04-21-2021, 09:34 PM
(04-21-2021, 01:09 PM)Macca37 link Wrote:I must admit I was blindsided by the details from the Matt Rendell interview. I have given little attention to development in the past as I assumed ( I know, a dangerous thing to do) that Carlton as a successful club would automatically use best practices in the development of its players.
Now that it has been called into question, I would appreciate any information on development, or lack of, as it relates to our club.
It's a long story, full of opinions and theories. Back in the day, Carlton didn't have to worry about development, because we simply bought the best available. It was a club everyone wanted to play for, and we could therefore discard all but the very best. This mentality continued through to John Elliott, with his famous quip in 1990 that "We don't rebuild at Carlton." I think we came very late to embracing the twin equalisation measures of the draft and salary cap, and for all I know they may have been embraced begrudgingly. I suspect it takes a long time to build good habits, and it takes a long time to build a successful development program. Clubs like Hawthorn have what is informally known as the Hawthorn apprenticeship, where the kids come in and play in the 2's for a season or two to learn the Hawks way. So far as I can tell, we have no such thing. It seems to me as though our kids come straight in and are expected to have an immediate impact. I think the massive rebuild started a few years back in a way forced the club to look at the development issue properly. I guess it's open to debate whether we were ready for it then, and whether we're ready for it now.