Carlton’s Tom De Koning has again been left out of the club’s senior side, with the ruckman to instead play VFL against the Footscray Bulldogs on Saturday.
After being managed last week, De Koning may now face a battle to return to the AFL line-up with Marc Pittonet holding down the ruck role.
Given that De Koning is out of contract and is reportedly being chased by rival clubs like Sydney and St Kilda, SEN Sportsday’s Kane Cornes and Brad Johnson pondered whether it was the right move by the Blues to leave the 23-year-old out of the side.
Cornes believes potentially losing De Koning could come back to hurt Carlton in the future.
Cornes: “Tom De Koning, he will play for Carlton's VFL side, not the AFL side.
“That game is on Saturday morning after he was overlooked for the senior side to play West Coast in Perth.
“Last week he missed and was rested and this week he has failed to be included in the Carlton side.
“We know he's out of contract, we know there's a lot of clubs after him, is it the right call to leave him out again?”
Johnson: “Well, it must be from a Carlton perspective.
“As good of a player that he is at times, you've got to earn your stripes and if you're out of form and you're a young player, then you will go back.
“You have to lick your wounds and work your way back in. I think it builds a great level of resilience.
“We've all been through it in the early stages of our careers, you go back, you get told, you get hit between the eyes, and you're not happy with it.
“But it's the way you respond and the way you go and play to earn yourself that right to be playing in the ones again.
“It’s quite simple and it's not a slap on where you're going as a footballer. It's just where you're at, at the moment.
“The club will usually support you through that give you some targets to reach, go and reach them and you'll come straight back in.
And generally, if you do respond well, they will put you straight back in because you've been hit between the eyes and they judge that, they judge the way you respond.”
Cornes: “It’ll be interesting to see how he does respond.
“He's got so many clubs that would be coming after him and I think he's going to be an excellent player and one that could really hurt Carlton if he does leave.
“Does he just, sook it up, to use an overused term and welcome the other offers from other clubs, or does he actually dig in and fight his way back into the side? I'm sure he will (dig in).
Johnson: “I look at it and go, if I was another club, I'm looking at this closely as well.
“This is critical because you look at it and go, ‘Okay, well, when he walks in, there are no guarantees here either, Tom’.
“That's why I'd be, as a club that may be looking at him, assessing this situation. What is his future?”
De Koning will take the field at 11:05 am on Saturday when the Blues and Dogs face off in the VFL at ETU Stadium.
Carlton’s AFL side faces West Coast at Optus Stadium on Saturday night.