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Entering this year, after trading away Charlie Curnow and losing Tom De Koning and Jack Silvagni in free agency, there weren\u2019t high expectations of Carlton in the final year of Voss\u2019 contract. <\/p>\n
Still, the Voss-led Blues led at half-time in six of its nine games this year, speaking to its competitiveness. Yet, they sit 1-8. <\/p>\n
With the Blues brass having repeatedly mentioned win-loss ratio, Wright was asked whether Voss, given the key departures, had the best chance at winning a new contract this year. <\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s a good question,\u201d Wright said. \u201cI think, when we came into the year, we didn\u2019t just base it on win-loss, and we\u2019re not sitting here today saying it\u2019s just win-loss. <\/p>\n
\u201cDid we improve in the things we wanted to? We probably hadn\u2019t made the leaps that we would have liked to have. <\/p>\n
\u201cBut when you say that we had players go out last year, we also had players come in – we brought in four or five guys, and three of those guys have been in the team really regularly and have contributed really well as well. <\/p>\n
\u201cOverall, I think it\u2019s a good question, but I think he had a decent enough runway.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Blues, who picked in the top-five in the past two drafts, added three 28-year-olds last offseason in Ben Ainsworth, Oliver Florent and Will Hayward. <\/p>\n
Asked how much better he thought the Blues should be, Wright said: \u201cMaybe we should have won three more games, and we\u2019ve had honorary losses in two or three games as well, but did that mask over exactly where we were at?<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t think we\u2019re shying away from the fact that we\u2019re not good enough at the moment, and we need to get better, and we\u2019re being very open and honest about that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Wright, who has been in charge since August of last year, was probed on whether his Blues were heading towards a full-blown rebuild. <\/p>\n
\u201cI think we\u2019re going to attack the draft, we\u2019ve been really open with that,\u201d he said, refusing to concede specifically to the \u2018rebuild\u2019 terminology. <\/p>\n
\u201cOver the next two to three years, or, we probably started before now, with the last two years. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ll certainly go to the draft again this year – this is the last uncompromised draft before Tassie comes in, we\u2019ve got two picks in this year\u2019s draft – whether we get to keep both of those, depending on what happens with Cody (Walker). <\/p>\n
\u201cBut we\u2019d also like to have more picks in this year\u2019s draft, and we\u2019ve got two in next year\u2019s as well, so that\u2019d be the way we\u2019ll attack it. <\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s no ceiling on these things. How quickly can you get better? Well, that\u2019s on the new coach coming in, and the development group coming in, a new regime, I suppose. We\u2019ll go hard at it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Carlton holds its own first-round pick this year – currently No.3 overall – and Sydney\u2019s after the Curnow trade, which is presently last in the order. It also owns Sydney\u2019s 2027 first-rounder. <\/p>\n
However, given changes to the national draft, the Blues will almost certainly need to fork out both first-rounders to match a top-five rival bid for prized father-son prospect Walker. <\/p>\n
The line of questioning about the Blues\u2019 direction led to president Priestley being asked when he expected Carlton to return to the finals. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re going about this in a way where we\u2019re just looking to continually improve, and (where) our supporter base can see that improvement coming through,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n
\u201cThat comes from young kids coming through, developing young talent on our list. If you go back to what we did in the offseason, it\u2019s more than just coaching and list. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve revamped development, we\u2019ve revamped well-being, we\u2019re making significant investment in data, analytics and AI, that\u2019s moving so quickly not only in AFL but global sport. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe main thing that we\u2019re focussed on is bringing really good football people into this club, who understand what success looks like, and how to bring that about. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe timeline on it – things, when you get good people involved, can happen very quickly, but we\u2019re not setting a \u2018this will happen in 12 months\u2019 (timeline). <\/p>\n
\u201cWe need to do it the right way, build it the right way, no shortcuts, and no cutting corners.\u201d<\/p>\n
MORE COVERAGE:<\/p>\n
\u2018NEEDED A CIRCUIT-BREAKER\u2019: Blues explain Voss call as \u2018pivotal\u2019 exit detail revealed<\/a><\/p>\n \u2018CAREER SUICIDE\u2019: Brutal verdict on Blues coaching vacancy, list changes in call for radical move<\/a><\/p>\n