ON THE eve of the 2018 AFL season, Carlton Football Club is delighted to announce Paddy Dow has re-signed with the Blues.

Dow has put pen to paper on a three-year extension, taking his commitment through to the end of the 2022 season.

The classy young midfielder arrived at Ikon Park via the 2017 NAB AFL National Draft, taken with Pick No.3, and excited Blues fans with impressive performances across AFLX and the Club’s two JLT Community Series wins against St Kilda and Hawthorn.

The Swan Hill product said he was excited to have his future at Carlton secured for the next five years.

“I was thrilled to be drafted to the Blues back in November and I’m stoked to have extended my contract for a further three years. Now I’m focusing on earning a call up in the side, whenever that may be, and contributing to our team’s success,” Dow said.

“It’s pretty clear we are all united under 'Bolts' (coach Brendon Bolton) as a playing group and we’re so determined to climb that ladder. I want to go out there and keep earning the respect of my teammates and keep improving as a midfielder, learning from the likes of Marc Murphy and Patrick Cripps.

“I’m really thankful to the Club for the opportunity to extend my contract and excited for the season ahead.”

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Senior coach Brendon Bolton said Dow had made an impression on all at Ikon Park since arriving at the Club in November.

“We are really pleased Paddy can see the path we’re on as an exciting team on the rise,” Bolton said.

“He is clearly a talented young player, but he is a terrific young man with strong character and values. In terms of on-field, he is an explosive midfielder who has shown he has the ability to push forward and contribute on the scoreboard too.

“We’re conscious Paddy obviously has a huge amount of learning and improvement to come but we think we’ve found a really solid player who we hope will have a long career at the Carlton Football Club.”