“I WANT to be the bloke at the end that says I helped turn the Carlton Football Club around.”

Despite a challenging week at Ikon Park, it’s clear to see that Sam Docherty’s desire and drive is unwavering.

Particularly, his determination to bring success to the Old Dark Navy Blues.

Speaking on RSN’s Inner Sanctum, a passionate Docherty spoke about the ultimate end goal and the sense of reward that will come with it.

“The thing that ‘Crippa’ and I keep going back to is building this club up to where we all want it to go,” Docherty said.

"I see a group that can take us forward. That excites me as a leader, knowing that I’m part of that group.”

Growing up in a Navy Blue family, Docherty said he sympathises with the Bluebagger faithful which is feeling the strain right now.

The joint captain said while the road has been a long and arduous one, his faith in the Club and its direction was as strong as ever.

“I know it hurts now, but if we get there, the reward and the sense of how much work we had to put in to get that will be so special,” he said.

“I know that it’s hard to sit there and go ‘we just keep losing, the players keep losing, the Club keeps losing. Do something, change the coach, change the administrators’.

“If you can support us through this rough time, the sense of enjoyment and fulfilment if we do win one or get back up there towards the top of the ladder will be so big. It’s what keeps driving me.”

With last month marking the five-year anniversary since he debuted at Carlton, Docherty said the Blues were in a much better place now than at any other point since he’s been at Ikon Park.

He said that despite having won more games in previous seasons, this young group has the ability to take ownership of the Club’s future.

“For me, I felt at rock bottom four years ago. I was sitting there thinking ‘what are we doing? Where’s this next group to take us forward?’,” he said.

“We won more games back then, but the majority of the list was older… [now] I see a group that can take us forward.

“Everything hasn’t gone smooth sailing, I don’t think anything in life does.

“It doesn’t change the fact that we’ve got a really good group that we think can go forward.”