WHEN asked whether this kind of start to the season from Harry McKay had taken Sam Docherty by surprise, the co-captain was emphatic in his response.

He’d expected this from the key forward all along.

With another four-goal haul on the weekend, McKay became just the ninth individual in Carlton history to register 30 goals from his opening eight games.

Leading the Coleman Medal and with five performances contributing at least four goals so far this season, Docherty said McKay’s season was as a result of his combination of talent and application.

“We always knew he had talent, but he’s got a really high work ethic in terms of his position and dedication to his craft,” Docherty said on RSN's Inner Sanctum.

“He’s had that for his whole career.

“From day one when he got here until now, he’s always been doing little drills about his marking and whatnot.

“This was the year where I was like ‘this guy is going to be very, very good’.”

McKay has attracted the match-up of the opposition’s best defender each week, including Darcy Moore (four goals), Harris Andrews (six goals) and Alex Keath (four goals).

Docherty said the tell-tale sign of McKay’s progression was evident over the summer when he came up against arguably the All-Australian full back at the moment — in pre-season.

“We’ve got some pretty good tall defenders at our club, and at stages through the pre-season he was being a handful for Jacob Weitering,” he said.

“If anyone is a handful for ‘Weiters’, you’re going to be a bloody good players because he gets most guys most week and plays really well.

“He’s having a super year, which is really good for us.”