He really wants to see them take control of their own game and play consistent footy week after week.
‘’I think 2013 is going to be a really good year for us, a lot of our younger guys have really shown some positive signs over the preseason, both physically and mentally,’’ Taylor explained to Cats TV.
‘’I think they are ready to take that leadership that the team now needs.’’
‘’Probably, that the competition is now really improving at a rapid rate, it’s important that we improve too, to stay up with the top teams.
‘’Last year we didn’t finish where we wanted to, we’ve got a lot of things to work on and it was important that we started preseason well and we have, now we just need to keep improving, because as I said, everyone is improving at a fast rate and we don’t want to be left behind.’’
Taylor expects Carlton to take the reins this season, after kicking off their preseason with new senior coach, Mick Malthouse. He believes Carlton’s fresh new start could make them the team to watch out for.
‘’To me I think Carlton, with a new coach it always brings new challenges to the players, players can also see a new coach as a fresh start,’’ Taylor said.
‘’Some guys that might have been a bit stereotyped prior, might come out of their shell and really show their worth for the side, so I think they’re a team that are going to take some positive steps forward this season.’’
Over the years the Cats have had to say goodbye to some of the most elite players in the league. However, Taylor knows that the club’s success has been heavily sustained through the simple practice of club collaboration and sharing valuable knowledge.
‘’I guess it’s just a legacy that they have left, all the senior guys try and help the younger guys out as much as possible around the club, trying to impart some of that knowledge onto those younger players, and basically always setting the right example,’’ Taylor told Cats TV.
‘’And that strong culture has been able to keep us up near the top of the ladder, and hopefully that is something that will always define us as a footy club.’’
Taylor has high expectations for, Daniel Menzel, Nathan Vardy and Travis Varcoe, for this year’s season. He believes they are ready for new challenges and wants to see them take the lead and deliver their best every week.
‘’They’re in that middle tier of players… so they’ve got some experience and they’re not considered as the older guys of the group, but they’re the guys that need to take the club forward and really show some positive leadership,’’ Taylor said.
‘’I think they are all mentally mature enough to do so now, so we’re going to see some good games out of them, but I hope we see some more consistent games out of them, that’s probably the most biggest thing.’’
‘’We don’t want them to fluctuate with their performance much, we just want to see them perform at a high standard regularly.’’
The arrival of, Josh Caddy, Jared Rivers and Hamish McIntosh, has Taylor really excited and he has really enjoyed working with them during preseason.
He already considers their contribution on and off the field as a valued addition to the club.
‘’Yeah I think it’s been great, we’ve got some new voices around that we probably haven’t had in the past, some new ideas from other clubs has been a positive, particularly working with Riv down back,’’ Taylor said.
‘’Just getting to know his style of the game and the way he plays, it’s been exciting getting to see a different player from a different club.’’
‘’He’s had 150 games of experience, he’s played a lot of quarters of footy and I’ve really enjoyed working with him closely, and Josh and Hamish have really stood out over the past couple of weeks as some of our best trainers.’’
‘’So some really good signs leading into round one.’’
Overall, Taylor believes that many of the young guys have the potential to be playing good footy, which is what the club needs in order to move forward.
‘’We need as many players to choose from and in good form as possible, if we can get that group of 10 players hopefully to go forward and play, maybe another 10 games each during the season, that would be great for this footy club going forward,’’ Taylor told Cats TV.
Although, the one player that caught his attention in 2012, was last year’s debutant, Jesse Stringer.
‘’In terms of individuals, I think Jesse Stringer who played some games last year really started to develop as a player, and he’s one player that I think everyone should be really excited about from a supporters point of view,’’ Taylor said.
