LARGER than life Carlton spearhead Brendan Fevola might have his coach reaching for the headache tablets from time to time, but Brett Ratten wouldn't have it any other way.

In an extensive interview with afl.com.au, Ratten touched on a wide range of subjects from the club's controversial membership slogan to Chris Yarran's progress, Andrew Walker's shoulder and, of course, the big No. 25 who attracts so much attention.

Fevola's antics on and off the field polarise public opinion, but Ratten maintained he was a vital part of the club's fabric.

"What Brendan brings to our team is that extroverted nature," Ratten said.

"We've done emotional intelligence testing on all of our players and we've got a lot of introverts.

"Brendan is one of the few extroverts at our club, along with Mitch Robinson, so we do need some balance overall and I think Brendan brings that.

"There are always aspects, even with Mitch, that you could probably tone down to a certain level, but that's their personality and how we can enhance that for the group's benefit is something that we work on continuously."

A foot injury and some wayward kicking hampered Fevola's start to the season, but Ratten confirmed he was getting everything he'd asked for from his full-forward.

"Everyone says, 'Geez, he's not kicking as many goals' but he's actually the No. 1 goalkicker in the competition," he said.

"Have all the power forwards dried up a bit? Maybe.

"Maybe there has been a bit more focus on stopping the key forward in the team, but I think the pleasing thing for us is that we're still getting a spread of goalkickers.

"What I see is how much more team-oriented he is: how he handballs off to (Marc) Murphy or he taps that nice one to (Shaun) Grigg against the Saints. He's working really hard, not just on his chase and tackle, but also the side of his game where he can assist others."

Ratten revealed that Robbie Warnock and Andrew Walker were both pencilled in for round 15 returns in the VFL with Walker tearing up the training track in his return from shoulder surgery.

"Walker ran the park by himself the other day in a time of 10:26 – I asked him whose car he was driving," Ratten said.

"If you run it in a group it drags you around a bit quicker so to run that time yourself is amazing. Juddy won a time trial [last November] in 10:33, so he's beaten that by himself.

"So you could nearly play him for one maybe two weeks and say, 'In you come'.

"Warnock might need three or four weeks under him so you could then give him a month at senior level."

Read the full Brett Ratten Q&A here