AS THE countdown to the season proper continues, Carlton Media caught up with the Blues' assistant coaches to discuss how a number of players are placed with five weeks to go. 

Commencing proceedings is midfield coach John Barker, who provided comments on six Navy Blue midfielders ranging from the co-captain, a new recruit and a 2020 star who is primed to spend more time in the clinches. 

Here's what Barker had to say:

6. Zac Williams

Barker's comments: "His training at the moment is showing a really good capacity to work his way through pressure: he delivers the ball through pressure, stays composed under pressure and when the opposition has got the ball in his area, his pressure and attack on the opposition has been very, very good.

"His speed around some of our inside ball is something to look forward to. He may spend some time down back but he’s spending more time in the midfield."

7. Matthew Kennedy

Barker's comments: "He’s been training as a midfielder. He continues to improve his inside work and has done a great job at improving his running capacity over the last two pre-seasons, but especially this pre-season. He’s giving himself a great opportunity to play some good footy this year.

"All of our guys will spend time as inside midfielders and up forward as well at stages, and we know that Matty has a great set of hands for a midfielder and he’s utilised that before when he’s gone forward. He brings great energy to training each session."

9. Patrick Cripps

Barker's comments: "I think it’s well known that he has come back after his shoulder operation and while last year he tried to trim right up and improve his running, he’s decided what works best for him is his strength and his power.

"He has worked on that this pre-season so he can be just as aggressive and dominant on the inside as he in previous years."

13. Liam Stocker

Barker's comments: "He's in his third year in now and his run has continued to improve. He’s very strong in the contest but he’s continuing to grow that also: with a lot of young players, he’s looking to continue to improve his consistency and train with consistency. That’ll give him the ability to play consistently well.

"Young players can go in and out of form over the course of the season so the ability to sustain good training habits is what helps them in this area. He’s been training as a midfielder but he’s continuing to work on all aspects of his game to fit in where needed if needed, he’s training to be flexible."

21. Jack Martin

Barker's comments: "He’s spending more time through the midfield this pre-season, specifically more as an inside midfielder: we know how good he is as a ball hunter. He’s very hard to tackle and what he brings to the inside is his elite pressure. If he’s not winning it, he’ll be applying significant pressure to the opposition.

"He’s got a great ability to evade and get out of traffic and he’s continued to work on that over the pre-season. He’ll play both midfield and up forward: what we want to do is expose him to more midfield minutes this year."

43. Will Setterfield

Barker's comments: "‘Setters’ is someone who keeps taking steps forward. He had his first real pre-season last year so the fact that he’s going to get another pre-season now is massive for him. His inside work last year was great and he’s become a real barometer around stoppages. Arguably the most impressive thing about him is he’s one of those guys who’s working really hard to help our midfield organise around contests and stoppages.

"His smarts are what have grown significantly not only over the last year, but over this pre-season in particular. His running has gone to another level and he’s built on the foundation that he grew in the last pre-season on the back of an ACL injury.

"He’s a true hybrid for us, he’s got the ability to play inside and out and he’s going to give us some real flexibility."

The next pre-season report card will be live on the Carlton website on Saturday.