Plenty of sunshine and a freshly cut oval at Visy Park greeted Carlton’s youngest players as they returned to training today.
 
After a two-month break the Blues’ 1-4 year players were put to work with skills training, running drills and a weights session.
 
Among the players beginning their pre-season today were Troy Menzel, Dylan Buckley, Kane Lucas, Matthew Watson, Sam Rowe, Tom Temay, Josh Bootsma, Andrew McInnes, Tom Bell, Nick Graham, Nick Duigan, Ed Curnow, Jaryd Cachia, Levi Casboult, Simon White, and new recruit Sam Docherty.
 
Ed Curnow led the pack through some sprints, while Tom Bell and Dylan Buckley were hot on his heels. 
 
Assistant Coach Rob Wiley says it was a pleasing first-up effort.
 
“They attacked the session pretty well, we had a little bit of a combination of skills and conditioning,” Wiley said.  
 
“I think at the end of the conditioning they were pretty pleased that it was over, but they all seemed pretty happy to be back.”
 
Some fresh faces joined the team for the first time; along with Docherty it was the first Blues training session for Assistant Coach Dean Laidley and High Performance Manager David Buttifant.  
 
Wiley says the team can expect a more challenging pre-season than last year, under Buttifant’s regime.
 
“We did pretty well to finish sixth, but if we want to go further up the ladder we have to make sure that they push themselves,” Wiley said.
 
“So I think David has set them some challenges in some hard running, but also at the end when we think we’ve finished he’ll give us a little bit more.
 
“I think sometimes that’s great for the mental toughness and the training of the boys.”
 
Carlton’s senior players resume training on December 2, before flying out for a pre-season training camp in Arizona.