Carlton skipper Patrick Cripps says there’s a silver lining for the Blues amid a spate of accidents, with a strong duo constructing chemistry on the monitor.
Key forwards Harry McKay and Charlie Curnow have accomplished full pre-seasons and are forming a stronger partnership as they lastly get an uninterrupted run of enjoying collectively, Cripps stated.
At the beginning of final season, the 2 Coleman medallists had managed solely 25 of a attainable 130 video games collectively however labored in tandem for 19 video games final yr because the Blues fell achingly wanting a breakthrough finals berth.
“Having guys like Harry and Charlie having a full pre-season, you see them working together – they haven’t played a lot of footy together,” Cripps stated.
“You can go all over the ground (to find pre-season standouts), but I think our forward line is starting to mix well and have a lot of continuity together.
“We’ve just got to get it in there as midfielders and let them kick the goals.”
Cripps praised small forwards Jesse Motlop and Corey Durdin, who had put collectively a “really good block of training”.
He stated the depth of Carlton’s pre-season had been lifted to a brand new degree from final yr, attributing it to the Blues’ skilled enjoying group.
“As this group keeps maturing and keeps developing together, that bar is going to keep being raised,” he stated.
Cripps stated he was not fussed by the damage “narrative” popping out of the membership following a season-ending ACL damage to Zac Williams and a severe foot fracture for Sam Philp final week.
It comes as Jordan Boyd and Matt Cottrell additionally attempt to get well from foot fractures, whereas luckless pair Caleb Marchbank and David Cuningham stay away from the principle coaching group.
Star midfielder Sam Walsh is progressing in his return from again surgical procedure however nonetheless had no comeback date, he stated on Thursday.
“I haven’t looked too far ahead. Every session there’s incremental gains that are involved. We haven’t put a timeline on the contact stuff just yet,” Walsh stated.
“Certainly with the back there’s some strict timelines that you have to follow, but now that we’ve passed that six-week mark, we can start a lot of things.
Walsh said he had learned the hard way last season that he needed to manage his body carefully to perform strongly in the run home.
“Like anyone, you want to have a body of work that sets you up for playing a good block of solid football that leads you to good back-end (of season) footy because that’s when it really counts,” he stated.
“We’re actually pretty healthy, we’re athletes in a collision sport – there’s going to be injuries and that’s just the nature of what we do,” Cripps stated.
“The majority of our list has completed a big block of pre-season, so we feel like we’re in a really good position to attack the year.”
Source: www.news.com.au
