Carlton captain Chris Judd says the early signs are there for the Blues to make a long-awaited AFL finals appearance next season.

Judd said on Monday he could sense the hunger for success among the players at pre-season training after a 2008 season in which they finished 11th.

"I think if we get the improvement and we do the work then I think we should play finals next year," Judd said.

"This club's had a pretty long period of being highly unsuccessful and the players who went through that period are very hungry to turn it around.

"When I first came here Blind Freddie could see the young players we had and how talented they were.

"The question was going to be whether or not we were going to be able to gel as a group and get the most out of those young players.

"Certainly from today it looks like that's a distinct possibility but it's a bloody long journey and there's still a long way to go."

He said 2009 should mark the side as one which is set to regain its former competitiveness after seven years floundering near the bottom of the ladder.

"We realise we need to be a lot better than we were last year to be satisfied with our season.

"It's theoretically possible we could improve 20 per cent on what we did last year and not make the eight but that would be unlikely," Judd said.

He said all-round improvement was needed and admitted the club needed to end its unhealthy reliance on Brendan Fevola to score goals.

"We've probably got to get a few more options in our forward line, kicking goals, and the midfield's got to get fitter and the backline can get better as well," Judd said.

"I don't think you can say there's an area across the field where we're as good as we're meant to be.

"We were still in the bottom half of the competition last year and there's a huge amount of time and effort that needs to go into it to push us up the ladder."

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