Q - You mention the new facility and with two veterans in Fevola and Stevens moving on, do you almost get the sense that this is the start of a new era?

A - Yeah, I think it is, especially with the new facility. When I look over there I can still almost see the Heatley Stand in my own eyes, but instead there's a brand new facility that's almost finished.

We haven't played games here for a while, but I can still stand out in the middle of the ground and almost hear the floorboards of the old stand getting pounded by supporters with the whole thing almost shaking.

Those were great times, but you've got to keep pace. It's part of football. I think it's fantastic that we'll have a new facility.

I think that's an enormous step for our footy club to now be able to challenge these other clubs who have had these sorts of resources around their players for such a long time.

Now we can become super-competitive from a fitness point of view.

What are your early thoughts on how your forward line will look without him?
I think you can see Henderson and Setanta O'hAilpin playing a big part in there. How we structure up in different games and scenarios will vary. I think our flexibility and unpredictability will make it maybe a little bit tougher for opposition teams to get a handle on us.

The part I found most interesting is that he still hasnt spoken to Fev.

Q. What's a realistic goal for next season given that you've had two high-profile departures in Brendan Fevola and Nick Stevens?

A. That's tough to say right now. It will be a week-to-week proposition and a lot will depend on where we sit at the start of the season [personnel-wise]. I think it's probably something that needs to wait until then.

We'd expect to win more games than we lose and that should give you a chance to play finals football. That's obviously what we're after, but I think we need to see where our list is early in the year in terms of the players we have available.

To try and make predictions right now might be a little unfair.

BRETT Ratten is disappointed that his former full-forward Brendan Fevola has not made contact since leaving the Blues.
Carlton traded the troubled spearhead to Brisbane after his drunken behaviour at the Brownlow Medal.

And while Fevola spoke to other club officials, Ratten is still waiting on a phone call from his former teammate.

Indeed it twas a good read.

And now for some quality journalism from the hun to go with it

Ratten waiting on call from Fev


FFS

Gerry, I was very happy with the comment about Santy. It's not as though Ratts has been part of Santy's cheersquad - I would have put him in the doubter's category a year ago. Putting him up there at the head of the KP forward queue is therefore very significant, and I reckon it suggests that Ratts does see him now as part of his best team.

I also think that Ratts' comment suggests that Santy's leg operation was a success and he'll be back in action well before they break for Christmas. Last year, his operation occurred late in the year as his underlying condition defied diagnosis, and that put him behind in his preparation and frustrated him (as Cam Cloke can attest). No such problem this year, and he should be good to go in Rd 1.

I can't believe how little respect he receives from Carlton fans still. It seems he's regularly omitted from our 2010 team projections, and one guy even had Hammer in a key position ahead of him. Kreuzer is best developed in the ruck, and expecting Henderson to shoulder the responsibility of being the prime marking target I50 is breathtakingly unfair. Santy really has to be the big body that holds it all together I50 at the start of the season, and the position is his to lose.

Fevola's body language in the HUN picture is interesting - a bit patronising from player to coach if you ask me. Ratts was a tough unit as a player and is emerging as his own man as a coach. Who wants to be Sir Alex Ferguson anyway?

What's a realistic goal for next season given that you've had two high-profile departures in Brendan Fevola and Nick Stevens?

That's tough to say right now. It will be a week-to-week proposition and a lot will depend on where we sit at the start of the season [personnel-wise]. I think it's probably something that needs to wait until then.

We'd expect to win more games than we lose and that should give you a chance to play finals football. That's obviously what we're after, but I think we need to see where our list is early in the year in terms of the players we have available.

To try and make predictions right now might be a little unfair.

Have you spoken with him since the trade played out?

No, I haven't spoken to Brendan.

Disappointing?

Yeah, it is a little bit, but that's the way it goes. Do you call him and have a chat about it or do you expect that, at 29, he might get on the front foot and talk about it [with me]? But that wasn't the case and every individual is different.

Maybe he just needed some space and to reflect on it later in life.