A KEY focus of Carlton’s summer would be its mid-forward connection, according to Senior Coach David Teague.

Answering questions exclusively from the fans after the first day of pre-season, Teague said Carlton would continue to back itself when it came to taking the game on and playing an aggressive, attractive brand of football.

Citing the balance between playing exciting football and banking four points each week, Teague said that the Blues’ growth would come from their work forward of centre.

Looking at the influence the late Phil Walsh had on his coaching philosophy, Teague believed the Blues could be in for stark improvement in the attacking phase.

“I was a very defensive-minded coach when I started my journey. Phil Walsh changed my thoughts a little bit: he said fans come for a reason and we only have this game because of the fans,” Teague said.

“We’ve got great fans at Carlton… I want them excited. The balance is they want to see us win as well. We’re going to find a style that balances the two… we probably went too defensive this year.

“In terms of the connection forward, [the question] is spot on. We were fourth for inside 50s but only seventh for scores. It’s one of our focus areas.”

Teague lamented Carlton’s inefficiency in isolating their forward targets, with the Senior Coach mentioning the Club would persist with the three-pronged attack if form permits.

He said the team was looking to add more speed on the ball, through the likes of recruit Zac Williams, Jack Martin and David Cuningham getting more midfield minutes.

“We want to get it into them, but we were last this year for kicking to a one-on-one contest: we’ve got to move the ball a bit quicker and give our forwards the chance to be one-on-one a bit more,” he said.

“If we’re going to play with the three talls, we need to make sure we’re getting it to them isolated, into space and to their advantage.

“This year, we probably got challenged in that area with Charlie out, Mitch missing a few games and Jack Silvagni was out. Depending on who’s in form, we as a coaching group feel that’s the right way to go.”

Teague answered a wide range of questions from the supporters in Carlton’s first fans press conference, including which young Blues he thought were the best-performed on the first day of pre-season.

For the Senior Coach’s full thoughts, watch the video in the player above.