INSIDE midfield? Wing? Down back? Even half-forward?
The answer to that is the classic football cliche for Sam Docherty — ‘wherever the coaches want me’.
The versatile veteran added even more strings to his bow in 2023, and he envisages it’ll be a similar scenario in 2024.
After starting the year in his traditional position down back, Docherty very much became Carlton’s Mr Fix It as the season progressed, either due to team form or available personnel.
He spent September largely playing on the wing, while he even started across half-forward in the preliminary final against Brisbane.
And Docherty believes that’ll be the case once again this year.
“The back end of last year, I was basically playing as a full-time mid. I ended up everywhere, plugging holes,” Docherty said.
“[I played] half-forward, midfield, wing. It’ll be the same sort of role for me this year.”
"I really feel like I’ve grown up into who I am and who I wanted to be at Carlton."
— Carlton FC (@CarltonFC) January 23, 2024
Now the senior head of the playing group, Nic Newman has matured alongside a core body of players at IKON Park.
Take a further look at our list by the numbers 👇
And there’s one particular return which allows Docherty to be at the entire coaching staff’s beck and call.
Zac Williams is continuing to ramp up his recovery from the ACL injury which sidelined him in 2024, and Docherty can’t wait to see him back in full flight.
“I’m excited to see the impact he can have on our group. When guys miss 12 months, you forget how good they are.
“It takes some time to get some confidence, so stick him in the position that he knows [across half-back] and see how it goes from there.”
