‘I absolutely do’: Teague believes he is the man to lead Blues
Carlton coach David Teague is convinced he is the right coach for the Blues beyond this season, regardless of how their clash with Adelaide at Marvel Stadium on Sunday plays out.
Teague is under pressure as the club continues to review its football department and list strength following another season out of the finals.
David Teague says he is the man to coach Carlton going forward.Credit:Getty Images
He acknowledged the team hasn’t performed as expected but he still has faith in his playing list and people working in key roles.
”I feel that is the external view, I don’t buy into it too much,” Teague said on Thursday when asked if he was coaching for his job this weekend.
“I look at what I can control. Do I feel I’m the guy to take this club forward? I do. I absolutely do.
“We are not getting the results at the moment but as a collective, as a club, I think we have got great people in good positions and we will come out of this.
“I haven’t lost any belief in myself and our coaching group and playing group. Yes, we are not playing at our best but I still believe in this group.”
The task of improving the Blues’ 4-9 record with nine games to go remains a difficult one and Teague admitted he was still wrestling with selecting club stalwart Marc Murphy for the five games he needs to reach 300.
“As a coaching group we are talking about that regularly,” Teague said.
“We may get it wrong at times but we are going to keep making the decisions that we think are best.
“Part of that could be around loyalty, part of that could be around giving new opportunities and both are important to our football club going forward.
“It’s a great sign that after 295 AFL games he went back to the VFL and worked on the areas we challenged him on.”
Zac Williams, who was brought in at the end of last season from GWS, was described as “one of the laziest footballers I’ve seen” by Fox Footy commentator Jonathan Brown. Teague said Williams was not at his best and the team still to decide if his future would be on the half-back line or as a midfielder.
“It’s a tough game and it requires a lot of you and he’s had quite a few little niggles and an interrupted season,” Teague said.
“So we think that there’s still a lot of upside there, we think he can get fitter and he’ll become a good player for this football club in the long-term.
“Right now he’s in an adjustment period to the way we train, to the way we play and I feel he’ll come out of it a very good player for our club.
“We [recruited] him to be a midfielder and at the moment, we’re playing him at half-back because he’s been able to add more value to the team there.
“So we’ll assess that going forward. Ideally, he gets a really good pre-season and moves back into the midfield going forward but he may not, he may stay at half-back.”
Blues ruckman Marc Pittonet’s season could come to an early end should he need ankle surgery, with Teague awaiting a medical update later on Thursday.
“If surgery is required then, I don’t know the time frame for recovery, but anytime you hear surgery at this time of year it could be season over,” Teague said.
The Blues face the Adelaide Crows at Marvel Stadium on Sunday at 4.10pm.
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