OUT-OF-CONTRACT Carlton spearhead Lachie Henderson is no hurry to sort out his football future beyond 2015, saying he wants to get back to his best before opening serious talks with the Blues.
Henderson's existing two-year contract with Carlton is due to finish at the end of this season, a year in which the 25-year-old should take over as the leader of the Blues' forward line after Jarrad Waite's departure to North Melbourne.
The 196cm forward is believed to have knocked back a lucrative long-term offer from the Western Bulldogs in last year's trade period and will attract significant rival interest if he remains uncontracted deep into this year.
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Henderson told reporters on Monday he and Carlton were content to wait until later this year to discuss his future, saying it would "take care of itself".
Asked whether he was waiting to play some good football or to see how the Blues fared on the field in 2015 before sitting down to contract talks, Henderson said he was focused on his own game.
"I think it's a bit more individual for me.
"I was not great last year, so I think me just getting back to playing some good consistent footy and some injury-free footy would be nice, and we'll talk through it with the club when it comes up," Henderson said.
"It's not a big rush at the moment, and I don't think the club's rushing either."
He certainly did not have the same impact as 2013 when he finished third in Carlton's best and fairest award playing as a swingman.
Henderson had an alibi for his form slump. Quadriceps surgery in January last year meant he entered 2014 severely underdone and just when he was starting to hit his straps later in the season – he kicked 14 goals from rounds 15-18 – he suffered a fractured eye socket in round 19 which ended his season.
The former Geelong Falcon has enjoyed a far better 2015 pre-season and will enter the premiership season with a lot more confidence.
Henderson returned to the field for the first time this year in Carlton's seven-point win over Collingwood in Bendigo on Sunday. He was held goalless by the Magpies and said he was keen to improve on that "rusty" performance when the Blues take on Geelong at Etihad Stadium this Sunday.
The win over Collingwood was the first time the Blues have played Henderson alongside fellow tall forwards Levi Casboult and former Western Bulldog Liam Jones.
Henderson feels "a little bit" more responsibility to stand up in attack with Waite gone, but is confident the Blues have enough forward-line options to kicking winning scores in 2015.
"We've got a lot of options down there with Levi Casboult and Liam Jones as the big guys and then you've got (Troy) Menzel and players like Jason Tutt, who played a pretty good game yesterday," he says.
"So we've got options down there and we're really excited about what we've got."
Carlton emerged relatively unscathed from the Collingwood win despite some initial injury concerns over ruckman Robert Warnock and vice-captain Bryce Gibbs.
Warnock was set to have scans on his left shoulder on Monday but the Blues were confident they would not reveal any significant injury, while Gibbs suffered nothing more than a 'stinger' to his shoulder.
