CARLTON’s backline has been its key asset in 2019, thanks in no small part to the tireless work of key defender Jacob Weitering.

The fourth-year Blue’s season is shaping up to be his most consistent yet, playing all 13 games so far and finishing among the side’s best on several occasions.

Weitering reflected on his standout season in this week’s edition of The Two Tones podcast.

“The backline itself has had a really consistent year. We’ve probably been – with a bit of bias here – probably the strongest line,” Weitering said.

“When guys have gone down like ‘Jonesy’ did midway through that first half of the season, Levi came in an did a great job for us, and ‘Marchy’ has really come on.”

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At only 21 years of age, Weitering has revealed his leadership credentials in defence in the absence of skipper Sam Docherty.

The 2015 No.1 draft pick is approaching career-best form, averaging 6.6 spoils and 2.6 intercept marks over the first half of the season.

“Obviously last year was a very challenging year for me. There was a fair bit of adversity and there were a lot of individuals that helped me both on and off the field,” he said of his development.

“I guess I took as much advice as I could on board and trained as well as I could.

“I guess if you put it down to one, it’s probably the pre-season I had. [It was] strong, consistent and I did just about every session so that’s probably the main one.”

Weitering was quick to commend his young teammates and their development heading into the second half of the season.

“It’s really exciting actually. Obviously I’ve been here for four years now and I’m probably one of the more senior players in the team,” he said.

“We’ve got guys like Sam Walsh coming in and having a massive impact in his first year.”