IF CARLTON ruckman Matthew Kreuzer plays well in the VFL on Sunday, he will be considered for senior selection in round seven.
However, Blues coach Mick Malthouse says he won't rush Kreuzer back before he’s ready.
Kreuzer will line up for the Northern Blues against Frankston on Sunday and is expected to play at least 80 per cent of game time.
He has not played a senior game since round one, 2014 having battled foot injuries for a year.
"What I won't be doing is panicking to get him back in prematurely because I think that would be putting too much pressure on him," Malthouse said.
"But his lead-up has been constant and he's done a lot of work and he is also a very good endurance athlete, so there are a lot of factors that say if he plays well, we'll certainly consider him."
In Kreuzer's absence, Carlton has struggled to settle its ruck division.
Cameron Wood has played consistent football and Robbie Warnock has been in and out of the side.
The Blues dropped Warnock again this week, preferring to go with strong-marking but wayward-kicking ruck/forward Levi Casboult against the struggling Brisbane Lions.
Match preview: Blues v Lions
Malthouse was direct when asked what Casboult needed to do to cement a spot in the senior team.
"He's got to kick goals when he is in position to kick them," Malthouse said.
"If you're in a position to kick goals you have to hit the scoreboard for the morale of the team, and for that matter the supporters, and the coach."
He said the main issue for any player in Casboult's position was consistency.
If a player didn't produce on a consistent basis then the selectors would look at alternatives.
"We know that he is big and he is strong - he has got unbelievable stamina and strength. He has to have consistency," Malthouse said.
Meanwhile, Malthouse defended a club's right to meet with contracted opposition players after reports claimed the Blues met Brisbane Lions midfielder James Aish during the week.
Malthouse said such meetings were a fact of life in the AFL and would continue unless a rule was put in place banning the practice.
"I would not be unhappy if the AFL said ‘you cannot talk to players who are in contract’. I wouldn't be unhappy about that at all," Malthouse said.
Malthouse said the decision to chase Aish or not was not something he spent time thinking about at this stage of the season.
"I leave that to the recruiting [department]. That is their job. I don't get too caught up in that because I don't see those players enough," Malthouse said.
Aish's manager Liam Pickering denied on SEN on Saturday the Blues had met with the 19-year-old, who has played 24 games with the Lions.
Aish was pick No.7 at the 2013 NAB AFL Draft.