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Dear Aph, This year turned out to be really exciting for all of us. There's no denying that the start of the season was tough: however, with what happened in the second half of the year, I hope that you, as our members and our supporters, can now see the true direction of this football club and where it is heading. It'd be remiss of me not to mention the fans first — our players are really lucky. We have an outstanding supporter base and our members have been very loyal and passionate. You are the lifeblood of our football club and I cannot wait for next year. I think we can get to 75,000 members — it’ll be great for our players. All the Bluebaggers have been an incredible support to myself, but much more importantly to the players: I look forward to that continuing in 2020. You all really get behind our players, you are so loud: the feeling at the ground is unbelievable. Speaking to some opposition players, they talk about how loud the Carlton members are — that is a huge compliment and you should be proud of that. We want to play a brand of football that will excite our members — we want you to look forward to coming to games. Sign up for 2020 and enjoy the ride because you are as much a part of this as any of us. Reflecting on the year, there were a number of positives to come out of it. We're a football club that wants to win. We've shown that we can compete with the best. The way we finished the season and the effort the playing group brought for a long period of time was really strong. There is some real chemistry in this team. How the players rallied against Fremantle, in those conditions and without Crippa, Harry and Charlie, that really set the tone for us. As the season went on, to beat St Kilda and see the way our fans got behind us shows there's some real excitement to come in the future. A lot of our growth is going to come from those players who are coming out of their third and fourth years. The reality is Kade Simpson and Marc Murphy probably aren't going to get a lot better — we'll aim for it, but it'll definitely be the younger guys who we will look to drive us forward. Guys like Charlie, Weiters, Samo, Cunners: I could name more. I think we saw a little bit of that this year and I'm really excited for that to continue. A good pre-season will allow them to perform at their best. We want to cement our brand, establish the way we want to play and score a bit more — we want to be a bit more attacking and defend in our front half. We've got to continue to look forward as a football club, we've got to continue to look for ways to get better. However, when it comes to 2019, it's important to acknowledge those who were rewarded for fantastic years. It's no surprise that Sam Walsh had the year that he had: to be the first NAB AFL Rising Star at our football club is a fantastic achievement. He has been super impressive from day one, and even at this early stage, our players can learn from him. He trains at an intensity that allows him to play at an elite level. Patrick Cripps had an outstanding year — you can see that in the awards he's winning and the recognition he is getting externally, from both the media and his peers. It's been tough for him, there's no doubt about that: it's not easy when you're the captain and there's a lot of change going on. He's someone who I know our players love running out with. The way he leads is through his performance. At the end of the day, his job was to go out there and play really good football — he did exactly that. It's quite incredible to be his size and play the way he does: to finish as an All Australian, third in the Brownlow and judged the Most Valuable Player by his peers, it was a phenomenal year. It'll be really exciting to get his co-captain out on the field next year. It's been tough for Sammy Docherty: two years in rehab is not easy. He has invested in the coaching aspect of the game and going forward, I think that'll help him. It'll help him in the sense that he's learned a lot about the game and what it takes to be a good football team. Whether it's on the field or off it, he'll continue to drive those standards. We had some real momentum to end the season and we'll have to carry that into the summer. It's an interesting one: at the end of the year, we wanted the games to keep on coming. We need to use that energy, reflect on the feeling of playing well and competing against the best. If we can use that and put it into a good pre-season, next year is going to be really exciting: not only for the players, but also for our fans who have been so good to us. The pre-season is crucial for our group, make no mistake about it. We've got to go to another level. The fact that our players have tasted that feeling of winning should only make them hungrier, to want it more and work really hard over summer. The challenge for us is to have a really strong pre-season and be ready to go. We know it's not just going to happen: we need to make it happen. I can't wait for next year and to see you all there with us. 75,000 reasons for us to get better. Bring it on. 
David Teague AFL Senior Coach |
