Carlton to take ‘more-balanced approach’ for list build, says CEO Cain Liddle

It’s mission accomplished for Carlton in terms of plundering the national draft. Now to add to their young group by raiding opposition stocks.

Josh Kelly’s signature is in demand. Pic: AAP

It’s mission accomplished for Carlton in terms of plundering the national draft. Now to add to their young group by raiding opposition stocks.

Blues chief Cain Liddle didn’t quite put it that way but the message was clear: Brendon Bolton’s squad is on the lookout for elite talent to complement their developing list — and that could include a poaching attempt on GWS gun Josh Kelly.

This year the Blues tried to entice former Giant Dylan Shiel to Ikon Park, even flying the star midfielder to Noosa to meet club officials.

DANGER GAME: STAR CAT NO HYPOCRITE

CHRISTMAS LIST: WHAT DOES YOUR CLUB WANT?

While that pitch might have fallen short — Shiel eventually choosing Essendon as his preferred new home — Carlton will take a “more-balanced approach” as it continues its list build in coming seasons. Kelly is not a free agent but will be out of contract at the end of 2019.

Carlton would welcome Josh Kelly at Ikon Park. Pic: AAP

When asked about potentially making a play for Kelly, Liddle opted to talk bigger picture.

“We’ve mentioned a couple of times that our plan ... was to go to three drafts,” he said.

“We’ve done that now and our plan this year was to take a more-balanced approach where we wanted to continue to bring in young talent but we did need to start bringing in some players in that age demographic that we just don’t have, that 23 to 26-year-old, which we successfully did with the likes of Mitch McGovern (24) and Will Setterfield (20).”

Kelly, the former Victorian, has been the subject of multiple poaching bids from Melbourne-based clubs in recent years.

“We’ll continue to take that balanced approach,” Liddle told SEN when asked about targeting free agents.

“You’ve really got to assess that come November, depending on where we sit in the draft order, what our list looks like, what our needs are.

“Whereas previously we were adamant about bringing youth in, there is definitely a more balanced approach now.”

No.1 draft pick Sam Walsh with Brendon Bolton

Carlton CEO Cain Liddle says his club has focused on the draft over the past three years. Pic: AAP

Carlton faces a crunch 2019 after finishing 18th, 14th, 16th and 18th in the past four years.

But the Blues boss says fans should be buoyed at the prospect of recent draft picks maturing.

“We obviously see improvement coming ... I think the real opportunity for Carlton and Carlton supporters is by looking in that category of second-year players becoming third-year players and third-year players becoming fourth-year players,” he said.

“The likes of (Jacob) Weitering, (Sam) Petrevski-Seton, (Zac) Fisher, Harry McKay, David Cuningham. There’s some elite talent in that group and they’ve all now got two, three, four pre-seasons behind them.

“So we see the biggest opportunity coming from that group in terms of our growth.”

On top of young guns Charlie Curnow and co-captain Patrick Cripps, the Blues added No.1 draft pick Sam Walsh and fellow first-round pick Liam Stocker.

Carlton has lost co-captain Sam Docherty. The star defender had knee surgery on Monday and is set to earn a new contract. Pic: Michael Klein

And while trying to hose down hype around Walsh, Liddle couldn’t help but be excited.

“My first impressions are I can see why he was taken with pick one,” he said.

“He’s an exciting player. We’ve got to temper our enthusiasm as a club and a supporter group that Sam’s 18 years old, he’s going to take a while to develop but from everything I’ve seen so far, I’d hope he’s got a long and successful career at the Blues.”