DESPITE languishing on the bottom of the ladder, Carlton doesn't want a priority pick to assist in a list rebuild that remains on track, CEO Cain Liddle says.
The Blues boss' optimism around the future of the club centres around positive talks list manager Stephen Silvagni has held with young stars Patrick Cripps and Charlie Curnow about extending contracts that expire at the end of 2019.
With the Blues registering only one win in the first 10 rounds of the season and holding just a 25 per cent win rate over the past four years, there have been calls for the club to get an extra pick at this year's NAB AFL Draft.
Liddle told SEN on Tuesday morning the club had no interest in pursuing a priority pick.
"We feel we're in a good place and on the right track, so a priority pick is something we're not considering or interested in," he said.
"Putting our hand out is something I'm not comfortable with.
"We've got a plan and when you've made savage list cuts like we have in the past few years, you've just got to expect what we are going through now.
"What we didn't plan for was the array of injuries we've managed to receive this year, which has just increased the instability on the field.
"We're really confident in the plan and the kids we've brought in, but it just takes time for the kids to develop."
Pressed on negotiations with Cripps and Curnow, Liddle was confident the duo would be locked away on long-term deals sooner rather than later.
"We are in discussions with both those players and I've got no reason to think that those extensions won't be finalised in the near future," Liddle said.
"The way they're playing, we're absolutely looking at (five-year) deals.
"If you are a Carlton supporter or member and you're watching those two run around, you've got complete confidence in our future."
With Carlton's list the fifth-youngest in the AFL, Liddle said attracting experienced players through trade and free agency was also on the agenda.
Gold Coast's Tom Lynch, in-form Eagle Andrew Gaff and star Adelaide playmaker Rory Sloane headline the 2018 free agents' list.
"Just by virtue of the demographic of our list being so young, there is going to be an opportunity for us to target free agents," he said.
"Stephen Silvagni's plan was to go to the draft for three years, which he's done, and we're really comfortable with what we've drafted.
"But we do have to start balancing up bringing in kids and mature-aged bodies, because we don't have a lot (of players) in that 24 to 26-year-old age group, and we're certainly looking to add some players in that area."
Former Carlton champion, Chris Judd, now a Blues board member, echoed Liddle's view on priority picks in a column for Fairfax Media on Tuesday.
"My personal view is that the priority pick should be a thing of the past," Judd wrote.
"First, it doesn't solve an underperforming club's problems. A club that find itself down the ladder for an extended period does so because of its own poor decisions.
"If a club doesn't take responsibility for those decisions, and implement changes to prevent those mistakes from reoccurring, another draft pick will change little.
"Further, the manner in which a priority pick is awarded is clearly problematic. Under the old method, teams down the bottom of the ladder chased losses instead of wins, further exacerbating cultural deficits, the very thing that was already weighing heavily on team performance.
"The new method, whereby the AFL commission uses its discretion to award a pick, is open to biases and back-room deal-making between the AFL and embattled clubs."
