Sorry, Carlton fans.

There are a few teams dragging the competition down, but this week on The Age Real Footy podcast, the verdict from our panellists is that the Blues are the worst of the lot.

And it's going to take them longer than three years to rebuild their way up, according to Jimmy Bartel, who says poor list management and staff decisions set clubs back far longer than they used to.

Plus, the inside word on who the Blues should chase to build their list in the off-season - and who they're targeting.