AFL 2021: Harry McKay excited by Charlie Curnow and Zac Williams as Sam Docherty gets back to Carlton training
Carlton forward Charlie Curnow is set to form a devastating one-two punch with Coleman medallist Harry McKay, who says the oft-injured Blue as approaching peak fitness.
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Carlton forward Harry McKay has praised how positive Sam Docherty has been as he recovered from a second battle with testicular cancer.
Docherty was pictured involved at Carlton training for the first time since he underwent 12 weeks of chemotherapy in August.
“Doc’s going really well — it’s just amazing to have him around. He’s such a positive person,” McKay said.
“The amount of stuff he’s been through and for him to show up every day with a smile on his face and be a really shining light for the group is amazing.
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“It’s a credit to him to show up every time, but he’s recovering really well.
“Hopefully, within the next few weeks he can start running and joining back in the group. It’s an amazing result and we’re all so proud of him.”
The reigning Coleman medallist McKay is desperate for Carlton to break through next season to accompany his personal ascension in the game.
McKay delivered on his potential this year with an AFL-most and career-best 58 goals but the Blues again failed to make the finals, resulting in coach David Teague’s sacking.
Now under Michael Voss and with recruits Adam Cerra and George Hewett in tow, the Blues have started pre-season determined to finally make their mark.
McKay is fighting fit again after season-ending shoulder surgery.
“The main thing (for me) is team success. Obviously, it was a challenging year last year,” McKay said.
“As much as individually I had some good growth, it was empty, to a degree, because we weren’t playing good footy as a team.
“My pure focus is on making sure we’re playing really good footy as a team and that connection out on the field is really strong.”
Carlton hopes to get more out of McKay’s forward partner-in-crime Charlie Curnow in 2022 after a nagging knee issue kept him to only four games across the past 2½ seasons.
Curnow played those matches in the final month of this football year and is moving “fantastically well”, according to McKay.
High-priced recruit Zac Williams is another keen to redeem himself for an underwhelming first season at Ikon Park.
“I guess, for Zac, it was a challenging year coming across — and it was a challenging year for us all,” McKay said.
“But Zac’s really motivated to play his best footy in 2022, as we all are in the team, so he’s come back in a really positive attitude and really keen to get to work.”
Helping Williams’ cause is Voss’ mantra of effectively giving the playing group a chance to start afresh.
“Vossy has been really big on kind of a clean slate, so not looking back too much into the past and (just starting) on day one and then making opinions from there,” McKay said.
“That’s been really good for the group because there are no kind of opinions from the past or anything like that.
“The guys who are training well and putting their hands up will get rewarded and play and go from there, so it’s been really good.”
Blues beat two rivals to lock in young gun’s trial
Patrick Cripps’ brother Josh has been invited to spend the summer trialling at Carlton for the last list spot after missing out on being drafted last week.
The Herald Sun can reveal Cripps was quickly invited to trial with the Blues for the vacant list spot created when star full back Liam Jones refused to be vaccinated.
The overture is no token invite because of his links to his Carlton co-captain brother, with the Blues beating out two other Melbourne clubs who were also keen to see him over summer.
Cripps was overlooked in the national and rookie drafts after having 12 months wiped out by an ACL tear, but at 199cm can play ruck and forward.
He said recently he was shattered to have the injury rob him of the chance to put his case forward.
“That was the most heartbreaking thing about doing my knee. You put so much work into it and then to go down after doing so much work I couldn’t really show it,” he said.
“I still remember being on the stretcher and thinking ‘12 months’ and the ‘the draft’. They were the first two thoughts that went through my head.
“It was shattering, and I knew straight away as soon as I did it. It was pretty heartbreaking.”
He was able return the second half of the season and play 12 games in the WAFL Colts after putting on 8kg of muscle.
The invite is no guarantee of a senior spot but the Blues have told him they want him to spend the entire pre-season with the club.
The Blues have been able to upgrade players like Michael Gibbons after summer training form using the summer supplementary list.
Carlton has enough key backs after recruiting Lewis Young from the Bulldogs but is on the lookout for ruck and key position forward cover.
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