Matthew Lloyd has questioned Carlton’s decision to offer veteran small forward Eddie Betts a contract for the 2021 season.
Betts, 34, has kicked two goals from four games with the Blues currently short on creative forward options with Zac Fisher, Jack Martin and Jack Silvagni all sidelined through injury.
Carlton’s 18-point loss to Brisbane on Saturday was their fourth in six games with their two wins this season coming against an injury-hit Fremantle and Gold Coast.
If playing finals becomes an unlikely proposition, Lloyd wonders if the Blues will move on from Betts and look to get games into younger players.
“He’s kicked 2.8 now for the season. He’s obviously lacking confidence, he’s lost a yard of pace, he’s lost that agility," Lloyd told Channel Nine’s Sunday Footy Show.
"I just wonder if Carlton falls out of the race for the finals, do you keep playing him?
“They’re the calls that will have to come very, very soon.
“When you have a relationship with a player, which David Teague has a strong one with Eddie Betts, it does make it hard.
“I personally wouldn’t have given Eddie another contract last year going into this season. I know they’ve been together at Adelaide, now they’re together at Carlton.
“That’s where he’s got to make a decision: Do I pick for the future, or do I pick for now? But I think in a few weeks’ time, he may have to pick for the future of the Carlton Football Club.”
Betts, a three-time All-Australian with 615 goals next to his name, was placed on Carlton’s rookie list last November, extending his glittering AFL career into a 17th season.
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