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After the eight darkest years in Carlton’s history, coach Brett Ratten believes the AFL club is ready to shine. Saturday night’s Gabba elimination final against an injury-hit Brisbane will be the Blues’ first final since 2001, ending the club’s longest post-season drought.
The intervening seven years have thrown up their first three wooden spoons.
But despite the long finals absence, Ratten believes he has players that will thrive under the pressure.
He says spearhead Brendan Fevola delights on the “big stage”, captain Chris Judd is a proven finals performer and the club’s talented youngsters have been groomed for the occasion by spending their budding careers under the spotlight.
“You look at some of our younger players in (Bryce) Gibbs, (Matthew) Kreuzer, (Marc) Murphy, they’ve been high draft picks, No.1 draft picks,” Ratten said.
“So they’ve had a lot of attention around them and there’s been always their name thrown up.
“Finals are probably a little bit similar, there’s a lot of extra attention.
“They’ve always had that, so I don’t think it will faze them at all.”
Ratten also has little doubt the sometimes erratic Fevola will rise to the occasion.
“He’s the type of player that really fires up on the big stage, so he’ll have one of those moments where the emotion’s running and he’ll be doing everything he has to for the team,” he said.
Fevola, one of only two remaining veterans of the club’s 2001 finals series, along with Ryan Houlihan, also has the memory of a match-winning, eight-goal haul in the clubs’ last meeting, at the Gabba in round 11.
“I daresay there’ll be a few more players around Brendan,” Ratten said.
“So he might attract a crowd and hopefully we can find the free (player) that someone’s zoned off or peeled off to assist Brendan’s man.”
Helping that cause will be the return of forwards Eddie Betts, Jeff Garlett and Cameron Cloke, who were banned by the club last round for missing a recovery session.
Ratten is also looking forward to sending a fit Judd into finals action.
The skipper’s last final, with West Coast in 2007, was played while severely hampered by a groin injury.
Before then, he won the Norm Smith Medal in a losing grand final side in 2005, then dominated the 2006 finals series to lead the Eagles to a flag.
“At AAMI Stadium in his last (finals) game, he was virtually on one leg for about five weeks there and did an amazing job to kick two or three goals,” Ratten said.
“From his point of view, to be free to run and do what he can do, I think he’s really pleased.”
Ratten, a former Blues premiership player, best and fairest, and captain, who missed the 2001 finals series through injury, said it was yet to fully hit that the club was back in the big time.
“It will all really sink in when we go to the game … the emotions (will rise) and maybe a bit of tension,” he said.
But he said the Blues must seize their opportunity.
“You take your chance, it’s the bird in the hand, you run with it as far as you can,” he said.
“Things unfold and opportunities arise and you just might get a team on a week that they’re a little bit more vulnerable and you get over them … hopefully we can keep marching on.”
Meanwhile, Ratten says he will plan for the Lions to line up as named, despite injury doubts over Simon Black, Josh Drummond, Daniel Bradshaw and Daniel Merrett.
“Until they pull out we’ll put them into our calculations,” he said.
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