Motlop ready to 'fire on all cylinders'

Carlton small forward Jesse Motlop is ready to take on added responsibility and put an injury-interrupted year beyond him as he gets set for the 2025 AFL season.

Speaking to SEN Sportsday with Paul Sebastiani, Motlop’s manager Tom Seccull said the 20-year-old goal sneak has charged into the 2024 off-season with gusto and is ready to close a frustrating chapter in his career.

“He’s firing on all cylinders," Seccull said on SEN Sportsday.

“He was pretty disappointed in his year, this year.

“He had an amazing pre-season, he was in career-best condition going into the year and then unfortunately he got hit with a little toe (injury) and then came back, then had the hamstring (injury), then before you know it he has missed half the season.

"It was really frustrating for Jesse."

Seccull added that, despite returning for the back end of the season and managing to play in the finals, it was ultimately still not a cup filler for Motlop.

It would be a season of ‘what ifs.’

“He had to work back through that and get in, he was able to do that and have some impact in the second half of the season,” Secccull said.

“If you said to him in February, that was how the year was going to be planned out, you wouldn’t have picked that.

“He was pretty flat about it.”

Motlop could only manage the seven games and six goals in 2024 as Carlton struggled to find a genuinely consistent small pressure forward to pair up with Matt Owies who has since moved to West Coast.

With the small forward spot well and truly up for grabs at Princes Park next season, Seccull explained how confident he and Motlop are of a return to form after a solid break.

“Similar to last year, he has had a great off-season," Seccull said.

“He has been to Adelaide, Darwin, Perth and has seen all his family.

“He’s really settled in Melbourne, which is exciting.

"I have no doubt he will attack pre-season similar to what he did last year and he will be in great nick for next year because it is certainly a role which is important to the Blues’ structure moving forward, so, it is a great opportunity for him.”

As the start of a new pre-season bears down on the AFL, Motlop will be looking to recapture the form of 2023 which saw him nail 24 goals and have a direct impact on finals.