CARLTON veteran Heath Scotland has declared his intention to play on next year, but will wait until the end of the season to confirm his playing future.

Scotland, who recently turned 32, signed a one-year extension halfway through last season, but is content to wait until the Blues' current campaign is over before discussing his plans with the club.
 
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"I do want to go on, but it's in the club's hands," Scotland said.

"They know I'd like to go on, but I'll leave it with them. If they think I'm a required player for next year that would be fantastic, but if not then that's life I suppose.

"I can only control what I can control and that's training, staying on the park and trying to play well. I'll just keep plugging away. Hopefully, in the short-term, we can play finals then hopefully at the end of the year I'll be able to go around again.

"I'd be thrilled if they want me to go on - I definitely do - but if not then that's just the way it goes. I'll leave it with them (his manager and football manager Andrew McKay) and they'll sort it out.

"But in the short-term we've still got a season that we're alive in and making the finals is still the goal."

Having signed up priorities Matthew Kreuzer, Bryce Gibbs, Chris Yarran and Rob Warnock in recent months, the club has put off all other contract negotiations until after the season.

However, a new deal for Scotland appears a formality with McKay previously expressing his confidence that the 32-year-old has a role to play next season. 

Scotland made headlines for the wrong reasons earlier this year when he was involved in an altercation at a Mulwala club that saw him charged by police.

The case was adjourned in June, but it hasn't proved a distraction for Scotland, who has been one of Carlton's most consistent performers in a frustrating season for the Blues. 

"I may have turned 32, but I don't feel like I'm 32," he said.

"For me it is just a number, but unfortunately in the business that we're in when you hit 30 everyone thinks you're old, but I feel as good as I did when I was 26 or 27.

"I feel strong, my body is holding up, and I feel like I haven't lost any speed or power.

"But obviously it's a team game and when the side's not performing as expected you don't reflect on your own performances a great deal.

"I don't look at kicks, marks and handballs, but I've been happy with the fact that I've been able to be reasonably consistent."

Scotland started his career at Collingwood, where he spent five years before crossing to Carlton in search of regular senior football ahead of the 2004 season, and has played 239 games.