Carlton moved to 10-4 with a terrific win over Fremantle on Saturday afternoon in a turnaround from their Round 6 loss to the Dockers earlier in the year.
That first game was dominated by Fremantle ruck Sean Darcy after Carlton's number one hit out winner Marc Pittonet was subbed out of the game early. Darcy bullied Carlton back-up ruck Tom De Koning throughout the rest of the night and was arguably the difference between the two sides.
However yesterday, De Koning exacted some revenge on the Dockers big man with perhaps a career-best game. The 22-year-old had 22 hitouts with eight of those going to advantage. His dominance allowed his midfield to return to its best form with the Blues winning the clearance battle by 14 with the athletic ruckman winning three of his own.
De Koning is out of contract at the end of next season and Kane Cornes believes he could attract some serious interest from clubs over the next 18 months.
"He's 22 and he's out of contract at the end of next year, now I'm hearing Luke Jackson is worth $1 million. He's (De Koning) got to be worth $800,000-$900,000," Cornes said onย AFL.com.au's The Round So Far.
Ruck
Hitouts
Marks
Clearances
"Honestly, what player has improved as much as him, can play forward, can play ruck and have an impact like that.
"Some of his centre bounce stuff was Naitanui like from the centre bounce."
Cornes said that with De Koning's price sky rocketing as the year goes on, the Blues may face a challenge with their salary cap next year with other stars also set to see their deals expire at the end of 2023.
"Good luck to Carlton, (Harry) McKay, De Koning and (Charlie) Curnow are all out of contract at the end of next year," Cornes said.
"I don't know how they're going to fit them all in. But that kid there someone is going to come for him at $800,000- $900,000 per year so look out."
