CONSISTENCY and confidence is the backbone of Paddy Dow’s recent AFL showing, according to Head of Development Luke Power.
Following a frustrating beginning to the season, Dow returned to the AFL fold in Round 12 after a month out of the side and has been backed with greater midfield minutes.
Since making his way back in the line-up, Dow has averaged five clearances: the most of anyone in Navy Blue, ahead of co-captain Patrick Cripps (4.2) and Matthew Kennedy (4).
Speaking on Carlton Coaches’ Corner, Power said the coaching staff sees Dow as “a really big part of our future”.
“It’s no coincidence that his training block in the past couple of months has been the most consistent of his career,” Power said.
“He’s been working really hard and he’s been doing a lot of work with Brent Stanton, our midfield coach, and also our high performance team on being able to replicate his repeat speed efforts.
“We’ve really backed him in to play big minutes in the midfield. It’s been great to see him play to his strengths.”
Those strengths have been evident over the course of the past month, particularly his performance against Fremantle which saw him awarded coaches’ votes.
It’s been a feature of Dow’s game to see him extract the ball and emerge from a contested situation, backing his pace against some of the competition’s best midfielders.
It’s a rare trait which Power believes can set Dow apart.
“There aren’t a lot of players in the competition that do have the power to break from contests, but Paddy is definitely one of those,” he said.
“It’s been great to see over the past couple of weeks where he just picks the ball up at full speed under pressure and can find and space for his teammates by driving his legs out of contests.”
In terms of the finished product, the final part of the equation is a constant work in progress for Dow, with Power mentioning how Carlton’s No.2 has been intent on fine-tuning his ball use on the training track.
“When he’s breaking out, he’s starting to be able to use the ball and hurt the opposition going forward,” he said.
“It’s a credit to him, he’s worked really hard on his ball use over the past couple of years.
“We’re looking forward to seeing him firstly break from congestion, but also too be able to use the ball to our advantage.”
Paddy Dow by the numbers
Rounds 12-17
18.2 disposals per game
9.6 contested possessions per game
Five clearances per game (No.1 at Carlton)
14.4 centre bounce attendances per game
