“WE’RE UNDER no illusions that it takes a hell of a lot of hard work to flick over that winning side of it, but I feel like we’ve done the work, we’ve got the right game style and the players to be able to do that.”

For the first time since walking inside the four walls of IKON Park, Sam Docherty has the belief that his Carlton side has the ability to shake things up in a meaningful way.

Speaking ahead of the Blues’ traditional season opener on Thursday night, Docherty joined RSN to discuss all things Carlton on RSN.

In particular, a key area of address for the co-captain was where Carlton’s improvement would come from in 2021, and how the Blues are planning to make the jump this upcoming season.

Shedding some light into the pre-season just gone, Docherty said he has full faith in a number of factors across the football club to give the team every possible chance to succeed.

“The way that ‘Teaguey’ has come in since he started has been about building this brand of footy. Sometimes it does take some time for everyone to understand what it looks like and what it feels like,” Docherty said.

“We’ve got a core group that has played together for a little while now and the majority of it last year. We’re all on board with the way we play.

“We’ve been pretty open with the way we want to play our footy: we want to get the ball in our forward half, we want to keep in there and we want to win that stat.”

When asked about the additions of Adam Saad and Zac Williams, Docherty said the widespread consensus of those on Royal Parade was the need for speed from a Navy Blue perspective.

On the back of their acquisitions to a Carlton game plan which will clearly back in its pace on turnover, the co-captain is dreaming of his first taste of September action at his boyhood club.

However, it’s clear that Docherty - and the rest of the playing group he represents - won’t just think ‘it’s going to happen’.

“Finals don’t get handed to you. There are 17 teams trying to do the same thing,” he said.

“It’s the first time that I’ve been in the media that I can come out and say we’re expecting to play finals. That’s a good sign.

“It comes with the fact that we need to work hard, which is obvious: we understand how hard the game is and how hard you need to work to get that.

“We feel like we’ve got the game style and the list to be there.”

Of course, the argument will come from Carlton supporters that last year may very well have been the year for the Blues to pinch a top-eight berth.

Sitting a win outside the eight with a game in hand after Round 13, the Blues ultimately felt two-and-a-half wins short.

In some ways, Docherty believes it was the year which Carlton needed to have. And it wasn’t one performance which built belief for the Blues, but rather a collection of performances which proved the team was on the right track.

“It’s probably the fact that we were in all games: I don’t think there was a game last year where we weren’t in a winning position,” he said.

“I’ve been at the Club where you’re walking out and within the first quarter, you’re down by 10 goals and you can’t win the game.

“The fact that last year, where for the majority of games you’re going into third or fourth quarters to make it very close or win the game, shows firstly that you’ve got the group and then that you’ve the game style to put you in games of footy.

“You’ve then got to finish those games of footy and you’ve got to win them, which is the next step for us.”