The news arrived with the unwelcome predictability of a drunk uncle asking you to pull his finger at the Christmas table.

A tick past 12 months on from his last knee reconstruction, Carlton's freshly minted co-captain Sam Docherty wrecked his knee again. They face 12 more months without him.

The sense of doom and woe is the same because the injury is the same. The sense of pessimism is greater because the idea of a fresh start is sullied by the familiarity of the recent past before it has had a chance to begin. New captains, new era and the club still bedevilled by the same malady as the wooden-spoon season just gone.

It is understandable but wrong. This time it's slightly different.

Carlton are better placed than 12 months ago. Their good young players are more game ready, they have brought in more and better players and their other injured players of this season - save for Docherty - should be ready again round one.