Carlton general manager Chris Davies says the Blues will prioritise key forward reinforcements in the upcoming player movement period.
The Blues have already made a slew of ruthless list calls – delisting nine players this week – despite not having an employed list manager.
Carlton has been strongly linked to Sydney goalkicker Joel Amartey and, to a lesser extent, Hawthorn youngster Calsher Dear.
Davies wants more firepower but will also look to add dash across halfback and depth to the midfield.
“We’ll want to get our list in a better position than it was at the start of this year and we’ll continue to evolve as much as we can,” Davies said.
“We’ve got some areas we think we need to get better at, we’ll be using every mechanism we can whether it be free agency, the trade period and then looking into the draft for what we need looking into the future.
“I think right now it would be nice to add something into our key forward sort of stocks into the future. Again, whether that be in free agency or through the draft.
“I’d like to see some more run and depth through the back half of the field.
“We’ve got to keep continuing to think about what our midfield looks like down the track as well.
“There are areas of our list that need work, we have moved on a decent number through this delisting phase.”
The Blues cut seven players on Wednesday – led by Elijah Hollands – before father-son duo Ben and Lucas Camporeale on Thursday.
Davies said making the tough calls came with the position.
“You’ve got to make tough calls in order to move the group forward and try and find a recipe for success into the future,” he said.
“But it’s a really difficult time and you know you’re dealing with people who put their heart and souls in many respects into trying to be as good as they possibly can be as players.
“It’s not a fun part of the job, ending people’s time at the Carlton footy club, but equally it’s a responsibility this position holds.”
Despite spinning a 1-8 start, Carlton coach Josh Fraser said the club risked “mediocrity” by celebrating a first-round finals exit.
Davies agrees.
“At the end of the day we still finished 10th at the end of the minor rounds and came up against a Melbourne team who had some pretty key players out,” Davies said.
“I don’t want to be that guy who brings everyone down, but at the same time we’ve got to look at the season in a fashion that takes the good and the bad out of it.
“(We need to) understand that this club deserves better than to be eighth and the only way we’re going to be better is to come prepared in start of pre-season.
“We need to hit this off-season period to try and get our list better to front up next year ready to go.”
Originally published as Carlton will use ‘every mechanism’ in player movement period to add to forward stocks