Will Setterfield | 2020 Season Review
Written by Joseph Addamo
Throughout the 2020 off-season, Blue Abroad will be providing content to cover everything you need to know about the Carlton Football Club.
After a largely improved season, we will be reviewing every player that pulled on the famous Navy Blue guernsey in 2020.
This is the Blue Abroad Player Review for Carlton’s #43 – Will Setterfield.
SEASON SYNOPSIS
Carlton fans have been searching for who it might be that emerges as their next young midfield star in recent years. In 2020, Will Setterfield announced himself as that player.
His tenacity ability to be first to the football in tightly contested spaces are now hallmarks of his developing game. While his stats don’t highlight a player that is in elite territory among his peers in the competition just yet, Setterfield’s 2020 resume for the Blues was impressive. He was ranked top 5 at the club for contested possessions per game (7.3) and ground ball gets (5.3), top 3 in clearances (3.2), and first for tackles (5.3) and pressure acts (18.9).
He played all but one game in 2020, with that ACL injury that hampered the early part of his career seemingly behind him now. Taking his total games tally to just 36 now, there’s no telling where ‘Setters’ ceiling is at the Blues.
BEST PERFORMANCE
‘Setters’ showed across a number of games why he was arguably Carlton’s most improved player in season 2020. His 10-tackle outing vs. Port Adelaide and 23 disposals vs. the Gold Coast are two games that spring to mind when reflecting on his season. However, it was his gritty performance against North Melbourne that stands out above the rest.
In slippery conditions in a hard-fought win against the ‘Roos, ‘Setters’ finished the day with 20 disposals, 6 tackles, 6 clearances, 4 inside 50s, 2 score launches, 2 goals assists, 12 contested possessions and game highs in score involvements (6) and pressure acts (25). It was a performance that Blues fans can now come to expect as the standard Setterfield can set for himself, as his career continues to build.
OFF-SEASON & 2021 OUTLOOK
‘Setters’ will enter his 3rd season as a Blue in 2021, now a key cog in Carlton’s midfield group. Taking another step in his development as one of the Blues’ premier inside midfield bulls will be critical in the hunt for a finals berth.
Adding the inside element to his game now brings a diversity to his skillset that few Carlton youngsters possess at this stage of their careers. With the arrival of Zac Williams in the off-season, David Teague is now afforded the luxury of being able to rotate both Setterfield and Williams between wing and inside midfield roles.
‘Setters’ proved his ability to hold his own against some of the competition’s best in 2020. If he can take his tackling (11th in the AFL overall in 2020) and contested ability to another level again in 2021, Setterfield could find himself on the cusp of becoming one of the AFL’s best pressure players.
2020 REPORT CARD RATING
B
STATUS HEADING INTO 2021
Consistent Senior Player
