CARLTON is still weighing up an intriguing ruck dilemma as round one nears.

With the experienced Marc Pittonet expected to return for this Friday night's practice game against Sydney, and with youngster Tom De Koning having impressed during last week's scratch match win over Collingwood, the club is yet to narrow down its exact mix ahead of a March 16 clash with Richmond.

De Koning gave an exciting glimpse of why he is one of the League's most in-demand uncontracted players last Friday morning, impressing in the ruck and taking a series of nice aerial marks around the ground. He also converted his work with a goal in the opening quarter.

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It followed a promising 2022 campaign for De Koning, where the athletic 203cm prospect was thrust into the limelight for long periods of the year following Pittonet's knee injury. But he flourished taking the mantle as the side's primary ruck option, developing a strong partnership with versatile forward Jack Silvagni.

All three of the side's rucks were dropped late in the year as Carlton coach Michael Voss tinkered with his formula, with Pittonet ultimately winning the job alongside Silvagni for the season's final two matches as De Koning was demoted to the VFL.

But the position as Carlton's primary ruckman now remains vacant heading into the upcoming campaign, with the Blues still considering whether Pittonet and De Koning can operate in the same side and whether all three – including Silvagni – can be squeezed into the team at once.

"It's a question that we'll continue to ask as a coaching committee. We're lucky that we've got to make those choices. They're tough choices, but I hope we get to make them. It means everyone is fit and healthy and available," Voss told AFL.com.au.

"They all have a role to play for us, we've just got to work out whether that's all in the same team and can it work in the same team? That's probably the bit that we'll use over the next few weeks, to be able to work it out."

Carlton moved quickly at the end of last season to take two of the League's biggest upcoming free agents, Coleman Medal winners Charlie Curnow and Harry McKay, off the table with long-term contract extensions.

Curnow signed through until 2029, while McKay extended his deal until 2030, leaving the highly rated De Koning as Carlton's most important uncontracted player heading into the year ahead.

"It'll be nice to get it done," Voss said of De Koning's contract.

"The reality is, though, is that some will choose to get that done ASAP and some will choose to wait. I guess where Tom lies is a little bit different to where Harry and Charlie are. He's trying to fill his own capability as well.

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"What he's really embraced is that he's enjoyed an uninterrupted pre-season, it's been the first one that he's had since he started in the AFL. He's still feeling like he's got more to give and he wants to find out what that looks like. We're OK with that. That's the way footy is right now.

"He wants to see that thing out and he's committed to making sure he has no distractions. The role that we have as a club is to ensure that he's enabled to not have those distractions, to get the absolute best out of himself. If that means we have to wait a little longer, then we wait a little longer."

The question on Carlton's lips internally as it seeks to decipher its perfect ruck mix for the season ahead is how tall is too tall? Can the Blues play with Pittonet, De Koning and Silvagni, along with key forwards Curnow and McKay, in the same team?

Pittonet's impending return from off-season knee surgery – he played three quarters in the side's VFL practice match last week, but missed its AFL hitout against Collingwood – will now give the club more chances to experiment ahead of the season.

"A lot of it depends on some of their physical characteristics and height is one of them. But speed comes into it, endurance comes into it, agility comes into it, then capacity comes into it," Voss said.

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"The capacity for them to be able to play tall or small, they're all factors. One thing we do have on our side when it comes to the front-end is that there aren't many 204cm guys that move like Harry. It's the same with Charlie. The agility and movement and speed are on their side, despite what their height measurements say.

"We're always trying to look for that nice, rounded, balanced profile within our team. We don't need all talls and we don't need all smalls. We're constantly balancing that out to find the right mix and find that mix that really complements each other. A really big thing for us is being able to develop that cohesiveness."