NEW Carlton recruit Richard Hadley believes the Blues will improve over the course of the AFL season as a new midfield group gels and young players develop in key positions.
After entering 2008 amid a wave of optimism, thanks largely to the acquisition of new skipper Chris Judd, Carlton had their confidence dented in a 17.7 (109) to 11.13 (79) loss to Richmond at the MCG on Thursday night.
The defeat to last year's wooden spooners in the season opener reminded Blues fans the side still has some deficiencies.
Inexperienced youngster Michael Jamison, who started the year on the rookie list, faced an enormous challenge at fullback, trying to hold star Richmond forward Matthew Richardson, who finished with five goals.
At the other end of the ground, similarly inexperienced players Adam Hartlett and Jake Edwards had big jobs trying to support Brendan Fevola as tall targets in attack.
And in the middle of the ground, stars Judd and Nick Stevens, as well as Hadley, are all on the comeback trail from injuries, with their limited preparation possibly contributing to the Blues' second-half fadeout.
Hadley said the interrupted lead-in was no excuse for last night's poor finish.
"Everyone's worked pretty hard and we went in confident we would run the game out and so we were pretty disappointed that didn't happen," he said.
He said the main issue was that Richmond started winning more of the ball in the packs, an area Carlton had controlled early.
"They got inside and won the hard ball more than anything and in the end they got us on the outside as well," he said.
"We let them back in late in that second quarter, which really killed a bit of momentum, just in the time-on period we let them have too many goals."
But Hadley said the Blues midfield, which showed some good signs, with strong starts to the game by Judd, Stevens, Marc Murphy and Kade Simpson, would improve.
"There's plenty of changes in there, so I think as the season gets along we'll start to gel a bit more and hopefully get better," he said.
Likewise, he said the likes of Jamison, Edwards and Hartlett would grow with every game played.
"It is tough, they're all young, but I suppose we've got to start standing up now," he said.
"We're all going to get better through the season, so as long as we stick together and work hard together, then we'll be right."
On a personal note, he also expected much more from himself as the season wore on, after coming off knee surgery.
"I've still got plenty of work to do, I had a bit of a short pre-season as well with another knee arthroscope, so hopefully I'll keep getting fitter and just work hard on my game," Hadley said.
