Tim Watson has named Carlton as the winners of the 2021 Trade Period, after the Blues recruited three talented players and managed to hold on to pick 25 in the draft.
Adam Cerra, George Hewett and Lewis Young all joined the club from Fremantle, Sydney and the Western Bulldogs respectively.
However, the Blues did lose talented midfielder Sam Petrevski-Seton to the Eagles for just pick 52.
Watson believes the Blues have “done better than any other club” during what was a fairly quiet trade period.
“Carlton has brought in George Hewett in the midfield, who can play, a really good solid player, and Adam Cerra, who can play,” he told SEN Breakfast.
“Lewis Young, who can play at AFL level and probably still has some development.
“I think on talent that they’ve brought into their club, they lost Petrevski-Seton, they held on to pick 25, you’d have to say that they have probably done better than any other club in the competition.”
The Blues publicly targeted the top eight in 2021 but failed to reach the heights they had hoped, eventually culminating in the sacking of head coach David Teague.
They also enjoyed a successful trade period last year, and SEN Breakfast co-host Garry Lyon hopes they don’t repeat this season’s failures next year.
“This time last year we were saying how great Carlton was going to be because they got in Adam Saad and Zac Williams,” Lyon said.
“Cerra’s credentials are well established and Hewett’s a good citizen, so tick for Carlton.”
The Blues also recently appointed Michael Voss as their new head coach as the club embarks on a new era.