Carlton
 

The Team:

Carlton lost one of the best forwards in the competition over the pre-season via the AFL trade week, meaning a lot of pressure is going to be put on their young forward line in 2010. Fortunately though, despite who is in the forward 50, it is a given that they will be at least be given incredible delivery thanks to the amazing foot skills of Judd, Murphy and Gibbs. Carlton was definitely a team on the rise in 2009, and will certainly aim to get better than 7th. However, the question that will continually remain is whether they will be able to perform as well without Fevola, the main target of their forward entries for the past several years. Plenty of Dream Team points are to be made in Carlton’s midfield, however, those is other positions such as forward and back tend not to score as well, nor as consistently.

Who’s Hot?:

Brock McLean ($367,900): Has been a fitness freak all pre-season, and by all reports is tearing up the track! Hopefully he won’t break down like he seems to have done every other year!

Matthew Kruezer ($330,500): Amazing agility and presence for a guy of his size – he has certainly been impressive this pre-season and definitely deserves to be thought about in your ruck plans (unfortunately he is not listed as a forward too!). I am predicting big things this year!

Bryce Gibbs ($470,000): Bigger, stronger, fitter that last year! Very scary thought for opposition coaches, but a drool-inducing thought for those locking him into their dream teams!

Chris Yarran ($214,600): Has put on some weight and muscle as well as increased his fitness. Hopefully he gets his chance to shine in 2010.

Who’s Not?:

Jarrad Waite: Did his ACL half way through 2009 and is therefore on a monitored program – he will be very lucky to play round one.

Marc Murphy: Is recovering from hip surgery earlier this month. He is also on a restricted program, which will delay his start to the season.

The Bargain:

Robbie Warnock ($101,800): Robbie Warnock is the most talked about 21 game player in the history of the game – after Carlton moved heaven and hell to trade for him at the end of 2008, he ended an injury plagued 2009 season with exactly zero games to his name. There is a reason however that Carlton wanted the big man so much, standing at 208cm, he is extremely agile and fast for his size, also possessing a very important ball-winning ability (“YAY” cry the dream-teamers!). Taking only his skills into account, he is a mega bargain at just over $100k, but unfortunately, we do need to take his injuries into account. Fortunately though, he has had a relatively good pre-season and is currently training with the full group, aiming for a round one start. He is so much a good price for his skills, I know some seasoned dream teamers toying with playing him as their second ruck – put Matt Lobbe (ruck/forward) on the bench and Kurt Tippett (ruck/forward) in the forward line, and with the new “Change positions” rule, you could actually exchange Tippett into your rucks if the Warnock experiment fails… Without meaning to get too complicated, I consider Warnock a LOCK for at least third ruck!

The Kid:

Lachie Henderson ($226,000): Traded at the end of last year by Brisbane for Fevola (amongst other things). The kid is still young (only turned 20 in December), so he will not be a straight replacement for Fevola as key-position players typically take longer to develop. That said, Carlton will be hoping Henderson can play 22 games this year at full-forward as he is the future of the club’s forward line. I believe he has the potential to do so – it may even be said in a few years that Carlton won out of the Fevola trade – that is the strength of the wraps on this kid! He was a star as a junior, and in his third year, I believe this is when we will start to see these signs mimicked at senior level – especially with the amazing delivery that Judd, Murphy and Gibbs will give him every week! There may be some better choices around the same price-range, however, Henderson should still make a fair bit of money for his coaches this year. I do not see him as a keeper though.

The Premium:

Bryce Gibbs ($470,000): It is amazing to think that in only his fourth AFL season, Gibbs is already considered to be an elite player. But, despite his age, there is no doubting his talents – he is a tough player, happy to win his own ball, but also just as ease delivering it lace out to his forwards, a combination of talents rarely seen in today’s game. As another year passes, and Gibbs takes part in another pre-season campaign, the better he will get. He is only 20 years old and therefore still a while from hitting his peak – amazing isn’t it!? Therefore, at a pricey $470,000, I think Gibbs is still of fair value – there is no doubting he has room for improvement, and with the classy midfield around him, he will not consistently get the main opposition tagger, however this may not be too far away! I think this year the difference between Gibbs’ best and worst will be far smaller, therefore making him a great elite pick-up. I believe he will finish top 5 in the Dream Team this year, and maybe even the Brownlow!

The Smokey:

Chris Yarran ($214,600): He didn’t play nearly as many games as people expected him to last year, and that is reflected in his low starting price. This pre-season, Yarran has bulked up his body as well as increasing his much publicized fitness base. All of these signs point to a possibly significant increase in duties for Yarran in 2010, however the question of consistency is still going to be raised – last year, like in his junior years, Yarran was very inconsistent – not only week to week, but also within games. He needs to prove in the pre-season that he is able to stay switched on for the full four-quarters before he is worth considering. But if he does, the upside is large, and he could be worth making the punt on.