Carlton coach Brendon Bolton is confident that the club’s 90 point loss to Port Adelaide on Friday night will be a valuable learning experience for the raft of Blues youngsters that took to the field at Adelaide Oval.
Bolton’s decision to rest experienced players Matthew Krezuer and Dale Thomas due to soreness and instead play debutant Cameron Poulson and 30-game ruckman Andrew Phillips was met with shock by both supporters and the media, with the prevailing belief that the Blues would play a more experienced team when outside Victoria to help the young side restrict the potential losing margin.
Bolton stood by his selection table choices despite the ugly result, believing the experience of playing in a hostile environment against fancied opposition will be a valuable lesson to the club’s younger players.
“I just thought it was too good of an opportunity for our youngsters to miss. Friday night footy, hostile environment, big crowd,” he told SEN’s Crunch Time.
“In time, it is a long game and it should pay us back… these youngsters have been doing well in the VFL and we think they deserve this opportunity (at AFL level).”
Bolton however says that it is still important to have a mix of senior top-end talent and youth, defending the Blues’ decision to recruit 28-year-old Rhys Palmer despite the third-club player only making one senior appearance so far in 2017 – a largely ineffectual display in Carlton’s win over Essendon in Round 3.
He says Palmer provides the Blues with additional middle-tier depth that is needed to help protect the club’s younger players.
“I think it is all a balancing act and making sure we have a mix of both (experience and youth),” Bolton said.
“Rhys has been a real competitor. He can hit the scoreboard and he finds the ball…We’ve just got to make sure we’ve got some sort of balance in our list build.
“We know we have some really top-end talent. We’ve also injected some youth and in our middle-tier we need some depth.
“It’s going to be a long year and it’s very important that these guys with stronger bodies can help our kids because it’s going to be difficult for our kids to play 22 rounds in probably what is the most brutal competition in the world.”
The second-year coach also touched on Carlton’s forward half structure, defending the decision to play two tall forwards alongside Jacob Weitering, who has made the swap from defence to attack in his second season of AFL football.
Bolton expects that the 2015 number one draft pick will eventually develop into a swingman – someone who can impact the game at both ends of the field.
“We just needed more of a focal point up forward while we’re developing and he has straightened us up this year,” he said.
“His game as night was a little inconsistent, he would be the first to admit that, but what we do think is that we have a genuine swingman – someone who can play at both ends – and he continues to train at both ends.”