CARLTON coach Brett Ratten has declared the time for excuses is over as an active off-season for the Blues gave way to full pre-season training at MC Labour Park on Monday.

Ratten and his recently completed coaching panel got their first look at the entire playing list for an hour-long session as the first through third year players, who started training last week, were joined by the veterans.

“I said to the players that this is the start,” Ratten said. “The foundation that we set now will put us in good stead for the future and it’s very important to make sure that we get our building blocks in place so we don’t get back into the bottom four.

“The last six weeks at the end of the season was fantastic but now to get back and be in charge and start from scratch will be great.

“The excuses are over, there’s no doubt about it. We will have the youngest team in the AFL but we’re growing as a group and I think we need to put in better performances and sustain our effort throughout games.

"We haven’t done that and we’ve been whacked in parts of games and we need to change that.

“I think you’ll see a lot more competitive unit at the Carlton footy club [next season].”

The presence of prized recruit Chris Judd certainly buoyed the supporters who showed up to watch the start of the pre-season campaign and Ratten admitted his arrival, along with Richard Hadley and the return of a fit Nick Stevens, had the locker room buzzing.

Ratten said that he had been pleased with the physical state that “99.9 per cent” of his players had presented themselves in after the break with the pre-season campaign before Christmas to be broken up by a five-day rest period starting on draft day, November 24.

He also forecast a different approach to the NAB Cup which the club has won twice in the past three years before going on to disappoint in the home-and-away season.

“Our list management is our priority and making sure that, when round one comes, we’re ready to go,” he said.

“What we’ll do through the pre-season is we’ll pick the team that’s ready to go … if Brendan [Fevola] is not ready to go he won’t play, we’ll look after our players and make sure that our focus is round one.

“But if all our players are up and going, ready to go, by NAB Cup round one they’ll play, but if they’re not, we’ll just wait and hang onto them and put them out when they’re ready.”

The Blues will adopt a wait and see approach on the issue of appointing a new captain to replace Lance Whitnall with Judd likely to be in the initial leadership group.

Ratten forecast a group of five or six – down from the dozen of last season – with second-year player Bryce Gibbs one of the players dropping out.