ANDREW Carrazzo has had his share of injuries in his 164-gamecareer, but the Carlton midfielder says his time on the sidelines last yearmentally tested him like never before.
Carrazzo took over as Blues vice-captain ahead of lastseason, but managed just 10 games as he struggled with a persistent calf injury.
Unable to set the on-field example he would have liked inhis new role, Carrazzo became extremely frustrated.
"I think in the past I've been OK with being injured –not OK but I've been able to deal with it OK – but it was a real battle lastyear," Carrazzo said on Wednesday ahead of Carlton training at Visy Park.
"It was my first year as vice-captain of the club and Ireally felt a responsibility to the group to be out there helping them as muchas I could and that was disappointing from that respect."
Fortunately, Carrazzo is confident his calf problems are nowbehind him. After post-season surgery, he has been in full training since thestart of December and expects to be fully fit for the start of the 2014 season.
Marc Murphy also entered his first year as captain in 2013as the Blues ushered in a new leadership team following Chris Judd's decisionto step down as skipper after five years.
Like Carrazzo, Murphy endured a tough first season in thejob, struggling to have his usual influence in the midfield after a limitedpre-season and then coming under greater attention from opposition taggers.
But Carrazzo said Murphy had noticeably grown as a captainduring his second pre-season in charge.
"Vocally he's definitely stepped up. He's taken morecontrol of the group," Carrazzo said.
"He's sort of measuring the mood of the group and howeveryone's going, so I've definitely seen a step up in that regard from Murph.
"I'm expecting him to take control of the group andhave a big say in where we go."
Carrazzo said Nick Duigan's surprise retirement in Decemberbecause of a chronic knee injury had been disappointing, but praised the AFLlatecomer's contribution to Carlton over three years and 43 games.
"Nick was a big part of the group and he's just afantastic guy and a really positive guy to have around the group, so [hisretirement] was really disappointing.
"But unfortunately that's the nature of the game …sometimes injuries can pull you down and put an end to your career.
"But I think if Nick looks back on what he's been ableto achieve and how late he was coming into the game and the impact he was ableto have on the club, it's been great – a real credit to him."
Dale Thomas (ankle), Matthew Kreuzer (foot) and Judd wereamong a small number of players who trained away from Carlton's main group on asweltering Wednesday morning at Visy Park.
