CARLTON has capped off the first week of contact training with its first ‘all-in’ session on Friday at Ikon Park.
Senior Coach David Teague put the team through the first match simulation as preparations ramped up for the Round 2 game against Melbourne.
It was the first time the team trained as a collective, with Monday’s session seeing the team split in half while other days have seen them train in groups of seven.
“Today is the first day we’ve got everyone together,” Teague told the media on Friday morning.
“I think the boys are excited to get to train with everyone and we’ll get a bit of match sim in today too.
“We’ll start getting them ready for our Round 2 game against Melbourne.”
As the preparations for the restart of the 2020 season draw nearer, one particular selection dilemma already looms over Teague’s head.
With neither the experienced Matthew Kreuzer or youngster Tom De Koning available for the game against Melbourne, Teague has been keeping a particularly close eye on new Blue Marc Pittonet.
“[Pittonet’s] been really physical and competitive at training and that’s the area we’ve loved the most,” he said.
“Hopefully he brings that physical component.
“Having said that, Levi Casboult was outstanding when he went into the ruck in Round 1. We’ve got a couple of options there and they’re going to have to fight for spots.
“If ‘Pitto’ keeps training the way he is, he’ll definitely be putting his hand right up there.”
Not buying into the news earlier in the week that the AFL had been looking at extending the bench for the remainder of the season, Teague remained solely focused on ensuring that the team were in the best physical shape come Round 2.
“We want our players to prepare to be ready to play and perform,” he said.
“It’s a challenge, but it’s a challenge we’ll come across.
“Match practice is going to be the key, we’ll have them conditioned to play when they’re at the Club.”
