AS PART of Carlton Media’s commitment to keep members and fans connected during the AFL shutdown, Director of High Performance Andrew Russell took to Twitter to answer your questions. 

Here are a few of the best.

What does the running program look like for the average player while we are on hiatus? - Ed Walton

AR: Everyone has an individualised program that covers all needs. Once every 9-10 days, they’re doing a game simulation type session.

Within that, they’re doing pre-planned sprints, agility movements, kicking drills and more. The only thing they don’t get is man-on-man contact.

Are our longer-term injured players more driven and excited by the potential of still playing considering the season has been pushed out? – Brunsburg

AR: It’s an interesting question but it's spot on.

There’s a lot of uncertainty, but you could see a sense of belief by some and a sense of excitement by others when they realised they may not miss much of the season at all. 

There was also excitement from the main group.  

How has the team changed since you first took over Carlton’s high performance? - Sabrina 

AR: The main thing 18 months ago was there were so many new players

As teammates, they didn’t know each other: teams that play well understand each other and have great relationships on and off the field. 

The main thing is they’ve built a strong connection really quickly. 

Physically, we’re certainly leaner with a lot less body fat.

Guys like Paddy Dow and David Cuningham, who are explosive, have improved their repeat ability having been in the system longer.

AFL players needs 3-5 years in the system to get to their best level.

Are you worried about Charlie Curnow’s Injury? Are you confident he can come back this season and perform to his potential? - T McDowall

AR: We understand it’s a significant injury and we understand the injury. We feel confident that he’s going to get back and play high-level footy: the one thing we don’t know for certain is when that’s going to be.

To get a good result, we need to take time and take timeframes out of the equation to get a good long-term outcome. He’s having another update tomorrow which will determine his progression. What we know about Charlie is that he’s an extremely hard worker.

Do you think the time off will be a detriment to the players or will give them more time to become fitter and more match-ready? - Alice 

AR: I don’t think it’ll be a detriment but I don’t think they’ll be fitter given we trained for five months. For the majority of our players, it’s about maintaining the fitness of the five months.

The advantage is for those who have had an interrupted preparation due to injury. 

What does lockdown mean for an elite athlete? How do they ensure they remain at peak fitness for a competition which may resume in two months time? - Joe

AR: They have the mindset of an elite athletes, which in their very nature are optimistic individuals. Until we know otherwise, we’re preparing for 31 May.

We’ve got a structured program. The biggest challenge won’t be training: it’ll be staying motivated to eat/sleep well.

These players love being around each other and love getting energy from each other. They’re finding ways to stay connected because when we do resume, it’ll come very quickly and we’re going to have to get into football shape very quickly.

Hi Andrew , I was wondering how Caleb Marchbank and Eddie Betts’s injuries are progressing? – Fletcher

AR: Eddie did a running session this morning: if it was in-season, he’d be back training skills within 1-2 weeks.

We expect him to do a really good conditioning block and be ready to play when we’re back.

‘Marchy’s’ knee is tracking well. We expect him to train shortly and certainly be back playing when we resume. 

Why are we so injury prone. Happens every year. It needs to be handled better? – GezimNex87

AR: If we had have played football this week, seven wouldn't have been available.

Two of those we've had some sort of control over: Eddie Betts with his calf and Harry McKay with his groin.

We feel very comfortable with our injury prevention and our performance program right now.

How’s Brodie Kemp doing? – Charlie

AR: He’s six-and-a-half months post-ACL: his attitude to his rehab has been absolutely first class. He’s now got more muscle bulk on his injured leg than his uninjured leg (which is rare). 

He’s giving high-level running and change of direction and undertaking kicking drills. He hasn’t been included in group training.

Which of our young players are you most excited to see bloom? – Kevin

AR: I've been really impressed with all of our drafted players this year. Sam Philp has been extremely impressive in understanding what's required to be a high-level AFL player.

Tom De Koning has shown great maturity with his preparation this year.

Jack Martin has been outstanding with how driven he is to be a great Carlton player. Finbar O'Dwyer and Matthew Owies are guys who are giving themselves every opportunity to play AFL footy.