NEW Carlton ruckman Robert Warnock stresses he didn't make the decision to leave Fremantle until its 2008 campaign had ended.

Warnock and his management came under fire after the 21-year-old met with Melbourne in August when recovering from the shoulder reconstruction that cut short his season.

His links with that club already existed through older brother Matthew, a defender with the Demons.

And discussions on a new contract to see Warnock remain in Western Australia were shelved after round six.

"It was in the back of my mind, but I never really gave it a lot of thought until I got injured because I wanted to concentrate on playing good footy. I was happy to let the year pan out and then sit down and think about it at the finish," Warnock told carltonfc.com.au.

"I tried to distance myself from [the debate in the media] as much as I could and didn't read too much into it because most of it was all speculation.

"They were saying that I was going home from February and I never really made my mind up until the end of the year and even then it was almost a flip of the coin when it came down to it."

Traded to the Blues in October's trade period, tense negotiations between the two clubs forced the AFL to provide a mediator so that a deal could be done.

Warnock and draft pick 69 eventually went to Carlton in exchange for selections 24, 56 and 72.

He says that the prospect of more time in the shadow of Fremantle's first-choice big man Aaron Sandilands influenced his decision.

"Aaron was playing about 90 per cent game time because they didn't think they could afford to have two ruckmen on the ground," he said.

"They thought it took away from the running ability of the team, so there was an opportunity factor in the move because you don't want to be sitting on the bench for the majority of the game.

"When I got back to Melbourne after I had my shoulder reco we had a bit of a chat [with Fremantle] and they gave me their thoughts on where they were going and where they thought I could fit into that," he added.

"It upset a few people at Fremantle, but I think that was blown out of proportion a little bit as well."

Warnock played just 21 games in three seasons with Fremantle and the hype that surrounded his plans to be traded was fuelled by the lack of ready-made ruckmen available.

Carlton saw him as a perfect fit to bolster a young brigade that includes Matthew Kreuzer, Cameron Cloke and Shaun Hampson, though recent ankle surgery will delay Warnock's start to his preparations for season one in the navy blue.

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