CARLTON forward Jarrad Waite believes he will be ready to go in round one with two NAB Cup games under his belt, but isn't sure if teammates Michael Jamison and Mitch Robinson will be in the same boat.

Waite, 29, will play his first game since round 16 last year on Saturday afternoon against the Brisbane Lions in the third round of the NAB Cup in Maroochydore, and expects to back up again next weekend.

But Jamison (back) and Robinson (back stiffness/hamstring soreness) will only play one, if any, full pre-season games after staying in Melbourne this weekend.

While the Blues are taking the cautious approach with both, they remain hopeful they'll play on the final weekend of the pre-season competition.

"I think [two NAB Cup games] puts me in a pretty good spot to play round one. I obviously don't want to rush myself back too early and make sure I'm not going to affect the team in a negative away," Waite said on Friday, as the Blues prepared to fly north.

"[Jamison and Robinson] have both been training pretty well fitness wise and it's just probably the fitness more than anything.

"At the end of the day, I think that's where the coaches have to sort of put their foot down and it's going to be interesting for the coaches coming up to round one.

"There's a couple of boys who haven't played a whole lot of games, so that can be their dilemma."

Waite is one of a few positives for the Blues this weekend, as he returns along with captain Chris Judd, Andrew Walker and Nick Duigan.

The injury-affected Waite, who has been restricted to just 37 games in the past three seasons, says he has regained confidence in his battered body and is approaching this season with renewed enthusiasm.

"Every year is obviously a fresh start. The good thing about the footy season is it comes around and you feel like you're regenerated each year," he said.

"I'm just looking forward to trying to get a full season under my belt and helping out the team, and I'm really happy with the way our forward line is structured at the moment.

"There are a couple of players underneath that are really biting at the bit to play.

"We're in a really good position with the forwards and I'm looking forward to it."

Waite has battled knee, hamstring and most recently, hip injuries in the past three years, and went under the knife at the end of last season to repair the latter.

He made a surprise return to the field in the Blues' VFL affiliate the Northern Bullants' 2011 preliminary final loss to Port Melbourne less than a week after it was decided he would have the operation.

"I was always going to have to have surgery; it was just whether or not I'd be able to get through a game," he said. 

"Obviously, I tried as hard as I could to play the VFL game but even if we had won, there would have been no way I could have played the week after.

"It was worth a go. I didn't want to have the surgery straight away and be no chance at all, but it was one of things where you've got to push your body as hard as you can and sometimes your body doesn't react in the best way.

"I'm feeling really good now and hopefully all those issues are behind me.

"I'm really enjoying [the rehab] sort of stuff and keeping on top of my body, and knowing that I don't have to push myself to break down and can just help the team in other ways."

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Jennifer Witham is a reporter for AFL Media. Follow her on Twitter @AFL_JenWitham.