As Carlton completed their final session of training before the Christmas break on Monday, big man Matthew Kreuzer stood out even more than usual.
It wasn't just his height this time, but the fluorescent green cap he was wearing, the significance of which wasn't lost on coach Mick Malthouse. Awarded to Kreuzer for "trainer of the week", this, said the coach, was no token gesture.
"Probably, it's been a thing in the past when you're not overly achieving, that any achievement is looked upon as a bit of fun and games," Malthouse said. "We can't have that. It's got to be recognised and admired, and when the trainer of the week is announced, there's no taking the mickey, it is now a genuine well done, and they strive for it."
And Kreuzer more than most, given this is the first complete pre-Christmas program he's completed in his eight pre-seasons with the Blues, and coming off a 2014 almost a complete write-off after foot surgery, his only game for the year Carlton's first against Port Adelaide.
"It's such a great bonus to have a player like that. One of his nicknames is 'Tractor', because he just keeps going," Malthouse said.
And with his fitness finally no longer an issue, Carlton is looking to utilise Kreuzer more as a key forward in 2015, leaving the bulk of the ruckwork to either Robbie Warnock or Cameron Wood.
It's a path Carlton has worn before without enormous success, but in 2015 the Blues hope Kreuzer the forward will be not only better physically equipped, but more tactically capable of giving other key forwards like Lachie Henderson, Levi Casboult and Bulldog recruit Liam Jones a chop-out.
"We want him to play a lot of football forward and ruck, and he's undertaken a program just to dedicate himself to that," Malthouse said. "He knows how to ruck, but he's dedicating himself to other facets, to put a bit of pressure on the back talls, and to kick goals. We've been delighted with the way he's come up."
It's been a different sort of pre-season for Carlton, an earlier start due to missing out on the finals, and no Arizona training camp this year due to the new cap on football department spending, the Blues instead due to head to Mount Buller after the Christmas break. But with far fewer players injured or recovering from surgery, it's also been, says the coach, a very successful one.
"We're delighted with our senior list, and particularly our leaders, who are now really running the football section the way you'd want your leaders to run it, without too much interference from the coaches," Malthouse said.
"It's been really intriguing for me to see their growth. It's a lot better than having players in the grandstand and trying to get them fit through altitude training and what not in January. We've got a lot of good kilometres into them.
"Our goal is to get as many players up and ready [as possible]. I'd like to think we'd play about 36-38 players through the NAB Cup series. We want form and numbers up so that keeping an eye on the first game, we've got probably 25-30 players who are nice and fit and healthy to choose from. We don't want to go in with only 22 like we did last year."
And after a considerable 22 changes to the senior list over the past two off-seasons, Malthouse is confident the playing group Carlton fields next year might be one that doesn't prune nearly so severely next summer.
"I think between three and five [spots] so that gives us an idea that we're getting close to the type of list we want," he said. "Our observation so far is that we've picked for need, we've picked quality-type kids, and the kicking power of these kids is far greater than we've had come through the club since I've been here. So we've picked for the way we want to play."
