AND THEN there were three.

In among Carlton's injury nightmare this season, which at times has seen the list of unavailable players swell to more than 40 percent of the club's entire squad, just three Blues have withstood the barrage of setbacks, sprains and strains to play in every single game.

The warrior, Patrick Cripps.

The reliable, Nic Newman.

And the man that Carlton captain Cripps has nicknamed the 'Bringer of Joy', Matt Kennedy.

Kennedy has earned that new title. He is Carlton's eternal optimist. Amid a season where it has felt like everything that could go wrong for the Blues has gone wrong, the 'BOJ' – as it has since been shortened to – has been needed more than ever. Not just for his unfaltering attitude, but his dependable plug and play versatility.

Kennedy has been used everywhere this year. Back, forward, midfield, ruck, sub. Name a role and Kennedy has ticked it off. Sometimes, he'll know exactly where he's playing. Other times, he won't find out until game day. More often than not, though, the role that's been set for him has been changed in an instant within matches, depending on who has gone down and what position needs filling.

Even for the 'BOJ', such uncertainty around his weekly role can be daunting. That's why the Blues organised a mid-season meeting between Kennedy, coach Michael Voss and the club's midfield assistant Tim Clarke to help give the 27-year-old as much clarity as possible for the weeks and months ahead.

"They were really good and open and honest," Kennedy told AFL.com.au from Ikon Park this week.

"They just said they'd try and let me know as early as possible, in terms of what the role was. But there were no guarantees they knew either, based on injury and opposition and selection. I always plan or have a rough idea of where I might be playing and that'll inform me as well. I try and prepare for that, but then last-second if something changes, I'll do the best I can."

Kennedy's role has changed so often this season that even Champion Data, the AFL's official stats gurus, have struggled to define it. Instead, the best they can do is break his campaign down into brackets, each depicting a period of his year, which best explains his remarkable versatility.

Those brackets show that Kennedy has gone from being a forward, to a defender, to a midfielder, to a forward, to a defender, to a forward, to a midfielder, to a forward this season.

They also tell the story of a player who, in totality, has spent 48 percent of his campaign as a forward, 38 percent of it as a midfielder, eight percent as a defender, five percent as a ruck, and one percent on the wing.

Confused yet? Well, add in three more appearances starting as the tactical substitute and it might become that way. But if it's mind-boggling for the fan to comprehend, surely the constant chopping and changing must get frustrating for the player.

"Yes and no," Kennedy said. "Sometimes it can be, but that attitude and the story you tell yourself can be half the battle as well.

"If I tell myself I'm underprepared and don't know, then sometimes I can get into my own head. If I look at it as an opportunity and a challenge and get excited for it, the better I go. It's about reminding myself, whatever role I'm playing, what a challenge and opportunity it is.

"It definitely has its challenges. It's probably been more of the injuries and where blokes have been injured. Even mid-game, I'll be playing midfield and I'll have to swap. But it doesn't matter where you play, just get your role and your job done. If that keeps me in the side, I'm happy to do it."

The toll of Carlton's injury crisis has seen Voss use 37 players this season. A suspension to Matt Owies means that, after this weekend's elimination final with Brisbane, 34 would have missed at least one game due to injury, availability or form, while 23 would have missed at least four or more games throughout the year.

Kennedy, along with Cripps and Newman, is subsequently one of the three Blues to have played every game. In contrast, their opponents this weekend, the Lions, have had 11 players feature every week. So, what's his secret?

"Well, the sub's kept me going for a few of them," Kennedy laughed.

"I actually had it as a bit of a goal at the start of the year, I'd never played every single home and away game. I'm not sure if that's had anything to do with it, but I think I just valued the little things throughout the week. I've always been pretty diligent with recovery, but I've almost had the mindset of achieving that goal and maybe that's helped to try and play every game. I'm not sure.

"I'm probably lucky because sometimes in football, you can't help it. I've mainly been a bit more midfield, but this year I've been forward, mid, back a little bit, ruck a little bit. It's not as bash and crash, so that's probably helped as well."

Carlton's injury nightmare reached a tipping point through the back part of the season, with Voss forced to pick his 26-man squads from just 28 available players for a series of must-win clashes. It led to AFL debuts for first-year players Cooper Lord and Ashton Moir, as well as a first AFL start for fellow youngster Jaxon Binns.

But a supremely youthful Blues team thrashed West Coast in round 23 to leave their finals hopes in their own destiny, before the final day's remarkable series of events led to a breathtaking climax to the season where Carlton hearts were broken and then repaired in a matter of hours.

"We've had a big emphasis all year on squad mentality. In a weird way, especially when we went over to Perth, because there were so many young players, it was kind of exciting. It rejuvenates you a little bit," Kennedy said.

"Then, last Sunday, it was a really weird one. Obviously, you had the disappointment and feeling like you let it slip. We spoke a lot about wanting to control our own destiny. We went into the game really confident, so to have that taken away … then, all of a sudden, you're watching the Fremantle game and another team controls your fate. It wasn't very nice.

"We all just came back here (to Ikon Park) and watched the Freo game. I couldn't really watch a lot of it. There was a fair few of us in and out of the room because we couldn't bear to watch. Obviously, the last minute or so, we sort of knew that Port Adelaide was going to win, so we all went back in. It was kind of weird, it almost felt like we'd won the game."

Kennedy obviously wants to continue his record of playing in every match throughout the finals. On Friday, though, that record had appeared in some sort of jeopardy when he was absent from the team's final captain's run at the Gabba. Never fear, though.

Kennedy and his wife Maryanne had been expecting their first child on September 19. But their little boy arrived earlier than anticipated. Kennedy was in Melbourne for his birth, before flying up to Queensland later on Friday evening. Such terrific news will undoubtedly be a shot in the arm ahead of Saturday night's game.

But the challenge of facing Brisbane at the Gabba is still a daunting one is a season full of them. However, with the cavalry on its way back and an unlikely second chance at the doorstep following that eventful final day of action a fortnight ago, the Blues are ready to tackle the challenge head-on.

And, unsurprisingly, the club's 'Bringer of Joy' has his own unique way of putting a positive spin on the club's premiership chances.

"Definitely, we can still win it," Kennedy said.

"We've got a really tough opposition in Brisbane, who are in really good form. But I believe if we go up there with the right attitude and the right mindset, we're good enough to beat them.

"There's definitely that belief and, more importantly, hunger in the group as well. I mean, what an opportunity. That's the mindset we've got to have and we've got to be hungry. It's not every day you get a second opportunity. Although last Sunday was an emotional rollercoaster of a day, we still live to fight another day. How exciting."