The Waite is over... or is it? Depends who you’re talking to at Visy Park.
Ask the bloke in the No.30 and he’ll tell you he’s putting his hand up for Carlton’s sixth round match with Melbourne on Sunday afternoon.
But Jarrad Waite will also tell you it’ll come down to Michael Malthouse and co. as to whether he fronts up at the MCG or Trevor Barker Beach Oval a few days from now.
In the end, and having now fully overcome a calf strain sustained in the pre-season, Waite will be content with either option - and for damned good reason too.
“I’m happy just being back out there and helping out the boys,” Waite said.
“Obviously with a calf it’s one of those things you’ve got to be patient with and I knew that from the start.
“I know I can’t be impatient... we’ll see what happens.”
What we do know is that the 154-game Carlton forward clunked a few in last weekend’s four quarter hit-out for the Northern Blues against Port Melbourne at Preston City Oval, and more importantly emerged unscathed.
“I pulled up pretty well,” Waite said today. “Obviously there was a little bit of game soreness, but nothing that wasn’t planned . . . I got through the game and I was happy with the way it went.”
Whether Waite gets a senior gig sooner rather than later remains to be seen. But there can be no doubting that the 30 year-old is itching at the bit to don the dark Navy Blue guernsey for the first time a senior level since Coach Malthouse assumed control.
Follow Tony De Bolfo on Twitter: @CFC_DeBolfo
