AFTER being taught a football lesson by Richmond star Matthew Richardson, Carlton rookie Michael Jamison's AFL education will continue against one of St Kilda's big three forwards on Saturday night.

The 21-year-old, elevated straight from the Blues' rookie list into the hot seat of full-back, was fighting out of his weight class against Richardson in round one, the Tigers power forward ending with a game-winning five-goal haul.

His likely opponent, Fraser Gehrig, in for his first game of the season after a calf injury, will take a similar power and weight advantage into their clash.

Nick Riewoldt and Justin Koschitzke loom as equally difficult assignments, but Blues coach Brett Ratten is backing his young defender to not only hold one of the big three, but perhaps exploit them for pace.

"Do you put him onto Nick Riewoldt or do you play him a bit closer to goal on Fraser or even Kosi?" Ratten said of his options.

"Can you run off these bigger type players? That's the other thing.

"You get three big forwards that stay pretty much at home, can you hurt them the other way? That's the debate."

Ratten said Jamison's opening-round performance was better than the bare facts would suggest.

"It really wasn't so much about Michael's job on Richo, I think it was the team's responsibility," he said.

"I think there were players that could assist with Michael that didn't really in some situations.

"So at the end of the day Richo got five and was probably the difference between the two teams."

Aside from Jarrad Waite, the Blues' other options for the key defensive jobs - Bret Thornton, Setanta O'hAilpin and Paul Bower - will also give away weight or experience to their opponents.

But Ratten said defensive pressure in the midfield could be as important as the direct match-ups in stopping the power-packed Saints' attack getting on top.

At the other end of the ground, Brad Fisher returns from a thumb injury for his first game of the season, to give Brendan Fevola some much-needed support up forward against a St Kilda defence that is still missing Matt Maguire and Brendon Goddard.

"I think (Jake) Edwards in his first game had three shots at goal as well, so he'll be up there as well, so that will hopefully put St Kilda under pressure," Ratten said.

Young ruckman Shaun Hampson returns from a knee injury to provide Cameron Cloke with some help.

Ratten was hoping to capitalise on the Blues' biggest strength, their new midfield depth, with recruits Chris Judd and Richard Hadley and fit-again Nick Stevens improving after interrupted pre-seasons.

He said to fully exploit that area they needed to increase their interchange rotations, which have risen sharply throughout the league compared to last season.

"That's been a key indicator through the AFL, we were trying to bump ours up to around the 70 (interchanges per game) mark, I think most of the teams are trying to get to 80," Ratten said.

"Does that make you win games? I think it does really assist in your performance to run games out ... we'll make sure our rotations are up a lot higher."