For anyone who had doubted Andrew Carrazzo’s ability, 2007 has been a watershed year for the young Blue. Given extra responsibility in the long term absence of Nick Stevens, Carrazzo has shown that he is capable of collecting more possessions than a department store. ‘Carrots’ is a worthy winner of Play of the Week for his fine left foot goal in the third quarter against Port Adelaide, and he caught up with Mike and Dan to discuss the game and his increased profile on and off the field.

Andrew, you win Play of the Week for that great left foot shot on goal in our run in the third quarter. Is this the most prestigious award you have picked up in your career?

Yeah it would have to be, some guys aspire to Brownlow Medals and others to premierships, but this is the one that I’ve wanted!

Play of the Week, Club Best and Fairest. 2007 is going to be a good year for you, isn't it?

I wouldn’t go as far as saying I’m a shoe in for the Best and Fairest, should be a few guys who are competitive and in the running for it. A few players have really improved and it will be interesting to see who gets up on the night.

So do you think your left foot goal better than Fisher’s? C'mon, be honest....

Fish did pretty well for his goal, he did a nice little side step and put it through. Mine was about a one in ten chance and pretty lucky how it came off the boot. But if it came down to Fish and I, I’ll take the award every time!

How did we manage to kick 8 straight in the third, but not maintain that effort during other parts of the game? What changed during the third quarter?

Good question, I think Port Adelaide played us a bit differently than other teams. They played a zone over the whole ground and it took until half time for the players to adjust. In the third quarter we moved it patiently and with more thought and showed we could score more easily than we did in the first half.

If we could have got a couple early in the last it would have broken the camel’s back a bit, we were still playing the right style of game but just didn’t take our chances when they came along. Ratts disappointed we didn’t get the win, but individually the players are coming along well. Grigg and Gibbs did some nice things during the game, and most guys pulled together and gave the full effort which is what Ratts is looking for.

Winning interstate is difficult at the best of times, but the players put in a good effort to get close. How did the players feel after the game? Disappointed at the loss or happy with the effort?

Its probably a mixture of a lot of things. At this stage in where we are at we understand we are building towards next year, and how we play is as important as the result. Most guys were disappointed after the game because we played so well in the second half, but the main thing is that we are playing a good style of footy and giving 100 percent effort which we weren’t doing earlier on. Sometimes when you get so close interstate it can be really disappointing but we were happy with the effort side of our performance.

Lance should be back this week, but how good has Simmo been as Captain? Have you noticed a change in him?

Simmo has been great, he is probably doing the same things as he was doing before he was captain and showing leadership around the club. But he has stepped up on the field and he would have to be a massive chance for Vice Captain next year.

Growing up as a Carlton supporter what were your favorite games and who were your favorite players?

Its funny you should say that, I used to love Ratts and SOS, they were my favorite players along with Diesel Williams. My fondest game was the ‘99 Preliminary Final when we beat Essendon at the MCG. I remember looking at my Dad, and it was the happiest I had seen him in 15 years! I just remember how Kouta took the game by the scruff of the neck and got us home in the last quarter. When I came to Carlton I couldn’t believe my locker was next to Kouta’s, and to have the number next to him was big honour for me.

There has been a lot built into Carlton and Collingwood supporters to hate Essendon, and that’s the beauty of the rivalry in that we don’t like to see them succeed, and they are loving us being down the bottom. It gives us extra incentive to perform well against them and I can’t wait for the game this weekend.

The Preliminary Final is the game that stands out, but I have always loved barracking for Carlton and will always barrack for them no matter what happens between now and the end of my career.

Were you always a ball magnet at underage level, or have you worked hard on accumulating possessions once you joined the Blues?

Finding the ball has never been too much of an issue, even at junior footy I could still get my hands on the ball a lot. My disposal still lets me down every now and then, but I have been working hard during the week on kicking. We’ve got a specialist kicking coach and we do a couple of sessions every week with him along with some video analysis to examine where we can improve and what we should concentrate on.

I’m really looking forward to the pre season to improve my disposal and my kicking skills, as during the season it’s a bit hard to make major changes. I have done a lot with Libba over the past few months and my kicking is a bit better, and I am taking steps to improve it further.

What goals have you and the team set for this last section of the season for the team or yourself?

Everyone has got individual goals, but as a team we just have to keep improving and playing footy in the right way. If we can continue that, if we get that process right, that’s what the coach wants and it will be what the supporters want when we can get a few wins on the board as a result.

We have played some good footy over the last few weeks, would be disappointing if we served up some poor performances over the last few weeks of the season. Our goal for the group is to keep that level of skill improvement and effort for the remainder of the season and give us some momentum to take into next year.

For a few years you were played as a defender with only a small amount of time as a true on-baller. When and why did this change?

It probably came about because of Stevo’s injury, he hasn’t been there for most of the season and there was and a bit of a hole in our midfield as a result. He usually takes all the hard tags but there was room for someone else to step up in his absence.

Personally I thought I was ready to move into the midfield this year, and I felt better and more comfortable given that kind of role in the team and Dennis gave me a chance to do it. I’m really looking forward to having Stevo back next year, and along with and Bryce Gibbs and Murph on ball, we should be able to cause some damage.

There is a lot of buzz around the draft and high draft picks, but there are still great stories to come out of mature recruits or rookie picks. Who did you look up to as a role model or example when you were trying to break onto a senior list?

No one especially, but when I went down to Geelong Cameron Ling was a fantastic role model at the club. He showed the new guys what was expected from training in terms of intensity and effort, and also around the club both on and off the field. He was drafted in a more orthodox way but he still had to battle and fight to get onto the list and is a self-made player. He was probably the biggest influence and I still think about how he trains now.

You've certainly become a leader on the field for Carlton. Is captaincy or being part of the leadership group something you aspire to?

Definitely, I would love to, I’ve now got the confidence to speak up and take ownership on the field and I would love to be in that leadership group and help the young boys out. Just because players aren’t formally in the leadership group, it doesn’t mean that they can’t help around the club and show leadership through their actions and that’s something that I’ve tried to do around the club.

Is it an insult to your Italian ancestry to be called "Carrots", when Italians never eat them?

*Laughs* Its funny actually, a lot of the boys call me “Carrots” and some of the supporters call me that. It’s a good nickname I think and its no offence to my ancestry. I’ll tell you though that if you come around to my place pretty much anything and everything is on the menu including carrots!

You had an interesting path to Carlton, can you tell us about your journey through the junior ranks and how you ended up at Carlton?

I started playing footy in the Under 15s at Knox Eagles and East Burwood, and then played for the Oakleigh Chargers for a couple of years with Bret Thornton which was interesting and a good experience. It was funny as when we both came out of Under 18s he was training with Melbourne and I was with Carlton, and there was a thought that Carlton might pick me up. Geelong came in and nabbed me a couple of picks beforehand, and the Blues nabbed T-Bird after that. We are still good mates and enjoying the journey together.

Here’s your opportunity to pay out on any of your teammates. Anything you want to say about them?

There’s a few guys who are paying too much attention, so many that its probably easier to say the blokes who aren’t paying much attention! Put it this way, the mirror is always full after training with lots of guys competing for space!

I won’t dump on any of the guys but we are a tight bunch and get along really well on and off the field. They are a great bunch of blokes, we are all great mates and we are all looking forward to performing well as a group over the next few years.

Although he stands amongst the top five possession-gatherers in the AFL, pure statistics do not tell the true story of Andrew Carrazzo. Along with his improved disposal and goal kicking prowess, Andrew Carrazzo is becoming recognized as a midfield leader who can consistently damage the opposition with both the quantity and quality of his disposals. With mentors such as Brett Ratten and Craig Bradley at the club, Carlton will be hoping that Carrazzo take the next step and emulate their efforts as part of a potent Carlton midfield.