MICHAEL Voss had more than his fair share of injury issues to deal with in his first season at Carlton, but the Blues coach is set to be boosted by the returns of Mitch McGovern, Marc Pittonet and Zac Williams to start the 2023 campaign.
While star midfielder Sam Walsh ran laps at the start of Monday morning's training session at Ikon Park, McGovern, Pittonet and Williams were among the notable performers when Carlton completed 60 minutes of match simulation to start the final week of the January block before the club heads to the Sunshine Coast for a pre-season camp.
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McGovern (seven games), Pittonet (eight games) and Williams (nine games) all had similar experiences in 2022. They all started the season in the senior side, missed most of the middle part of the campaign, before returning late in the year and all playing in the mini elimination final against Collingwood in round 23.
McGovern looked like he had a new lease on life this time last year after trimming down and moving into a role as an intercept defender to fill the void left by Liam Jones. The former Crow transferred his pre-season form into a strong first two rounds before a hamstring injury – and then subsequent surgery – ruled him out for four months, ultimately wiping out another season.
But after a decent training block across December and January, McGovern was a standout in Carlton's extended match simulation on Monday, hauling in intercept marks and creating by foot on rebound, combining with Jacob Weitering in a sign of what might be to come this autumn and winter.
Pittonet completed most of Monday's session and is on track to return to full training next month after his 2022 was ruined by a knee injury after he injured his posterior cruciate ligament in round six.
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The 26-year-old went head-to-head with Tom De Koning in the ruck during the session, with both fighting for the No.1 mantle heading into the practice matches later in the pre-season.
Williams has endured a frustrating past five seasons – only playing more than 14 games in a season once since 2017 – and challenging start to life at Carlton, appearing in just 23 of a possible 44 games since moving from Greater Western Sydney at the end of 2020.
But the 28-year-old hasn't missed a session so far this pre-season and is set to become even more important early in the season with All-Australian defender Sam Docherty playing in the midfield this pre-season and set for more midfield time in 2023, especially while Walsh is sidelined following back surgery.
Docherty spent time playing in the midfield in the closing fortnight of last season and is set to start in the middle to help cover the loss of Walsh, with Matt Kennedy not expected to return to full training until next month following a Lisfranc injury and fractured jaw late last season.
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Walsh has only just started running at half pace after undergoing a micro-discectomy procedure on his back on December 22 to remove a bulging disc to relieve pressure on a nerve, following months of rest that hadn't resolved the problem.
The 22-year-old isn't expected to feature for at least the first month of the season and won't have a clear timeline around his return to full training until later in the pre-season.
Lewis Young sprained his ankle last week but is now out of the moon boot and expected to return to the main group in Queensland next week, while Jack Martin had his workload managed.
Health is wealth and Voss was forced to deal with an injury crisis in 2022. The Blues will be hoping for a much better run this year as they look to return to September for the first time in a decade.
Carlton will face Richmond in the traditional season-opener in 52 days.