Not surprisingly it was a very happy Brett Ratten who sat down to review the Exchange Period.
“We are very pleased to recruit Robbie Warnock, he will be a huge help to our hit outs and I think it is a real win for us,” Ratten said on the exchange that saw the 206cm ruckman join Carlton.
“He is very versatile for his height and is a good kick so I believe we have a ten year player for the Carlton Football Club,” Ratten added.
Ratten confirmed getting the hands on the ball at centre bounces is a huge bonus in centre clearance work and that is where a 206cm player has an advantage of the shorter ruckman. However Ratten was quick to point out that the expectations on Warnock from some people may be too high, particularly in his first year with Carlton.
“He is still growing and whatever he does in 2009, we know he will be even better in 2010.”
Ratten even suggested it would be great to have Carlton’s former 206cm ruckman, Justin Madden, catch up with Warnock to talk to him about Carlton and the important role Warnock will play for the Blues going forward.
Importantly Carlton has retained its first selection in the National Draft, pick six overall, and that is very exciting with such a promising group of players in this year’s draft. As for who Carlton will select Ratten said that was not possible to say at this stage.
“At selection six my personal opinion is to pick the best player available, later on in the draft you may pick more on your needs. Obviously we are not sure who will still be available at pick six so we will earmark three or four (players) and see what happens on draft day.”
Ratten is also confident Carlton will select some good players later in the draft such as they did in 2007 with Dennis Armfield and Steven Browne, but admitted the recruiters keep their cards close to their chests until draft day so we will have to wait to see if the Blues can unearth another ‘smokey’.
Of course the other exciting news from the Exchange Period was the recruiting of Robert Harvey as an Assistant Coach for 2009.
“It is fantastic for a player of his calibre to join Carlton and to be able to offer his advice to our players. He has been an absolute champion of the game. I am sure our players, like they have done with Chris Judd, will be sucking every bit of information they can out of him and I am sure he will have a few shadows on the training track,” Ratten said.
As for Harvey’s role, he will be a Development Coach, part of the skills acquisition team and he will also work in the leadership program.
“Harvey will take over Matthew Lappin’s role in Development and ‘Lappo’ will become an Assistant Coach, looking after the forward line and Brett Montgomery will look after the backline.”
He was about to go on leave but there was no doubting the enthusiasm in Ratten’s voice as he looked back at a busy week for the Carlton Football Club.
CFC TV – Ratten’s Trade week wrap
