Waite incurred the wrath of his teammates and coach after he head-butted Melbourne defender Tom McDonald in round six last year.

 

The action cost him a game and 87.5 demerit points, and it came after he missed the opening five rounds with a calf injury.

 

He was fined by the club for his fifth guilty verdict in as many years, with captain Marc Murphy labelling it "just a stupid thing to do".

 

This week, Waite said he had put the incident behind him and was determined to prevent it from happening again.

 

"I missed (games) through injury and then I let my teammates down; it's something I have to control," Waite told AFL.com.au at Carlton's Australia Post Community Camp in Sale. 

 

"It's one of those things I'm not happy about. You just can't do anything these days without repercussions and that's fair enough.

 

"I took the fine and copped it, and copped my week's suspension and knew that I had to try and earn some respect back from the boys.

 

"I know it won't happen again."

 

Waite said he had a conversation with Mick Malthouse the Monday after the incident but didn't speak to his teammates about it.

 

His on-field behaviour has cost him eight games in five years but he believes everyone has now moved on from the most recent episode.

 

"Nothing has been said since that happened and it doesn't get brought up around the club," he said.

 

"I didn't really speak to any of the boys but I spoke to Mick and once that conversation happened on the Monday it was all forgotten about."

 

Waite had minor surgery on his left knee at the end of last season but has had a faultless pre-season since.

 

After playing 14 games last year with the calf and then knee disrupting his season, he is determined to shake off his injury curse and play a full year.

 

Because of this, Waite made the decision last month to step back from the Blues' leadership group and concentrate on keeping himself fit in a bid to extend his career beyond 2014.

 

"I'll still do the same sort of leadership, I'll try and lead our forward line with the same capacity as last year," he said.

 

"I just want to get the body right. Nothing is really going to change, just the name of being in the leadership group.

 

"I still feel like I'm a leader around the club and will help to develop the younger boys."

 

Waite is expecting to play 90 per cent of his football in the forward line but will embrace his versatility that saw him venture down back at times towards the end of last season.

 

He said he considered 2013 to be a partially frustrating year but felt confident he finished well enough to give himself a good chance of consistent contribution this season.

 

"There was a lot of frustration earlier on in the year and then I thought my form was OK and then I hurt my knee," he said.

 

"That was a bit annoying but it could have been a lot worse. The first thoughts with the knee were that it was a full-blown knee.

 

"At the time, it was pretty devastating and then I found out it was only going to be a couple of weeks injury.

 

"I thought I found some form going into the end of the year and it's frustrating not playing a full season but hopefully I can do that this year."

 

Twitter: @AFL_JenPhelan