Carlton coach Josh Fraser wants to add midfield depth and key position stocks to his list to improve in 2027.
The Blues' remarkable season came to an end on Friday night against Geelong at the MCG, with the fairytale coming to a grinding halt after turning around a 1-8 win-loss record and a coach sacking in May.
Fraser was pragmatic in his post-match address, admitting the Cats were simply to good and seasoned for the inexperienced Blues, which pointed to some must-need areas to improve in the off-season.
"Without giving a bland answer, I think it's quite broad. I think we can build our midfield down. I think we think we could build out a key position stocks, and there's players on our list that we want to continue to develop as well," he said.
"Yeah, I'm not sure if it's one specific thing we're chasing, as opposed to considering what we've got, what growth and upside we have in those players, and then looking to add where we can. But it'll be a holistic approach to who makes us better."
The Blues have targeted free agent trio Buku Khamis, Joel Amartey and Jesse Hogan, while young Hawk Calsher Dear is a live option given the forward-line squeeze at Dingley.
Fraser lauded the entire club for turning around its season and making a surprise appearance in September, especially after securing a Wildcard Round spot.
But he stopped short of saying the development is finished.
"The character in the group and the spirit, and we've made some big improvements. There's no doubt about that," Fraser said.
"But there are still parts of our game that we need to get to work on, and there's some individuals that need to continue to grow. In fact, all of our players need to continue to grow.
"I feel like I've got a really good handle on on where we're at, and understand that a lot of work is in front of us. We need to continue to develop and work our list. We need to build depth. We need to improve players.
"We need to build out our system, and that's not taking away from what the players have been able to achieve over the last 15 weeks or so.
"I think there's a there's clear alignment internally of of what we need to be able to do."
