David Teague admits it is a tricky proposition attempting to put together Carlton’s best 22 for 2021.
The Blues coach has seen the likes of Zac Williams, Adam Saad and Lachie Fogarty join the club during the trade period while Corey Durdin, Jack Carroll and Luke Parks (rookie) arrived via the draft.
After finishing the 2020 season in 11th position, there is plenty of positivity in the air at Ikon Park and Teague admits the depth of the playing group is further enhancing that.
“You’re always thinking of it,” he told SEN’s Bob and Andy when asked if he has had a look at the Blues’ best possible team.
“I have to admit, in the off-season I sat down and I tried to pick the best 22, and the good thing was I couldn’t actually finalise it.
“It’s going to come down to who is playing well at the right times.
“Right now, we’ve got some great depth in the sense that we’ve got plenty of guys that have either played AFL footy or we believe strongly are going to be good AFL footballers.”
Teague knows that in order for the Blues to push for finals for the first time since 2013, the improvement must come from developing players and those below the top echelon.
“What we’re looking for now is that next group of guys that are virtually locks every week,” he added.
“They put their hand up, they’ve done the work, they’ve trained hard and it gets to match committee and you can’t pick the team without them.
“That’s where our growth is going to come from. From our third and fourth-year players to our six or seven-year players, we need to grow.
“We didn’t play finals this year. As much as our supporters were excited that we were in a lot of games, there were also a lot of supporters who want to see us playing finals.
“We’ve got to get better and we understand that right now.”