THE future is in Carlton’s hands.

That was the message from Senior Coach David Teague on the first day of pre-season when the first to fourth-year players returned on Monday morning.

Raring to go in what will be his first full year at the helm, Teague spoke to media on Wednesday morning on his expectations ahead of the 2020 season.

“It will really depend on how we come back and how we train. I think it’s in our hands, which I love,” Teague said.

“We’ve got to make it happen, but I believe in this playing group. At the end of the year, they started to believe in themselves as well.

“Right now, it’s in our hands in terms of what we can achieve. I’m not going to put a ceiling on it, I just want to see us become the best we can.”

With the opportunity to mould his own game plan in the coming months, Teague is first focusing on engaging the playing group.

According to Teague, this pre-season will be all about the players and forming and adapting their own unique game style.

“I always have thoughts on how the game should be played, but I want to get a bit of the player buy-in and also allow our players to discover it themselves,” he said.

“We’ve got some thoughts, but we’re going to come to a final game style as a group together by watching vision and learning together, so hopefully that will get them really engaged.

“It’s probably a little bit different: most clubs I’ve been at, there’s been a bit of a game style handed to them at the start and then it evolves.”

Returning star Eddie Betts made his first appearance on the training track on Tuesday morning, with the veteran joining his younger teammates in their second session back.

The Senior Coach said he was keen to get the former Blue back home during the 2019 Telstra AFL Trade Period.

“I was keen: we were looking to add a bit of small forward talent to our group and Eddie is great in that,” he said.

“But Eddie brings so much more than just on-field, off-field he brings a lot. He’ll be a great leader for this football club.

“I think it’s a great fit and I think his leadership as well as a his performance on the field will be really valuable to the football club.”