Carlton ready to open wallet

CASHED-UP Carlton will chase a blue-chip midfielder as it enters this year’s free agency market, confident its strategic rebuild remains on course despite a winless start to 2018.

While the Blues have been disappointed with their 0-4 start, general manager of football Andrew McKay — a 244game player at the club — has urged fans to remain patient.

McKay said Carlton would not deviate from a plan set in place after coach Brendon Bolton’s appointment in late 2015, and cutting corners would hurt in the long run.

That plan includes a push to seek the most suitable midfield free agent in October in an effort to fill a mid-20s void on the Blues’ list and to help support stars such as Marc Murphy and Patrick Cripps.

“We are certainly in the free agency market,” McKay said.

“It has been about the timing of when to decide to seek a free agent. We think the timing is pretty good now.

“We have got some young midfielders coming through in [Paddy] Dow, [Lochie], O’Brien and Charlie [Curnow] will go through there.

“But we still need those experienced heads who can rotate through the midfield to take pressure off Murph and Crippa.”

Under Bolton, Carlton has so far resisted the temptation to target top-end free agents, believing its list profile still was not compatible with players in their mid-20s.

McKay was unwilling to discuss potential targets.

Among the midfielders eligible for free agency this year are West Coast’s Andrew Gaff and Bulldog Luke Dahlhaus. Adelaide’s Rory Sloane, who will turn 29 before the start of next season, could be deemed too old for the Blues.

Collingwood’s Jordan De Goey is out of contract this year and, while not a free agent, could be considered.

McKay accepted the criticism levelled at the club for its poor start to the season, but said Bolton would stay the course.

“We understand Carlton hasn’t had much, or any, success for quite some time, but we really stripped it back two years and four games ago,” he said. “We said we would go to the draft and pick young kids because we need to do it from the bottom [up].

“We are in the process of doing that, and that means getting a lot of young players on board and those players need time to develop.”