is outstanding. He can almost replay the game and analyze it without looking at the vision, so he would be the closest to that role amongst the players.
10. All great coaches make mistakes and learn from them in order to improve. Do you personally review your own match day performance during the season as you would the players?
I look at the game and how I performed just like we do with the players. I go back through the tapes, and we actually record some of the audio from our coaching box and put it to the vision, so you can get a full picture of what is going on.
There was a game last year when I asked them not to be impatient and then I got impatient myself, and I said that that was my fault and we took actions. That is the beauty of the team getting together like this, if you make a blue you can rectify it quickly and get it back together.
11. Do you see the Bullants as a development side, or a legitimate second-string team in a decent competition who should be aiming at winning?
I think the Bullants team is about developing. But also if you win you develop a winning culture. It is important for the Bullants players to develop in different positions to prepare themselves for AFL level.
We try to get a happy medium between developing and winning. It is a tough one, we don’t want to say that we developed all our players but only won two games for the year at that level!
12. At home, what is your favorite piece of Carlton memorabilia from your playing days?
I got a piece from a testimonial which showed photos from when I received the number 7 guernsey when I had played one game in 1991, and then a piece on me and a photo from the premiership year in 1995, and some other details on there. It shows the start, middle and end of my career and it is a good piece for me to sit back and remember my days as a player.
13. If you could add one player from the 1995 Premiership side to our current list, who would it be and why?
Can I say two? I would take Sticks because he would be fantastic at Centre Half Forward but he probably didn’t actually play there much at that time, and I would also take Silvagni because he would be fantastic for our backline and give Jamison a hand down back.
In a year in which much is expected from an emerging Carlton team, coach Brett Ratten has the side well and truly focused leading into the first round of pre-season games. With the addition of Robert Harvey to the coaching staff and some intensive pre-season training activities, Ratten has made it clear that the Blues’ young talent will be made to earn their spots in what will be a highly competitive side in 2009.
